From Fire Chief to Sweet Shop Owner: A Chat with Shawn Oke

Amelia: Shawn Oke is a third-generation firefighter who began his fire service career in 1983 at the age of 14 as a junior firefighter in Union County, North Carolina, and in 2019, he retired from the city of Albemarle as fire chief in April, 2000 while running the firehouse espresso cafe. In addition to serving his community through the fire department, Shawn purchased the Albemarle Sweet Shop located in town since 1922.

Since retiring and focusing solely on the operations at the bakery, the business has seen double digit growth each year outside of the pandemic year. In October 2022, Oak and his family broke ground on a $2 million building to relocate the Albemarle's Sweet Shop. Thank you  so much for joining me today.

Shawn: Well, thank you Amelia. I appreciate you taking the time to allow me to join

Amelia: Fire Chief to Sweet Shop owner. Tell me how that happened.

Shawn: It is kind of crazy cause I guess the only way I can explain it is just God. , I've known all my life I wanted to be in the fire service.

I'm a third generation firefighter, so I, I grew up in the, around fire trucks in the fire department and, and I knew that's where I wanted my life to go.  My parents will tell you, my life was very focused from the time I was a toddler until I got hired here in Albemarle in 1989, that, that's where I was going and that's what I was gonna do.

The whole bakery and, and entrepreneurship of my life kind of just, honestly came from God. I was in my mid twenties,  I decided I wanted to be a millionaire before I was 40. And I, I joke and tell everybody I didn't make it, so don't get excited . But I, but I also knew that working in public service, I wasn't gonna become a millionaire before I was 40.

You know, and I was, I was instilled with a strong work ethic and knowing that I. You know, reached out and made some investments with my dad when I was in my early twenties in a coffee shop that he had in Union County. And his coffee shop wasn't going too good, and he had all this equipment and honestly, it was just a premonition from God.

One day I was riding down the road and and I just got this thought of, why don't I open a coffee shop here in Albemarle. And I can go with a fire department theme cause I got all this stuff around my house. And I was newly married at the time and my wife, you know, she's very tolerable, but she was like, you know, what are you gonna do with all this fire department stuff? You collected everything. I said, Hey, we'll just, I'll open a restaurant. So so that kind of morphed into a deli coffee shop using that equipment that that he had. And I, we opened that in 1997. And, We were in business for three years and the gentleman that owned a bakery at the time came in to get lunch one day.

I happened to not be there. One of the, the guys that I was working on being a partner with to try to alleviate some of the stress I had was there. And he came to me and said, Hey, this guy just came in to get his lunch. He's getting his bakery down the street, and he's looking at selling it. What do you think?

You know, you think it's something we could do? And of course I said, Well, you know, I love to eat. I love to bake. It's a business. Why not? So long story short, two months later, I was sitting in an attorney's office signing the paperwork, closing the loan, and the gentleman reached out from under the table, pulled out a box, put it on the table, and said, Here's what you just paid all that money for.

And it was all the handwritten formulas from the bakery. And honestly, I had never been in the Sweet shop before I was looking at buying it, I kind of knew where it was. I'd had some of their products that I had bought at a grocery store, but I'd never actually been here. I didn't know the history of the Sweet Shop.

All I knew was here was a business that, that I could easily make a passion of mine towards my. And the price was pretty right. And voila, in April of 2000, I owned a bakery, a restaurant, worked full time at the fire department and had a newborn child. So my life was pretty full full then.

Amelia: That's wild. So, let's back up. You basically began your fire career at the age of 14, and as you mentioned, third generation. Can you talk about that a little?

Shawn: Again, you know, I, I knew from, from an early age and I was, I was very focused. You know, when you, when you talk to people and you ask 'em, What do you wanna do with your life? And they're a teenager, a lot of people say, I have no clue. I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Everything I did in school was focused on getting a job in the fire service and, and becoming a firefighter. Actually the city of Charlotte was was a huge goal of mine. And you know, my dad was a retired firefighter outta Fairfax County, Virginia, which is a suburb of Washington DC so it's a larger department.

I knew that's where I wanted to go to work. And again, the good Lord had other  plans for me because I tried multiple times to get hired by the city of Charlotte and never got. Looking back at the end of my career now, I'm glad that I didn't because I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you today, more than likely.

All through high school I was a member of a volunteer fire department. And when I graduated from high school, I immediately just started applying to fires departments up and down the East Coast. Kind like the  Sweet Shop, I'd only been to Albemarle a few times as a child with my to get parts for his trucking business. So I kind of really didn't even know where Albemarle was, but at the time they were hiring. So I put in an application and and I got hired. So you know, as they say, the rest is history.

Amelia: You talked about you like to bake and the way this just kind of all unfolded, was it always in the back of your mind that you wanted to, to have some type of career with baking as well,  or it just happened?

I'd say if I had to say anything, it just happened. Mm-hmm. . Now I, I did, my mom had two uncles that owned a bakery outside of Boston.  I remember going and visiting and, and just kind of being in awe of, of that big operation in those big ovens. And again, I mean, I, I've always had a passion for cooking and you know, my mom tells me the story on a regular basis that when I was a young child, I swore I was never getting married.

And she wanted to make sure that I wasn't gonna starve to this. So she taught me how to cook at a very young age. And I really developed a passion for, for spending time in the kitchen and. And again, the bakery just kind of, it kind of just happened, It kind of just evolved. And I mean, looking back 22 years after purchasing it and concluding my 30 year career at the fire department you know, again, I can only just say that, you know, it was God's plan for me.

And, and I tried a lot of times to deviate from his plan. Don't get me wrong. And He wasn't gonna have any part of it. And now, you know, in the three years since I've retired, of course, you know, our world has undergone a, a major change through the Covid pandemic. And, and I think back to, you know, if I had not made the choice to retire when I did and, and come into the bakery, that more than likely the bakery may not be here., it, it did really work out you know, just absolutely for the best at this point in my life.

Amelia: How did you come to the decision to retire and, and jump fully into the baker?

Shawn: Prayers, prayers and prayers. I, I wrestled for over a year. With what to do. I mean, I had basically come to the point in my life that I needed to make a decision.
I had to leave one of the two things in my life.  Towards the end of my fire service career, things were really taking off for me. I was involved in the International Association of Fire Chiefs, which is a national Fire chief organization. I was on the board of directors for the Safety, Health and Survival section of that, That group of fire chiefs I had become, The co-founder of a group called Kill to Flashover, which was looking at ways to basically create better ways to fight fire and safer ways to fight fire.

And that had kind of taken off, so I had. I had started doing a lot of teaching. I had been published a few times towards the end of my career nationally. So I mean, my fire service career was kind of really taking off and going in a direction that I, I really wanted it to go, but I was struggling with trying to balance.

A little bit of time I was spending in the business plus all of that and make sure that I had a family   I didn't wanna forego my family, you know, at the expense of, of one of those. And, and like I said, I, I was just becoming the jack of all trades and master of none. And I, I came to the, came to the conclusion in 2018 that I needed to pray really hard for the good Lord to to give me the direction that he wanted me to go and, Towards the beginning of 2019, which actually was my 30th anniversary with the fire department, I had felt that this is where I needed to go.

And on my 30th anniversary hire date, I walked into the Human Resources Department and officially put my retirement papers in. And and decided to, to go ahead and forego the fire service career and jump both feet into baking. And I, I really could not have been happier and I know that I made the right decision for me and my.

Amelia: You, you know, some of what you just talked about. Kind of leads into my next question with being the fire chief and all of the other things that you had going on along with that and the bakery, how did all of that affect your family at home?

Shawn: Well, and, and I tell everybody, you know, I, I could not have done it without such an understanding wife and, and understanding kids.

And, and I knew that I was blessed, that she was willing to let me do the kind of things that I, that I really enjoyed doing. I, first of all, never took advantage of it. You know, I greatly respected her and, and I tried very hard to make sure that I gave her and our sons their time when it was their time.

But you know, I could still tell that she wasn't she wasn't thrilled to death every time I would leave to go out of town for a week. And even though she was very understanding and you know, you just kind of get that sense after being married for a long time, that even though she was very understanding, it wasn't probably the best thing for our relationship.

Amelia: and your sons have taken an interest in the shop as well?

Shawn: They have not, not only the shop, but also the fire service. Our oldest son, Andrew, is actually an engineer. Our youngest son, William is currently trying to decide where he wants to apply.He says he feels the, the desire and the push to go into the fire service like I did. And both of 'em are involved in the bakery. William's  pretty much in here full time. And then Andrew, just like his dad did for for a number of years, gets off work in the morning from the fire department, comes and spends us two days off cutting cookies and working at the bakery. Then goes back to the fire department. So that was another reason for me making sure that I, I transitioned my two careers at the right time because I wanted to be there to help my sons step into the fire service.

But I also wanted to be there to solidify the bakery and, and a future there so that, you know, both of them have expressed a desire to, to take over once I'm finished up with this. And you know, what greater legacy is a parent than to you know, to, to work together with your children to build something.

One day you can hand off to them and that they can hopefully continue for their children.

Amelia: So true. So tell me about your products.

Shawn: So it's, it's kind of been an interesting ride. As I mentioned earlier, you know, my, my mom's uncle's owned a bakery in New England, so I grew up on New England style pastries.

I was all about some eclairs and some Danish and all this great New England style foods and, . Well, when I, when I first, when I first bought the bakery, I tried some of them and although I loved them, our customers weren't real keen. And I learned really quick that Sean doesn't pay for the products that the customers do, so we gotta give the customers what they want.

I dabbled in a few of those items early on, but I kind of realized that, you know what, and, and Sweet Shop is so full of history and and people have grown up for generations in Albemarle in the surrounding area on the Sweet Shop products. And I had to make sure that I focused on keeping those products and, and making sure that that what the sweet Shop was, it is and it will continue to be.  Our clown cookie is by far our signature item. It is a sugar cookie that we cut kind of in the shape of like a gingerbread man that most people would associate with, and then we ice it with our icing. It is just a unique flavor, a unique taste that you won't find anywhere else.

That cookie, the best we can tell goes back to at least the early 1960s. We haven't been able to trace it much past that. But we can tell from talking to customers that they did sell 'em as far back as them. Our cream horns are another product that are, are very unique to us.

You know, if you were from the south, you probably had a cream horn at one time or another in your life. It's it's not like a cream puff that the New Englanders would, would associate with. It's filled with kind of a sweeter cream than a, than a cream puff, but it's a pastry. We roll on the table and put a tube on it.

And then we pull the tube out and fill it with our, our cream fill icing is what we call our fruit bars are another one of our items that are hugely unique to us and we're really known for it's a cookie that the best I can trace back through history was developed at World War The owners at the bakery at the time were looking for a product that they could develop that had a real sturdy shelf life that they could ship over to Europe to remind the troops of.

So they came up with this cookie very prominent flavors of cinnamon, all spice, raisins, pecans. This time of year, of course not, not this time because it's been miserably warm, but when it's a nice cool fall day, a cup of coffee and a fruit bar just just makes an an awesome combination. Our custard pies are another one of our signature items.

We make a, a variety of custard buys.  Those date back again as far back as the early 1960s that we've been able to do. So those are our, by far, staple products. And then we've, we've added products, you know, kind of over time. Our sugar cookies are another item that's that are hugely popular that we have people that come from from several counties over to get on a regular basis.

So we're, we're really proud of those.

Amelia: You mentioned you recently broke ground on this new building and you're relocating this sweet shop and, you know, I'm sure it's bittersweet to say goodbye to this location, especially after a hundred years, especially for the locals. And this definitely shows you growth, especially through the pandemic. What are some of the challenges that you face through the pandemic and still being able to grow to being able to, to move like this?

Shawn: Well, and, and the pandemic was,  just like most businesses, like no other you know, on, on April 1st our employees decided that they were too afraid to.

I, I remember on the, the last couple days of March, stepping outside and letting the employees have a conversation amongst each other. And I basically told 'em, Look, I, I, you know, people are very important to me. And I said, If you're not, if you're not comfortable and you're not safe being at work, because there were so many unknowns when the virus first started you know, let me know and, and I'll deal with it.

, I'm a strong faith person. I know God's got me, and, and we'll figure it. So after they had their little meeting, they all decided they were too afraid to work and they wanted to go home. So home they went. And of course, super Shawn put his you know, his big cape on and said, I'm gonna run this place by myself.

So the next day when I opened, I had the lobby opened the oven on, and I was running between trying to pull cookies out of the oven and keep 'em from burning and waiting on customers and answering the telephone. That lasted about a day. By the second day I answered the phone and of course we had no cake decorators working.

And I had two customers on the second day physically crying on the telephone because they couldn't get a sweet shop cake. And I said, I, I can't emotionally deal with this anymore. I said, I'm like, I'm not gonna answer the phone. You know, these customers, the sweet shop means so much to the community.

I mean, we have customers that are in their forties and fifties and never not had a cake from the sweet shop for their birthday. And you know, when I had those people on the phone and I, and I had one customer, they were like, I don't care. I've got to have a sweet shop cake. I said, Well, the only cake I've ever decorated was for my wife.

And it was hideous looking. It was like a little kindergartner's finger painting. And they said, I don't care if you'll do the cake for us. I've got to have a sweet shop cake. So I actually ended up doing a couple cakes. And that was the first time I'd ever even decorated it, you know, after owning the business for like 20 years.

So I quickly kind of shifted things and realized that, you know, I can't keep the lobby open. I can't bake,  I can't still answer the phone. We, we had two wholesale account, or three wholesale accounts at the time, and those wholesale accounts are very well established.

There are small stores in our community. I talked to both of them. They agreed to up the product line that they were carrying. So basically we transitioned our retail location into a wholesale operation. And we shifted everything to two of, of those three accounts mainly and started taking product there and letting them sell it for us.

And things kind of blew up. It was it was crazy at how busy we actually were. You know, it was, it was time for the family to buckle down. Both of our sons really worked some long hours  we kept that up. We had a decorator that came back about two months in she came back to help us. So we started slowly doing some cakes with pickup at the back door. We still didn't open the lobby. We worked all through the summer that way. And then towards the end of September that year, we actually started bringing everybody back and phased the lobby back in and, and kinda tried to return back to normal.

And here we are. You know, a few weeks out of Thanksgiving in 2022. And I would say we pretty much returned to normal, with the exception of a lot of growth. I think, you know, the exposure and what happened during the virus actually helped us because it put us in front of maybe some people that, that couldn't find us.

And you, you mentioned we're building a new building. If you take business 1 0 1, you know, they'll tell you location, location, location is so important to a business. Well being very blunt, our sucks. There's two one-way streets in the city of Amar war on one of. If you try to get Apple or Google to tell you how to get here, they'll have you going around in circles and have you so confused.

You won't know what to do, . So unless you grew up here, it's very hard to find us. So, you know,  it's made it where people have been able to find us because they found our products and in turn searched to find us. So we, we've seen a really good growth in business since the pandemic and you know, we, we survived it very well actually.

Profitability wise, we were actually more profitable during the pandemic than not because we didn't have all the expenses of labor and our utilities. And you know, and actually from a business perspective, I, I looked at it and I said, You know, we would be better as a business. If we became a wholesale operation, closed our retail, and and stopped doing cake, And my wife looked at me and just as serious as could be, she said, They will kill you.

And I hope Albemarle if you do that, . And I, she's like, you know, smart, smart businesses, decision or not, we don't need to do that because the bakery means that much to the people in the community. And so now we're just embarking on a $2 million expansion and we're gonna solidify ourselves in our growing downtown, which you know, is, is gonna be an awesome opportu.

Amelia: That's exciting going into the new year.

Shawn: Yeah, it's scary. But exciting. , I'm supposed to be retired. I get a pension check every month and I'm taking on an incredible mortgage that'll be paid off when I'm 83 years old. So You know, but again, I'm a, I'm a faith person and I, I feel like this is the direction that God wants me to go.

And you know, and I just, I keep reassuring myself with that, , when, when I start really wondering and, and struggling with what we're embarking on that, you know, no, this is, this is what I need to do. And and, and I try to let the excitement overcome the fear, although that's very.

Amelia: Sure. You know, you've talked about your faith and family. Is there another inspiration that you draw from through all of this?

Shawn: I think it's just people in general.  My career in the fire service being very people oriented and then being in the bakery, which is very people oriented.  What gets me through the day is when I see a customer or I talk to a customer and they tell me what the sweet shop means to 'em.

When you see a social media post, You know, somebody posts a picture of something that we made with their two year old and their two year old's eyes light up, or you walk in the lobby and those, those kids are just instantly drawn to that case and they throw their hands up there and they're just in awe.

 That's the inspiration for me to, to keep doing this and not give up. And.  I've really, really thought a lot you know, with the expansion and, and people have asked me said, Well, you know, if your, your business is doing great and you're, you're growing and you're building a new building, a lot of times that'll draw people that wanna buy you out.

And what would you do if someone came up and offered you three or $4 million for your business? You know, would you sell it? And I've really thought about that. And you know what? I wouldn't because it's not about the. Um, You know, it's, it, it's more than that and and it means more to our community than, than just an income for me.

So I don't think I would, and I just keep asking myself, what is the end game? You know? And I, I think for me, the end game is to create a place where we as people can come together as people with different views and still love each other and talk to each other and, and kind of step back in time to when things were much more.

And I've told my wife, you know, I've, I've talked about not even putting the internet in our new location so that people can't get on their phones and they can't get on their devices and they actually have to talk to each other. And You know, because I think, I think a lot of that is what we're missing in the world today.

We're missing that people interaction and that people connection of, you know what, we're all drawn together by this sugary goodness. Let's just be happy and enjoy each other.

Amelia: I love that. So where can our listeners find you and all of these exciting things that you have going on?

Shawn: We're very active on social media Albemarle Sweetshop. And of course, you know, most people that aren't from here have trouble with Albemarle.  Make sure you look the spelling up and don't put that R in there that a lot of people tend to throw into Albemarle

But Albemarle Sweetshop, we're on Instagram. We're very, very active there. We're very active on Facebook.  We do have a website. It's not as, as updated and, and monitored as our social media is cause I just don't have the time to do 'em all.

The great thing I tell people about the business that we're in is it's a very visual business, and I'm very blessed with being able to post pictures and just get your taste buds going when you see that picture and create that desire for you to come by and visit us.

And I, and I enjoy doing that. It's, it's nice to be able to kind of share what we do with people. As far as our physical location, we're located in downtown Albemarle. For, for many of your listeners that may be in the Charlotte area, you know, we're that little place that's kind of northeast of Charlotte.

We're, we're starting to find our own, though. People are starting to figure out that that Albemarle and Stanly County are the place to go.  Albemarle still has that, that small town charm. , , everybody knows everybody. This, that I think a lot of the Charlotte region has lost.

We are experiencing a lot of growth in our city. Again, I think people have finally figured out where we are and what we are.  I hope that our city and, and our county are gonna work really hard to ensure that our growth is managed well and that we don't become, we don't lose what we are.

But we're located in downtown Albemarle and King Avenue. And King Avenue is a little one way street across the street . We'll be here probably till next spring. So the spring of 2023, and we'll be in our new building that's a couple blocks south down the street. That's exciting. Yeah, so it's you'll be able to find us a lot easier cause we're right beside the post office when we move

Amelia: You know, you were talking about taking the pictures and being able to share your product that way. Imagine a hundred years ago when the Sweet Shop first started, you know, there certainly was, was no Instagram and TikTok and Facebook  it's definitely night and day of, of how it's progressed over, over time of sharing that
product.

Shawn: It is. And, and you know, one of the things that, that our customers really want us to do is start shipping cause we don't ship. And you know, so that's a whole nother avenue that we're planning in the future to branch into because a lot of people grew up here and have moved away. So they grew up on the taste of the sweet shop and have since moved away.

And, and they really want to get that and  so hopefully that'll be coming one day. And I think, you know, I think that the TikTok and the Instagram and the Facebook of, of 50 and 60 years ago was the smell of the bread baking downtown. Mm-hmm. , you know, you're right. People would, the people would smell it and knew that they needed to go to the bakery and get some, some sweets.

Amelia: And I'll make sure that I link to all of those social accounts and your website and provide your address and everything on the the notes of the episode of this at voices of inspiration podcast.com. I always like to ask this question at the end of every interview. If there was a quote or words of wisdom for individuals that might be in your shoes what, what would you leave our listeners today?

Shawn: Being able to, to look back over my life and, and see things that have happened and and learn from 'em. I, I think one was, you know, one of our, our sermons at church several years ago, the pastor talked about that each one of us have 60 to influence around us.

You know, of course with the world we're in today in social media and that it is much greater, but as far as us physically, we can influence six feet. So I, I try very hard to make sure that the six feet around me remains positive. The, the interactions that take place within that six feet are good interactions.

Because one thing I, I've learned over time, and it has really amazed me, is how sometimes the smallest interaction with another person makes the hugest impact on them.  Through my time in the fire service, we dealt with people in the worst of their times. And we were kind of used to it because  we see it day in and day out, but they don't,  to have somebody come up to you five or 10 years later, or even a, a coworker five or 10 years later and say, Hey, Chief, I remember you told me this on this day and it stuck with me and it really changed the direction of my life.

Just knowing that, that when you interact with somebody, you never know the impact that interaction is gonna have. And it doesn't have to be anything major. It could be,  just holding a door and saying Good morning.

That interaction could be a pivotal point in their day.  Just try to make sure every time you interact with somebody, make sure it's a, a good, positive interaction. I think when you're younger, it's very important and, and a lot of people don't do, It's to think about the long term consequences of what you're doing.

Especially in the world of social media. I know a lot of people when they're younger don't have an idea where they're gonna go in. And they may do things when they're younger that come back to haunt 'em later. You know, so I think it's real important to, to think about things before you do 'em.

And don't just jump on a whim and, and realize that you know, the good Lord will, you are gonna become old one day you know, and you, and you want to have a good place in the world to you know, to be able to do that. I think protecting your name, your word and trust are huge. You've been given a name by generations before you that you really need to protect and you need to really guard because that name means a lot.

Your word. Too often in the world today, words don't mean anything to people. They're just words.  I don't live that way.  If I tell you I'm gonna be somewhere or I'm gonna do something, or I'm gonna be there to help you, I ensure that I do that. I think what that does is that builds a very strong foundation for you as a person so that you've got a strong foundation when you put the walls of your life up.

And that when people need something, they know they can count on you and they can come. Um, Again, trust. Don't ever betray somebody's trust.  I had to learn that, especially being a fire chief and dealing with personnel issues everybody in the fire department knew when I shut my door, that conversation stayed between us and it stayed between us.

There wasn't a, you know, Hey,  Amelia now I know something, but you gotta, you can't tell anybody, and I'm gonna tell you no. You you don't do that. And because that's very important as human beings, that we have that and we have those people that we can trust. I think lastly that's very important, and I think it's lost a lot, I know in the fire service, but also in, in families, is eating together.

You know, having a meal together every day is so important. You know, our family, even with a, a. Kids that are grown they still live with us. We know that supper is at six o'clock at night and we better have our rear ends at home and we better be, you know, sitting down to eat the meal with no devices, no TVs and interact with each other.

And watching that in the fire service, you know, the meal times through my 30 year career or some of the greatest times when we kind of let our guard down and, and we were there to take care of each other. So I. You know, as a, as you can go back to biblical times, breaking bread together is so important and we need to get back to that.

We need to get back to the, the family meal and and making sure that, that we come together and that we get off our devices and that we pay attention to each other.

Amelia: I love that. I, I love that two of my children have moved on. They're adults. They don't live home anymore. But when they do visit well, we sit down as a family every night.

It's very important to me. And I'm a southern as can be, and that's one thing that's very, very important to me. But my son, when he came home from college for a visit a couple of years ago, just on a random. He said, Oh, at school we started doing highs and lows. And so now when he comes to visit, especially we do this where everyone at the table goes around and tells what was their high of the day and what was their low of the day.

And it gets a lot of conversation going. I think dinner and together is extremely important, and I don't care how how old they get that's gonna happen when they're home. .

Shawn: There's just nothing better than having a good meal together. And I agree, you know, the high and low thing is an awesome idea.

I've always been told,  when you have conversations, especially at the supper table, you always ask open ended questions. There's no yes, there's no, no, no answers. And let's, let's engage each other. Let's find out. And I think that's where in the world today, we're kind of missing out.

We get so focused in our devices and our electronics. Things that are outside of our, our direct influence, if you would, that we, we tend to forget about what is in our direct influence and. I tell you, nothing great. Nothing. Grapes my nerves worse than to be sitting in a conversation with somebody and their phone dings and they stop and they start texting somebody.

Well, they're talking to me, , like, I'm right here in front of you. Pay attention to me, . We need to get back to that in the world. And I think that would go a long way towards mending some of the issues that we're dealing with.

Amelia: I agree, and I think you also made a good point in regards to social media and young people , not really realizing what they're doing with, with social media sometimes, and being really careful.

That's been one of my biggest things with my children growing up in this, this age of social media is, you know, don't, I actually had this conversation with someone earlier today about this. Being careful what you put out there.  I've told my children as since they were young, people around you always have a phone in their hand.

Do not do things that you are, would be uncomfortable with other people seeing or other people hearing,  Or you wouldn't want your grandparents to see it  because there's always social media around,.

It's their futures. You know, it, it does. We've seen kids over time, you see on the news all the time, they get scholarships taken away. It, it affects careers down the road. You don't know what you want to be when you're 16 years old forever. And then 20 years from now, these things on social media can be brought back up and I don't think the kids are really understand that yet.

Shawn: Well, and it's not just kids. I'll tell you as a, as a fire chief for 10 years, and now as a business owner, when you apply for a job, the first thing I do is Google your name and I go to social media and I have, I have just been amazed and appalled at some of the things that I've seen that people post because to as, as a business owner, when I'm looking at.

people tend to let their guard down when they're on social media and show their true selves.  When I go to a social media page and, and things are not positive and things are not the kind of people that, that I want to be associated with as the businesses. I mean, you, you don't even get a chance.

It's very important. And, and I always told everybody, , when I was the fire chief, the importance of realizing that from the time you step foot out your door until you step back in your door at home, you were on. And you need to make sure that every behavior that you have, just like you said is something that you're, and I always use the city manager, the pastor, and your grandmother.

If the three of them are okay with the behavior that you're doing, then you're probably doing the right thing, right? But if they're not, don't do it because the, the odds of you being caught on video are just incredible in the world today. And, and it's it's so important that. Again, make sure that you behave in a way that is gonna reflect your name and who you are.

And not cause you problems down the road.

Amelia: You're absolutely right. I think that your story is so inspiring and incredible. I can't wait to visit the Sweet Shop.  I really appreciate your time today. I know that it's getting busy with Thanksgiving a couple of weeks away, so thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me and sharing your story.

I'm sure that it's going to inspire many others to really. The leap of faith for maybe a, a business that they feel passionate about.

Shawn: Well, Amelia, thank you for your time.  I guess the parting words that I would like  to say to everybody is don't be afraid to take chances in life. , I always told people that the first time you mess up, it's a learning opportunity.

It's not a mistake. The second time, it's a. Don't be afraid of learning opportunities in your life.  And go for it. Life is too short to look back when you do become older and go, Wow, I wish I would've done that, or, I wish I would've done this. , don't be afraid  to set goals for yourself, , and go after those goals.

The only thing standing between you and achieving that goal as yourself. So make absolutely sure that you're not afraid to  take calculated risks and, and go. 

Amelia: Thank you. Tower listeners. There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts out there, and I am so grateful. You've chosen to be with me today. My name is Amelia and I'm the host of Voices of Inspiration. Everyone has a story to tell what's yours?