Marc Woodson
Episode 143

Narrator: Welcome friends to another episode of The Story & 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, friends, welcome to another episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. I am here in Roseville, California, and delighted to have this guest that I've known for so long, and you will be delighted when you hear them speak. You can hear their laugh already. So if you're brand new to the podcast, we have 100 questions, they progressively become more vulnerable, plus you get to 100, about stories and experiences that shaped this leader into the leader that they are today. I'm going to ask the first 10 and then I'm going to hand it over to them and they get to answer and choose numbers and see where they go. Sounds good?

Marc Woodson: Sounds good.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, great.

Marc Woodson: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Can I ask you the first one? Could you tell us your name? Does anybody ever mispronounce it?

Marc Woodson: My name is Marc Woodson. No one ever mispronounces it but they misspell it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah. Sure, absolutely.

Marc Woodson: They misspell my first name-

Japhet De Oliveira: Your first name.

Marc Woodson: And my last name.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really, last name?

Marc Woodson: Yeah. So I'm son of Wood, right, so W-O-O-D-S-O-N. But they'll say, "Is that S-E-N." Of course, I'm Marc with a C-

Japhet De Oliveira: A C, yeah.

Marc Woodson: And that way I'm a name and not a noun or a verb.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. Love that.

Marc Woodson: My parents.

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

Marc Woodson: Marc with a C.

Japhet De Oliveira: Marc with a C.

Marc Woodson: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: What do you do for work?

Marc Woodson: Well, currently, I serve as the president of the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventist.

Japhet De Oliveira: Now, for someone who's not Seventh-day Adventist, what would that mean?

Marc Woodson: Oh, boy. Yeah, I know. When I'm on an airplane and somebody asks, "What do you do?" I'm like, "I work for the Adventist Church." But the conference is, it's a collection of churches, schools, and ministries of the Adventist Church, and so we have 164 congregations, 33 schools.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Marc Woodson: I'm part of the administrative wing of that. So our conference is Northern California. It covers from the Bay Area of California. It covers from the Bay Area all the way to the Oregon border.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Marc Woodson: I'm the administrative CEO.

Japhet De Oliveira: Of the entire thing?

Marc Woodson: Of that thing.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic.

Marc Woodson: Where we have 40,000 members. 40,741. I just looked that up the other day.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. Hey, he did not prepare for this. As all the podcasts, brand new. Wow, that's an impressive stat. Okay.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, I just saw that the other day, I was like "I'm going to remember that."

Japhet De Oliveira: As it does, yeah. Hey, how long have you been working for the Seventh-day Adventist Church?

Marc Woodson: I have been working for the Adventist Church now for exactly 36 years last month.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really? That's fantastic.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, I know. I look younger than I am, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Absolutely. Yeah.

Marc Woodson: Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: Never guessed.

Marc Woodson: I feel like I'm way past my age. Anyway.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, 36 years for the Adventist Church. It's been a blessing, and that time goes so fast.

Japhet De Oliveira: What kind of roles have you held in the church?

Marc Woodson: Well, all the way from a youth pastor, an associate pastor for a couple of large churches, a campus chaplain, and an associate youth director, a senior pastor. Let's see. Then after that, I said associate youth director, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Marc Woodson: So that was an associate in a department, and then the administration.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, this is my second administrative post.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Marc Woodson: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: What was the first one?

Marc Woodson: So the first one was the executive secretary.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Marc Woodson: Which for most people they were like "Now what is that actually?" But that's like vice president. In some places they call it the vice president for administration. So I did that for a number of years-

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good.

Marc Woodson: ... before being president.

Japhet De Oliveira: Marc, where were you born?

Marc Woodson: I was born in Bellflower, California.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really? Oh, so a California native.

Marc Woodson: Yeah. I'm a California native. It's funny because I was actually born at a Kaiser-

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Marc Woodson: ... Hospital, which is one of the oldest Kaiser hospitals in the country.

Japhet De Oliveira: And now you actually support Adventist Health?

Marc Woodson: Exactly. Yeah. I'm an Adventist Health person but I was a Kaiser baby.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great, that's great.

Marc Woodson: In Bellflower, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's fantastic.

Marc Woodson: And that's in Southern California just in case someone doesn't know.

Japhet De Oliveira: That actually does help. Context is really great.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, Bellflower, California. It's right. It's in that LA County area.

Japhet De Oliveira: Is that where you grew up as a child?

Marc Woodson: I did. I grew up there.

Japhet De Oliveira: As a child, what did you imagine you were going to grow up to be?

Marc Woodson: Ooh.

Japhet De Oliveira: Ooh.

Marc Woodson: Well, before the age of 10-

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah, okay.

Marc Woodson: ... I wanted to be an architect.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's awesome.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, before the age of 10. And you know why I wanted to be an architect?

Japhet De Oliveira: No.

Marc Woodson: Not so I could design buildings, I just wanted to do that. You know how they do those models?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah.

Marc Woodson: That's what I wanted to do. So I didn't know that you had- I thought you had to be an architect to do that part. Then I learned years later, you can be a modeler without having to be an architect.

Japhet De Oliveira: And the models are beautiful.

Marc Woodson: I know. I love that. That's why I wanted to be an architect. But at the age of 10 I felt called to ministry.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Marc Woodson: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow. Okay, okay.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, 10 years old.

Japhet De Oliveira: You need to unpack. All right. How at 10? What happened?

Marc Woodson: 10 years old. Well, it really started... When I look back at it, it really started with my fourth-grade teacher who was... She was my favorite teacher, a fourth-grade teacher. I'll call her Mrs. D. I don't want to get... Well, she's passed away now. Mrs. Doggett, she was great. Fourth grade teacher. She was a pastor's wife, a pastor's spouse. She said to me, "You're going to be a preacher."

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Marc Woodson: Yeah, she said that.

Japhet De Oliveira: She just called it.

Marc Woodson: She just called that out. I asked many years later, "How did you come across that?" This was an Adventist Christian school. She said, "When I was reading the Bible stories, that's when you were most paying attention in class."

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, wow, wow.

Marc Woodson: And then probably because I talked a lot in the class. Because I got in trouble so much with her. In those days, they would take a ruler to you. And boy, it seemed like I got it every other day by Mrs. Doggett. Her sons are pastors too.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Marc Woodson: Yeah. A great lady. She's passed away now. Her husband then ended up being my pastor and so she was the pastor's wife in our church where I grew up for a little bit.

Japhet De Oliveira: She called it out.

Marc Woodson: She called it out. Then not long after that and I can put this pieces together. I was at the evangelistic meeting. I went to go see my friends at this evangelistic meeting, hanging out at our school, they had it in the auditorium, and I went to the restroom, I was coming back, and while the preacher, a famous evangelist. I don't know if your audience will know but his name was C.D. Brooks.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Okay.

Marc Woodson: Okay?

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, yeah.

Marc Woodson: So those in Adventist world would know who that is. And he's up preaching powerful, and I was riveted watching him. And I heard a voice say, "You're supposed to do that." So at 10 years old you think, "Eh, that's a fluke." But that stuck with me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Pulled you through.

Marc Woodson: It stuck with me. Yeah, all the way through.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful, that's beautiful.

Marc Woodson: 10 years old.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful-

Marc Woodson: Yeah. 10 years old.

Japhet De Oliveira: To have that kind of purpose and mission.

Marc Woodson: Yeah. You know what was cool about it too, was the environment in which I grew up, church members, the school, other adult leaders, they nurtured that. Once they knew that, they nurtured it. My youth pastor, my pastor, my teacher, they nurtured it.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's really good. That's a community.

Marc Woodson: As a community, I mean, it was a little pressure on you too. Because here you are 12 and 13, "He's going to be a preacher so"-

Japhet De Oliveira: Behave.

Marc Woodson: Behave. Watch out. I never got invited to parties because of that. You know?

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah, yeah.

Marc Woodson: "He's going to be a preacher don't invite him."

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great, that's great.

Marc Woodson: I'm like, "No, I want to be normal. I'm not going to be a preacher until maybe I'm 25. Come on, invite me to the party."

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh. Hey, that's fantastic. Now, are you an early riser?

Marc Woodson: No.

Japhet De Oliveira: A late night owl?

Marc Woodson: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: What's late night?

Marc Woodson: Well, it's getting better.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, preface.

Marc Woodson: Oh man, it used to be 12:00.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Marc Woodson: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: It used to be 12.

Marc Woodson: It used to be 12:00, it's come down to-

Japhet De Oliveira: Now?

Marc Woodson: 11-

Japhet De Oliveira: 11:55.

Marc Woodson: 11:00, yeah. I try to do 11:00. Last night it was 11:20. As long as it's between 11:00 and 11:30, I'm good. Not an early riser.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Marc Woodson: Always been a night owl.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah?

Marc Woodson: Always have been.

Japhet De Oliveira: So this morning when you woke up, first thought that went through your mind today?

Marc Woodson: Man, I got to get up and go on that walk.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Marc Woodson: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: You walk every day?

Marc Woodson: Almost.

Japhet De Oliveira: Huh?

Marc Woodson: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: How far do you walk?

Marc Woodson: Oh, it's about three miles.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's great.

Marc Woodson: Only inspired by my better half.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah? Yeah.

Marc Woodson: My wife Marlene, yeah. And we go really early because of our dog.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh. Yeah.

Marc Woodson: And it's so hot he has to go early, early.

Japhet De Oliveira: Sure.

Marc Woodson: I'm not an early person so I'm like, "Oh my goodness, is it that time already?" So that was my first thought this morning.

Japhet De Oliveira: Is it that time already?

Marc Woodson: Sorry, I didn't come up with something spiritual like I thought of God's blessings. No, I thought, "Oh my goodness! Is it time?"

Japhet De Oliveira: I hear you, I hear you. Oh. Hey, that's fantastic. If people were to describe your personality, Marc, would they say you were an introvert or an extrovert? And would you agree?

Marc Woodson: Oh, wow. How they would describe me?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, extrovert.

Japhet De Oliveira: And you would agree with them?

Marc Woodson: Absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira: No hesitation.

Marc Woodson: None. Yeah, on the Myers-Briggs, ENTJ. Yeah, no question.

Japhet De Oliveira: And then in the morning after you walk your dog, do you...

Marc Woodson: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Your first drink of the day. Do you have coffee, tea, a liquid green smoothie, water? What's your go-to?

Marc Woodson: For what I eat or drink?

Japhet De Oliveira: Drink.

Marc Woodson: In the morning?

Japhet De Oliveira: First thing. First drink of the day.

Marc Woodson: Oh, probably a smoothie.

Japhet De Oliveira: A smoothie. Oh, do you make the smoothie?

Marc Woodson: Well, my wife does. She makes a good one too.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's good.

Marc Woodson: I mean, yeah, that's probably the first thing I'm going to have if she's going to make one that day. Other than that, it's water with a little lemon.

Japhet De Oliveira: You are one of the very few guests that has the liquid green smoothie.

Marc Woodson: Oh. Well, hers are purple.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, nice. Oh, berries, little berries.

Marc Woodson: Because she's got a lot of blueberries in it, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good.

Marc Woodson: It's the only way for her to get me to eat my greens because she throws that. I'm like-

Japhet De Oliveira: To bury them inside.

Marc Woodson: "I can't even taste the greens in this, honey, you're good." So, yeah, it's purple. And I love it, it's very good.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, that's really good. Here's a leadership question for you.

Marc Woodson: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Are you a backseat driver?

Marc Woodson: Okay. What do we mean by backseat driver?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, I know. And lots of people ask that question.

Marc Woodson: Okay. So is that like...?

Japhet De Oliveira: If you're in the car and you're in the back, are you helping the driver or...?

Marc Woodson: Yes, I am.

Japhet De Oliveira: Are you pushing the driver out and saying, "I'll drive for you?" Are you saying, "Left now, left now, right now?"

Marc Woodson: Yeah. Yeah. No, I am. I am, yeah. I'm like "Are you sure that's the best way to go? I know that's what your thing is. Your GPS is saying but that's not the best way to go, so turn that thing off and let me just give you directions."

Japhet De Oliveira: Fair enough, fair enough.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, for sure.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Let's dive in then. The floor is open. 11 to 100, where would you like to go first?

Marc Woodson: 11 to 100. I'm going to go with lucky number 17.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, wow. Okay, all right, 17 it is. What day is most special to you in the entire calendar and why? One day.

Marc Woodson: The most special day on the calendar?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Oh.

Marc Woodson: Well, of course, my birthday.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Marc Woodson: I mean, you know?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah. Sure.

Marc Woodson: May 11th. May 11th, man. Yeah, that is. That is.

Japhet De Oliveira: What do you like to do on your birthday?

Marc Woodson: Let's see. When I lived in Southern California, I went to Disneyland every year on my birthday.

Japhet De Oliveira: Are you serious?

Marc Woodson: Yeah. Because man-

Japhet De Oliveira: You like the rides?

Marc Woodson: Oh, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow. Okay, all right.

Marc Woodson: Oh, yeah. This wasn't when I was a kid. My parents were like "Disneyland, we can't afford that every time you have a birthday." But when I got older I was like, "Yeah." Because of the way that they treat you if you're there on your birthday.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Marc Woodson: Oh, yeah. Sometimes they'll bring you, right? I don't know if they do this anymore, but they used to give you a sticker-

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah.

Marc Woodson: ... and your name was on it. It was a happy birthday sticker, and wherever you went, you usually got on the ride first-

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Marc Woodson: Or they did something special or they put a call-out.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh. Yeah.

Marc Woodson: Yeah. So it was special.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, all right.

Marc Woodson: Now, I try to find something fun to do. I really try to take the day off-

Japhet De Oliveira: That's impressive.

Marc Woodson: ... if I can.

Japhet De Oliveira: I was going to say if you can. That's impressive.

Marc Woodson: My birthday this past was on a Saturday, so it wasn't really I took a day off, I didn't go preach anywhere. I just try to do something that's special. I try to find what do I really want to eat.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah.

Marc Woodson: Yeah. I try to make it special.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. All right. Where next? That was 17.

Marc Woodson: Okay. That was 17. Okay. Can we go backwards or do you always have to go up?

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, no, you can go up and down.

Marc Woodson: We can go go up and down?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah.

Marc Woodson: Okay. I'm going to go with 40.

Japhet De Oliveira: 40.

Marc Woodson: It sounds like a...

Japhet De Oliveira: Good. All right. Oh, oh. This is great for you. Tell us about a time that you failed.

Marc Woodson: How long is this podcast?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, I know, I know. No, no.

Marc Woodson: A time that I failed?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah.

Marc Woodson: That I can actually say off the top that I failed. Oh man, that's a good question. Oh. Failed, failed, failed. Oh, I can't... I know I have.

Japhet De Oliveira: I know. I know, I know, I know, I know, I know. No, no.

Marc Woodson: I've definitely failed. I have failed.

Japhet De Oliveira: Take a moment.

Marc Woodson: I have failed, okay. Oh. I have failed at some tests.

Japhet De Oliveira: You failed at some tests, all right.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, I failed at some tests.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Marc Woodson: Yeah. And that was excruciatingly horrible because I am an overachiever. And that was just like, "Oh my goodness." That just comes to mind. But I know that I failed in so many other things. Nothing comes to mind right off. As we're talking it-

Japhet De Oliveira: It will come back.

Marc Woodson: I'll jump back in I'll say, "Oh, yeah, to question number 40."

Japhet De Oliveira: It's good.

Marc Woodson: Here's where I failed.

Japhet De Oliveira: 40 is epic.

Marc Woodson: Miserably.

Japhet De Oliveira: We'll come back to it.

Marc Woodson: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, all right. Where next?

Marc Woodson: Oh, we're going to go to 58.

Japhet De Oliveira: 58, all right. What is something small that you're really passionate about?

Marc Woodson: Oh, that's going to be actually easy because you don't know this. It's my model train. It's really small and the people are very small, HO scale.

Japhet De Oliveira: Intricate.

Marc Woodson: Intricate.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes. Now, for nobody who doesn't understand the scale, what does that scale mean? Like?

Marc Woodson: So HO Scale it's 1:87. One inch represents 87 inches. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's small.

Marc Woodson: It's very small.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, and they're beautiful.

Marc Woodson: Oh, thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. I loved it. I loved seeing it, it was great.

Marc Woodson: Probably my other thing that's closely related is I have a collection of Civil War soldiers-

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Marc Woodson: ... that I paint.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, wow.

Marc Woodson: They're a little larger than my HO scale guys, but so passionate about that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do you have to wear special glasses and magnifying to get the detail?

Marc Woodson: You would think so, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, but no?

Marc Woodson: No, not yet.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Marc Woodson: And I've been doing it since I was a kid. Not yet. I would think so because my eyes are so bad. So I was like, "How come I don't need these binocular things?"

Japhet De Oliveira: That was great.

Marc Woodson: "These glasses, these really..."

Japhet De Oliveira: So you're very patient?

Marc Woodson: Oh no, I wouldn't say all that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Marc Woodson: No.

Japhet De Oliveira: Doesn't it require a lot of patience and finesse detail with the brush, and the ink, and the paint?

Marc Woodson: Well, if that's what patience is, okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. Okay. All right, all right.

Marc Woodson: Because I think overall, I'm an impatient person. But I mean, it's relaxing. It's relaxing to watch it, and do it, and see it come to life. I find it very relaxing.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great.

Marc Woodson: I didn't think about it as being patient, but yeah, maybe so.

Japhet De Oliveira: Maybe, maybe.

Marc Woodson: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, all right.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, yeah. I can tell my wife now, I have patience.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right, all right.

Marc Woodson: I do have patience. Thank you, Japhet, I appreciate that.

Japhet De Oliveira: You're welcome. Where next?

Marc Woodson: Okay. Let's go to 27.

Japhet De Oliveira: 27, all right. Whoa. Bring us into the kitchen. You're preparing a special meal and what would it be?

Marc Woodson: Oh, it would be enchiladas.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah?

Marc Woodson: Yes. It would be enchiladas.

Japhet De Oliveira: And what do you do unique?

Marc Woodson: With my enchiladas?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Marc Woodson: Probably, it's something unique that my mother would've done.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Marc Woodson: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: So this is a family recipe or a family-

Marc Woodson: A little bit, I think so. She would definitely fry her tortillas first.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah.

Marc Woodson: Maybe that's not unique to people, and then dip them in the sauce. She would use a lot of cumin.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah? Really?

Marc Woodson: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Marc Woodson: In her meat.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's awesome.

Marc Woodson: I thought that was just normal until my wife said, "What? Why is that in there?"

Japhet De Oliveira: It's good, it's good.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, so that's it. Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, all right.

Marc Woodson: All right.

Japhet De Oliveira: 27. What next?

Marc Woodson: That was 27, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Marc Woodson: Let's go to 37.

Japhet De Oliveira: 37, all right. Oh. What do you like most about your family?

Marc Woodson: Oh, that they're loud.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah?

Marc Woodson: Yeah. I love it. That they're loud. They're loud and argumentative.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh. Hey, that's good, that's good. A bit of fire.

Marc Woodson: I love that. Oh my goodness, yeah. Can I expound a little?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Please, yeah.

Marc Woodson: I have two brothers and two sisters.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Marc Woodson: I'm the youngest. Not the oldest sister but the one beneath her. She said, "Hey, I just want us to all get together without our spouses, without the kids, without anybody, and let's just the five of us." Well, I can't remember when we're just the five of us were together without anybody else.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Marc Woodson: Man, we got together. She lives in Maryland, we got all together. It was a weekend. We took one whole day and we argued the whole day back and forth on this thing. And I was thinking, this is not how we really should be spending our time. But when it was all done I was like, "That was wonderful." I was energized. I went home and I was like, "We had so much fun. We argued all day about something that was nonsensical."

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Marc Woodson: So that's what I love about them is that they're loud and-

Japhet De Oliveira: It's because you love each other.

Marc Woodson: Yeah. It's good to have that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Enjoying each other and so it's easy.

Marc Woodson: It's good to have that. 'Cause you've got siblings that won't speak to each other. And I was just thinking, what a blessing that is that we all can still talk to each other, get along, argue, and do that.

Japhet De Oliveira: I think you mentioned to me one of your brothers actually helped you out with the model.

Marc Woodson: He did, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: You guys are real close with that?

Marc Woodson: Yeah, yeah. He's the one right next to me. And we're close because we slept in the same room for a lot of years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah.

Marc Woodson: Not only the same room, we slept in the same bed.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah?

Marc Woodson: Yeah. So our personalities are the same because we're the same person. No. But yeah, he's my brother right above me. We're really good. We're good friends. I remember saying to him one day that, "You know, if we weren't brothers, we would be friends." And then we finally thought about it and I said, "You know you probably would be. You'd probably be one of my best friends if we weren't brothers."

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful.

Marc Woodson: "You're fun." Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful. That's good, that's good. Good, good. All right.

Marc Woodson: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Where next?

Marc Woodson: Okay. Did we already do 47?

Japhet De Oliveira: We did not do 47.

Marc Woodson: Okay. I'm just going up the sevens here.

Japhet De Oliveira: You just met someone, what do you want them to know about you and why?

Marc Woodson: That I'm passionate. And I'm passionate about the things of God. Yeah, I would want them to know that about me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Now why is that important to you?

Marc Woodson: Because that's probably the most important thing in my life is my relationship with God. I would just want them to know I'm his servant, and I'm here to make the world a better place because of the relationship I have with him.

Japhet De Oliveira: Marc, some people talk about God and the idea of knowing God or God knowing them. What's a secret? Something that you could say, "This is will help you know God. This is what will help you?"

Marc Woodson: Oh, yeah. Besides the just read your Bible and pray every day.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah., yeah, yeah.

Marc Woodson: Man, that's what they use to tell us. I would say the secret is making time and space for God, for you to hear him and to listen to him. That connects with something that I developed probably 30 years ago-

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Marc Woodson: ... which is every month I take one day, I call it my spiritual retreat. It's a one day. It's my appointment. Not that I don't have a daily, I have daily appointment with God but it's just brief in the morning.

Japhet De Oliveira: Dedicated time.

Marc Woodson: But it's a day where I'm just with God and I'm listening. And then once a year I do a week.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Marc Woodson: That to me is the secret, is to not only speak, but to listen. I realized through that process, God still speaks, it's just that we're so busy we can't hear him. That's what I've learned. Well, there's that text that says, "Be still and know that I am God." And I think there is something to that. Being still, but you're creating time and you're creating space to talk to him and then to listen.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful. I like that. Brilliant, brilliant. All right, where next?

Marc Woodson: Okay. 57.

Japhet De Oliveira: 57, all right. If you had to endorse a brand what would it be and why? Marc says, "This is the brand."

Marc Woodson: Adventist Health, of course.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Marc Woodson: No, no.

Japhet De Oliveira: You are a great board member. Well done.

Marc Woodson: Adventist Health brand. I just...

Japhet De Oliveira: That was a little quick, that was a little quick.

Marc Woodson: That's a brand. A brand?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Marc Woodson: Oh man, I was just thinking the other day of something that was like, I really like this company. Brand. Man, these are good questions.

Japhet De Oliveira: This is good, this is good.

Marc Woodson: It really is. These are good questions. You know what I have to say, Apple.

Japhet De Oliveira: Apple, all right.

Marc Woodson: Apple. Apple.

Japhet De Oliveira: Home run. I'm with you.

Marc Woodson: Are you? Okay, yeah, Apple.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Marc Woodson: I love them. I do. Yeah, Apple.

Japhet De Oliveira: This is good, this is good. It makes sense. Clean, precise, that's good. All right.

Marc Woodson: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Where next? That was 57.

Marc Woodson: 67.

Japhet De Oliveira: 67, all right. What's the best picture you've ever taken and why?

Marc Woodson: That I took with my-

Japhet De Oliveira: Phone or a camera.

Marc Woodson: Oh. The best picture I've... Oh. It's a tie.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah?

Marc Woodson: Between the picture, that selfie with my wife when we were on the...

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh.

Marc Woodson: Overlooking Yosemite Valley.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, nice.

Marc Woodson: Was she my wife then or girlfriend? Oh, she was my wife then. Okay, yeah. I love that picture. It almost looks fake. Because of the background and the way we're standing it looks fake. So that's got to be it. I mean, that's just a great, great picture. And then a picture with my mother when-

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh.

Marc Woodson: ... I would say, maybe three years before she died. And it was one of my favorite pictures. Were at my nephew's wedding and we're both dressed up. I just love it. It's one of my favorite pictures.

Japhet De Oliveira: What did you love about your mom the most?

Marc Woodson: Oh, she was... I think they said this about one of the leaders, either about Winston Churchill or about Franklin Roosevelt. There's like uncorking some champagne.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great.

Marc Woodson: I don't drink so I don't even know why you would use that metaphor. She was just-

Japhet De Oliveira: Explosion of joy.

Marc Woodson: She was. A lot of energy. I mean, when she was in her late 80s I would always... They would say, "How's your mama doing?" I said, "She has more energy than I do." Was very personable, knew everybody in the neighborhood. She was creative. A very good supporter of you and what you were trying to do.

Japhet De Oliveira: So she believed in you a lot?

Marc Woodson: Oh, yeah. She would say, "Oh, I'm proud of you."

Japhet De Oliveira: That's magical.

Marc Woodson: Oh, yeah. When she died, I didn't realize how much-

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Marc Woodson: ... of her was in me and made me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Isn't it interesting?

Marc Woodson: Yeah, that is.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's pretty powerful.

Marc Woodson: Yeah. I tell people that all the time, I say, "Yeah, when you lose your mom, if she's..." I mean, she gives you, in a lot of ways, just your image of who you are and all of that, so great woman.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful.

Marc Woodson: Great woman.

Japhet De Oliveira: Thank you. A wonderful tribute. That's great. All right.

Marc Woodson: What are we on? Was that 67?

Japhet De Oliveira: You want to do 77?

Marc Woodson: I'll do 77.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. This is great for you. Share one of the most cup filling experiences that you've had.

Marc Woodson: Cup filling?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Something's just overflowing, it was just an amazing experience. You're like, "Good luck, okay." Something came to mind rather quickly.

Marc Woodson: It did. Well, I'm going to say, but I've already used that answer, so I'm going to use a different answer. It was with my brothers and sisters.

Japhet De Oliveira: That was it.

Marc Woodson: That was it. I would say it was when I went, it was a surprise. A friend of mine took me. I was in Georgia, and they knew that I liked. One of my favorite, my favorite historical characters was FDR. I'm in Georgia, and there's a place in Georgia called Warm Springs. And Warm Springs, Georgia is where FDR. He ended up actually purchasing a, like a spa.

Japhet De Oliveira: Like a spa. Like a treatment center. Yeah, yeah.

Marc Woodson: A treatment center that had warm water in it to treat polio victims. And so, he ended up not only purchasing that but then he built a house there, which they called the Little White House, where he died. They were like, "Hey, I planned this trip and we're going to go to this place in Warm Springs." I said, "No."

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Marc Woodson: It didn't even occur to me that while I was in Georgia there would be this. I was like "Oh, you just..." "What?" "I could just kiss you."

Japhet De Oliveira: That's amazing.

Marc Woodson: Oh. That was the best surprise.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful.

Marc Woodson: It filled me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that was beautiful. Oh, I love that, love that.

Marc Woodson: Yeah. I knew it.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. We actually have time only for two more.

Marc Woodson: We only have two? Our time... What? This was-

Japhet De Oliveira: So fast.

Marc Woodson: So we can go to, well, 87 and 97.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. That's where it's at. All right.

Marc Woodson: I think I'm going to regret 97.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, no, no.

Marc Woodson: Okay, okay, all right.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's going to be great. It's going to be beautiful.

Marc Woodson: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. When you are under incredible stress, what helps to ground you?

Marc Woodson: Reading the Psalms.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah?

Marc Woodson: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: It just brings you back?

Marc Woodson: Yeah. Reading the Psalms. I remember-

Japhet De Oliveira: They're complex. Psalms are complex.

Marc Woodson: Oh, yeah. Or go to scripture generally, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Marc Woodson: That and a good long walk.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah?

Marc Woodson: Mm-hmm. That and a good long walk will do it.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful. Good wisdom.

Marc Woodson: Yeah. That'll do it.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right.

Marc Woodson: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: The last one, ready?

Marc Woodson: 97. Whoa.

Japhet De Oliveira: 97. Whoa. Tell us about a time when you did the right thing.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, I was sixth grade.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah?

Marc Woodson: Yeah. Sixth grade.

Japhet De Oliveira: What happened?

Marc Woodson: There was a young lady. You know sixth graders, they just do crazy stuff, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Uh-huh.

Marc Woodson: It was that era where somebody would say something, you're like "Ooh." "Oh, well, your mom." "Oh. Ooh." So somebody was, what we used to call bagging on each other, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Marc Woodson: And so this young lady she bagged on me, and then I bagged back on her, and the whole class was like "Ooh." They egged me on to fight her.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Marc Woodson: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, okay.

Marc Woodson: And I thought about having to fight this girl. This is when I knew that I was maturing in sixth grade because I thought, "First of all, okay, I can't let her beat me."

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right. All right, all right.

Marc Woodson: Because if she beats me, I will never- I might as well leave the school, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. You won't live it down.

Marc Woodson: Yeah, I won't live that down. So because I can't let her beat me, I'm going to have to just almost kill her, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, all right.

Marc Woodson: Right? Because I'm just going to be like-

Japhet De Oliveira: Sure. That was the alternative.

Marc Woodson: My motivation would be like, I just can't, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Marc Woodson: Japhet, I thought, "Man, she already had a low self-esteem." And I said, "So if I beat her, she's going to have a hard time recovering from that." So what I did was, instead I said, I allowed them to call me chicken, and "Oh, you're just afraid," in order to preserve that. And I think that was the right thing to do.

Japhet De Oliveira: That was the right thing to do.

Marc Woodson: I think that was the right thing.

Japhet De Oliveira: It was a hard thing to do but a right thing to do.

Marc Woodson: It was a hard thing to do because it still was a ding on your reputation, but of the choices, I thought that was the best one.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's really good. Marc, it has been a privilege and pleasure to be able to talk. Thank you for sharing.

Marc Woodson: Yeah. That was so fast though.

Japhet De Oliveira: No.

Marc Woodson: I thought, man, I hope and I still didn't come at... I know where I failed, I failed in this conversation. That was my failure.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Marc Woodson: Yeah. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, if you want to. I mean, is there something you wanted to share about?

Marc Woodson: I can't think of it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Marc Woodson: No, still not coming to me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Marc, it's good. Interestingly in all the stories, I would say there was a theme of time. Time passing by, time engaging. That you really value time. Time with God. Time re-centers things. Good wisdom inside this for, as for ourselves and I encourage people to do this. Sit down with a friend, sit down with a stranger, ask them good questions. We learn about each other, right?

Marc Woodson: Absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira: I believe that we are transformed. I believe God changes us through conversations. Thank you for sharing so much, really appreciate it.

Marc Woodson: Well, thank you for this conversation.

Japhet De Oliveira: Absolutely.

Marc Woodson: It was a pleasure.

Japhet De Oliveira: God bless.

Marc Woodson: Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: And we will connect soon.

Marc Woodson: Okay.

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