Stay or Go? Choose The Right Move as a Young Adult (w/ Stephanie Alessi Muina) | S1 E13

Steve Alessi  0:09  
Welcome to another episode of our family business podcast where we are talking all things family and business, because family is everybody's business. And today I get the joy and the privilege to talk with my daughter Stephanie Alessi Muina! 

Stephanie Alessi  0:31  
Hello, hello.

Steve Alessi  0:32  
Yes. And this is the first time you and I are doing the podcast.

Stephanie Alessi  0:36  
Finally, took a little bit of time didn't it? 

Steve Alessi  0:40  
Yeah,  a little guilt thrown in there, too. I got a text from you, "Hey dad. Have we done a podcast together? Just you and I?" I said no, you and mom did it. And you said What about you and I? So that was your way of letting me know you were ready to have a podcast to discuss some very interesting things. And I'm glad we're doing this. Because what we get to do... in the podcast room here is talk about things we can't talk about on Sunday, either because of time or just the the sensitivity of the subject matter.

Stephanie Alessi  1:15  
From the platform and everything. Totally. 

Steve Alessi  1:18  
And so just to give you them a little introduction, about you. 

Stephanie Alessi  1:24  
Yes.

Steve Alessi  1:24  
 Tell us a little about you. 

Stephanie Alessi  1:26  
Sure. So I am your second daughter, and...

Steve Alessi  1:30  
My second daughter?

Stephanie Alessi  1:31  
 Oh, I'm your second child. Sometimes I'm your second daughter. No, I am your second child. It's.... I am right between Chris and Lolo. I am the worship director assistant at church. I help with all of the songs on Sunday mornings. And I guess the most interesting thing about me right now is I just got married.

Steve Alessi  1:54  
 Yep. 

Stephanie Alessi  1:55  
About a little, like literally two days over a month ago. I got married to Christopher Muina. And I now have his last name.

Steve Alessi  2:04  
And I'm glad you kept Alessi in there.

 Yeah, me too

Aren't you gonna have a daughter,  What are you gonna call her? Alessi? 

Stephanie Alessi  2:10  
No. That's an idea. 

Steve Alessi  2:12  
That's a great idea. 

Stephanie Alessi  2:13  
I know. It is an idea.

Steve Alessi  2:14  
Gotta keep the name alive.

Stephanie Alessi  2:15  
I know. I every day. I know. Well, it is I do have it in my name. It's on my Instagram handle. So that's a big deal. 

Steve Alessi  2:21  
Yeah, it is. 

Stephanie Alessi  2:22  
That's official. 

Steve Alessi  2:23  
Okay, so what people don't know, not everybody is... one your husband painted your nails. And I can tell right now as I'm looking across the desk, he did paint your nails. 

Stephanie Alessi  2:37  
That was just for the family chat! Thank you so much Dad for revealing that to everybody. 

Steve Alessi  2:41  
Yeah, she thought that because he knows how to paint....

Stephanie Alessi  2:44  
He's a really good artist. 

Steve Alessi  2:45  
...He can paint nails.

Stephanie Alessi  2:47  
 And he did! he did a great job

On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd say that's about a six. So... 

I did the bad hand. 

Steve Alessi  2:54  
So he bailed you out. Okay, something else they may not all understand or remember is...know about you, that is, is you're the most in the family like your dad. 

Stephanie Alessi  3:05  
Yes, I am. Yeah. Too much alike, um, yeah. 

Steve Alessi  3:11  
Let me tell you why I know that. 

Stephanie Alessi  3:12  
How?

Steve Alessi  3:13  
Because you and Jon Roman, behind the glass. 

Jon Roman  3:21  
I am here. 

Steve Alessi  3:22  
Yes. You have a similar working relationship with him as you do with me. No, no, as I do with him. 

Stephanie Alessi  3:29  
But yeah. 100%.

Steve Alessi  3:30  
Because all three of us are alike.

Stephanie Alessi  3:33  
Are exactly alike. 

Steve Alessi  3:33  
And we're not all like Allen Paul, who's behind the glass who's kind, sweet caring like your mother? 

Stephanie Alessi  3:40  
Yes. Or anybody 

Steve Alessi  3:43  
Or Ashlie, who's just fun loving and does whatever she's asked to do. 

Stephanie Alessi  3:46  
I know. 

Steve Alessi  3:47  
No, we're not as privileged to be like them. 

No, we've been cursed. 

Jon Roman  3:51  
We have to keep some of them around, though. 

Steve Alessi  3:53  
  do, to make things fun.

Stephanie Alessi  3:55  
 It's true. 

Steve Alessi  3:56  
That's true. They may not realize that you are a songwriter.

Stephanie Alessi  4:01  
 yes. 

Steve Alessi  4:01  
And not just somebody who does it in their bedroom, but as a profession. 

Stephanie Alessi  4:08  
Yes.

Steve Alessi  4:09  
You're signed with...

Stephanie Alessi  4:11  
 Integrity.

Steve Alessi  4:11  
Integrity right now to be one of their songwriters. They're working with you. And that's part of your profession, which is pretty cool.

Stephanie Alessi  4:20  
Yeah, I love doing it. I've been... we now have one EP released from Metro life worship, but outside of all the Metro Life Worship stuff. I'm going to be releasing my own music very soon, within like two months. So that's going to definitely open up a huge door. But really what it'll do is it'll show everybody what I've been working on for over a year now, with Integrity over there in Nashville, so..

Steve Alessi  4:44  
even during COVID shut down, you were in your closet recording, writing.

Stephanie Alessi  4:49  
 Yeah, we... I would do zoom writes every single week, probably two to three times a week over my computer and then once we would finish a song I would have to record it in my closet because I don't have any equipment.

Steve Alessi  5:00  
 Yeah.

Stephanie Alessi  5:00  
I'm not ...well, I don't know how to record things on my computer and edit them. So I just did it all on my phone. And it was great. It was perfect quality. 

Steve Alessi  5:08  
Yeah, it was surprisingly. It sounded great. So you write songs, but you do it as part of your profession.

Stephanie Alessi  5:14  
 Yes.

Steve Alessi  5:15  
You do lead our worship team, pretty much. You work alongside of mom. 

Stephanie Alessi  5:21  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  5:21  
 And you also work alongside of Allen Paul, who handles all of the musicians.

Stephanie Alessi  5:26  
 The nice ones? 

Steve Alessi  5:26  
Yes. And so you're really an integral part of the team. You graduated from FIU? 

Stephanie Alessi  5:33  
Yep. 

Steve Alessi  5:33  
So you did get your education, which I'm super proud of you for. And you went away for a season, you... you went to an internship, tell us about that.

Stephanie Alessi  5:44  
So I went to Houston, Texas, and I interned for Joel Osteen's church, Lakewood Church for about a year. And it was one of the coolest experiences of my life. I think, everything that I know about admin work for a worship team and for production, everything that I know so far, I learned most of it, there  at Lakewood. Because they have no excuses, no, there's no like playing around, you show up and you act professional. But you also do it in a church environment.

Steve Alessi  6:15  
Yeah.

Stephanie Alessi  6:15  
So they really helped me learn that balance, which I brought it all back here. But it was such a cool experience to be in that huge church and just be in the environment of the what, Joel and Victoria,what they put together. It was just such a really, really cool experience that I,... I loved it.

Steve Alessi  6:32  
Yeah.

Stephanie Alessi  6:33  
It was awesome.

Steve Alessi  6:33  
 And the reason you went there was not because it is the largest church in America. No, that's not because Joel Osteen is America's pastor....

Stephanie Alessi  6:43  
No..

Steve Alessi  6:44  
.... but because of relationship. Yeah. 

We have been a part, mom and I and our church has been a part of what is called the Champions Network.

Stephanie Alessi  6:52  
Yep.

Steve Alessi  6:52  
Where we support what Joel Osteen and his.... at the time he used to do the Night of Hope's, what they do on a monthly basis. And then once a year, we'd fly out and be a part of one of the big Night of Hopes and pray and we've had relationship.

And Phil Munsey was there

Phil Munsey and Jeanine, Jeannie, they are a part of that, actually head it up. So when we were talking about it, we heard about their internship program. And we thought, wow, what ... better place for you to be able to go and intern. 

Stephanie Alessi  7:25  
Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  7:26  
Not only because it is the biggest church in America and they do things very professional. 

Stephanie Alessi  7:31  
Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  7:31  
But because we were in relationship with them.

Stephanie Alessi  7:34  
Exactly.

And we knew who they were. We knew who would be keeping an eye on you. We went and told them....

You really did.

...they needed to keep an eye on you. And mom's dear friend that she's recorded with Cindy Cruise Ratcliffe with When Women Worship... 

Dadra Greathouse...

Steve Alessi  7:49  
Da'dra, Yep, Greathouse, and then Ingrid Rosario, all a part of the team there that mom had already recorded music with, we knew their husbands and their people. So it was a perfect place for you to go. And the Lord favored you there. 

Stephanie Alessi  8:08  
Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  8:08  
Cuz you, you were able to actually use your gifts on the platform to sing and be a part of it. And that was a beautiful year of your life.

Stephanie Alessi  8:17  
I loved it. It was such a cool experience. And what I loved the most was there people that have been around in that church for decades, like Dadra, Cindy? They've been there for 20 plus years, which I related to because we have those same kinds of people here at Metro. And I saw my life going down that same path with my church. So I thought what better place to learn how to operate in a church environment professionally, but with loyalty as a huge reason for why they serve their church? I really loved that component too, because they had so much respect for what the relationship they had with their pastor there, more than the platform they were given. And I loved learning that. I loved it.

Steve Alessi  9:00  
Well, it lines up with our core values of relationship. We didn't want you to just go to any internship program because they have a ton out there where young people can go, especially if they want to be in the ministry. There's a ton out there where young people can go. But we knew these people, we're in relationship with these people. Joel Osteen has called and congratulated us. He's got my cell number. I have his cell number. Very sweet relationally. He even changed your car tire one time.

Stephanie Alessi  9:33  
He did. He did. I don't know... Houston has the worst streets in the world. I thought it was bad here. It's terrible. And one of my car tires popped and he replaced it for me didn't even...

Steve Alessi  9:44  
That's America's pastor...

Stephanie Alessi  9:45  
that's America's pastor...

Steve Alessi  9:46  
.... went out and changed your car tire.

Stephanie Alessi  9:48  
Yeah. the kindest, kindest, most genuine people in the world. Sure.

Steve Alessi  9:53  
Why were you at his house? No, don't answer that.

Stephanie Alessi  9:56  
Don't even. We can't put that in here.... You can't include that in here.... I am begging you

Steve Alessi  10:05  
You and his daughter were so close. 

Stephanie Alessi  10:09  
 We're canceling  this, we're not putting this in the podcast.  

Jon Roman  10:13  
We don't believe in some canceling anything....

Stephanie Alessi  10:16  
Jonathan, what?

Jon Roman  10:17  
 We're not a cancel culture kind of church. 

Stephanie Alessi  10:18  
Yes, we are right now. Yes, we are. Yes. But we are forgivers of past sins. 

Steve Alessi  10:24  
That's not.... you're telling on yourself here little lady. It was very nice of America's pastor to change your car tire. 

Stephanie Alessi  10:34  
Yes.

Steve Alessi  10:35  
 So all of that was such a great learning experience for you and for us to see you go out and have such a wonderful exposure. It was great. And Steph, you know, our prayers over the years, of course, is that God would elevate or raise up and favor all of our kids. 

Stephanie Alessi  10:55  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  10:55  
And we don't have to go and put in a good word for that to happen. Though people were keeping an eye on you.

Stephanie Alessi  11:01  
 Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  11:01  
Let me tell you they you didn't get elevated there because of that, mom. No, it may have been an open door that got you in but you had to walk through that door.

Stephanie Alessi  11:11  
 I did. 

Steve Alessi  11:11  
And your heart, your understanding of worship, your submission to leadership and authority, all of that. And your gifting...

Stephanie Alessi  11:20  
Yeah...

Steve Alessi  11:21  
..and anointing opened the door for you to have the beautiful experience. And I remember one night you were leading worship. It was a midweek service. And we had a midweek service, and we put it up on the screen. 

Stephanie Alessi  11:32  
You did here at the church?

Steve Alessi  11:34  
 It was great. We're following along live because everybody was so proud of you. 

Stephanie Alessi  11:38  
 I loved it.

Steve Alessi  11:39  
 And we traveled to visit a couple of your night of hopes. 

Stephanie Alessi  11:42  
Yeah

Steve Alessi  11:42  
Where you lead on the stage with the team. So..

Stephanie Alessi  11:45  
It was crazy.

Steve Alessi  11:46  
 great seasons of ministry and of life.

Stephanie Alessi  11:49  
And I'll say I think what was so cool, just knowing we're going to be talking about ministry kids and pastor's kids in this conversation. What I really loved about that whole experience, and I would encourage any PK to do? Go to a church that you know you have to serve. It's not a get on the platform quick strategy. But you know, you're just gonna be another person serving in the ministry. Because man, it brought such a new perspective to me...

Yeah...

... that when I came home, I had so much grace for the interns here, the kids serving here, but I also had like a, "hey, I did it, you can do it, too." We all had to put in good work to be behind the scenes where nobody's thanking us. Nobody's giving us affirmation. But you go anyways, because you love it. 

Yeah.

It was the best experience and knowing... this is the trick though...knowing you're going to go away, to come back. To come back to your church, and to help your parents and to serve. I would recommend it for anybody.

Steve Alessi  12:48  
And you knew that. You knew though you were going out there. You knew it was temporary. 

Yeah. 

And you really do have a heart for Metro and for Miami.

Stephanie Alessi  12:57  
 I really do.

Steve Alessi  12:58  
 And you you more or less let that be known from the beginning. It was going to be a good learning experience. You were going to have fun.

Stephanie Alessi  13:03  
 Yeah.

Steve Alessi  13:04  
 But you were going to learn. And then everything you did learn you wanted to bring back to Metro and what's good about that Steph, is some people just don't understand that. When it's your family, business, and ministry is our business... 

Yeah.

When it's that, the heart of everybody in the family? It's the desire of the senior leader, that all the junior leaders coming up the next generation...

Yeah...

... will have a heart for the ministry. And the worst thing is having to convince your kid, the next generation that "No, you belong here." 

Stephanie Alessi  13:46  
It's hard.

Steve Alessi  13:47  
 That's not easy.

Stephanie Alessi  13:48  
That's got to be your own bent. No, it's not even your own calling. I think there's a discipline to that because the.... that's a virtue that you have to learn. Loyalty and... and staying loyal to the ministry you've been given. Our generation thinks like, "Oh, wow, I got lucky staying here for 20 plus years. But they don't realize that somebody that stayed at a church for 20 plus years has probably been tempted to leave 10 times and more. But they chose the virtue of loyalty, which I think Proverbs even talks about that. And I did have the opportunity to move away and be on a massive platform where I could have, who knows what could have happened? I had a pretty good setup over there. But I would have completely lost that virtue of loyalty. And the home that I've put my entire life into, that trusts in me, that would have given me grace on the platform to test out my songs, to test out the churches songs, I would have thrown that way. So it wasn't like a "My heart was calling me back." It wasn't an emotional thing like that. I made the choice to come home, and to serve under my parents, even though there were times where it was tough because it was like, gosh, this is the.... this... the glitter of all of that looks so nice. I knew that 10 years down the line... staying in Miami, oh my gosh, I would have never ever regretted that decision. So that loyalty is a choice. It's not just something lucky you walk into. It really is a something you have to discipline yourself to do.

Steve Alessi  15:28  
And you know, we always felt like, okay, when you went away, Lauren went away. People in the church financially supported you on that, that journey. 

Stephanie Alessi  15:40  
Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  15:41  
And they gave to help you not have to carry on a job because at first we were thinking you're going to have to get out there and work a little bit part time or something and you don't get paid when you're going through the internship program, but good hearted people that some of them knew you before you were even born man, they knew the day you came into this world. They supported you. They gave you financial support along the way. And Steph, what a blessing to know, I know that the harvest of their seeds that were being sown into you, they're able to experience.

Stephanie Alessi  16:17  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  16:17  
That's where I wish some people would just get it.

Stephanie Alessi  16:20  
 I know.

Steve Alessi  16:20  
That if someone supports you along the way, even your parents...

Stephanie Alessi  16:24  
Yes. 

Steve Alessi  16:25  
They don't just financially scatter seed to the wind, and hope that it'll land somewhere. And wow, that's, they can see it from afar. I'd much rather go out in my backyard, sow that seed right there. So that then when the harvest comes up, I'm able to personally... 

Yes.

...benefit from it. And we always felt like the best move and step for you was when you did go out, the people of the church should be able to enjoy what they sowed into you when you come back.

Stephanie Alessi  16:59  
You're 100% right. I even had a friend who came to the same decision as me where she was gone for a couple years to a new church, interned there. But she had a family leading a ministry back at home. And she came to the same exact fork in the road. And where she could continue working at this new church away from home. And she would have been blessed tremendously. But I told her, I remember saying, because I had just walked through my own season of this. I was like, okay, imagine the day you're giving birth to your first baby. Who do you want in the hospital with you? Because you'll have people there. If you move to the new church, you may have people there. But if you go home, you'll have people that have known you your entire life there at the hospital with you. So make that life decision on people. Make the bet on people. Because, yeah, I met some amazing people out there in Houston. I'm still friends with them. They are incredible. But I have lifelong relationships here. And you don't want to throw that away. 

Yeah.

You can't. Because when I'm having my first baby, when at my wedding, I saw it at my wedding. When my kids are going to college, I'm going to have those people that have known me since I was a kid, there celebrating with me, sowing into me. I'll be sowing into them. I'll see their kids getting raised. So I think when it when you come to those fork in the roads, choose people over the platform you could be given. Really.

Steve Alessi  18:30  
That's really good. I remember a family in our church years ago, Manny and Laura Paula. They just, this is back when we were at Grace when I was working for Pops. And I was the assistant and me and Manny and Mary and Laura, we built a beautiful relationship. They had three kids at the time, actually four kids, which was one of the reasons why we have four kids to this day. But they just got established in the church. I'm talking a year, maybe two years, just got established in the church. And Manny worked for an insurance company. And he got a call for them to... he was going to get a promotion. He was offered a promotion in Atlanta. And he came in he says, Man, I got this promotion. Now his life had been so touched by God, but also the house of God here in Miami, that when he said that, I heard God say that... that's not a good move for him.

Stephanie Alessi  19:30  
 Yeah.

Steve Alessi  19:31  
It may be good financially, but for his family, it... he's pulling up roots already. 

Stephanie Alessi  19:39  
Totally. 

Steve Alessi  19:40  
That just started to go into the soil.

Stephanie Alessi  19:43  
Man. 

Steve Alessi  19:44  
And so what he was saying was, you know, there's opportunity out there. But what what's more important? In the long run, is it going to be the pursuit of money? I don't think so. We choose the pursuit of people, of relationship. 

Yep.

 And we are very careful. Now I understand some people, life takes them outside of their home base.

Stephanie Alessi  20:08  
 And some times...

Steve Alessi  20:09  
... I got it...

Stephanie Alessi  20:09  
it works.

Steve Alessi  20:10  
 Yeah, it really does. And God bless them. And they always have good relationships at home and they're.... They get new relationships at afar. I understand that works for some people. We have a priority where people are first, maybe it's our calling.

Stephanie Alessi  20:27  
 Yeah.

Steve Alessi  20:28  
 Because we are local church pastors.

Stephanie Alessi  20:30  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  20:30  
we have a heart for the people to say, Alright, like Jesus, I've come for this group of people. Says in the Bible, he says, I come from the lost sheep of Israel. He knew who he was called to.

Stephanie Alessi  20:44  
Who he was called to.

Steve Alessi  20:45  
We know who we're called to. And so because of that, we are willing to say, people will always be our priority. 

Stephanie Alessi  20:54  
Totally.

Steve Alessi  20:55  
 The imperfect people...

Stephanie Alessi  20:57  
of Miami, Florida.

Steve Alessi  20:58  
 Of Miami, Florida. 

Stephanie Alessi  21:00  
They need help. 

Steve Alessi  21:01  
They were, they will always be our priority. So you went out, it was a great experience for you, which I think young people should consider. 

Yeah. 

When the doors are open, go, go somewhere that's going to expand your vision for your life and your gifting. 

Stephanie Alessi  21:19  
Yep.

Steve Alessi  21:20  
But never let that disconnect you from the home base. 

Stephanie Alessi  21:24  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  21:25  
 And especially if there's a local church, or you're connected, you've been raised in a business environment that mom and dad have built. And.... because this happens in the business world all the time, mom and dad have built something, dad's building a great business. And then the son comes up and wants to go to a Ivy League school. And when it gets out to the Ivy League school, or the daughter, they want to use their gifts in different areas, instead of selling them back and seeding into the family business. For what I've heard, Steph, is many people that have done that, have gone out - whose parents have a local business... 

Stephanie Alessi  22:04  
Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  22:06  
Many of them have gone out, they spread their wings. They've tried to fly. But they've realized later on that, you know what? The real gig is back home. 

Stephanie Alessi  22:13  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  22:14  
 And so they walked away from opportunities to then go back to the family business to help there, because there's something called legacy that they find as you age on, as you grow older and older, legacy starts to mean something to you.

Stephanie Alessi  22:30  
It does.

Steve Alessi  22:31  
And you came back because you wanted to be a part of legacy.

Stephanie Alessi  22:35  
And you know, two points to that. I remember when I was away, people would always tell me, well, home will always be there... And that... that sounded great. That actually sounded correct. Like, yeah, home will always be there. I guess, I can go out into the world and pursue whatever it is I want to pursue, and I can just come back home. I was gone for one month during my honeymoon, one month. I missed a conference  meeting, we're having a conference, I missed we're having a marriage conference, I missed on a new strategy they were implementing into the staff. Sure, home will always be there. But home is changing, home is moving forward.

Steve Alessi  23:17  
 It is.

Stephanie Alessi  23:18  
It's moving forward, the ministry of the church, they've got new ideas. They're not going to stop. If everybody leaves, they're still pushing forward. And the question is, do you want to be a part of it or not? Because they're going to keep pressing on into our city and Metro Life Church is always going to be blessed with or without me.

Steve Alessi  23:36  
 Right. 

Stephanie Alessi  23:36  
And the question for me was, Do I want to be a part of that? Do I want to be a part of the farmers of Metro Life Church going out and putting a seed into the city of Miami? 

Steve Alessi  23:47  
Yeah.

Stephanie Alessi  23:47  
And it showed me I went to the bank last week with my husband. And we're sitting there trying to handle our finances. And the lady looks at my ID which had my Alessi on it. And she said, Oh my gosh. Are you Pastor Alessi's daughter? And I'm thinking she's talking about you. 

Steve Alessi  24:05  
Yeah. 

Stephanie Alessi  24:06  
So I went Oh, yeah. Steve Alessi. And she goes, Oh my god, everybody loves him here. He's so friendly. And I was like "that's not my....wait who are you talking about, John Alessi? And she was like, Yes. JOHN Alessi. He has two daughters and a son. And I'm like, No, that's my grandfather. So to know that a bank knew my grandfather, that just showed you the fruit of harvesting into a city that will remember your name, remember your contribution to the city for generations. 

Steve Alessi  24:40  
Yeah. 

Stephanie Alessi  24:40  
And it just showed me Heck yeah, I want to be a part of that. Are you kidding me? I want to know what they're doing to move forward. And I would ...Yeah, home as always, will always be there. But I want to be a part of it when it's moving forward.

Steve Alessi  24:53  
And the beautiful thing about that commitment the Lord saw your heart.

Stephanie Alessi  24:57  
 Yeah.

Steve Alessi  24:57  
... Was that God brought your husband right through the church doors. 

Stephanie Alessi  25:01  
Yeah, he did. Crazy. 

Steve Alessi  25:03  
Yeah. You know, Mom and I used to say that...because it was the same thing when I went to college and graduated in 1984. A long, long time ago, I had a choice of either interning after my year of... my last year of college, they gave me a year to intern in the ministry. So I had a chance to either go to Orlando because I was working with Benny Hinn at the time, I was a catcher. No, I was actually singing on his team, of all things. And then, or I could have stayed in Lakeland at a little tiny church there that I loved, the people were so kind. It was actually the place I preached my first sermon, Highlands Assembly of God, Highlands City Assembly of God, I had a choice there, or I had a choice to come back home. And Steph, I wanted to come home.

Stephanie Alessi  25:53  
 Yeah.

Steve Alessi  25:53  
I even had a relationship with somebody that I thought could be a potential wife candidate.

Stephanie Alessi  25:59  
 Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  25:59  
But it became a matter of, Okay, if I stay in town, and I intern locally, I could have this relationship thing could move down the field like I thought they should, like I felt they should. But then on the other side of it, I had this place in my heart for coming home. 

Stephanie Alessi  26:17  
Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  26:17  
Now their requirements or policy was that you could go and intern at your home church, but it cannot be your parents. 

Stephanie Alessi  26:28  
Oh, weird. 

Steve Alessi  26:29  
The pastors of the home church. So they didn't want you to go back and be given a free ride. You could go back and intern at your home church, but it had to be with a different pastor. So I went in and I said, Listen, I want to go back to my home church. They said, Great, who's the pastor's and I mentioned Papa and, Grandmommy's name. They're like, but you can't do that. I said, Is there any way we can get an exception to this policy? 

Stephanie Alessi  26:50  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  26:50  
What can you do? Well, they sat on it for like two weeks. And then they contacted me and gave me the permission, 

Wow...

...made an exception to the rule for me to be able to come back and intern, and it meant leaving some things that I had there. But I wanted, I wanted what God wanted. And I felt like it was back home.

Stephanie Alessi  27:11  
 Yeah.

Steve Alessi  27:12  
 And I knew my seed was to be planted back in the city that I was raised in. So sometimes there's people that have a calling or a desire to work locally, because that's where they were raised, and they want to have an impact there. And in our line of work, that's what happened with you and I. Other people say no, I've got something I think is bigger than where I came from. 

Stephanie Alessi  27:37  
Yeah. Which is a true...

Steve Alessi  27:39  
 ...and that's cool. 

Stephanie Alessi  27:39  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  27:40  
 You know, Jesus, even though he came to certain people, it's also says that his own people, his own hometown, didn't always recognize who he was. So I got that. We just happened to go the path. It was a choice that was made to move towards being local here working together, you gave up a great opportunity there in Houston. 

Yeah...

... to come and be a part of Metro. And when I later on in life, was working with my mom and dad, it was Mary that came right through the doors of the church.

Stephanie Alessi  28:12  
Crazy. 

Steve Alessi  28:13  
And we ended up of course, getting married. 

Stephanie Alessi  28:15  
Crazy. 

Steve Alessi  28:15  
And she and I would always say to other couples. Hey, guys, you just stay faithful to the house of God. 

Stephanie Alessi  28:20  
Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  28:21  
Stay faithful right here. Because God will bring your spouse to the... the doors of the church. You know how many times we have gone back and second guessed that? 

Stephanie Alessi  28:31  
Yeah, I know,

Steve Alessi  28:32  
Mom and I would sit back and say, Well, maybe that wouldn't be the case. We used to worry, maybe they need to go abroad and find somebody. Maybe they need to go to online dating. 

Stephanie Alessi  28:42  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  28:43  
You know?

Yeah. We never had to do that.

Stephanie Alessi  28:46  
 You're right. 

Steve Alessi  28:47  
Christopher's wife came right through the front doors of the church, your husband right through the front doors of the church. So there's something to be said about staying faithful at the local level. 

Stephanie Alessi  28:58  
Yep. 

Steve Alessi  28:59  
...with parents that have come alongside of you or raised you and with people that have sowed into you and poured into you. There's something to be said about all of that. And I hope today your story....

Yeah...

....has been encouraging to other young women that are out there, young men that are trying to say, What do I do?

Stephanie Alessi  29:18  
 Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  29:18  
Where am I at? And if that's somebody listening, what would you want to say to them?

Stephanie Alessi  29:25  
Somebody who's dealing with like a promotion?

Steve Alessi  29:28  
Yeah. Where am I at? Where? How do I find my footing right now? Where... where do you think God's leading me? What should I do with my life?

Stephanie Alessi  29:33  
Oh, my goodness. I think that you need to invest in the people around you, just right off the top of my head. I've really seen in the past five years of my life, what's brought me the most healing and what's brought me the most maturity and wisdom, it's been people. I've had some incredible experiences. I went to Israel for free, which was... changed my life I graduated from college.

Steve Alessi  29:59  
That story in itself is really cool. 

Stephanie Alessi  30:02  
I know. That alone is a podcast. I met my husband, he lived 10 minutes down the street from me the whole time, lived in Miami, wants to live in Miami. I've had some really cool things happen to me in the past five years. And it's all happened because of people. And I really think that if you are confused, as to what you want to do with your future, work hard, find something that you like to do, but put in the due diligence, but invest into people. Good soil people, don't just choose anybody. And find your wise counselors. Get close to your parents, if they're really wise and Christians, get close to your grandparents, invest into your family, find some good friends that you know are going to give you a fun future, but a wise future and invest into them. And just just take them out to coffee, be generous. Grow your generosity, because you never know what can come. When I started to pursue the Jewish club at FIU because I just fell in love with the Jewish community, I created relationships. And those relationships gave me the chance to go to Israel for three weeks by myself, completely paid off. And because of that trip to Israel, I created a love and a calling for Israel and for the Jewish people, which has opened up doors back in Miami. But it all happened because of relationships. And I was patient. And no, I had no idea what the Lord was doing there, what the heck that meant. But now that I'm home, it opened up the door and opened up opportunities,

Steve Alessi  31:43  
Yeah.

Stephanie Alessi  31:44  
 And I started to get into relationships with people in Nashville. Yeah. Which opened up a door to a deal with them. So I think you need to invest into your relationships. Do not get bogged down. Don't get lazy, don't get worried or anxious that you're not going down the right path. Build relationships, stick to those relationships, invest into them. '

Steve Alessi  32:07  
Yeah. 

Stephanie Alessi  32:08  
And work hard.

Steve Alessi  32:09  
And I wish we had time to talk about how we navigated through all of that. 

Stephanie Alessi  32:13  
Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  32:14  
Because even that Houston deal. It took it took the voice of a parent.

Stephanie Alessi  32:19  
 Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  32:20  
I won't say which one... to help you realize that Miami was where you needed to be. 

Stephanie Alessi  32:27  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  32:27  
 Correct?

Stephanie Alessi  32:28  
Correct. 

Steve Alessi  32:28  
It wasn't just left up to your own decision.

Stephanie Alessi  32:31  
 No, no, no, no. But Lauren... she explained her problem. So I feel like she kind of explained my problem, too. She handled it for both of us. 

Steve Alessi  32:40  
I wish parents would navigate their kids better on those kinds of things, because parents already gone down the path and knows what's going to serve them best. So we didn't just leave it up to you. 

Stephanie Alessi  32:49  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  32:49  
We helped navigate you. But you made such wise decisions and choices along the way, which has just been a tremendous blessing. And we're so proud of you. We're proud of Chris Muina, and what he brings to the table. And we're excited about a future podcast for people to get to know who he is and hear from him. Good guy. 

Stephanie Alessi  33:09  
Yeah.

Steve Alessi  33:10  
 But you know, you're right about one thing when he did come up and ask me about dating you, which was an awkward moment for him. And all the family and friends were sitting in the living room watching out the window. I did ask him on the front end. Do you plan on ever leaving Miami? 

Stephanie Alessi  33:27  
Yeah. 

Steve Alessi  33:28  
And he said, No, no, no, he wants to keep her here. So that was a big deal for us. I didn't  ...that could have been a deal breaker.

Stephanie Alessi  33:34  
 I know... it really....

Steve Alessi  33:35  
 because we feel called to the local level right here.

Stephanie Alessi  33:37  
Same for him. He knew he wanted a girl that was a Miami girl. 

Steve Alessi  33:40  
I'm going long. But let me ask you this question. Who is it easier to work with mom or me? 

Stephanie Alessi  33:46  
That's so mean. You. 

Steve Alessi  33:48  
Thank you. You see why she's my favorite child. Stephanie has been on the mic with Steven today. And hope you've enjoyed our podcast.

Thanks for listening to the Family Business Podcast with the Alessis. We appreciate you listening and learning with us as we just shared more about the family business. You know, I bet there's someone you know who can use this kind of advice and encouragement. So make sure to share this episode with them and their family. Because let's face it, family is everyone's business. If you want to be a part of our family, subscribe to the show right now on your favorite app and make sure to download the episodes so you can hear them at any time. Oh, and one more thing. One of the best ways to help us spread the word about The Family Business with the Alessis is by reviewing the show on Apple podcasts or your favorite app. So help us out, write a review and join us next time at the Family Business Podcast with the Alessis.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai