Empathy's Secret Role in Business Success: Jacqueline's Journey

In this conversation, Jacqueline shares her journey of personal and professional growth, influenced by her family's strong work ethic and commitment to helping others. She discusses her experiences in the hospitality industry, the importance of meaningful work, and the challenges of entrepreneurship. Jacqueline emphasizes the value of education, resilience, and compassion in business, particularly in customer service. She reflects on her desire to create opportunities for her children and the next generation, highlighting the lessons learned from her own experiences and the importance of responding to challenges with grace and understanding. In this conversation, Jacqueline shares her journey through grief, faith, and personal growth. She reflects on the impact of her father's illness and passing, the transformation of her faith, and the challenges of navigating life while in survival mode. Jacqueline emphasizes the importance of intentional living and the power of empowering others through one's own journey.

Keywords

entrepreneurship, family influence, resilience, customer service, business education, hospitality industry, meaningful work, women in business, personal growth, overcoming challenges, grief, loss, faith, personal growth, intention, empowerment, life lessons, transformation, family, relationships

Takeaways

Strong women often have a background of resilience and support.
Meaningful work is essential for personal fulfillment.
Entrepreneurship requires a willingness to learn and adapt.
Education is valuable, but not always necessary for success.
Creating opportunities for the next generation is a key goal.
Customer service can turn negative experiences into positive ones.
Compassion and empathy are crucial in business interactions.
Failures are learning opportunities that shape character.
Determination and intention are vital for achieving goals.
Family influence plays a significant role in shaping values and work ethic. Jacqueline's father's decline due to Alzheimer's was heartbreaking to witness.
Grief can bring a sense of relief when a loved one is no longer in pain.
It's normal to feel guilt over relief in grief.
Faith can transform lives, as seen in Jacqueline's father's journey.
Survival mode can numb emotions and hinder personal growth.
Finding a supportive partner can help in navigating life's challenges.
Intentional living is crucial in a world full of distractions.
Empowering others can create a ripple effect of positivity.
No one will find your purpose for you; you must seek it out.
Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals can inspire growth.

Chapters

00:00 The Influence of Family on Strength and Fulfillment
03:06 Finding Meaning in Work and Entrepreneurship
06:03 Navigating Challenges and Building Resilience
08:57 The Importance of Education and Experience in Business
11:59 Creating Opportunities for the Next Generation
14:58 Customer Service: Turning Challenges into Opportunities
17:57 Compassion in Business: Understanding Customer Needs
33:45 Navigating Loss and Grief
39:01 Faith and Transformation
41:57 Survival Mode and Personal Growth
49:58 Creating a Life of Intention
52:03 Empowering Others Through Your Journey

Transcript

Kindra Morse (00:01.24)
So I think that it's really easy to think that really strong women were always really strong. And maybe part of your story is that in a lot of ways you have always been really strong. And you seeing your parents, I want you to share a little bit about what you saw your parents do for work and how they showed up in the world. And did you growing up see them feeling fulfilled in what they were doing for work?

Jacqueline (00:07.022)
Yeah.

Jacqueline (00:28.375)
Yeah, mean, so my dad was a forester for Potlatch Corporation for like over 40 years. And he also had like a side consulting business where he would like look at people's forest land and, you know, tell them how to keep it healthy and sort of like what to do with it. And my dad was very well known like in the industry. And so we would go places.

and like to like corporate stuff or like the company had a dinner or something and everybody knew like who my dad was and then like you're Jack Fagan's daughter like yeah like my gosh that's so cool and so I it's sort of like when I was a kid I guess kind of went over my head but then as an adult and he's been he passed away almost 20 years ago now but so I think but as I've grown up and

and gotten older, like I've just, it's super cool how he like moved the mark with things in his industry. And then my mom, she worked for US senators when I was growing up, worked for US senators and we would go to these meetings and there would be like natural disasters. In Orphino, I remember I was a kid and like the river like flooded and like these people's homes went into the river.

floated down the river. And so she was like, of the face of, you know, the senator for at that time in Orfino and like helping these people who literally lost everything. And FEMA is there and you know, like at the time I had no clue what I was like watching. But then looking back as an adult, you're like, wow, like my parents really like my mom really helped people at like really scary times of

Kindra Morse (02:15.726)
I

Jacqueline (02:24.633)
their lives and was able to help them, you know, get their lives back together. So, well.

Kindra Morse (02:28.78)
Yeah, so looking at like work going into the work world, did you automatically pursue something that was meaningful or was it, I'm just going to find a job and go from there.

Jacqueline (02:39.467)
Well, as a kid, like I saw my dad was super frugal and a saver. And my mom, growing up, like we did all the things and went to all the places and got all the things that we wanted. But so I feel like I got that frugals from my dad, though. I was like, I need a job. I just want to work so can save money. I just like. But, you know, my first job was like.

filing papers for somebody and you know, I didn't care what it was. I just wanted a job at that time but then I did other things along the way and one of the things that I did I worked for a catering company for a couple of years when I was in high school and she was so amazing and I think that's sort of what sort of set the stage for knowing that I wanted to do something at least in the hospitality industry because people food brings people together and

now doing pizza, it's like, everybody loves pizza. You show up at a party with a stack of pizzas and like everybody just gets so excited. so, so like that, doing that job and, and we did, we catered huge weddings and huge events and I got to go out to her kitchen and help prep. And so I think that sort of set, doing that job sort of set the stage for wanting to do something in hospitality for sure.

But yeah, I mean, I always wanted to do something that was more than just a job, for sure.

Kindra Morse (04:09.902)
Well, how amazing I feel that when we do something like that as women or as parents and then we set the bar high for our children if we show them there's a different way they're so much more likely to also pursue something more meaningful and more fulfilling and more in line with what they how they want to spend their life so awesome like talk to your parents so when you were not doing

Jacqueline (04:21.295)
Yeah.

Kindra Morse (04:35.574)
when you left hospitality, was there a season in a period of time where you were ever doing something that felt unfulfilling?

Jacqueline (04:43.359)
I guess I've kind of mostly always run businesses and there is like, I'm just an entrepreneur at heart. Like getting to build something into something bigger and better is like just that sort of like process is very fulfilling for me. Like I enjoy, I enjoy the process and even like with pizza, it's like we started out with one and then

then you double to two. so, but it's always changing. Pizza's always changing. Landscaping's always changing. So, I mean, you know, with employees and it's, so I guess, I guess I've done that and sort of stayed in that for a long, most of my adult life of running different types of businesses that I do enjoy just the process, but.

Kindra Morse (05:33.742)
Mm.

Jacqueline (05:39.971)
there is definitely something different about hospitality.

Kindra Morse (05:40.024)
So.

Right. And so just so the audience knows you run four pizza plate, actual brick and mortar restaurants and a landscaping business. So you have your hands full, but I want to go for a little bit back in time, I guess, to the lowest point in your life. What, and maybe it wasn't necessarily what you were doing for work, but at what point did you try to think of how to ask this question without being, um,

Jacqueline (05:49.39)
Yes.

Yes.

Jacqueline (06:03.791)
Mm-hmm.

Kindra Morse (06:11.924)
Where in your life did you, obviously you've always felt like you wanted, actually I'm gonna go back. So did you go to school to run businesses? Do you have a college? So what kind of a degree do have?

Jacqueline (06:23.407)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I have a communications degree, which I took, like, I have a business minor, so I took business classes.

Kindra Morse (06:34.114)
How many business classes?

Jacqueline (06:35.823)
Um, I think like five, like accounting 101 and 102 and then economics and like some, um, like business communication, organizational communication classes too.

Kindra Morse (06:48.974)
Okay, so for the woman that's listening that did not go to college but maybe is interested in running a business, how much do those classes actually make or break your ability to run a business?

Jacqueline (06:57.643)
I mean, if you don't have, I mean, I don't think that my degree did anything for me for running a business. I mean, it's a piece of paper. like, I think it says, if you want to go get a job, basically you're telling the person that you want to be employed from, like, I have this level of commitment. But beyond that, and obviously there's certain degrees that you have to have that

certain things that you have to learn, like if you wanna be a programmer or whatever and you need to take coding classes, like, I mean, maybe you can go learn that online, but you can start a business and run a business without having a college education 100%.

Kindra Morse (07:45.1)
It's like, why did we learn trigonometry in high school and not practice? I think there's a lot of women though that have that limiting belief that I didn't go to college to run a business, therefore I don't speak to the woman that thinks that that is going to make or break them having success.

Jacqueline (07:48.463)
Seriously. Yes. Yes!

Jacqueline (08:03.245)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, if you find somebody that has a business and I mean, I love it when people ask me, hey, so how did you, like, what should I do? This is what I wanna do. Like, what do you think I should do first? It's like the ultimate compliment to be asked those types of questions where obviously we're running several.

successful businesses and for somebody to come to me and ask me for my advice. Like I love to help people. I love to talk about that kind of stuff. And so also like you can, everything is so out there now on the internet of how to do everything. Cause it's obviously different state to state, right? But it's so easy to, you just have to figure it out. have to be determined. If you want to do it.

If you're determined and set and know what you want to go for, it's 100 % achievable.

Kindra Morse (09:04.846)
Absolutely. Was there ever a time where you felt disempowered because you sound so confident you sound so strong Was there ever a point that you felt that you weren't living in that this version of you?

Jacqueline (09:15.609)
course.

Jacqueline (09:19.371)
Yeah, I mean, I think we all go through times where you question yourself. I mean, you kind of asked me earlier about like my lowest point of like, because I've been through some like really sad times. And so,

Grace, who's now 11 when I was pregnant with her was definitely like my saddest and I was pregnant and I didn't know what to do and I didn't know where to go with my life and I felt like everything was just on pause because I'm growing this baby. Like I can't do anything else. I have to grow this baby. And so that, you know, then and it's

It's just day by day, like figuring out. I didn't know what I was gonna do. then, you know, mean, Philip and I got together and he had landscaping. So I was like, okay, well, I can help him with that. I can do that. So I did that. And then I was like, well, then Grace was a couple of years old. And I'm like, what kind of need, like, what's something more? Like, I'm tired of just answering the phone and processing payroll. Like, I want something more. And so it just started like looking around. And then,

River City Pizza was just gonna close. And so I was like, well, let's just go talk to them, see if they wanna sell it. So we went in and they thought we were crazy and we're like, no, let's do it. So he was like, okay. So we bought the one in Otis and just from there have grown, we have four now. But it's like, it's every day waking up with intention of, okay, what?

How can I move the mark today? Even if it's just tiny, even if it's just one thing of moving the mark to make the business better or to grow the business, it's an everyday decision to wake up and make the next step.

Kindra Morse (11:32.736)
When you were not before you bought River City Pizza at your home, you're being a mom, I just think we've so many conversations we've had like this where we talk about it's amazing to be a mom and we are so grateful to be able to stay at home moms and to be able to feed the caregivers. But there's also this part of us that means more. So where were you at then that you knew, okay, I've got to find something more. What was that time like?

Jacqueline (11:46.447)
Totally.

Jacqueline (11:52.985)
Mm-hmm.

Jacqueline (11:59.214)
Yeah. I mean, it is unsettling, right? And I am not a patient person. So I was like really antsy to find something. and I was just, but I also like.

Kindra Morse (12:14.316)
Are you specifically looking for hospitality or just?

Jacqueline (12:16.911)
No, mean, kind of. was kind of. Like we were, we looked at coffee shops, we looked at full restaurants, we looked at all kinds of different things. And mostly, yes, we're in the house. I think we looked at a tanning salon once, but I was like, no. But yeah, most of the things were in hospitality. And I think like, one thing that I knew that I didn't want, like I didn't want to just buy a job, right? I didn't want to just...

by something that was gonna take up my time. I wanted to like get involved with something that was like, that I could be proud of. And that what I really wanted was to find something that, because my big kids were like, I Cody was, well in 2016, Cody was 16.

when we bought the pizza place he was 16. And it was like, I wanted a place to give my kids their first job. And what more fun place than to have your first job be at a pizza place. So all of the big kids will.

Kindra Morse (13:29.986)
was that? So why was that so important to you?

Jacqueline (13:33.968)
I just wanted to be part of my legacy, being able to provide that for my kids, and not just my kids, but being able to provide kids their first job, young adults their first job, and in an environment that's fun and they get to work with their friends, but they're also expected to work and they have to answer the phone and they have to do the dishes and they have to sweep the floor. They're learning things that they get to take with them.

for the rest of their lives. And you're learning communication with your coworkers and you're learning, like those are jobs that you, those are things that you're not gonna learn at every job. And plus they get, I mean, minimum wage is 16.66 an hour, but you get tips. mean, like if you are good with your money, like you can save, you're living with your parents, you know, like,

take advantage of the situation and save your money. And it's providing an opportunity for people, for young adults to really have a good first job. And that's fun. And they get to learn a lot of really cool experiences too.

Kindra Morse (14:45.45)
My first job was a waitress. So actually a hostess, it started as a hostess and then moved up to being a waitress. And I think everyone should spend some time in that job because people, you'll be a lot more patient when you're on the other side. You'll understand, you'll have so much, you'll give so much more grace to your waitress, waiter, your food experience.

Jacqueline (14:52.405)
Ugh. I say the same thing. Yeah.

Yes.

Jacqueline (15:03.209)
yeah. Well, I always, I always say when, cause you know, you deal with bad situations and customers get like, if, getting a pizza with black olives on it instead of no black olives is making you this upset, clearly you have a lot of other things going on. But one thing for sure is you've never had a job like this. Like you've never worked a Friday night dinner rush ever. And it is showing right now. Yes.

Kindra Morse (15:30.144)
It's very apparent. And you need to go have at least six months experience in this. Yes, I just, I think I never thought though, I have never until talking to you thought about how you could be the one giving your children that experience and speak to the what that means to you now being you I'm assuming they've all your older children have all worked for you. How has that been?

Jacqueline (15:35.48)
Yes!

Jacqueline (15:44.761)
Mm-hmm.

Jacqueline (15:53.466)
Yeah, all the different capacities too. Alicia, my oldest daughter, she's 24 now. She was actually, she was a store manager for my Valley location. And then she became, at the time we only had three stores, but she was like my general manager for all three locations. I mean, so she worked at the biggest capacity. Cody's the oldest, he worked, you know, for years, you know, even like in transition, hey, like,

I just quit my job. Can I just pick up a couple shifts at the pizza place? Like, of course. And then, so he worked a lot when he was younger and then sort of off and on and he's moved on to bigger and better things now. And same with Alicia, but she was, I mean, like my right hand for several years. Like it was a lot. And then Nick, who's 19, he started when he was 16.

Kindra Morse (16:45.55)
and

Jacqueline (16:49.583)
and worked for like two and a half years. And then when he graduated from high school and turned 18, he moved over to Seattle to be with my sister. he worked for a lot, a lot. And he is like, I talked earlier about how my dad was frugal and I'm super frugal and he definitely has that trait. mean, but he worked as hard as he could, as many hours as he could. He had $20,000 saved.

Kindra Morse (17:17.602)
Wow.

Jacqueline (17:17.931)
after two and a half years of working at the pizza place, just by saving his money and being good with it. And so that's kind of where I just don't feel like you can just, if you just go work a minimum wage job, that opportunity is just not there, because you're not gonna make that much money. But when you get tips, when you're good at your job and the better you are at your job, the bigger tips you get, that speaks to some people.

Kindra Morse (17:32.686)
Thank you.

Kindra Morse (17:38.563)
you

Kindra Morse (17:44.822)
Yeah, I think I had done the math. This was, I think it's been 20 years probably, I told him, from when I was doing that. And I think at that time I was making like $23 an hour. So if you think about that, $23 an hour 20 years ago was really more than minimum wage. It taught me so much in communication skills. It taught me how to connect with people in a very short amount of time. It taught me how to provide quality service that then I made more. Like it taught me that, that aspect of life, the better you do at something.

Jacqueline (17:54.766)
Yeah.

Yeah, it's a lot. Yes.

Jacqueline (18:09.892)
Yes.

Kindra Morse (18:14.206)
In some obviously there's some jobs that that's not going to happen but in the waiting tables waitress waiter job You learn the better service you provide the more income you can make and there's lots of ways that that can translate into business later on so talk a little bit about You said earlier that you love it when people ask you like where should they get started? When you decided to pursue River City pizza had you had any pizza background at that point or was that?

Jacqueline (18:41.903)
No, I'd never even worked in a restaurant. So in high school, I'd worked for that caterer. Her name is Debbie Rep. I still every once in a while reach out and I'm like, this is all because of you. Because she just like instilled that she was, I mean, talk about a hardworking person. And catering is hard because you have to cook it then you have to move it and then you have to make it look pretty and you have to make it taste good and it's traveled 100 miles.

Kindra Morse (18:45.291)
me.

Kindra Morse (18:53.951)
No.

Jacqueline (19:13.239)
So yeah, sorry, what was your question?

Kindra Morse (19:15.374)
Well, when you started the pizza business, you have a background and did you feel like you went into it knowing a whole lot about what would you say to the person that's asking you? Where would you get some good?

Jacqueline (19:19.36)
yeah.

Jacqueline (19:28.695)
Yeah, yeah. I mean, when we bought the pizza place, so we bought it from a guy whose mom and sister ran it. And then the sister stayed for a year, because I didn't know anything about pizza. And she had worked there forever. I mean, he owned it for 20 years. So she stayed for a year and I learned a ton from her. But not like the...

the business side, like I had the business side down, all of the payroll and taxes and licensing and all that kind of stuff. But then when it came...

Kindra Morse (20:05.907)
How did you figure that out though? So was that from previous business experiences? Okay.

Jacqueline (20:09.039)
Yeah, previous businesses and then just, mean, honestly, you just have to learn as you go. And you have to sort of embrace that you're gonna start and you're not gonna have all the answers. You're not gonna know it all. But as you go, you have to learn and talk to the right people and make the right connections and just like...

I am one though, like it's sort of just in my personality that I'm fine with that. Like I'll just figure it out. nothing's too hard. Like I'll, I can figure it out. And like a lot of people don't have that. Like people have to, some people have to like, they got to know it all before they, you know, take one step.

Kindra Morse (20:54.484)
you? Where do feel like you got that from? Like what life experiences do you feel like produced that in you?

Jacqueline (21:04.911)
I don't know. guess I've just... I mean, my parents are both like that, I guess. Like, just go for it. And you're gonna make mistakes. And how you respond to those mistakes and, you know, adversity that comes your way is like just as much like...

failing just shows that you're trying. So how you respond to the failures and how you recover and bounce back from the failures says so much about you and who you are. So I think it's just, I think part of it's just growing up. Like I played a lot of sports too. So I think, you know, just going for it has always just sort of been in my nature, I guess.

Kindra Morse (21:51.704)
Thank you.

Kindra Morse (22:04.8)
we are kindred spirits. That's totally me. I'm a wing it person all the way. It will all work out. Well, talk a little bit about what failures did you have failures? I'm assuming you had, I know you had to have.

Jacqueline (22:09.069)
Yeah. Fake it till you make it. Fake it till you make it.

Jacqueline (22:19.183)
I mean, like specifically with pizza.

Kindra Morse (22:20.27)
Yeah, in running the pizza business.

Jacqueline (22:23.725)
Yeah, I mean, you hire somebody and they work a shift and you're like, why? Why did I do that? So, know, working through things like that. I mean, you have upset customers, and you have to figure out, you know, it's all in smoothing it over and making them happy, making a customer happy. Your employees are always watching you and how you handle situations.

I mean, and handling situations with as much like grace and understanding as possible. And sometimes like there's just crappy people that just want free food, you know, and you have to be able to recognize that and handle those situations a certain way as well. But I mean, there's been times, you know, like our first catering event, it's like, you just, it never goes how you,

You know anticipate it to go so you just have to be you know it's all gonna work out and you get the food out as fast as you can and and you know make make people happy as best you can and I mean other failures like I mean we we started a location out in Newman Lake and only had it for a season and then like it wasn't a failure but you know, it's like you started it and then

ownership of the Marina change so that they didn't want it. So we didn't, you know, we didn't get the opportunity to do it again. But it's sort of like taking those opportunities that you're handed at the time and making the best of them and learning, learning from that.

Kindra Morse (24:07.414)
What point, so I'm assuming when you bought the original River City Pizza, you had no idea you were going to expand like you have.

Jacqueline (24:14.645)
No, not in the beginning anyway, because the guy that owned it before, that was always his plan, was to open more. And he had the one in Otis for 20 years and hadn't opened another one.

Kindra Morse (24:28.076)
Was that because he wasn't able to make it profitable enough to expand?

Jacqueline (24:32.001)
I don't know exactly why he chose not to. What he did do is, so right now we're just take out and delivery. Like we don't have a sit down restaurant. So he had that and that was his, how he had his business set up in the beginning for about 15 years. And then the last five years that he had it, he actually opened up a sit down restaurant. And...

then he had brought on a partner at that time. And so that didn't go great and he ended up having to buy him out. And so then I think that he was just exhausted. Like he was, it was just too much. So then when we bought it, he had the diner open, but when we bought it, we shut the diner down and went back to the original concept of just take out and delivery.

Kindra Morse (25:25.858)
Why did you decide to do that? What made you think that was the better path business wise?

Jacqueline (25:29.869)
Well, he said if I had to do it again, I never would have opened the diner. So that's where I was like, and it was huge. It was like three times the space of just the takeout and delivery space. the rent was super expensive, the overhead, like just a number of people that you had to have on staff to have that space open.

Kindra Morse (25:37.442)
Why wouldn't you?

Kindra Morse (25:49.358)
What?

Jacqueline (25:58.608)
was double. So he was like, if I had to do it again, this is what I would do. And I was like, okay, well, that sounds good. So let's just do that. And then, but I think because, I mean, it's simple. It's a kitchen. There's like most of it. mean, customers sit in like a quarter of the customers, you know, are able to see a quarter of our whole space in all four locations. So,

It's just that like your customer, there's no beer, there's no alcohol, there's no sit down, you don't have to have waitresses. You can run it with two people most of the time, except for in your dinner rush where you obviously have to have more staff. But I think because it's so simple, that's why we've been able to replicate it so easily. It's like we have a perfectly well-oiled machine and we've just

basically copy and paste it at three times.

Kindra Morse (27:00.11)
Do you plan to expand further? That's exciting. going back to, I want to talk a little bit about when you're talking about dealing with customers that are unhappy and understanding how to navigate those things, is that something that you learned just being a waitress in experience or was that something that you, like when you say you can, you can find out anything. You can learn anything on Google, literally. But.

Jacqueline (27:02.221)
Yeah, we do. Yeah.

Kindra Morse (27:25.624)
Were there books? Was there programs? Or was that just all experience that you've learned how to navigate those things?

Jacqueline (27:32.772)
I think that it's, I mean, every single situation is different too, because you're dealing with a different person on the other end. I think that it was just, it all just comes down to, okay, I'm a reasonable person. How would I want to be treated when this is the scenario? I got a pizza and all the toppings slid off because obviously the delivery driver tipped the bag. So how can I?

How can I fix that for you? Like just treating people with dignity and respect. And it doesn't always go the way you want it to, of course. I don't want to make it sound like, you have to do is just give away free pizza. That's not what I'm saying. It's the way that you talk to them. It's the way that I basically just, okay, I want this person, I want this bad experience to convert this person into a River City pizza.

person for life and I have this opportunity, I can take this bad situation and turn it into good, how can I do that? And so just, if I was them, how would I wanna be treated? And just, that's always how I start. And it's like sometimes they're not. And so how do you navigate those? But a lot of it is like, you know,

Kindra Morse (28:46.744)
Mm-hmm. think the customer's always right.

Jacqueline (29:00.821)
handling those situations and it of course it always happens in the middle of a dinner rush on a Friday night when things are crazy and you mess up and then but but also conveying to my staff like this is how we treat people like we we want to make it right and how can we do that reasonably reasonably

Kindra Morse (29:26.124)
Right.

Jacqueline (29:26.927)
But I don't think, I mean, I'm trying to think, I mean, I've read so many business books and sort of self-growth books and you take little snippets from all of them. And obviously, there's great ones out there. But I don't have like one that's like, was this life altering book that I read, but I have taken snippets from all of them.

and applied them in different situations. But customer service is sort of one of those things that it's like, you have to be genuine. You have to be genuine in wanting to make this person happy. I always say, my hope is that every single person, every single customer that orders from me gets exactly what they want, exactly when they want it.

That's obviously not reality. Mistakes happen and things are late or early or whatever, but recovering from those and making it right for the customer is the most important thing.

Kindra Morse (30:39.884)
Because what is it? I think that the numbers are a happy customer will probably tell three people about their experience. An unhappy customer will tell 11 people about their experience. So it's so important to make sure they leave a.

Jacqueline (30:45.41)
Yeah.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. But I also think an unhappy customer that you were able to make it right with, that experience for that person anyway, can really like, they'll never go anywhere else. If you can figure out how to make it right when they've had a bad experience.

Kindra Morse (31:05.803)
Mm-hmm.

Kindra Morse (31:11.884)
Right, right. So when you're talking about like having so much grace for people and seeing them, like when you mentioned the person that is so upset about having olives on their pizza when they didn't want olives and you're thinking you have way bigger problems, where do you feel that compassion has come from?

Jacqueline (31:35.312)
I mean, like my faith, like I'm a Christ follower and I think that that's where it comes from. mean, at the end of the day, I make pizza, right? And I pay landscaping employees. But my hope is that in doing those things that I can be a light.

and that I can show people like my heart. I...

And people go through hard things and they have bad days. And so it's like, obviously this person is super upset about way more bigger things than just the black olives that are on their pizza. And I don't know what they're going through and I don't know what their day has been like, but clearly it was not good. so, you know, responding to them in as loving way as possible, hopefully that'll...

you know, maybe it can turn their day around.

Kindra Morse (32:43.702)
Right? I think the people that have the most empathy and compassion for people are people that have been through the darkest moments. So for you, was there times where you had that day where anything could have set you off?

Jacqueline (32:52.847)
Sure. Yeah.

Jacqueline (33:02.991)
For sure. Yeah, of course. I mean, like, you can, like, people can only take so much, you know, and you get to, you're going through something that's so hard and sad and heavy that you have, we all have breaking points, you know? So yeah, I mean, there's been times in my life that, like, I mean, you feel alone and just...

at end of your rope and you don't know what to do. So yeah, for sure.

Kindra Morse (33:37.078)
When you, mentioned earlier that your dad passed. How old were you when you passed?

Jacqueline (33:40.047)
Mm-hmm. I was 22. Yeah. Yeah.

Kindra Morse (33:45.774)
So, yeah. How do you think that, how did he pass?

Jacqueline (33:51.872)
So he had what took his life was lung cancer. My dad was he smoked his whole life And but he had Alzheimer's so it was sort of this like slow Decline and at first we're like what is wrong with him? Like why is he being so weird? But then it was like Okay, something's actually wrong. So so he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and then

And it was just like, it's hard to watch somebody that's so independent and so like passionate about what they do and then he couldn't drive. And it's like taking that kind of freedom from somebody, it's it's heartbreaking to watch that happen, to take that from somebody that, especially somebody like your own parent who is like,

Kindra Morse (34:36.142)
Hmm.

Jacqueline (34:47.051)
an authority figure in your life and then you're like, well, you can't drive. Like I have to like, who are you to tell him that he can't drive? So those were hard. Like seeing him slowly decline was was hard, really sad.

Kindra Morse (34:54.638)
you

Kindra Morse (35:03.214)
Do you think that affected how you look at how you live your life? Seeing life taken away. How old was he?

Jacqueline (35:12.847)
He was, so my dad was, my dad's 24 years older than my mom. So they had a huge age gap. when my dad passed away, was 80, like 86, 87.

Kindra Morse (35:17.976)
Mm.

Kindra Morse (35:25.07)
Okay. So he wasn't, I guess there's probably a part of you that was, I don't know, that's so insensitive to think. I don't know how to say it. Like you think, oh, he's lived a full life. But did you still feel like even though he has lived a full life, if he's lived that long and fulfilled life, you still felt like he had life taken away from him? that?

Jacqueline (35:38.916)
Yeah.

Jacqueline (35:50.958)
With certain aspects of it, yeah, like as time went on. I mean, and towards the end, it's like, you're saying it's insensitive, but it's reality. it's like, towards the end, his quality of life was so low that it's like, he would not, if he was all there, he would not have wanted to live this way. I mean, I know that for a fact. So it's like, when the time came, when he passed away, like my mom and I, it was just like a,

I think it was a Saturday and my mom and I were both home and we both knew it was crazy. It was like we both knew that it was about to happen. And so we kind of looked at each other and we went in there and we were both sitting there with him when it happened. And it's like this huge sense of relief because now he doesn't have to live in this pain anymore. You know he's...

not comfortable. So, gosh, I haven't talked about this for a long time.

Kindra Morse (36:54.958)
Well, he wasn't the person that you remembered from 10 years earlier.

Jacqueline (36:59.369)
No, no, not at all. so, you know, you, but it's like, you have this sense of relief, but at the same time, you're like, my gosh, it's over now and he's gone. And like, your whole days were sort of just like revolved around making sure he was like, at least comfortable, you know, or trying to make sure he is comfortable.

Kindra Morse (37:13.09)
Yeah.

Jacqueline (37:27.055)
And then when it's like it's over and he's gone you're like It was just like a crazy like mind mindset shift of Changing everything sort of about your day, but But yeah, so I mean where it's like a huge relief because you know, he's in a better place But still like he's gone and so it's sad. It's hard grief is crazy

Kindra Morse (37:51.896)
Did you feel guilty? Like one thing that I know just in different scenarios and experiences that I've had and family members and friends have had, did you have a feeling of guilt over the fact that you had a feeling of relief?

Jacqueline (38:06.447)
Yes, absolutely. Yes, it's so weird. It's like, I feel relief, but I shouldn't. And I'm a horrible person for that. But I think that that sort of that same feeling translates into so many different areas of your life, I think, especially nowadays where we're pulled in so many different directions.

Kindra Morse (38:08.096)
Weird.

Kindra Morse (38:15.031)
Yeah.

Jacqueline (38:36.195)
But yeah, like it's okay. It's also okay. Like he wasn't living how he would have wanted to live. So he's in a better place. And thankfully like, sorry what? I think thankfully in like my dad's later years, he also became a Christ follower. He was like avidly not. He was like.

Kindra Morse (38:48.62)
Right. And that experience. That's okay, go ahead.

Kindra Morse (38:58.702)
What happened? What led him to that?

Jacqueline (39:03.629)
We had this friend, so my sister and I started to go to a private school when I was going into seventh grade and my sister was going into eighth grade. And we had these, became friends with some of the people that, and it was like a, it was a private, like non-denominational Christian school. But some of our friends were like really strong believers and,

His name is Patch Blakey and he was just like dead set on getting my dad to believe in God. And so he would take him out and we had a couple of other friends, Dave Casebolt was somebody else that my dad like really became friends with and he just, they wore him down, so.

Kindra Morse (39:36.844)
you

Kindra Morse (39:49.454)
Did your dad share that wearing down experience with you or did you just witness it?

Jacqueline (39:55.982)
I think I just witnessed it. I don't think he never really like shared that with me. But yeah, definitely was like night and day though. Like one day he was like, okay, yeah, I believe that. So yeah.

Kindra Morse (40:08.184)
Really? And how was he before?

Jacqueline (40:11.727)
I mean, he was old. I don't think much changed about his personality when he became a Christ follower. He was more tender. But I mean, my dad was kind of a of a gruffy guy always. And so that didn't really ever change. But yeah, I he just was very avid, like, I don't believe in God. That's not real. But then I think, too, with being a Forrester, too, he got to witness and see.

Kindra Morse (40:19.566)
Mm-hmm.

Kindra Morse (40:29.026)
Yeah.

.

Jacqueline (40:40.601)
beautiful, amazing things. And I think like over time it just sort of like clicked with him that it was like, okay, there's more out there like, God did this. So.

Kindra Morse (40:52.27)
Mm-hmm. Oh, I absolutely imagine being in nature would definitely speak to that. So were you a Christ follower before him or was

Jacqueline (40:58.126)
Yes.

Jacqueline (41:03.629)
Yeah, I mean, like when I grew up, my mom, like we always went to the Catholic church. I don't know that I would ever like say that I was Catholic, but that's where we attended church as a kid. And then, and like, always like believed in Jesus and everything. But then when we started going to that private school, that's sort of where I learned more about like being a Christ follower and about the Bible, we had a Bible class. So was like every year, you know,

from seventh grade and I graduated, like we had Bible classes. And then here in Spokane, we go to a church called One. And that's, I feel like at One is sort of where I really was able to develop like my relationship with Jesus. And so.

Kindra Morse (41:52.718)
and how real then.

Jacqueline (41:55.304)
I was, I was an adult at that to go and we still go there now. Like Philip and I go there with the girls. So.

Kindra Morse (41:57.688)
Okay.

Kindra Morse (42:02.978)
Has there ever been a point where your faith was rocked or tested?

Jacqueline (42:08.097)
Yeah, I mean, I think,

I think after I had grace, there was a time where I was pretty, I was pretty bitter and really just mad. And yeah, just at some of the things that I had to walk through. And so I don't know that I would ever say that I didn't believe, but definitely a time where I was just doing

Kindra Morse (42:26.336)
at God.

Mm-hmm.

Jacqueline (42:42.531)
what like I wasn't going to church and really didn't have many relationships with other Christians and just kind of, I was mad. I was mad for a while. Probably a year.

Kindra Morse (42:52.974)
For how long?

Okay. And how much of that would you say?

Kindra Morse (43:05.976)
I'm like, want to ask so many questions, but I know I want to be careful. In that time, what were the stories that you were telling yourself about who God is or what did you believe about what you were walking through?

Jacqueline (43:09.986)
I'm sorry.

Jacqueline (43:25.731)
Yeah, that's hard.

Jacqueline (43:30.711)
I think I just, it was, I was in survival mode. I was in survival mode where I just like, I don't know that I even got that far of like, I just was just trying to get through the day without.

Kindra Morse (43:43.142)
you

Jacqueline (43:53.465)
you know, blowing up at somebody.

Kindra Morse (43:56.162)
because you were a relationship that you were in was ending or because of what was going on in you had been.

Kindra Morse (44:13.07)
I'm trying to, I'm like trying, and obviously we can cut all of this out. I'm just trying to think of how to ask you questions about it without detailing what it is. But talk to me just a little bit about like, was it that you were walking through that changed everything for you? Like prior to that year, you felt like you were in a good place. And then in this year time period, what kind of...

what transition were you going through or what was happening in your world was so different.

Jacqueline (44:48.431)
I think that, well I'll just be 100 % honest with you here, I think that for a long time I just became numb to a lot of the things around me. And then...

Kindra Morse (45:00.162)
you

Jacqueline (45:08.267)
after Grace was born and after he left, it was like, I have to do something else. I cannot continue to let this pain be inflicted on me and my kids. so staying firm and not going back was really hard. And it was almost like

It was almost like I had to stay in that anger space to not go back.

Kindra Morse (45:46.328)
Yeah.

Jacqueline (45:46.413)
because and obviously.

Kindra Morse (45:48.878)
Do you feel like almost like as a believer, do you almost feel like that was God's way of protecting you?

Jacqueline (45:53.68)
I don't know. Maybe. And obviously I don't want any of this in the stuff, because, so I told you earlier that Grace was born and then we went to the beach and he left. And then it was almost like that was like part of the game. Like I'm gonna leave and then I'm gonna make you beg me to come back. And when that didn't, yes. Oh yeah. And then when that didn't work,

Kindra Morse (46:14.828)
Yeah, because that probably worked before.

Jacqueline (46:22.883)
then it flipped to the begging, the just endless. And it was like, it would just like go on these things of like.

like just to tear me down enough to like.

want to go back. So it was like I had to stay in this space of just being mad to not let my any tenderness take over because if I did then I would have.

Kindra Morse (46:56.558)
So after that year of struggling with, I don't want to say struggling, but being in so much pain and anger, what sparked a change for you?

Jacqueline (47:10.195)
I think, well, getting together with Philip and we started dating around that time, he has this like calming nature about him. Like we're basically the opposite. Like I'm not calm. I have just, I am just like forge on, go for it.

Kindra Morse (47:28.526)
think that's by design. I think we're, that's by design. Also.

Jacqueline (47:38.352)
100 miles an hour all the time. And he just brings this to me. And so I just told this story a few weeks ago. I would just freak out over everything. just everything was a huge deal. And he would always say, it's gonna be okay. And when we first got together,

Kindra Morse (47:47.106)
Mm-hmm.

Jacqueline (48:07.011)
That was the most annoying thing ever. Like stop telling me everything's gonna be okay. Stop it. But it's true. It's so true. Like it's gonna be okay. And like we're gonna get through it because we have each other and like we, we're gonna be fine. And so I think that, like it was not an overnight thing. Like this took years, you know, for me to.

to calm down and like just on the inside, not just being rattled all the time. And so, so yeah, he helped me a lot, a lot.

Kindra Morse (48:48.726)
Which that totally speaks to the olive person, the person with olives on their pizza. You're like, I see you. I know what it's like to feel like every little thing means the world's falling apart because I've been there. Yeah. And also we don't, when we're in cycles of turmoil, we almost get addicted to that pattern and that feeling actually feels comfortable.

Jacqueline (49:00.355)
Yes. Yes.

Jacqueline (49:10.415)
Mm-hmm.

Jacqueline (49:14.477)
Yes, I think you're right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and then when you feel, then you're like, great, what's going to happen next? Like you finally sort of feel in this like good space and you're like, okay, what storm's coming next? What storm's brewing next? But yeah, just like breathing in those, breathing in that and taking it in and being grateful and thankful when, you know, things are good.

Kindra Morse (49:31.469)
you

Kindra Morse (49:42.286)
So was Philip a Christ follower when you met him? Okay, and was his faith quite a bit stronger than yours at that point?

Jacqueline (49:45.165)
Yeah, yeah, he grew up with Christian.

Jacqueline (49:51.747)
Probably, yeah, I mean that guy can recite the Bible, so.

Kindra Morse (49:57.262)
And he probably has his own stories and experiences that I think the most graceful people are the people that needed the most grace at some point. So talk to me a little bit about how that translates into how you show up. I think it's amazing how much of your life it sounds like you created versus there must have been a time, obviously, that happened maybe even before that year where you didn't feel like you were creating.

Jacqueline (50:06.169)
Yes. Yep.

Kindra Morse (50:26.316)
Not that I don't believe we're the full authors of our life above God, but we are taking action every day to create the thoughts that we think and the actions that we take to create the life that we want to live. And you're doing that now. So.

Jacqueline (50:32.697)
Yes.

Jacqueline (50:40.271)
Well, I think like being intentional every day, especially now, there are so many distractions. We're distracted constantly. I mean, you can waste a whole day just scrolling, you know? And so not allowing yourself to do that or anything else. I mean, we've talked a little bit about our job isn't who we are.

but we're able to affect a lot of people by the work that we do. And like, don't take that lightly. Like you have opportunities to change people's lives by how you treat them, by how you talk to them, by how you make them feel. They're never, people aren't ever gonna remember the words that you said, but they are always gonna remember how you made them feel.

Kindra Morse (51:16.643)
Yeah.

Jacqueline (51:40.228)
That is a really heavy responsibility that we carry. And the more, the more we have, the more, and yeah, again, it's just making pizza, but we get to have an effect on people's lives. And that's so important to live that intentionally every single day.

Kindra Morse (52:02.478)
That is amazing. So beautifully said. It's amazing to me how I think you're right in that we have that it's a heavy feeling and yet it's also a gift that we can you and it's all in it's it's both and I'm a firm believer that there's no like right and wrong it's and or like both things can coexist and lots there's so many situations in life where multiple things can be true at the same time

Jacqueline (52:13.732)
Yes.

Jacqueline (52:24.592)
for sure.

Jacqueline (52:29.935)
Mm-hmm.

Kindra Morse (52:31.01)
But it's amazing to think that the woman that's listening thinking, who am I? What difference can I make in the world? What can I do? You can make that difference in any way, any way that you show up in the world in the business, can absolutely make that difference every single day for somebody. What would you say to the woman that's listening that is feeling like, I think I'm made for more. I know I'm made for more, but how do I find the courage to figure out what that is and then walk it out?

Jacqueline (52:46.637)
Absolutely.

Jacqueline (53:01.229)
Yeah, I mean, I think that of course it's different for every person. I mean, and it changes in the different seasons of our lives. know, I mean, whether you're a mom or not, you know, what you're... It doesn't have to be some miraculous or life altering thing.

to find your purpose. And I think that we have to, it can just be, it can be even in the little things, just starting out with recognizing and realizing that your life is affecting people every day. just taking baby steps of finding what you enjoy, finding what fills your cup, and

just doing more of that every day. Little things, can be tiny things. And I think it's hard when you don't know. Like I definitely have been there. Like I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm not sure, I have no idea. But I know that these are my gifts and these are my talents. And so I'm just gonna go look for it. Literally driving around.

looking for what I'm supposed to do next. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Kindra Morse (54:30.607)
driving around Otis Orchard looking for business. They don't come to your door and knock on your door and say this is what you're supposed to do.

Jacqueline (54:36.685)
No, yeah. And that is like, that is the thing too. Like, no one's gonna do it for you. Nobody's gonna do it for you. So, you know, find what lights that little fire inside of yourself and, you know, surrounding yourself with other like-minded people that have the same drive and fire for life, I think is...

Huge, know, hang out with the people that you want to be like, be friends, pick their brains, figure out, find those people that you want to, their life is what you want your life to be. Go hang out with them. Go figure out how to become friends with them.

Kindra Morse (55:33.974)
Yeah, and not by social media, like real life. How it looks on social media might not be the whole picture, probably isn't, but in real life. And I think that one of the things that is so cool about hearing your story especially is that you can be that for other people in the way you show up in the world. You can borrow Jacqueline's confidence, right? And then go out and pursue something you're passionate about, but then you get to be that

Jacqueline (55:36.599)
No. No.

No, no. Yes.

Kindra Morse (56:03.064)
person that someone else sees and thinks, want to live more fully. I want to pursue something that I'm passionate about. want to impact people's lives. I want to show up and change people's lives because I saw you do it and you do it. It's an amazing, again, heaviness and empowering feeling to know that anyone can make a difference in the world.

Jacqueline (56:21.796)
Yes.

Yep, yep. Yeah, I think that, and then it becomes sort of contagious when even contagious to yourself, you're like, my gosh, I helped her. She saw something I did and she wanted to be like me. That is the coolest thing ever. And so then you just want to, you want to show up more. You want to do more and make that same impact on other people.

Kindra Morse (56:37.294)
you

Kindra Morse (56:44.47)
We are.

Mm-hmm.

Kindra Morse (56:54.03)
We are connected because you did that for a friend of mine. You have been that light for our friend Gina. And that's literally the reason we're talking is because the way you show up in the world, you're the strongest woman she knows because of Jaclyn and the way Jaclyn shows up, you've inspired her to show up as her best self, the best version of who she is. So amazing, amazing example of what life can be like. And thank you for being amazing.

Jacqueline (57:00.557)
You

Jacqueline (57:23.407)
Thanks.

Kindra Morse (57:25.472)
It's so fun to be able to talk to you and to get to know you and to be able to hear your story. it's, again, like I would not be talking to you right now if you didn't have the courage to walk this path. Because if you hadn't had the courage, you wouldn't have inspired Gina. She never would have told me about you. Like that's the only reason we're connected is because you have the courage to walk.

Jacqueline (57:28.153)
Yeah.

Jacqueline (57:47.747)
Yeah. And it's really cool when, Gina has said this several times. Like when I met you, I was like, want some of what she's got. And when somebody that's as, as amazing person as she is says that you're like, okay, that's cool. That's super cool. Cause she's pretty spectacular. So.

Kindra Morse (58:07.084)
Yeah, she speaks a lot. huh. Mm hmm. Right, right, right. So, well, she is amazing. She is like one of the most amazing women that I know also because she's just a light in the world. She's, well, she zooms joy in every way that she.

Jacqueline (58:20.451)
Yeah. my gosh.

Yes. my gosh. Yes.

Kindra Morse (58:28.492)
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for sharing your and for people in the Spokane area, where can they go? I need four locations for River City Pizza.

Jacqueline (58:30.639)
Yeah, you're welcome.

Jacqueline (58:38.413)
Yeah, so we have Otis Orchard, Spokane Valley, Post Falls, and Coeur d'Alene. And our website's just rivercitypizza.com and all the information's on there too.

Kindra Morse (58:48.82)
Awesome, okay. then, but you don't really run the landscaping business, but shout it out.

Jacqueline (58:53.825)
It's cutting edge landscaping. So we do like pretty much all over Spokane, Liberty Lake, Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene too.

Kindra Morse (59:03.73)
and you cater weddings, so that's super cool. And you're expanding into what's the next area you plan to expand.

Jacqueline (59:05.475)
We do, yes.

Jacqueline (59:09.999)
I don't know. We're probably done in Idaho for pizza. We'll probably do deeper into the valley. Is probably our next spot for pizza. Yeah.

Kindra Morse (59:19.766)
Okay, well, I can't wait to come visit one of your pizza. I know I've been there. It's been a while. Just because we're so, I think you need to open one in Cheney.

Jacqueline (59:23.565)
Yes. Okay. Well, the one in the valley, there's a brewery next door and there's a patio. So that's the best one. So we should meet there and bring I'll bring Gina.

Kindra Morse (59:32.814)
you

Okay, deal. Okay, awesome. Well, thanks so much for your time. Have an awesome day. Bye.

Jacqueline (59:41.38)
Yes, thanks you too. Bye.