Brent Soper
Episode 158

Narrator: Welcome friends to another episode of The Story and Experience Podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, welcome friends to another episode of The Story and Experience Podcast. I'm here with a new guest at our head office in the studio. I'm very excited. It has been, I think we've rescheduled this-

Brent Soper: A lot of times.

Japhet De Oliveira: ... a lot of times, a lot of times, but we've finally got it done. So if you're brand new to the podcast, I want to let you know that we have 100 questions. They're about stories and experiences that shaped this leader into the leader that they are today. I'll ask the first 10, then they get to choose where they want to go, and they become more vulnerable the closer we get to 100. So let me start with the first one. Could you tell us your name and does anybody ever mispronounce it?

Brent Soper: Yes, Brent Soper. Often known as Brett Spence.

Japhet De Oliveira: You'll like to hear that.

Brent Soper: Yeah. So no, that happens a lot.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, that's good. That's good.

Brent Soper: So I'm Brett a lot.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. Well, Brent, what do you do for work?

Brent Soper: I'm a finance officer for Adventist Health at the corporate office, and I have multiple departments that I work with. IT, facilities for the system, security, clinical engineering, office of construction and design. I feel like I'm missing someone.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Brent Soper: I'm sure I am.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's okay. That's okay. That's a lot. That's a lot. So you help them with their finances?

Brent Soper: Correct. So for IT, especially, I'm kind of the embedded finance officer, and I-

Japhet De Oliveira: I hear your name a lot in these meetings that I'm in.

Brent Soper: Hopefully that's a good thing.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, it's good. It's like, oh, Brent's going to help us with that. He'll work that out.

Brent Soper: Yeah. And actually my title is operational finance, and so anything to do with shared services and finances, I can be involved.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, fine.

Brent Soper: Mr. Beaman calls me up.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's good. That's good. You've been doing this long?

Brent Soper: I've been in this role since 2013.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right. All right. And what did you do before this?

Brent Soper: I started here in 1990.

Japhet De Oliveira: 1990.

Brent Soper: 1990.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. In finance?

Brent Soper: In audit.

Japhet De Oliveira: In audit. Okay. All right.

Brent Soper: So yeah, I did audit for, oh, what, from 1990 until 2002.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow, okay.

Brent Soper: And then I became controller down in our hospital in San Diego, Paradise Valley Hospital, and then moved into finance officer and then we sold it and then I moved to Bakersfield and spent my time there.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. So you've been in finance your entire career?

Brent Soper: Yes. Well, there was five years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Five years?

Brent Soper: Five years. In 1993 I left for five years and my parents and I ran a motel up by Walla Walla.

Japhet De Oliveira: Are you serious?

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's amazing. That's amazing.

Brent Soper: Actually taught me a lot.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Oh, that's good. Not scary though. It wasn't like there wasn't any shower scenes or anything with the-

Brent Soper: No, no, no. There may have been a rat or two in the toilet.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's amazing. Five years, hey?

Brent Soper: Five years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Fine. Hey, good for you. All right, so in the morning when you get up, first drink of the day, coffee, tea, liquid green smoothie, what do you have, man?

Brent Soper: Water.

Japhet De Oliveira: Water.

Brent Soper: And then a coffee.

Japhet De Oliveira: And then a coffee. All right. Do you drink a lot of water?

Brent Soper: I try to, yes. Yeah, a lot. 80 ounces at least a day.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's impressive. And then coffee. How do you like your coffee?

Brent Soper: Black.

Japhet De Oliveira: Black. All right. Espresso or Americano?

Brent Soper: Both.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, all right. That's good. That's good. Where were you born?

Brent Soper: Just up the road in Oroville, California.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. And when you were a kid, is that where you grew up as well?

Brent Soper: Until I was about five, and then we moved to the Oregon coast.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. So when you were a child, what did you imagine you were going to grow up to be?

Brent Soper: I wanted to be a veterinarian.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, do you still love animals?

Brent Soper: I do. I do. I'm allergic to most of them.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, no.

Brent Soper: That's why I'm not a vet.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, my. Hey, that's a good thing that you still love them. That's fantastic. If people were to describe your personality, would they say you're an introvert or an extrovert, and would you agree with them?

Brent Soper: I think it depends on the situation. Myself, I'm an introvert, but if I'm in a situation where I'm supposed to not be, I've learned how to adapt.

Japhet De Oliveira: Adapt and overcome. Hey, that's good. That's good. Are you an early riser or late-night owl?

Brent Soper: Early.

Japhet De Oliveira: You should see his eyes. His eyes opened up. So how early is early?

Brent Soper: Five.

Japhet De Oliveira: Five. Okay.

Brent Soper: And I'm ready for bed about nine.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's fair enough. Brent. This morning when you woke up at five, first thought that went through your mind?

Brent Soper: I went in to look at my calendar to see what I had had to do today. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fair enough. That's fair enough. Now this is a leadership question. Tell me, are you a backseat driver?

Brent Soper: No.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. That was quick.

Brent Soper: I like to collaborate. I don't want to look over your shoulder and tell you what you're doing wrong or you have to turn this way or turn that way. I think if we talk together enough and work closely enough, we're kind of on the same page.

Japhet De Oliveira: Fantastic. Well, Brent, where next now? Now the floor is open and you get to pick between 11 and 100. Where'd you like to go first?

Brent Soper: 15.

Japhet De Oliveira: 15. All right. What is the one thing you always misplace?

Brent Soper: Always misplace?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Brent Soper: That's a great question. I usually know where everything is. I would say my ear pods.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah?

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah. Because they're not in a case?

Brent Soper: Yeah. I go for a run and then I put them down and where'd they go?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you. All right, that was 15. Up or down?

Brent Soper: Up.

Japhet De Oliveira: Up. And which number would you like?

Brent Soper: Let's go in fives. 20.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Ooh, tell us something that you would rate 10 out of 10.

Brent Soper: Something that I would rate 10 out of 10?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Brent Soper: The Penne Arrabbiata in Positano.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. And that is?

Brent Soper: It's penne and it's a spicy tomato sauce. And it's at this restaurant, and I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it's overlooking the Mediterranean. And it's spot-on every time.

Japhet De Oliveira: Every time?

Brent Soper: Every time.

Japhet De Oliveira: How many times have you been back there?

Brent Soper: Probably four times.

Japhet De Oliveira: Four times? And every time it was a home run?

Brent Soper: Yes. A little family owned.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Brent Soper: You can't get a bad dish there.

Japhet De Oliveira: Now you've announced it. Someone else is going to have to go there and they'll take it over. That's amazing. You know what? A really good dish is worth traveling for.

Brent Soper: Oh, it is.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. That was 20. So you want to go to 25?

Brent Soper: Sure.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Share the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

Brent Soper: I would have to say the Galapagos Islands.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Brent Soper: Yeah, they're just mind-blowing. Just all the birds, the animals, the fish. Nothing's afraid of you. And it's just the water's beautiful. Yeah, it was just breathtaking.

Japhet De Oliveira: Was that like a wish list thing that you did?

Brent Soper: Oh, definitely. Definitely. That was like two years ago now.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow. That's pretty good. How long did you go out for?

Brent Soper: We were there for a week.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, wow. That's great. That's great. That's fantastic. All right, so that was 25. 30?

Brent Soper: Sure.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Tell us about something that you are really looking forward to.

Brent Soper: That's a great question. So many things.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's good. That's good. That's good. That's good.

Brent Soper: This is going to be kind of funny. I'm going back to Italy and coincidentally going to that restaurant.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Brent Soper: Yes. I'm really looking forward to it. Actually along with that, we're going to take a tour of a buffalo mozzarella farm because they have the best buffalo mozzarella around.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, wow.

Brent Soper: Down on the Amalfi coast.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. That's good. Good. Love that. All right, that was 30. Where'd you like to go next?

Brent Soper: Down a little bit.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. Oh, you'll have to give me a number.

Brent Soper: 27.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Sorry, I didn't say that clearly. Bring us into your kitchen for a special meal. What are you making?

Brent Soper: So I'm big into whole plant-based foods now. And so I don't use any oil and nothing processed.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah. That's great.

Brent Soper: So I love to make sweet potato enchiladas. And so it's sweet potatoes, it's beans. You roll them up, you make your own sauce, and then you top it with orange slices and a orange avocado cream and lettuce, and they're just Unbelievably good.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic.

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. That's good. So no tortilla?

Brent Soper: Oh, it has tortilla. Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right, all right, all right. Do you make from scratch?

Brent Soper: I wish. That is my one downfall.

Japhet De Oliveira: You got to do that.

Brent Soper: I haven't mastered the tortilla yet.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Not easy as some people say. All right. Where would you want to go next after 27?

Brent Soper: 32.

Japhet De Oliveira: 32. All right. If you were featured on the local news, what would the new story likely be?

Brent Soper: My word.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Brent Soper: Oh, I have no idea.

Japhet De Oliveira: Brent was chasing a horse, running through a field, found a chicken. No, I'm fooling with you.

Brent Soper: Maybe we can try another question. I don't know. I have no idea. Let me think. Maybe it would be to talk about my support of DIG, it's Development in Gardening.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Brent Soper: I used to be on the board. It is a nonprofit that supports the poorest of the poor in different locations in Africa. And these are the most disadvantaged. It's the ones that the normal charities don't even worry about. And what they do is they go in, they find a community like that and they start teaching them how to plant their own food and grow it organically using the foods that are-

Japhet De Oliveira: Natives,

Brent Soper: ... native for that area. Exactly. And people go from being the poorest in the village to actually having a stand in the village. And people are coming to them to learn how to make the food or to grow the food. And I mean, it's just kind of mind-bending on the impact that they have.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great. How long were you a part of this?

Brent Soper: I was on the board for six years, I think.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh. Good time. Good time. That's fantastic. Well, brilliant. All right, where next?

Brent Soper: 40.

Japhet De Oliveira: 40. All right. Tell us about a time that you failed.

Brent Soper: Oh, there's so many.

Japhet De Oliveira: Story of all our lives. Yeah.

Brent Soper: All right. This just happened recently. Adventist Health acquired two hospitals from Tenet and I'm in charge of integration. That's the other thing I forgot.

Japhet De Oliveira: There you go. There you go. I was like, wow, I don't remember you mentioned that, but okay, integration. Yeah.

Brent Soper: And so that's really bringing them on onto all of our computer systems, our policies, procedures, things like that. And I was working with a consulting firm as part of it, and it was a little confusing as whose role was what in the beginning. And probably for the first three or four days it was kind of mayhem. And the consultants were saying, "You're going to do this." And we were like, "Why are we doing that?" And finally we had a meeting, we all came together and I said, "We do integrations all the time. This is what we do and we're going to do our method and we're going to use you as our expertise that we don't have." And from there on, it went fine. But it was really confusing in the beginning and it was like, I should have just done that in the beginning, first day. And so lesson learned, setting the boundaries.

Japhet De Oliveira: Was that avoiding conflict?

Brent Soper: Yes. I hate conflict.

Japhet De Oliveira: You hate conflict? Actually, not a lot of people enjoy conflict, let's be honest. So what skill or what tip would you give to somebody to encourage them to embrace addressing difficult things?

Brent Soper: I think when you are very versed in the topic and you know what you're doing, I think you should be willing to have your voice heard and put it out there. And sometimes you need to ask for forgiveness.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Sometimes. Not always.

Brent Soper: Not always, but sometimes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's good. That's good. Hey, thanks for sharing. All right. That was 40. So where next? Let's see. 32.

32. All right. Nope, we did that one.

Brent Soper: Oh.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Featured on the local news.

Brent Soper: 33.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, 33. All right. Tell us about the best gift you've ever given someone else.

Brent Soper: It was probably my sister. And when she was going to college, she was taking Spanish and English and she had three majors. And I'm 10 years older than she is, she's my baby sister. And it's not necessarily something physical, but when I went with her to go to Spain because she was going to go to Segunto to spend a year and become an expert in Spanish. And we got to the train station in Barcelona and she was a little hesitant and we were trying to figure out which train she was on. And I said to my sister, I said, "You know Spanish, you need to just go ask." And this is back when everybody didn't speak English over there and she was really hesitant about it.

And I said, "You have to do it. This is you. You're going to get on a train by yourself, you got to go do it." And she did. And when I went back to see her, that was in September, I went back at Christmastime and she was totally fluent. I mean, it was ridiculous. And I think that she was being really timid and I just had to give her a push.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's really good. It is interesting actually. And then people are free and they move.

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: They do. Yeah, totally. Oh, great. All right. Where next?

Brent Soper: 45.

Japhet De Oliveira: 45. All right. When people come to you for help, what are they usually asking for?

Brent Soper: So most of the time they're asking me to help them get something done. They have to do something and they don't necessarily know all the people that they have to talk to or the process they have to go through. And I do that a lot. We need to get this done. We need to get this budget, capital item approved. How do I do it? And I help them with the process. I can also help them with their presentation, getting things ready, things that they should be thinking about before-

Japhet De Oliveira: Be thinking about. Yeah.

Brent Soper: ... before they go and present it to our CFO or our COO. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's good. That's good. Do you enjoy that part?

Brent Soper: I do. I love that part.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah? That's good. Actually, what part of your role do you enjoy the most? Gives you the most energy and you just feel like, oh, I get off on that. Give me that kind of work every single day.

Brent Soper: I would say it's probably the, there's two things. I love working and mentoring, and then I also love the excitement and trauma of an integration where all those things are happening and there's a million things going on and kind of helping pull the right people together to make things happen.

Japhet De Oliveira: So you stay calm in the middle of chaos?

Brent Soper: I do.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Is that something that-

Brent Soper: Not internally, but externally. Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Is that something that you grew into or you've always been that way as a child?

Brent Soper: My father was not calm and that was one of the things I told myself that I wouldn't yell at people. I would be calm and be nice and hopefully I have.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's a really great thing to actually aspire to always. Right?

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: And more humans need that.

Brent Soper: Mm-hmm.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that'd be good. That's interesting. So you just decided one day to kind of move in that space?

Brent Soper: Actually it was John Beaman and Todd Hofheins, they're like, "We need you to do this."

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Brent Soper: So I added that too.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. That's good. Hey, that's really fantastic. Good for you. All right, where next?

Brent Soper: Lets do 35.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, this is great for you. Share a special interest, unique talent that you have.

Brent Soper: Great.

Japhet De Oliveira: You're welcome. You're welcome.

Brent Soper: Special interest is probably cooking. I love to cook. Baking is my absolute favorite.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really? Okay.

Brent Soper: But now, like I said earlier, getting into the whole plant-based, that's really fun. Learning how to make really wholesome food, but really good, really tasty. But baking bread, I make it from scratch.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really? Okay.

Brent Soper: I mean, I grind the wheat. It takes two days to make.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do you have a mill outside with a stone, bush with docks?

Brent Soper: A donkey.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, my. That's impressive.

Brent Soper: My KitchenAid a has a mill.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's fantastic. So cool. So cool. All right, brilliant. Where next? That was 35.

Brent Soper: That was 35. 43.

Japhet De Oliveira: 43. All right. Ooh, tell us about the best gift you've ever received.

Brent Soper: The best kiss?

Japhet De Oliveira: No. Gift.

Brent Soper: I was like, whoa.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well let's go to number 101. Yes. The best kiss that you... No, the best gift that you've ever received.

Brent Soper: That's funny.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. It was a kiss.

Brent Soper: I think the gift of mentorship that I received when I was in the internal audit. Was working on an audit down in Glendale. And we needed additional help because we really didn't know a lot about what was going on. And that's when I was introduced to Terri Day and somehow she took me under her wing and I really learned a lot from her. And over the years, I mean this was back in 2001, 2002, somewhere in there. And I still talk to her and she has all kinds of good advice. And it's nice to have someone who believes in you and is always there.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's great.

Brent Soper: I think that's one of the best gifts.

Japhet De Oliveira: And you've kind of adopted the same thing, mentoring other people.

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's good. All right. Where next? That was 43.

Brent Soper: 41.

Japhet De Oliveira: 41.

Brent Soper: Do the 40s.

Japhet De Oliveira: What are you excited about in life right now?

Brent Soper: In life right now?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Brent Soper: I love gardening, but if I'm honest, I'm excited right now about going to Italy.

Japhet De Oliveira: I feel like it's a recurring thing.

Brent Soper: It is.

Japhet De Oliveira: I'm very excited. You need to show me pictures next time.

Brent Soper: Oh, I will.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. In your album of [inaudible 00:19:34]. All right, where next? That was 41.

Brent Soper: 50.

Japhet De Oliveira: 50. All right. Oh, share about who has influenced you professionally.

Brent Soper: A lot of people. Terri Day, obviously that I just talked about. Probably two other people. Bob Beeler, who was my president and CEO when I was FO at Bakersfield, I learned a tremendous amount from him just in his very quiet manner, never getting excited. I mean, I only saw him upset one time. And just, he gave me a different perspective on how to think about things. And when I first started with him, I didn't get him and I'm like, I usually read people really well and I was just not getting him at all. And one day I just asked him, I said, "Am I doing okay because I don't feel like I'm connecting?" And then somehow it changed and it was good. And he would ask me for something and I would come in with this fancy spreadsheet, all the colors and everything. And he goes, "You could have written it on a napkin."

Japhet De Oliveira: Good to know. Yeah.

Brent Soper: And the other person actually is also from Bakersfield, that was our chief nursing officer, Debbie Hankins. And she just taught me a lot about non-finance things. I grew up in business, in finance area, and she really taught me a lot about the clinical side and how important that was, and just gave me a different perspective.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. Good, good. Are you a lifelong learner?

Brent Soper: I hope so.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Brent Soper: Sometimes you're forced to be.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah. Some people enjoy learning though, right? And I think I know this about you, that you actually enjoy learning. You love discovering things new.

Brent Soper: I do. I do. I'm not necessarily a go read all the kinds of books, everything.

Japhet De Oliveira: Unless apparently you're making something out of flour.

Brent Soper: But then I do, then I go through those a lot.

Japhet De Oliveira: Then you make the [inaudible 00:21:44]

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right. Where next?

Brent Soper: 22.

Japhet De Oliveira: 22. All right. If you could be anywhere right now, except for Italy, where would it be?

Brent Soper: Mendocino.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah?

Brent Soper: Yeah. It's one of my favorite places. Yeah. Just it's usually cool, even if it's raining, I don't care. And it's just the ocean. I love the ocean.

Japhet De Oliveira: It is really beautiful up there. That's true. Absolutely.

Brent Soper: I could say anywhere that has ocean.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's true. Oregon Coast.

Brent Soper: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Fair enough. All right. Where next? That was 22.

Brent Soper: 46.

Japhet De Oliveira: 46. Oh. Tell us about the best book you've ever read.

Brent Soper: I'm going to go way back.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, go.

Brent Soper: As a kid. Man o' War.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Brent Soper: About the racing horse. And it was just like, I don't know, as a kid wanting to be a veterinarian, it was exciting and it was just, I don't know. It was just all alive in my head.

Japhet De Oliveira: Isn't it interesting when we're very, very young, the books that we read, how visual they became?

Brent Soper: Oh, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Right. And they just stayed with us. It was so true. It was so true. And it's good when you get a great book as well, even as an adult. Yeah, I'm with you. Okay. All right, good. Where next?

Brent Soper: Oh, 51.

Japhet De Oliveira: 51. Tell us about something that you know you do differently than most people.

Brent Soper: These are getting harder.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, no, no.

Brent Soper: What I do different than most people?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Brent Soper: Okay. I think I know.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Brent Soper: All right. I think how I do things different than other people is probably in letting people in. And I'm nice and friendly, but it takes me a while probably to become really good friends and I don't need a lot of them either.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's interesting.

Brent Soper: A small circle is really what I like.

Japhet De Oliveira: And you're comfortable with that.

Brent Soper: Yeah. And I think that probably goes back to, inside, I'm an introvert and big groups, I just do not like it. And so I'm really comfortable with my smaller group and so it takes a while to get in.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's okay. That's okay. That's good. That's good. It's about quality rather than quantity.

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. All right. Hey, that's great. All right. Where next?

Brent Soper: 39.

Japhet De Oliveira: 39. If you didn't need to sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?

Brent Soper: If I didn't need to sleep?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Brent Soper: I would garden.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Brent Soper: Yeah. Yeah. I love doing that too.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do you like growing food or do you like growing plants?

Brent Soper: Food is my favorite.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, all right.

Brent Soper: There's a theme.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, sure. Yeah, there is slightly.

Brent Soper: But it's really satisfying to go out into the garden and go pick your entire dinner.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Brent Soper: And just everything is fresh.

Japhet De Oliveira: Are you able to do that now?

Brent Soper: During the height of the season, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Brent Soper: Yeah. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's amazing.

Brent Soper: I mean, especially when late summer to early fall is great. And even when the citrus is coming on, I mean, you have broccoli and spinach and cauliflower and tomatoes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, not everybody does, but you clearly do. That's really impressive.

Brent Soper: Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And then everything just kind of goes away. It's just you and the plants and the dog.

Japhet De Oliveira: Nature. That's good. That's good. What kind of dog do you have?

Brent Soper: I have a short haired Wheaten Terrier.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Brent Soper: He's 12.

Japhet De Oliveira: 12-years-old.

Brent Soper: Yeah. There's something special about a Wheaten.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, there's something special about dogs, isn't there? I mean, for all the dog lovers out there. Good, good.

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Where next?

Brent Soper: 55.

Japhet De Oliveira: 55. All right. Share about something that actually frightens you.

Brent Soper: Snakes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Snakes. Oh hey, I'm with you. I'm with you. We're done. That's fine. That's good. That's good. Somebody was telling me about all these walks that I should go on and they said, "Now, just watch out for the snakes." I was like, "No."

Brent Soper: It's true. Over the last two or three years I've caught at least, I don't know, five rattlesnakes in my backyard.

Japhet De Oliveira: Huh?

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Not feeling that?

Brent Soper: No. One, I almost stepped out going out of the door.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Brent Soper: Yeah. Yeah. I don't like them.

Japhet De Oliveira: Same here. All right, time for two more. Last two. Where would you like to go for the last two?

Brent Soper: 60.

Japhet De Oliveira: 60. All right. When in life have you felt most alone?

Brent Soper: You need a time?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, sure.

Brent Soper: Probably in 2008 or so.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, wow. Very specific.

Brent Soper: Yeah. My friend Debbie, the chief nursing officer, she goes, "When you get to your 40s, you have to deal with stuff. Like it or not, you have to do it." And so some bad stuff happened to me as a kid and I had to deal with it. And I'll say that finding the right therapist is amazing.

Japhet De Oliveira: Isn't it?

Brent Soper: They are just spectacular.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Brent Soper: But no, it was really hard. I mean, going to a session would wipe me out for a couple weeks, but I came out on the other side much better.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good for you. Good for you. And good encouragement for others as well.

Brent Soper: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: For anything that's difficult in people's lives, sometimes it is difficult to go and get help, right?

Brent Soper: Mm-hmm.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Brent Soper: Oh, I didn't even make the call. Debbie made it for me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, wow. Bless her. Bless her. Oh, that's fantastic. Good. All right, last one. Where would you like to go?

Brent Soper: Last one?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Brent Soper: 65. Did I do 65?

Japhet De Oliveira: No, you didn't.

Brent Soper: Okay, 65.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Share one word that you could use to describe your past then could you unpack that one word? Huh?

Brent Soper: Can I have two words?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, sure. I like that. I like that. Stretch it. Yeah.

Brent Soper: Lacking direction.

Japhet De Oliveira: Lacking direction. Okay.

Brent Soper: Yeah. Yeah. I was kind of all over the place. I started in internal audit, then I thought I was going to do hospitality. Then I came back and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. And I think it then took, I'm going to go all the way back, it took the mentors like Terri Day and then Bob Beeler to kind of give me direction of, yeah, you do have the skills, you can do these things and have more confidence in yourself because I think there's arrogance and then there's having confidence in yourself.

Japhet De Oliveira: Sure.

Brent Soper: And I think at some point I had those confused and didn't want to think of them as the same. And so I think it's perfectly fine to have confidence without the arrogance.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes, it is.

Brent Soper: So, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Brent, this has been fantastic to be able to speak to you. Thank you for sharing from your heart and with your passion for food and-

Brent Soper: Italy.

Japhet De Oliveira: ... your love for things that are natural. And Italy. Yes. Which you're going to see soon. We know that for sure. I want to encourage people to do the same thing. Sit down with a friend, ask them good questions. I do believe this, we not only learn about each other, but we actually are transformed by each other and we become better human beings for it. So being nice, being kind, as you mentioned is essential for humanity. So again, thank you so much. God bless. And we will connect again with everybody else.

Brent Soper: All right, thanks.

Narrator: Thank you for joining us for The Story and Experience Podcast. We invite you to read, watch, and submit your story and experience at adventisthealth.org slash story. The Story and Experience Podcast was brought to you by Adventist Health for the Office of Culture.