192: Stef and I Answer Your Questions (Marriage, Social Life, Parenting & More)

Stef joins me again to talk about marriage, faith, family, community, and the season we’re currently walking through. We unpack how following Christ has changed our relationship, what we’re learning about love and respect, why we’re craving deeper community, our desire to move back to Tennessee, and learning to fear God over people. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 00:50 US Open Tennis Obsession 04:10 Kids, Cookies & Family Routines 06:56 The Sweet Treat Debate 11:16 How Faith Changed Our Marriage 17:51 Love Languages, Love & Respect 24:49 Our Current Social Life in Texas 30:19 Why We’re Craving Real Community 31:38 The Tradeoffs of This Season 33:25 Brotherhood, Friendship & Accountability 37:09 Why We’re Moving Back to Tennessee 40:09 Our Favorite Memories Together 50:56 Our BPN Supplement Staples 56:19 Fearing God Instead of People 01:03:58 Closing JOIN THE APP AND GET READY FOR UPDATES https://www.nickbarefitness.app/ ORDER MY BOOK HERE: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Go-One-More-Intentional-Life-Changing/dp/1637746210 https://www.amazon.com/Go-One-More-Intentional-Life-Changing/dp/1637746210 FOLLOW: Become a BPN member FOR FREE - Unlock 25% off FOR LIFE ⁠ https://www.bareperformancenutrition.com/collections/performance-nutrition IG:⁠instagram.com/nickbarefitness/⁠ instagram.com/nickbarefitness/ YT: ⁠youtube.com/@nickbarefitness This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal [health or profession] advice. Bare Performance Nutrition (BPN) is not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice. This podcast may not be republished without the written consent of Bare Performance Nutrition (BPN)

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:05Nick Bare?

  Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today, returning guest, my wife, Steph Bear.

• 0:15Speaker 01

  Hello.

• 0:17Nick Bare?

  Caviar cowboy, that's what your hat says.

• 0:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:19Nick Bare?

  You have good taste. What does that mean?

• 0:22Speaker 01

  You know, everyone always asks me when I have this hat on, and it's just a brand.

• 0:27Nick Bare?

  Cause it's typically cowboy caviar, right? The dip that you make.

• 0:32Speaker 01

  What does it say?

• 0:33Nick Bare?

  Caviar cowboy.

• 0:34Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. No, it's just a brand, fun little brand. Their hats are great.

• 0:38Nick Bare?

  You have good taste.

• 0:40Speaker 01

  Good structure, right amount of trucker, snapback.

• 0:45Nick Bare?

  All right. I like it.

• 0:47Speaker 01

  Thank you. Thanks for having me back.

• 0:50Nick Bare?

  Thank you for making the time.

• 0:53Nick Bare?

  All right, first thing I want to talk about, US Open. Tell me about it.

• 0:58Nick Bare?

  You didn't see that one coming. Didn't add that one to the notes that I shared with you.

• 1:02Speaker 01

  I am in the world of the US Open.

• 1:06Nick Bare?

  Oh, I know. I know. I've been going to bed alone lately.

• 1:08Speaker 01

  Last night, I feel, last night, I was like, maybe this is what it feels like in a marriage when the man loves sports and the wife just wants attention.

• 1:18Nick Bare?

  Yeah, we had a little tiff last night.

• 1:20Speaker 01

  A reverse.

• 1:21Nick Bare?

  Cause I was laying in bed, waiting to go to bed with my wife, and you're out on the couch watching tennis.

• 1:26Speaker 01

  Yeah. I, I can't explain the obsession. You gotta admit though, you sat for a little bit yesterday.

• 1:34Nick Bare?

  I mean, that girl is a tank.

• 1:36Speaker 01

  Which one? Arena?

• 1:38Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 1:38Speaker 01

  Sabalinka. Yeah.

• 1:40Nick Bare?

  Animal.

• 1:40Speaker 01

  It was just good timing, cause I've been sick. So I've been on the couch a lot and I just, it just so happened to be on. And this just so happened to be the first year that I am a tennis player. And man, it is addicting. Like I, I love sports.

• 2:02Speaker 01

  I do. I love watching sports.

• 2:05Nick Bare?

  That makes one of us.

• 2:06Speaker 01

  It does, but someone's gotta do it. But I mean, I just, I love a cultural moment where everyone can come together.

• 2:14Speaker 01

  I love the stories of each players, their, their personalities, and then the tennis is just so high level, you cannot even comprehend it. It is so fun to watch. And I've learned a lot about, because the scoring of tennis is very complicated as a beginner like myself. And it's really taught me a lot. So I am ready to get back on the court. It's been two and a half weeks.

• 2:35Nick Bare?

  You, you're playing today, right?

• 2:37Speaker 01

  I'm gonna go and support my friends. We'll see. Might throw a few serves. I'll take it easy.

• 2:43Nick Bare?

  Steph is recovering from pneumonia.

• 2:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:46Nick Bare?

  Right now.

• 2:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:48Nick Bare?

  We had a crazy month of travel in August. We all got sick.

• 2:51Speaker 01

  And then pneumonia. Yeah.

• 2:53Nick Bare?

  So we're all, we're, the whole family's in recovery right now. I don't like regular season sports. But I have a growing appreciation for the US Open, World Cup.

• 3:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:06Nick Bare?

  Masters, Kentucky Derby. Never watched it, but I wanna go.

• 3:11Speaker 01

  And you, what are you talking about the Masters? You didn't watch the Masters this year.

• 3:14Nick Bare?

  I didn't watch the Masters, but I have an appreciation for the Masters.

• 3:16Speaker 01

  Cause they're moments.

• 3:17Nick Bare?

  I would like to be there.

• 3:18Speaker 01

  Yes. Yeah. And next year, we're going to the US Open.

• 3:21Nick Bare?

  Yes.

• 3:23Speaker 01

  We have to.

• 3:24Nick Bare?

  I, I find interest in like these, these celebrations of the elite, of the elite throwing down.

• 3:32Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:33Nick Bare?

  At the best of the best.

• 3:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:34Nick Bare?

  But I don't, I don't find interest in regular season stuff.

• 3:38Speaker 01

  No, I, I get that. Like football is on every week. It's kinda anticlimactic until the end. But when you have like tournament style events, like, you know, the US Open, it is exciting. It is so exciting. I can see why people gamble.

• 3:54Nick Bare?

  Maybe you should get into, uh, sport betting.

• 3:57Speaker 01

  No, no, no, no. I just, I love it. I love it. I just, and last night.

• 4:00Nick Bare?

  That could be your new hobby. That could, that, maybe that's your, your gift.

• 4:05Speaker 01

  Sport betting?

• 4:06Nick Bare?

  Sport betting.

• 4:07Speaker 01

  Nah, doesn't sound like a very holy habit. Um, but what's cool though, that I've noticed is like, our kids are excited about whatever we're excited about. So now it's like, I guess, you know, when I was like showing you like the, like stance they all do when they're waiting to return.

• 4:24Nick Bare?

  Yep.

• 4:24Speaker 01

  Then like Nico was doing it. The kids are sitting on the couch with me and they just get excited because number one, they're just able to stay up late. But it's just cute how they enter whatever world you're in.

• 4:35Nick Bare?

  They were probably waiting for cookies too.

• 4:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:38Nick Bare?

  Cause there's a routine of when you guys watch shows or TV on the couch, there are cookies associated with it.

• 4:43Speaker 01

  Dancing with the Stars starts next week.

• 4:45Nick Bare?

  Training dogs.

• 4:46Speaker 01

  We gotta get you on Dancing with the Stars.

• 4:49Nick Bare?

  Like actually dancing.

• 4:50Speaker 01

  I would lose my mind. I would move the whole family to Los Angeles.

• 4:57Nick Bare?

  That can be great for the brand. If anyone watching or listening to this episode or now has a connection to Dancing with the Stars.

• 5:05Speaker 01

  I don't know if you've reached that level of startup. Although there's a lot of people I don't know on this, this season.

• 5:11Nick Bare?

  If anyone has the pull or connection.

• 5:13Speaker 01

  Oh my God.

• 5:14Nick Bare?

  I'm not saying I'm a star, but I'm just a guy who wants to be a performer.

• 5:20Speaker 01

  I think they should do a Dancing with the Influencers season. Then you would be.

• 5:25Nick Bare?

  I don't, I'm not an influencer.

• 5:26Speaker 01

  Okay, but like you are.

• 5:28Nick Bare?

  Dancing with the Entrepreneurs.

• 5:30Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 5:30Nick Bare?

  How about that?

• 5:31Speaker 01

  Oh, but man, I would put you with, I put you with Emma, cause she's goofy. She's always with like the fat guys.

• 5:41Nick Bare?

  That's one of the most offensive things you've ever said to me.

• 5:44Speaker 01

  No, because.

• 5:45Nick Bare?

  One of the most.

• 5:46Speaker 01

  Because you need someone that will make it fun and they don't care about winning. Because I just don't think you'd be that gifted. I'm just gonna stop.

• 5:55Nick Bare?

  That comment right there is in line of what you told me before my birthday. Before my birthday, Steph made a plan to, to take the family to Florida. We went back to seaside and she said, we'll celebrate you and Nico's birthday in Florida.

• 6:12Speaker 01

  I didn't say that.

• 6:12Nick Bare?

  Because both you and Nico don't have friends.

• 6:15Speaker 01

  No, I said Nico doesn't have friends yet. I said, I did not say you. I did not say you. You told that story to a lot of people and I'm just letting it go. I did not say that. I rebuke that.

• 6:27Nick Bare?

  So now I'm fat and friendless.

• 6:31Nick Bare?

  Beautiful.

• 6:32Speaker 01

  Anywho, US Open, what a time. Finals are this weekend. So I need you to put the kids, you know, take on bath and bedtime.

• 6:43Nick Bare?

  Fine.

• 6:46Nick Bare?

  All right.

• 6:46Speaker 01

  Anyhow, anyway.

• 6:48Nick Bare?

  That was our, our opener. No pun intended.

• 6:52Speaker 01

  True.

• 6:53Nick Bare?

  The opener with the US Open.

• 6:56Nick Bare?

  And now we're moving into some question and answers. We opened up on Instagram yesterday. Some great questions, actually. Some different questions.

• 7:07Nick Bare?

  Let's actually start with another icebreaker before we get into some meteor topics.

• 7:12Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 7:14Nick Bare?

  Your favorite sweet treat.

• 7:16Speaker 01

  I was thinking about this last night, actually. I was thinking, I think they, ah, here we go, talking about the US Open again. They asked, or you know, like, what do you do to prepare for the final? Like, do you have any routines? And she says she goes to this like restaurant or something. I don't know. And I was thinking like, if I just won the US Open, like what would I want to celebrate?

• 7:38Nick Bare?

  I can tell you exactly what I'd want, but go ahead.

• 7:40Speaker 01

  Well, you go first.

• 7:41Nick Bare?

  No, you go first.

• 7:42Speaker 01

  Okay. What I would want, if we're talking like a sweet treat, I would just want like a skillet cookie with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream on top. That's what I want. I just, I love a chocolate chip cookie, a simple, gotta have a little sea salt on there, but it's something about skillet cookie that you can just like share with people. And it's like so warm in the skillet. That's what I would want. That's how I would celebrate.

• 8:07Nick Bare?

  I would actually celebrate with something not sweet, but I will then get into my sweet treat.

• 8:11Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 8:12Nick Bare?

  I would celebrate the US Open, if I won, with, I'd, I'd want someone to take a, a big bone in ribeye steak. Multiple of them, like three of them, and then cook them over an oak flame.

• 8:33Nick Bare?

  But I'd want them to cut them where it's just the bone and like an inch and a half of meat off the bone. And I'd wanna eat them like chicken wings.

• 8:41Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 8:42Nick Bare?

  Like the meat off the bone, like multiple of them.

• 8:45Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 8:46Nick Bare?

  What, what's the drink at the US Open again?

• 8:48Speaker 01

  Honeydew. So it's like, they spell it like dew, like deuce. So it's cute. And the little honeydew, they're like little honeydew melon balls up like tennis balls.

• 8:56Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 8:57Speaker 01

  In the drink. I don't know what the liquor is though.

• 8:59Nick Bare?

  The drink of the US Open.

• 9:00Speaker 01

  Maybe we should make them this weekend.

• 9:02Nick Bare?

  Maybe we should.

• 9:04Speaker 01

  Maybe we won't.

• 9:07Nick Bare?

  My favorite sweet treat. So I, I, I'm not a huge sweet person, as you know.

• 9:12Speaker 01

  You're not.

• 9:12Nick Bare?

  Like my morning protein shake is sweet enough for me to curb that craving.

• 9:18Speaker 01

  Or fags.

• 9:20Nick Bare?

  Or, oh, dried fags. Yeah.

• 9:21Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:21Nick Bare?

  That's, that's like perfect sweet for me. You know, like at night when I eat my, my Greek yogurt, I put cacao nibs on it.

• 9:29Speaker 01

  Ew, you're plain sour, sour cream with.

• 9:32Nick Bare?

  Plain Greek yogurt with cacao nibs. But there are two desserts that I, I enjoy that we get when we go to dinner.

• 9:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:41Nick Bare?

  One, the sticky toffee date pudding from Peacock.

• 9:45Speaker 01

  Goated.

• 9:46Nick Bare?

  Mediterranean restaurant in the proper hotel in Austin, Texas. That comes in a skillet. That's incredible.

• 9:52Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 9:54Nick Bare?

  Whenever you and I go for date night there, we, we finish that off.

• 9:56Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I think the first time we went, he was like, they push that on you. Like they push that dessert on you. They're like, people come here just for this. Or they come and get takeout just for this. Although I feel like it would not be good takeout.

• 10:10Nick Bare?

  It's got like a gold flake on top.

• 10:12Speaker 01

  So good.

• 10:13Nick Bare?

  I don't know what it is.

• 10:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:15Nick Bare?

  And the second sweet treat is the milk and cereal dessert from Uchiko.

• 10:22Speaker 01

  Yeah. Really good. Really unique.

• 10:25Nick Bare?

  Yeah. So those are, if, if I needed or wanted a sweet treat, that's what I'd, I'd be pulled to.

• 10:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:35Nick Bare?

  But on a daily, something with chocolate protein powder, dried fags, some honey, the cow nibs, that's, that's enough for me.

• 10:45Speaker 01

  Yeah. I find myself when I, when I don't have sweets, I don't care about them. I don't crave them. But as Dancing with the Stars season is approaching, I promised Charlie a cookie every time we watch it. That's when I'm like, I want a cookie, you know?

• 11:00Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 11:00Speaker 01

  And it's very, very true. If you eliminate sweet treats, you just don't really care about them.

• 11:05Nick Bare?

  So if you make your diet boring, it's easier to stick to your diet.

• 11:10Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 11:12Nick Bare?

  All right, let's, let's dive into some of these questions.

• 11:14Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 11:16Nick Bare?

  Uh, question number one. How has your family and marriage changed since committing your life to following Christ?

• 11:26Nick Bare?

  I'll let you dive in first.

• 11:27Speaker 01

  Okay. It's completely changed. I would say that it's a, it changed everything. It's a different marriage, completely. It's, it actually stands on something and stands for something. I look back at our marriage before we were committed to Christ together. And it just seems like silly to me. It doesn't even, it seems like, I, I don't even know. It's very hard to express like in words. It's just a feeling, but I can't even remember what it feels like to not have Christ at the center and be our foundation.

• 12:09Speaker 01

  I'm just even confused. I'm confused what our marriage was even built on before. I, I know that's not articulated in the best way, but it really is just like a feeling in my heart. Um, but it's completely different. I feel like we have reached a different level of team and unity. And I think it's in Genesis right off the bat. He talks about being one flesh. And that is what, that's what happened to us. Like we have the same convictions. We have this, we live by the same truth, same standard. We believe in the same things and what we, we might've. It's like it, it just, it's confident.

• 12:53Speaker 01

  If that makes sense, it's, it's very confidence building in marriage.

• 12:57Nick Bare?

  It's built on a unified rock as opposed to, I think before, like you had your morals, beliefs and values. I had my morals, beliefs and values. They, they weren't one.

• 13:11Speaker 01

  Right.

• 13:11Nick Bare?

  We weren't unified. And we were truly living for the world.

• 13:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:20Nick Bare?

  Like what the world said we should chase and strive for. We were pursuing those things. We were building a life that the world and society said was a good life.

• 13:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:32Nick Bare?

  And like some of the things I wrote down as notes for this, this question. There's now a, a different level of peace, joy and satisfaction that we didn't have before. And there's just this acknowledgement that there's, there's a lot of pride. I had a lot of pride at least. And I think we had a lot of pride in our marriage before being unified and following Christ, that we could do it all on our own. And when you finally realize you can't do it all on your own and you have to surrender, which every day you have to surrender. It's like, that's the hardest part of, of this entire journey.

• 14:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 14:17Nick Bare?

  And being a Christian, it's waking up every single day, surrendering, dying to yourself, picking up your cross and following Jesus Christ. Like you have to make that decision every single day and it's really hard, especially when the world is trying to pull us in a million different directions. And I saw this post on Instagram a few days ago. And it was this clip of this guy running. And the caption said, running is my savior. Like running has saved me. And

• 14:52Speaker 01

  Running has saved me.

• 14:54Nick Bare?

  I thought about this for a while because I, at one point in my life, would have said that.

• 14:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:01Nick Bare?

  Running and fitness for me now, it's an outlet, but it's not my savior. And I think we only can have one savior and that is Jesus Christ. And now that both you and I believe that and live for that, it has shaped the way we view marriage, the way we view relationships, the way we view, uh, challenge and difficulties and hardships that we're trying to navigate.

• 15:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:38Nick Bare?

  Um, it's, it's given us a, when we are going through something hard, let's go back to what we are rooted in.

• 15:48Speaker 01

  Get to the blueprint. Yeah.

• 15:50Nick Bare?

  And ask for the guidance and advice and trust of God to help us through this challenging time.

• 15:58Speaker 01

  Yeah. It's the, I don't want to say the third party we needed, but it is. Another thing too, I'm thinking about a lot because I'm reading this book right now called Love and Respect. Do not know the author. My friend Kinsey recommended it. It's a marriage book with Christian foundation. It is so good and it is so applicable to I think every marriage, but especially ours. I feel like, um, and it's based on Ephesians. And it talks about how there's tons of stuff in the Bible that can be, I don't want to say taken out of context, but it's not written about marriage,

• 16:38Speaker 01

  but we can use it and look at it through a marriage lens, which is fine. We're doing it correctly. But Ephesians really lays it out and it, you know, it says, men are called to love their women as Christ loves the church. And women are called to respect their husbands and submit to their husbands. And that is like very boldly placed in the Bible about marriage. And that's what this whole book is about. And the whole concept is at the root of any marital problem, no matter what it's about, it pretty much always comes down to

• 17:21Speaker 01

  the man not either, the man not feeling respected or the woman not feeling loved. And that really resonated with me a lot. And, um, I feel like it's really just having Christ at the center of our marriage has really let me dive into that. And that is now like a foundation, like that scripture, Ephesians 5, whatever it is, is now really in my head a lot, like, because I know that's what you need. That's what God calls me to do as a wife.

• 17:51Nick Bare?

  Let's hang out there for a little bit because that kind of begins to answer another question that someone submitted was, what lifestyle differences have you had to navigate that have caused conflict in your marriage? And I think this is something we talk about frequently actually is, what's that, uh, that book about the love languages?

• 18:20Speaker 01

  It's called The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Yep.

• 18:23Nick Bare?

  Five Love Languages. And you know, like for me, before we got engaged and got married, I just assumed that everyone received and gave or shown love in the same way.

• 18:39Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:40Nick Bare?

  And you know, when we get into conflict, if we boil it down, it is to what you just said.

• 18:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:49Nick Bare?

  Like you want, as the woman want love.

• 18:51Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 18:52Nick Bare?

  I as the man in the relationship want respect.

• 18:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:56Nick Bare?

  And that's what all of our conflict always boils down to.

• 19:01Speaker 01

  Yes. I don't want to seem like I don't respect you, but it's like even little tiny things.

• 19:06Nick Bare?

  It's tiny things.

• 19:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, like little tiny things. It can be boiled down to like that overarching theme for sure.

• 19:14Nick Bare?

  Do you have any examples?

• 19:18Speaker 01

  No, but

• 19:19Nick Bare?

  Like how would you want to be loved more?

• 19:23Speaker 01

  Okay. So I don't have an example, but you bringing up the love language, I feel like is good because in our marriage, I think it took us a while and the whole concept of love language is you, you have one yourself, right? Like you would say, I would say yours is, I don't know. Do you know yours?

• 19:41Nick Bare?

  And what are the five love languages?

• 19:43Speaker 01

  Acts of service, physical touch, quality time, gifts and words of affirmation.

• 19:51Nick Bare?

  Uh, probably words of affirmation and acts of service.

• 19:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's what I would say. So that's how you receive.

• 19:57Nick Bare?

  Yes.

• 19:57Speaker 01

  And, and when I show you love that way, you in, in turn, like innately, you feel respected.

• 20:02Nick Bare?

  Yes.

• 20:02Speaker 01

  Yeah. And so that's one side of it. But I feel like one side that we did not really understand until recently, we're still working through it, is you can't give love the way that you want, you want to feel it. Like you have to realize, okay, I feel super loved and respected when

• 20:26Speaker 01

  Steph is doing something of service to me. But she might not feel loved if I'm doing something of service to her because that's not her love language. And I think that's something that we really talked about a lot because you are a huge acts of service guy, huge acts of service guy. But in turn, like this morning, I thought about it. Here's an example. Perfect. You asked if you wanted me, if I wanted lunch today. He's like, can I make you lunch or bring it to BPN for after the podcast? And I was like, sure, thank you. Great. And I was getting ready and I was thinking, okay, Stephanie, sit here and remember, he is showing love to you right now, even though this doesn't feel like love to me at all. This is Nick's

• 21:06Speaker 01

  way. Is it the correct way? For me, no, but this is his natural way of showing love. So I made that little mental note and I gave myself a little pep talk because that is, but, but for me, like acts of service, you could unwash dishwasher, unload dishwashers all day and pack all the lunches, do all the things. And I wouldn't feel any more loved because I think my last, my last, besides gifts would probably be the last. But besides gifts, acts of service is probably the least way I feel loved. So I

• 21:43Nick Bare?

  It's unfortunate.

• 21:44Speaker 01

  All of this to say, it comes down to love and respect for sure. But the love language thing has, I think, completely changed marriage and the world. And it's like a household book and topic that's talked about now because it's so accurate.

• 22:00Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 22:01Speaker 01

  You know, like you have to, you can receive one way, but you have to give the way your partner receives it. You can't give the way that you like it to be received.

• 22:09Nick Bare?

  Yeah, here's an example. The other night, Steph does, she washes our sheets every Sunday. So it's Sunday evening. She was busy doing some stuff. I came in the bedroom. I saw that the bed wasn't made yet.

• 22:25Speaker 01

  I was sick.

• 22:26Nick Bare?

  Yeah, you were sick.

• 22:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:28Nick Bare?

  So I was like, all right, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do something really nice for now. I'm gonna make this bed. So I put the pillow sheets on the pillow or the pillowcases on the pillows. I put the scrunchie bed sheet down, then the loose bed sheet down, and I put the comforter on top. And I get in the bed. I'm reading a book. I wait for her to come in the room to see the bed made. And I'm like, oh, she's about to be so happy. And she goes, you made the bed? I said, yes, I did. And then you said, you did it wrong. I was like, oh.

• 23:10Speaker 01

  No, I just said, oh, you just don't do it tight. You don't make it tight.

• 23:14Nick Bare?

  So that was me showing you love in the way that I receive. And just like surrendering, I have to wake up every day. I have to die to myself. I have to realize that the way you receive love is not the way that I receive love. I have to take up my bed sheets and follow you. So that is what I am learning in marriage right now is

• 23:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:43Nick Bare?

  It's tough because we naturally want to show love in the way that we receive love.

• 23:47Speaker 01

  For sure. And I think for me, like my, the way I like to, the way I feel the most loved when probably a mix between words of affirmation and physical touch.

• 24:01Speaker 01

  So I think, but I, I don't really, I don't know.

• 24:06Nick Bare?

  I, I will say, back to the bed sheets. I put that up on Instagram on a story and I had so many people who messaged me saying, so many dads and husbands, that they can relate, that their wives make the bed so tight that their toenails hurt.

• 24:27Speaker 01

  Sounds like a toenail problem.

• 24:28Nick Bare?

  When I get in the bed, Sunday evening, those sheets are so tight, I try to kick with my feet to break the bed sheets away from the creases. It is, and my toes hurt.

• 24:41Speaker 01

  I love it.

• 24:42Nick Bare?

  The next morning. I go loose fitting bed sheet.

• 24:45Speaker 01

  I want to feel like a baby in a swaddle.

• 24:49Nick Bare?

  All right, moving on. What does your social life outside of work look like right now? And what do you want it to look like in the future?

• 25:02Nick Bare?

  So interestingly enough, this past Sunday, church service was all about community, doing life with other people. And one of the notes I wrote down, because typically what I do during service is there's like these envelopes in the back.

• 25:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, you waste valuable giving paper.

• 25:22Nick Bare?

  There's these envelopes.

• 25:23Speaker 01

  Sorry, celebrations.

• 25:24Nick Bare?

  And the, the back of the seat.

• 25:29Speaker 01

  The tithing envelopes, yeah.

• 25:30Nick Bare?

  The tithing envelopes. I take one of those envelopes and I grab a pen and I make notes on that of the service. And one of the things I wrote down was that isolation, living a life of isolation can make you wealthy. But in the process, it will also make you ill and sick.

• 25:54Nick Bare?

  Meaning that doing life with other people, community, is very important. And the older we get, we believe that more and more and more. That, yeah, you can do life by yourself, not even just you alone, but you and your family. But life is so much better when done with other people.

• 26:20Nick Bare?

  Ecclesiastes 4, 9 through 12, two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

• 26:53Speaker 01

  I love that.

• 26:54Nick Bare?

  Those three strands are two individuals and then Christ.

• 26:58Speaker 01

  Right.

• 27:00Nick Bare?

  So what does our social life outside of work look like right now?

• 27:05Speaker 01

  Well, I think it's different for you and different for me.

• 27:09Nick Bare?

  Well, let's talk about that.

• 27:10Speaker 01

  Yeah. I think, uh, I'm an extrovert, you're an introvert, which works. Um, but I recharge, I come to life, I spiritually, socially, everything, refuel from people. Like, I just love being around people. So this move to Texas has had a lot of hard seasons for me because I'm not from here. Um, we've made some really good friends. There's been lots of moving and all that. So it's, it's been tough. Cause like, growing up, like, I was just a friend's girl, a girl's girl, a family girl, just always around people. So

• 27:53Nick Bare?

  We have a few really good friends, but we don't have a, a big community.

• 27:58Speaker 01

  No, and I don't think that's needed.

• 27:59Nick Bare?

  And that's not needed.

• 28:00Speaker 01

  No, yeah. But I think, I think, uh, a social life and social relationships, just given our different responsibilities in life, have different, has a different weight for me than it does for you, especially in this past season. Like, I need it like it's air. You are better at pushing it to the back burner because you know, you have other heavier, loftier responsibilities, which I don't always agree with that order of, you know, moving things around. But I know it has to be done and you serve and protect and provide for our family. But for me, I always, it's, it's always a priority. I mean, even in seasons where I feel like we're really busy,

• 28:44Speaker 01

  like I just am always trying to make it a priority. And especially since we've had kids, because I want our kids to be around people. Um, so I feel like if I had to say how full my, like, social tank is, I would say mine's like, mine's pretty full most of the time. But I could always, I could always use more. Like, I love getting together with friends, talking with friends, going to get coffee. I need that. And I'm always the person that is like, over committing us, saying yes to everything, because I'm like a golden retriever that wants to go. Let's do it.

• 29:26Nick Bare?

  You would say your social tank is full right now?

• 29:28Speaker 01

  Um, I would say not as full as I would want it to be. I would say like 70%, 60%.

• 29:37Nick Bare?

  What do you, what do you want it to look like?

• 29:38Speaker 01

  It's been more full, but we're entering a season right now where it looks a little different.

• 29:43Nick Bare?

  What do you, what do you want it, like ideally, what would a week look like in terms of social interaction and gathering and community?

• 29:55Speaker 01

  I, I'm really excited to enter like the school phase of life for our kids. We just have a tiny glimpse of it right now, but not really. It's just church preschool, really. But I would love it to be a mix of

• 30:11Speaker 01

  I think neighbors are super important. I think if you can have neighbors that you can do life with, that's game changing. We don't have that. So that's been really, really tough.

• 30:24Speaker 01

  But I feel like a mix of like spontaneous neighbor socialization would be incredible. Like how we grew up in the 90s, right? Like, oh, so and so down the streets doing burgers or like, I'll feed the kids tonight or ice cream trucks down there. Like, let's all go down there and then play basketball in their driveway. Like, it just doesn't exist in our life like that. I wish we had that, truly.

• 30:49Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 30:49Speaker 01

  Truly, truly. Because I feel like that just so effortlessly fills up your social tank, just being around people like that, you know? And then a mix of just like you and I going out together and doing something like a double day every now and then. I love, like, I love going to like a concert or something like that. And then for me to also having that like solo time with girls, like Phoebe's my best friend here. Our, our girls are best friends and that's just been like the biggest blessing in my life, hands down. And it's just a very effortless friendship where I'm like, it can be last minute and we just get together. Like, that's, that's what I love and that's what I need.

• 31:28Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 31:30Speaker 01

  Not like the social status, we get invited to this and we go to this and we're making an appearance of this. It's like the effortless relationships, you know?

• 31:38Nick Bare?

  Yeah, yeah. Yep, my whole take on all of this. My social life outside of work right now is zero. I spend my time either working or with family and I say no to everything else. And I think there's seasons where that just has to be the thing. I work a lot. My brain is always on and firing, which is a blessing and a curse. And when I am not working,

• 32:16Nick Bare?

  I make it a very hard effort to be at home. I leave the office at an appropriate time every day. I'm home in the mornings, most mornings, unless we're filming something.

• 32:33Nick Bare?

  But I don't want it to always look like that. I, I view that as a season right now of, it's been a season for a long time now. And it's really all I know.

• 32:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't really know. I've never seen you be like, hey Steph, can I go do this with the guys? I don't think that's ever.

• 32:48Nick Bare?

  Yeah, I've, I've said, I said no to friendships a long time ago.

• 32:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 32:53Nick Bare?

  So that I could go all in on my work and building what has been built. And I do think that was a requirement to get us and this place to where it is today. I do firmly believe that. But I think that my life, our life requires change in this next season.

• 33:21Nick Bare?

  And what do I want the future to look like? I want our family to do life with other families.

• 33:29Nick Bare?

  I want spontaneous people coming to our house on a Tuesday night for dinner.

• 33:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:36Nick Bare?

  And just pure chaos. And I want brotherhood in this next chapter.

• 33:45Nick Bare?

  You know, Proverbs 27 17 is iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. I do believe that scripture is taken, taken out of context quite frequently.

• 33:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, we were just talking about that.

• 33:59Nick Bare?

  Like what that means to me, and I, I believe what scripture is intended to mean in this case, is that you need to have other people in your life that hold you accountable to keep you on the straight and narrow path. When you are doing something that you shouldn't be doing, or you are doing wrong, they correct you. It's not doing a hard workout with a brother who is telling you to push harder and do another rep. It is having someone who is not a yes man in your life, who is guiding you, you're doing life together, you sharpen one another to be better men, in my case, leaders, husbands, fathers, Christians.

• 34:46Nick Bare?

  And I just want brothers that I'm doing life with not to go golf, not to go on a hunting trip.

• 34:54Speaker 01

  What's wrong with those things?

• 34:55Nick Bare?

  I'm not, I'm, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those things, but not just to do that.

• 34:59Speaker 01

  Oh, okay.

• 35:00Nick Bare?

  I don't want to go golf with the boys and drink beers on a Saturday afternoon. I want to spend quality time with brothers, whether that's golfing or training or in a small group or whatever it is, like sharpening each other, doing life together.

• 35:20Speaker 01

  Meaningful.

• 35:20Nick Bare?

  So that we personally and professionally grow into the men that we are becoming. So I want our social life as a couple, individually, as a family, to look different than it does right now.

• 35:35Speaker 01

  I think a lot of people that are in our phase of life can, I think, relate to this because parenthood and early parenthood can be very isolating. You're adjusting to this new life, new schedules, new responsibilities, new fears, new anxieties, like it's, it's a really big transitional phase. And I think like years zero through three, four can be super lonely if, if you aren't around family or around those people in close proximity. Like when you are in young parenthood, proximity and convenience is everything when it comes to your relationships. Because it's a whole lot easier, you know, to pop in on a neighbor

• 36:20Speaker 01

  down the street or a friend down the street, rather than to like arrange a FaceTime call with someone states away. Because you just don't have that time when you're a parent.

• 36:29Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 36:29Speaker 01

  So I think being close in proximity and just the convenience factor is huge. But I think, again, where I'm really excited to go into the school years and sports and all that. And yeah, I think it's just very important to know that it takes work and it takes a lot of sometimes uncomfortable yeses or yeses that are like, don't really want to do this right now, but do I think it's gonna benefit me and my family? Then let's do it. Whether that means like less sleep, change of plans, you know, someone compromising if they're not in the mood. Like, I think you have to power through those things to bear the fruit.

• 37:07Nick Bare?

  Yeah. On that note, would you guys ever consider moving back to Tennessee?

• 37:17Speaker 01

  I would.

• 37:17Nick Bare?

  That's always, it's always been the plan.

• 37:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:23Nick Bare?

  You know, when we moved to Tennessee in 2023, we thought that was the move forever. And then plans change. The business.

• 37:36Speaker 01

  Needed you.

• 37:37Nick Bare?

  Needed me to come back to Texas. And we've now been back in Texas for.

• 37:42Speaker 01

  Two and a half years.

• 37:43Nick Bare?

  Two and a half years. It's crazy. I was just talking to someone about that the other day, how fast time goes.

• 37:49Speaker 01

  I remember when you sat me down and told me we had to come back. You're like, just give me a year. And I was like, I don't want any more timestamps on this life. Let's just go live our life.

• 37:59Nick Bare?

  Yeah. So the, the plan was, and has always been to get back to Tennessee.

• 38:04Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 38:04Nick Bare?

  At some point. But it was doing things differently this time around compared to the way we approached it in 2023.

• 38:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:13Nick Bare?

  And that just takes time.

• 38:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:15Nick Bare?

  To set it up properly, set the team up properly, do it in the right way. So over this last year, we have been building a house in Tennessee.

• 38:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:26Nick Bare?

  And we've been building it to be our long-term house. And we're working on that project right now. And, and the plan is that we, we move to Tennessee when that project is complete and our kids go to school in Tennessee. And, you know, that is our future and that's the plan and, and always has been. And we're putting those, those actions into,

• 38:55Nick Bare?

  into existence to, to make that come to life.

• 38:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think we're building a house, but we've also been building a life, like keeping relationships alive. And we have friends there and investing in those even from afar away. Like, yeah, I'm very excited. And yeah, I feel like the context of our last couple of questions will all make sense because we, we are going to be entering a new phase of life. And I feel like we are doing a really good job of aligning and setting up our life to really put all the things we just talked about that we want into fruition. And I feel like the Lord has really, you know, given us a long, windy route to get

• 39:40Speaker 01

  back there. But this timing just feels so ordained by God that it's, it's very peaceful. And I'm very excited. And go Walls, podcast producer Matt. It's Walls fan.

• 39:54Nick Bare?

  Oh, I know what you're talking about.

• 39:57Speaker 01

  What do you mean?

• 39:58Nick Bare?

  Walls.

• 39:59Speaker 01

  Go Walls.

• 40:00Nick Bare?

  Yeah, Tennessee.

• 40:01Speaker 01

  It's gonna be our team.

• 40:03Nick Bare?

  I mean, obviously not a big sports guy, so I had no clue what you were talking about.

• 40:07Speaker 01

  I'll help you.

• 40:09Nick Bare?

  All right. What is your favorite memory as a couple?

• 40:14Speaker 01

  Okay. I have one that's like.

• 40:20Speaker 01

  A bigger pattern of memories and then I have one really recently.

• 40:26Nick Bare?

  Share.

• 40:27Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 40:27Nick Bare?

  Share both.

• 40:28Speaker 01

  Well, I think, I think my favorite memory that we just keep building over time is going to the beach. Like, I love our time

• 40:39Speaker 01

  in thirty A so much that we, we carve out that time a couple of times each year. And we've done it dating, we've gone engaged, we've gone married, we've gone when we've been trying to have babies. We've gone when we've been pregnant, like we have gone through every season of life. And I can just like picture the different Airbnb's we've stayed in during those seasons and like the memories that we've had. And it's just, it's so happy because it's just a place that you and I both equally love. And there's been times where we both vacationed really hard and then there's been times where like we both like you've had to work. And it's just, it's been this place where we've revisited so many times as different versions of ourselves.

• 41:19Speaker 01

  But every trip just like fills up my cup and I just have the best memories there, like truly. So I, that's, that's my favorite, like, and I just love that it's a place that we go back to with our kids and our kids are involved now.

• 41:34Nick Bare?

  Yeah, that's, that's a really good observation.

• 41:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:37Nick Bare?

  I didn't think of it that way.

• 41:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's just something that even though we go to the same restaurants and now we go to the same house. I am equally just so stoked to go every single year. Like, I feel like my soul is at rest at the beach and I love it so much.

• 41:55Nick Bare?

  I do love it there.

• 41:56Speaker 01

  And then my most recent one, and this like, I don't want it to come off in a different way that I'm, I'll explain. So it would be, I don't think we've talked about this yet, but we went to Forest Frank concert about a month ago.

• 42:10Nick Bare?

  I'm not gonna lie, I thought you were gonna say the day that I plan your birthday.

• 42:16Speaker 01

  I love you, but no.

• 42:21Speaker 01

  That wasn't like a marriage thing, though.

• 42:23Nick Bare?

  No, but I thought I really redeemed myself.

• 42:25Speaker 01

  But what wasn't gifts and acts of service?

• 42:28Nick Bare?

  But it was just the intention.

• 42:29Speaker 01

  It was, it was, it was the best birthday I have ever had in my thirty four years of life.

• 42:33Nick Bare?

  Alright, I'm sorry.

• 42:34Speaker 01

  But not a marriage memory. Anywho, we went to the Forest Frank concert about a month ago and

• 42:44Speaker 01

  some things lined up and Forrest ended up working out with you here, um, earlier that day. And like we play his music all the time. I respect him immensely. I just think he's a great role model for this next up and coming generation. Just love what I know of the guy. So we were stoked about that. And, um, he was here, you guys had a really great day together, had some really great like life giving conversation. It sounds like just a good dude, good dudes hanging out. And then we took Charlie to the concert and we sat in our seats and we were just getting ready for the show to start. And he kind of does, if you guys know, like how Morgan Wallen does his like walkouts, like,

• 43:26Speaker 01

  you know, the whole place goes dark, the camera goes on Morgan, in this case, it was Forrest, like walking out of, I don't know, his dressing room, like going through backstage. And you can like see him walking, making his way to the stage and they're playing like some, what song was it? I know it.

• 43:41Nick Bare?

  Pump up music.

• 43:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's like a very sporty walkout song. And I saw it first, but he was wearing a BPN T-shirt. And he wasn't just wearing like the one you have on, he was wearing the most like bold, loud BPN T-shirt.

• 43:54Nick Bare?

  To go one more on the front and we fuel performance to the back.

• 43:57Speaker 01

  It is, it screamed BPN, okay? And I've seen all of the social media footage, Forrest only wears like solid T-shirts. He's never, ever worn a brand or made a statement with his clothing ever at one of his shows. And this isn't me like fangirling, but it's one of my favorite moments now because I very rarely get to see you be really excited and surprised by something. And have like genuine, in the moment emotion that I can just like see pouring into your eyes and you get flushed like that, just you're a very chill, consistent dude.

• 44:36Nick Bare?

  Yes.

• 44:37Speaker 01

  There's not a lot of highs, lows, like you do a very good job of just like staying at seventy degrees all the time. But in that moment though, when we saw that, and we're in a arena with what twenty five thousand people?

• 44:49Nick Bare?

  Something like that.

• 44:50Speaker 01

  I would say arguably one of the, he is the top Christian artist right now. And it's not the fact that he wore BPN T-shirt, like it is the fact that you spent the day with him and it, I don't know, I've just, I've seen you have your career highs and lows and emotions and how hard you work. And you were just such a good person and you're so hard on yourself. And for me, that was just a moment that was like, I just felt like you were seen and I could just tell like you felt super respected and just, I can't help but cry about this, but I don't know, it was just really cool because you were just really surprised and I could tell it like filled up your cup in a different way. Cause you're getting choked up right now.

• 45:33Speaker 01

  It was, it was so cool. Um, and it just feels like we've been so bold in our faith the last year on social media. Do you wanna cry?

• 45:46Speaker 01

  Put this in the trailer. Oh my gosh. We've been so bold in our faith and it's been so hard and we've had so many people tell us, y'all are gonna be holding your faith and life's gonna get way harder, like welcome to this world. And it's been very true, like it's been really hard. Um, so to just have, I don't know, it just felt like a God moment. He was like, keep going, guys, like, and it all just came from Forrest wearing a T-shirt, which is just silly, but like, it was just a really cool moment. And I was really proud of you and happy for you.

• 46:22Nick Bare?

  Well, thank you.

• 46:24Speaker 01

  I can't believe I made you cry.

• 46:26Nick Bare?

  Well, it did mean, it meant a lot to me.

• 46:31Nick Bare?

  Because I know

• 46:35Nick Bare?

  after spending time with him, what he

• 46:40Nick Bare?

  does with his work.

• 46:41Speaker 01

  The real deal.

• 46:44Nick Bare?

  And the message he shares that he is the real deal. And for someone to trust me enough to wear my brand T-shirt.

• 46:54Speaker 01

  Your name.

• 46:56Nick Bare?

  Yeah, like to put his name behind me and walk on stage with that shirt meant a lot.

• 47:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:05Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 47:06Speaker 01

  So now, see, and think, this just affirms, this is a great marriage development. It was just one of those moments where I was just so bursting with happiness and I was so proud of you. So that's my recent one.

• 47:22Nick Bare?

  Well, thank you.

• 47:22Speaker 01

  What's yours?

• 47:25Nick Bare?

  Helen got me.

• 47:27Speaker 01

  Dang it Forrest.

• 47:30Nick Bare?

  There's very few moments where I feel that much energy and surprise and excitement. And for it to be you, me and Charlie at that show and for Charlie to see that.

• 47:42Speaker 01

  In the season we're in right now. Yeah.

• 47:45Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 47:47Nick Bare?

  I mean, I did take that as

• 47:52Nick Bare?

  the way that I took that was Forrest spent the day here and God put on Forrest's heart do this to keep inspiring.

• 48:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:05Nick Bare?

  Nick to be.

• 48:06Speaker 01

  He needs this, yeah.

• 48:07Nick Bare?

  Strong in his faith.

• 48:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:11Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 48:11Speaker 01

  Okay, what's yours?

• 48:13Nick Bare?

  Okay.

• 48:14Speaker 01

  It's probably silly.

• 48:16Nick Bare?

  No, it's not really silly. Uh, it's when you first moved to Texas.

• 48:24Nick Bare?

  And.

• 48:25Speaker 01

  And you drove through the parking gate?

• 48:28Nick Bare?

  No, that's not it.

• 48:28Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 48:30Nick Bare?

  So

• 48:33Nick Bare?

  at this point in our life, we were not committed Christians.

• 48:36Speaker 01

  Now, if I could go back and change anything, don't live with your partner, y'all, until you get married.

• 48:41Nick Bare?

  We, we moved in together before we were even engaged. We were freshly dating, we rented a house together. You know, you live and you learn, but these are the decisions we made as centers when we were young and naive. Steph moved to Austin, we were renting a house together downtown Austin. And the day we moved into that house,

• 49:11Nick Bare?

  I remember we had all these boxes of all of our stuff. And it was March. Weather was beautiful, like perfect, our backyard was immaculate. We were half mile from the lake and, and downtown on the trail. And I just remember unpacking our house that day. And we ordered pizza and we had a bottle of wine and we were up to like three AM unpacking the house. And you just lose track of time. You don't care about what time it is, what you're doing. It was like time stood still. And that was like the mark of beginning the rest of our lives.

• 49:57Nick Bare?

  And before that, it was just us living our own lives separately. But that day was like the, the initiation of everything that led to getting engaged and getting married and having kids and the moves and the business and just like the complexities and craziness of life. But that moment where time literally stood still or eating pizza, drinking wine, breaking down boxes, like laughing and it was, that night was so much fun. That that's always a core memory for me.

• 50:28Nick Bare?

  Which was like the beginning of our life now.

• 50:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, that was, you know, sometimes you can't remember things from like a year ago, like I, that is, I remember that night like so equally. And yeah, that was, it was fun. It was just when life was like playful and fun and we had responsibilities, but nothing too serious.

• 50:48Nick Bare?

  Nothing like we have now.

• 50:49Speaker 01

  No.

• 50:50Nick Bare?

  It was like, it was such a different phase of life.

• 50:55Speaker 01

  But don't live with your partner until you're married, folks.

• 50:58Nick Bare?

  Yes.

• 51:00Nick Bare?

  A lot of people ask, what are your favorite BPN supplements? So if you had to choose like three or four?

• 51:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:08Nick Bare?

  What are your go-tos and why?

• 51:10Speaker 01

  Uh, okay. So I guess favorites would be how much, like, what I use the most, right?

• 51:17Nick Bare?

  Or like whatever you get the most benefit from?

• 51:19Speaker 01

  Protein powder, number one for sure. I love our isolate.

• 51:25Speaker 01

  It's just a very convenient, easy, delicious way to hit protein. Just convenience factor. I can't tell you the last day I have gone without a scoop, for sure. We got great vegan, great way isolate, great way concentrate. So good. My favorite flavor is vanilla. Our vanilla slaps. It reminds me of just like the perfect.

• 51:50Speaker 01

  I, I don't know. It goes in pancakes. When people ask me how our vanilla is, I'm like, it just goes in pancakes like so seamlessly. That's the only way I can describe it. It's just so good.

• 52:01Nick Bare?

  It's a caky vanilla.

• 52:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. It's so yummy.

• 52:04Nick Bare?

  I mean, our isolate too. So since we launched the isolate, Steph and I have both been using the isolate.

• 52:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:10Nick Bare?

  A whey protein isolate goes through additional filtration and processing to remove most of the lactose.

• 52:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:17Nick Bare?

  So it's much easier to digest, very easy on the stomach.

• 52:21Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:22Nick Bare?

  Our isolate is grass-fed. It is truly grass-fed verified. We source it from these small family farms in Ireland. That's how it has a truly grass-fed certification.

• 52:37Nick Bare?

  It is NSF certified for sport. So it goes through third-party testing. Showing that what we say is in this product is actually in this product. It's tested for banned and prohibited substances. It's naturally sweetened. Our whey protein isolate is, in my honest opinion, like the best of the best, the best you can get. So that is the protein source that you and I use on a regular basis.

• 53:01Speaker 01

  Yeah. In just the phase of life I'm in, like I don't have time sometimes in the morning to make a million eggs. Like it's just so convenient. So I use that every day. I love it. Also our whey concentrate. Am I saying that right?

• 53:12Nick Bare?

  Concentrate, yeah.

• 53:13Speaker 01

  Concentrate. Blends, bakes, mixes flawlessly. It is so good. If you want to bake with protein powder. Ours cannot be beat. And it's the casein, right? Like the level of casein.

• 53:26Nick Bare?

  Yeah, the, an isolate is just naturally leaner and a little thinner.

• 53:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:31Nick Bare?

  So a concentrate's better for baking. It's better for like protein oats.

• 53:36Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 53:37Nick Bare?

  It's better for overed oats.

• 53:38Speaker 01

  Consistency, yeah.

• 53:39Nick Bare?

  If you want like a thicker shake, it's gonna be better. It's better for sludge. An isolate is just very thin.

• 53:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:45Nick Bare?

  Because it is leaner.

• 53:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm using isolates in smoothies and in shakes mostly, for sure. Um, okay, that and then electrolytes. Just something that I take every single day, just to get me back up to my baseline, I feel like. Ours are delicious. Flavors are so good. That's just something that I, again, don't go a day without. Um, most days I'm taking like two servings, especially in the Texas summer. And creatine, I would say. Creatine's something that I've taken probably for

• 54:17Speaker 01

  three years now, through pregnancies, through nursing. Talked to your doctor, but I've done research and I feel good about taking it, and especially ours, because ours is from, derived from Creapure, right?

• 54:29Nick Bare?

  Yep.

• 54:30Speaker 01

  Um, the purest form you can get. And I've just seen major, major wins and improvements in my strength, my performance, body recomp ability. Uh, I, I just, I love it so much. And I just, I never had the water, the bloating, the hard time with ours, which I've had with other brands in the past. Ours just, I kind of like forget that I even take it. I just reap the benefits of it.

• 54:55Nick Bare?

  What I'm super excited about is the creatine chews.

• 54:58Speaker 01

  Oh, my gosh.

• 54:59Nick Bare?

  So right now we just have creatine in a powder.

• 55:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 55:03Nick Bare?

  Unflavored, raw ingredient, Creapure powder.

• 55:09Nick Bare?

  On our website, you can get it in thirty and sixty serving containers. On Amazon, you can get a hundred serving container.

• 55:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 55:17Nick Bare?

  Of Creapure, which is performing very well on Amazon right now. And then this fall, we are launching creatine chews. So we have a few bags at our house right now.

• 55:28Speaker 01

  It's very hard to not overconsume.

• 55:31Nick Bare?

  I, so I do a scoop, a heaping scoop of creatine in the morning. And I will do three creatine chews throughout the day. Cause three creatine chews is a serving to get five grams. So I'm doing

• 55:45Nick Bare?

  ten to fifteen grams probably a day at this point. But we're launching in three different flavors, peach, juicy watermelon and pink lemonade.

• 55:52Speaker 01

  I've only had, is it called juicy watermelon?

• 55:54Nick Bare?

  Juicy watermelon. We have the juicy watermelon at the house right now.

• 55:57Speaker 01

  It tastes like a, if y'all ever had like Now and Laters, like that's what it tastes like to me.

• 56:02Nick Bare?

  They're so good.

• 56:03Speaker 01

  Oh my goodness. Our kids love them too.

• 56:05Nick Bare?

  So good. I know.

• 56:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:07Nick Bare?

  Charlie always wants them.

• 56:08Speaker 01

  Yeah. So I would say those three, and there's a bunch more that I take, but those are my like top three. Greatest of all time. I take every day, no matter what, subs.

• 56:19Nick Bare?

  All right. The, the last thing I want to touch on.

• 56:23Nick Bare?

  It's more of a statement, but I just want to get your,

• 56:31Nick Bare?

  it's the way you think about this. It's a lot of fear. What does it mean to fear the Lord versus fearing man or people? Galatians one, ten. Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God?

• 56:51Nick Bare?

  Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. And the reason I put this on here and that I,

• 57:04Nick Bare?

  I wanted to talk about it personally, is because this is one of my personal struggles that I'm always battling.

• 57:15Nick Bare?

  I am a people pleaser. Uh, in my business,

• 57:23Nick Bare?

  online with my content, community.

• 57:28Nick Bare?

  It's really easy to be tempted by and

• 57:36Nick Bare?

  having a fear of man, of people, to try to win the approval of people. And every time I find myself going down this road,

• 57:49Nick Bare?

  where I'm being tempted, guided, I have a fear of man, fear of people. It pulls me further away from God. And it's this like constant

• 58:02Nick Bare?

  thing that I have to remember and reinforce and remind myself of, which is why it's so important, going back to uh, Proverbs twenty-seven seventeen, having a brother in my case, who is close to me, sharpening me, refining me. Because if we don't have a fear of the Lord, we have a fear of man. And that's where we start making decisions to try to win the approval of human beings.

• 58:29Speaker 01

  Which is not what we're called to do.

• 58:30Nick Bare?

  Which is not what we're called to do. So what's your take on, on all of that? Maybe I struggle more with that than.

• 58:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 58:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, but I also feel like you've taught me a lot about this though. We've had a lot of conversations about this. Cause we both read The All of God by Jon Bevire. And before I read that book, and that was one of the first books that I think, not one of the first books I read, but like as soon as I think we were aligned from a Christ standpoint, that was one of the first books I think we both kind of read.

• 59:03Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 59:04Speaker 01

  And I really didn't fully even understand. I'm like, what does this mean? Like, am I supposed to be scared of the Lord? Like what, I truly like back to the basics, did not understand the concept. And then this book, highly recommend, is beautifully written. It is very easy to understand. Yeah, it totally changes it. And it's, it's the, so the awe of God is kind of what he changed it to. Because I think when people say like fear the Lord, fear of the Lord, that can be a little confusing. Especially to someone maybe new.

• 59:40Nick Bare?

  It can, uh, it can turn you off.

• 59:43Speaker 01

  For sure. So Jon Bevire kind of, he hasn't replaced the word fear with awe, but he explains it in a different way. The awe of God. It's almost like the power, like.

• 59:54Nick Bare?

  Awesomeness.

• 59:55Speaker 01

  Yes. The goodness. And I think

• 1:00:01Speaker 01

  how I see it now is I have a fear of not being close to the Lord. That is what the fear of the Lord should be. Like you should be so afraid of not being close to Him. Even though He is so accessible, He's accessible all the time. But I am, it's, it's conviction. It's learning what conviction is. And so for me, it's like, at the end of every day, I look back and I'm like, what did I do today? What do I feel convicted about?

• 1:00:31Speaker 01

  What can I confess? What can I?

• 1:00:37Speaker 01

  Place my convictions in front of the Lord and just say, I'm sorry, like I will do better tomorrow. Because I'm scared of not being close to Him and

• 1:00:48Speaker 01

  being given the gift of eternal life, even though we all are when we're saved and we believe, you know, that He's our Lord and Savior. For me, it's just, I know I'm a better wife, mother, everything. When I'm in the Word, when it's very clear to me what is true and what is right versus what is wrong. It's giving me confidence. Again, it's like a blueprint for me. So that's how I see it now. Like I, I'm afraid of str- I, I, I'm confident that I will never stray. Like we all have our moments when we're, we feel a little bit more distant from the Lord than other seasons. But I know that I, I'm confident that I will never fully stray.

• 1:01:32Speaker 01

  That's hard to say because I have no idea what life's going to throw at me, but that's the level of confidence that I have.

• 1:01:39Nick Bare?

  It's really easy to lose proximity.

• 1:01:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:01:44Nick Bare?

  As soon as life throws you a curveball

• 1:01:49Nick Bare?

  and you start chasing after this curveball, like you can become distant pretty quickly. And that's why like, when I find myself in a season of stress and overworked and anxious and anger, it's because I find myself chasing this rabbit that's, that's tempting me

• 1:02:15Nick Bare?

  and creating distance between me and my relationship with Christ.

• 1:02:21Nick Bare?

  That's why we have to wake up every day, die to ourselves, take up our cross, follow Him. And it's really hard. It's really hard to do that.

• 1:02:32Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:33Nick Bare?

  Every single day.

• 1:02:34Speaker 01

  I think it looks different for both of us too. Like, I know that's how, that's when you feel distant, right? When you have that rabbit out in front of you, like chase this, come get this.

• 1:02:44Nick Bare?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:44Speaker 01

  Whether it's success, work, whatever. For me, when I feel distant,

• 1:02:53Speaker 01

  it's when, it's more of, it's a good anxiety thing. Like I have really bad health anxiety since becoming a mom. And when I catch myself in those spirals, I could still be in the Bible every day, but my mind is off. Doing other different things. That's when I know that

• 1:03:13Speaker 01

  my fear of the Lord is not in check.

• 1:03:17Speaker 01

  Because I'm still letting my thoughts, my fears

• 1:03:22Speaker 01

  take over my day, my mind, my actions, my words, everything. It just looks different.

• 1:03:29Nick Bare?

  Where you worry the most, you trust God the least.

• 1:03:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:33Nick Bare?

  It exposes you to your vulnerabilities and weaknesses.

• 1:03:39Speaker 01

  It's hard. It's an ongoing thing.

• 1:03:44Nick Bare?

  Committing your life to Christ and, and surrendering, it's a daily decision.

• 1:03:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:53Speaker 01

  They told us it would be more difficult.

• 1:03:56Nick Bare?

  That they did. Well, this was a great conversation. We laughed, we cried.

• 1:04:04Speaker 01

  We have never cried on a podcast before.

• 1:04:08Nick Bare?

  Dang it, Forrest.

• 1:04:09Speaker 01

  Dang it, Forrest. I can count, yeah. I mean, I can count on my one hand, the times I've seen you cry. And today, September 11th, 2026, I think that's probably number five.

• 1:04:23Nick Bare?

  Man, that was good.

• 1:04:26Speaker 01

  Thanks.

• 1:04:27Nick Bare?

  Thanks for coming on.

• 1:04:28Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:04:29Nick Bare?

  We got your beef and rice waiting for you in my office. Acts of service.

• 1:04:33Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 1:04:36Nick Bare?

  Until next time.

• 1:04:37Speaker 01

  I feel loved.

• 1:04:38Nick Bare?

  Thank you. Love you.

• 1:04:39Speaker 01

  Love you.