Ray Of Light Foundation with Blandina Vergara-Cruz

In this episode of You Matter Nashville, Mindy and I had the privilege of interviewing our dear friend, Blandina, someone who has become like family to us through our shared experiences in music, theater, and community service. Blandina opened up about her incredible journey of giving back to the community and how her work has evolved over the years. She talked about her late son, Raymond, who battled cancer with such grace and left behind a powerful legacy through the Ray of Light Foundation, which provides support to families dealing with serious illnesses, particularly in the palliative care department at Vanderbilt.

Blandina also touched on her various businesses, including Dreams Do Come True Princess Parties, where little girls can experience magical moments with princesses, and The Franklin Playhouse, her newest venture that brings theater to families in Franklin. Through these projects, she continues to foster creativity and connection in the community. What stood out most in our conversation was her deep belief in the power of community and how important it is to not just live in a place, but to be an active part of making it better.

She shared how Raymond’s legacy continues to inspire her and others, and how her various initiatives are all tied to one simple mission: to spread light and make a positive impact. Blandina’s story is a beautiful reminder that when we serve others, we’re also enriching our own lives in ways we may never have expected.

Takeaways

• Being an active member of the community and making a difference is important.
• Supporting hospitals and initiatives like the Shine Your Light vocal competition can have a positive impact.
• Providing snacks and gifts to hospitals and senior citizens can bring joy and connection.
• Helping families with burial care is an important and often overlooked need.
• Collective impact is powerful, and even small contributions can make a difference.
• Giving back to the community brings personal joy and fulfillment. Community support is crucial in times of hardship and can make a significant difference in the lives of individuals and families.
• Initiatives like the Ray of Light Bereavement Program and the Franklin Playhouse provide valuable resources and support for those in need.
• Businesses like Dreams Do Come True Princess Parties offer unique and memorable experiences for children's parties.
• Being involved in the community and giving back can bring joy and fulfillment to individuals and create a positive impact.
• The power of friendship and support is evident in the strong bond between Jason, Mindy, Blandina, and their community.

Ray Of Light Foundation
https://www.rayoflighttn.com

Dreams Do Come True Princess Parties
https://www.dreamsdocometrueprincessparties.com

The Franklin Playhouse
https://www.thefranklinplayhouse.com

You Matter Nashville YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@YouMatterNashville

The Hoover Team
https://www.thehooverteam.com/

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Background
• 3:11 Being a Family in the Community
• 4:06 Supporting Vanderbilt Children's Hospital
• 10:08 The Shine Your Light Vocal Competition
• 13:29 Bringing Joy to Hospitals and Senior Citizens
• 15:50 Helping Families with Burial Care
• 18:12 The Power of Collective Impact
• 22:27 The Joy of Giving Back
• 27:12 Community Initiatives and Nonprofits
• 34:20 Dreams Do Come True Princess Parties
• 39:22 The Franklin Playhouse
• 41:43 The Power of Community and Friendship

Transcript

Jason & Mindy Hoover (00:00.098)
Hey, Nashvilleans, welcome to the You Matter Nashville podcast, the place where every story we share is a celebration of you, the heartbeat of our community. I'm Jason Hoover, delighted to be one half of your hosting duo. And I'm Mindy Hoover, joining you alongside Jason to bring the stories of inspiring individuals and unsung heroes making a positive impact right here in our hometown. Every episode is about passions, dreams and actions that stitch together the Middle Tennessee community. So if you're looking to get inspired by the good happening around us,

Or if you want to hear from the change makers who believe, just like us, that you matter, then hit that follow button on your favorite podcast platform. And if you are looking to make a move in the middle Tennessee area, and Dan and I are real estate professionals and would be honored to serve you with excellence. Now let's dive into another episode of You Matter Nashville.

Welcome back to another You Matter Nashville podcast. Appreciate you joining in. I am your cohost, Jason Hoover. And I'm Mindy Hoover. And we are a real estate team here in the Nashville area. And we love talking to people about what they're doing to impact our community. And so this podcast is all about shining a light on those individuals and what they're doing. And also just, you know, speaking heart to heart. And so glad that you guys have

tuned in and we have a very, special guest. Now, all of our guests are special, but this one is really close to the heart for Mindy and I. So, I'll let Mindy go ahead and take it from here. Yes, and I'll try not to cry, Blendina. You can't either. I met Blendina about 12 years ago on set. was music directing Legally Blonde and her

Both, of her kids were in the show and we met staring at the stage, trying to figure out how to make the set better. And that pretty much has been our relationship ever since it's like, well, let's do this. How can we make it better? And we've been, think you give me that look too. lot of times it's a, it's a personality trait for sure. after that it snowballed, actually

Jason & Mindy Hoover (02:14.808)
was a choir director for one of her kiddos. did some voice lessons with them. My daughter has been a princess at one of her businesses as well, which is Dreams Do Come True Princess Parties. I still want to try to incorporate it into one of our listings. yeah. That could probably, we could make that go viral. Yeah, probably. I think that'd probably be really, really great. But then we...

I was a part of, I'm still part of Love the Dress Tennessee, which is a nonprofit that gives away prom dresses to girls in need. And Blendina just jumped on board with that. And we co -chaired that for a few years. And so it was kind of like the relationship that just keeps weaving in and out in the community, in theater, in helping, well, dreams come true. guess that's kind of how it's been. We're like, we're family, the community.

Yeah. We're definitely a family by now. And those of us who do a lot of work in the community and things like we, yeah, everybody kind of gets close. And when you go through the teenage years together as parents, you become family. You do for sure. My daughter has literally grown up. And I guess you say under the tool edge of, Blandina and her being the director as well.

in the theater, my daughter taking part and has been an intricate part of our family. Like I said, like we could just keep on talking about our connections for probably an hour of how we just keep going. And, but I really want to put a spotlight on Blandina and what your family has really kind of gone through in the past few years and what has come out of that and, and what you guys are doing for Vanderbilt and for the surrounding area.

Well, I'll say that I am so grateful that I've had all these encounters with you, Mindy, and with your family. Being a part of the community definitely means that we are a family because we're all working towards a goal to make our community a better place. So it's easy for me to say that we're family because you and I have done so many different, different puzzles.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (04:32.758)
and pieces of the community that we can't even begin to really be tried. You tried right now to say how connected are we? And it was just, I was just delighted to be invited to talk on your guys's podcast. And then also, the name of your podcast, cause I feel that moving to Nashville and the Franklin area, I've always felt like I matter.

And so I feel like I have to give back to my community because I always even my own children, I have three children, which I said all three of them might not have done Centennial High School's theater with you, Mindy or the choir, but they knew they can always come to you for anything that's vocal lessons or love the dress or any of those things. So that's the number one thing I wanna say is I've always taught my kids that.

You can't complain or have an opinion of your community if you're not part of your community. If you want to make it, you've got to be a part of it. And, you know, it definitely is a part of me because like you said, these last couple of years, I feel like I've had so many opportunities, a lot of growing for me in my own community. But especially when you know, my youngest Raymond was battling cancer and

found out that he had stage four Ewing's like sarcoma at the age of 16. Right when his life was about to start, you know, driving and dating and, you know, being a sophomore and going into his junior year of high school. But he taught me so much about it. And so I feel like everything that's going on in my life right now has to do with my family, including my community family, because when my son was sick,

everyone in the Franklin area rallied. There wasn't, I mean, I owned a business in downtown Franklin and I should have tanked, you know, because I wanted to spend 100 % of my time taking care of my son. And I was worrying about who was going to run my business, who was going to take care of it. And so many people until this day, four years later that my son has passed, I just found out who was paying my lease. And it was just someone, you know, that I crossed helping them.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (06:53.654)
you know, with babysitting their foster kids that they adopted. And he just jumped on board and made sure I was taken care of to be there from, for my family and for my son. So that's it's so important. Yeah. It's so important for me to be on here with you guys because, know, I think, you know, there's more to just real estate with your guys as real estate, the Hoover group.

It wasn't surprising, you know, when I opened the mail and there's a mailer coming from you guys saying, you know, this is what's going on in the town and this and this. And, and now you guys are here to spotlight people that are, you know, trying to make a difference. And, know, that's, I mean, I'm going to try really hard not to cry because that's, you know, really important to me and we can't do it alone. It has to be all of us together doing that. I love what you said. What was it? You can't complain about your community if you're

You can't have any opinions. try to say that because I used to say, I used to be angry. I try not to be like that anymore. But people would always complain about a business. And I said, you know, I would look on these pages and say, have you given that business a chance to resolve a problem that happened when you went there? We're all small business owners trying to provide for our family, you know? And I feel like there's always griping. But recently I've seen

people go on there and say, you know, besides the complaints, let's talk about the great restaurants, or let's talk about the great stores. You know, it's hard to find staffing. You know, we have our after COVID, most of the businesses are just trying to staff their business to stay open. You know, just give them grace, give them grace if they were a little slower, or it was was too packed. So I've always believed that don't complain, if you're not making a difference. You know, we can't do everything and my family's always you

scolding me about that. can't do everything on my son's bucket list, you know, because we talked a lot during those three years of battling cancer and treatments, but also in life. I've told my kids, you can't complain if you didn't, you know, open, open your own opinion and say, Hey, I came to the restaurant the other day and this happened. Is there any way that you guys can spread the,

Jason & Mindy Hoover (09:12.3)
you know, the word on what happened to your employees, I get that all the time with my princess business and my party business, moms will call and I'll say, so how was it? Did you enjoy it? Did I? Well, I loved it, but this could have been better for the next time. And then I'll send something and say, okay, here's a discount for the next party so that we can read, you know, resolve ourselves that we, you know, help ourselves to correct a problem that might have been minor, but is not minor to us. yeah, you we have to stop

pointing the finger and actually helping one another to, know, especially the teenagers. We always have something to talk about the teenagers, but we were all teenagers once, you know. yeah, we were. We're not talking about those years, It wasn't documented, so it didn't happen. it didn't happen. So, I don't know. That's just my motto. I always told my kids and now my two kids are making a difference too. And I said, you know, careers are great.

But having a purpose in your life too, to me is a little bit better than, you can always work. You can sling burgers if you need to, but make a difference in the world. Find a purpose in your life. And I think I've done that and I continue to do it. Sometimes it gets me over. Sometimes you do too much of it at the same time. You slow down. Yeah. You that to me several times. Choose a few things and be great at them. That's why, and breathe also.

So you have kind of taken the torch. Um, when Ray was battling cancer, you guys were in Vanderbilt, you guys were going through the motions and you were seeing that there was like some deficit at the hospital. Um, just, mean, a hospital can't be everything. They can't do everything. And, uh, we've had Knox Sydney, our daughter, who's now 21, she went through Vanderbilt and had, has had a couple of medical issues and they have been incredible.

But you guys were course there for the long haul. What did you see needed to be done and what did Ray do to go, let's fix this. Let's make, let's be a light. Let's be a light in the situation for other people who were here. Well, we were there a week on for chemotherapy and a week off. So we got to experience a lot of stuff just like you. They were fabulous. There's so many things I can say that they

Jason & Mindy Hoover (11:38.178)
that was great. And when they invite me as a parent to come back, and my husband, he usually is the one that's just tearing up, which makes it very, you know, special for people, not that he's crying, but to know that he's pouring out our experience there. But for me, it's important for me because during the treatments, you know, you would think a sterile, you know, room that you're in all time getting treatment, that you would be one either complaining that you

this sickness or to, you know, just, you know, sad for yourself. He wasn't like that. He just knew that his life, because I always preach that is you have to have a purpose. And he felt like, you know, wow, you know, I wish I would have known this sooner and I wouldn't have been such a poop to my teachers and my my parents. But he took that time there as a teenager, because that's the thing when you're a kid.

younger than, you know, 16, it's so easy to have toys and all that kind of stuff and gifts that are easy to buy. But for teenagers, know, now we don't have, you know, what do call those cards where you have to download the music and stuff like that or the games. Now they can have it right on your phone with apps. So if you can see those things that were needed, they provide great healthy snacks.

So the snacks he wanted to provide, we do raise them up snack collection, which is quarterly. And we get the schools involved and the parents in our community to just drop off snacks, order them on Amazon, any of those kinds of stuff. Because Raymond always said to the doctors, can I start collecting snacks? We love your snacks, but I mean, this might makes other people sad. But for me, I giggle about it because I remember he's like, I'm not going to be here for very long.

And I would love to have hot Cheetos and you know that right. Good stuff. You know, if we're going to pass, let us have the good stuff. He was always about marking his bucket list. So he thought that was very important. And then another thing and initiative that we did was give gifts to to they do a gift collection there

Jason & Mindy Hoover (13:54.408)
He wanted to make sure was all for the teenagers because their table always looked very low. You know, it's hard to give to them. Right. Logo, logoed hats and stuff like that, that there's still stuff they can buy, but it's really hard to find stuff for them. So for Raymond, I think he made his last, you know, three years with us just productive. You know, he wanted to see. And now four years later, I see that he really wanted to set his family up for success with grief.

So our main thing that we do at Vanderbilt is the palliative care. That's the main initiative that I'm very proud of. We do Vanderbilt's palliative care department now partners with us and they do a seven week bereavement workshop for anybody that has lost a loved one and they were the caregivers because Raymond was really worried about his family. know, Vanderbilt ended up becoming our family because we had to take them there.

So now that he's gone, we're like, we kind of have that left out feeling like, know, every time I go to Vanderbilt, all I want to do is hug all the nurses and say, hi, and how's your kids and what are they up to is just get caught up because we feel lost not being there either. So doing all these things for Vanderbilt really has helped us feel still connected to them. And a lot of the families that I'm meeting do say to my husband and I that it's nice to hear

experiences and you know, just things that helped us with our child when he was getting from the source, from the people that went through it. You know, they love the doctors, they love the nurses, the childlike specialists, but when it's coming from someone that really went through that means even more because then we build a relationship together. So, but yeah, that's what Raymond started for us. And I feel so blessed that my son

so thoughtful, not only to his community, but also to his parents to give us something to do to continue his legacy. Who would have thought, you we're the ones that are supposed to teach our children, but it's a different blessing when your child teaches you something, you know? It is. and I just love that you guys named it Ray of Light, you know, because it really is just making a light, you know, in the community.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (16:17.23)
it's not like a niche, like you guys can use that as a platform to do so many different things. And so after you guys kind of got that under your belt, you're like, why stop there? Because, you know, we like to do 20 things at once. Yeah. So you started looking where there were some other issues in the community or some deficits that you really wanted to kind of step in and help. And here in Franklin. So tell me a little bit about that. So we do seven different initiatives that not only are for

Vanderbilt but Raymond and I talked about a lot how there's all this talent in the community in the youth, you know, we're always doing shows and we're always doing this. So we started the shine your light vocal competition where the kids could participate and those funds at the contest they would do like an entrance fee and then not only the entrance fee they would sell tickets to go and all those funds benefit

Vanderbilt's palliative care, but a portion of that too. We've been helping like On Natchez there's a in downtown Franklin There's like three or four senior citizen homes there and they're just lit up when we come and bring them kids singing there or dropping off Thanksgiving baskets and you know They're in a fixed income. So it's really nice for them to have these items and especially just to sit and have a conversation with the youth that I always tell the youth

You really need to, you know, we were pretty cool back in the day when, you know, when, you know, the times were not as easy as you guys having these cell phones and actually having to walk somewhere to the store or stuff like that. So it's really nice to see the young generation and the seniors talk and, you know, hand gifts to each other. so we, we definitely, that's a something I'm doing in downtown Franklin. I hope someday soon, I hope that we can also.

we feel the need that we need to help some of the families with just burial care and stuff like that, because that's something that we don't plan because we don't really think of our children passing before us. So that's something else. But yeah, we're doing tons of stuff in in Franklin. It's not just for the hospital. We see that there's need here for students, you know, help with cars or, you know, some of it's easier for us to help the organizations that are already established.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (18:42.828)
and tons of donors. So one of the really important ones is called Dreams and Wishes. It's a nonprofit that was started by Tanya. I'm brain farting on her last name, she used to work for Make -A -Wish. And then she noticed that a lot of kids that were getting their Make -A -Wish, she noticed up a hospital that there was children that were being diagnosed, re -diagnosed, and then it was more terminal.

So it's harder for a child to, Raymond beat cancer. It was all gone for six months and then it just kept on coming back. And it's kind of like a tease, know, all the cancer gone. So it was harder for those kids. So she started a program that they would give them a second wish to have. So it's a great organization, but she does call for lots of help. So we help with that. We've helped a child that just wanted a shopping spree of tennis shoes from something

you know, small like that to a trip to New York or something like that. That's awesome. You know, you're talking about the nursing home, the facility in downtown Franklin. I call that area, a lot of it is kind of like a forgotten Franklin. When I was a teacher, people think that all of Franklin is just, you know, $1 million homes and everybody has money. And it's just not

And when you're in the community and you know, there are areas that just need help. They just need a boost because maybe their families have been here generations and they're hanging on and they're trying their best to stay here. That nursing home that is down off of NHS, we've been there numerous times with church groups and different things.

Reddick's a great one because you could just stop by even you don't have to come with a big group and you could just drop something by like if you got yes you know so many they're just happy yeah for you to jump at it also my friend's house is one of our very you know one of another group that we provide for just when you know that they're having a big party or something for the boys they're just so grateful especially when schools yeah when school's out because you know teens can eat a house you know

Jason & Mindy Hoover (21:05.228)
those teenage boys, tend to always bring, you know, snacks and stuff like that for them to when we have overflow for Vanderbilt, then I just bring them over there because you know, those boys are going to eat those, you know, and a lot of the kids were Raymond's classmates. So it was nice to be able to bring clothes and stuff there for them. Just the cool stuff. You know, a lot of people donate but like bomber jet, you know, things that they don't get to have would be really over there. Yeah, it's such a wonderful organization.

And we're lucky to be in Franklin, I think. know, Nashville's great no matter what, but I feel like Franklin is, know, but everybody knows about it and everyone's moving here, but that's great for you guys. Right. It's great to be a realtor in Franklin. there are middle -class people here that work two or three jobs. You know, my husband works at Southwest. We've been there. Yeah. So, you know. There was a time that both of us had two jobs. Yeah. Yeah.

So that's what I said is Franklin is a very nice neighborhood and stuff, but there are some people that are middle -class or people in natures that just are trying to make ends meet, know, but you know, we're lucky that we live in the community that we do because we do have tons of people that help. It's true. And you know, there are so many, you can't even name them all, all the nonprofits that come together to help all those families stay

You know, you don't have to be someone that's, you know, you just don't want to spend money on a dress. So it's so great to go there and just be able to have two dresses, one for your winter formal and one for your prom and have two different ones because it's affordable. And like you were saying, donating just different things to my friend's house and any organization. I think a lot of times we don't think it has that big of an impact.

Collectively it has a major impact on these you know those kids in particular, but anybody that Is in need yeah, just a minor minor effort of giving just what you can it is a collective Impact on their lives, and it doesn't even have to be a financial one like yeah like my friend's house You can cook dinner or you can serve dinner or you can just go hang out. I was gonna say too is

Jason & Mindy Hoover (23:25.454)
I feel like that's the great thing about Ray of Light. A lot of times it's all good items. It's not like money. mean, that helps for the bigger projects that we do. But a lot of stuff that we do for Ray of Light is pushing, you know, just going to the store. Go to Kroger and get a $10 gift card. We do collect those all the time because when you're staying at the hospital, there's a Kroger right around the hospital that sometimes wants to get a Gatorade. So we just do $10 cards because that's

something hard, you can get that right at the register. But when donating to these nonprofits, like Jason said, I don't think it's just them that get something out of it. I feel like when you're just having a rut of a month, you know, just to go there and bring a plant or something, you know, that they can, the seniors can water and watch grow and all that stuff. Just the simple things bring you joy too, after you've had a stressful week or it's tax week.

Yeah. know, get out of yourself. Yeah. Just get out of yourself. Yeah. Yeah. It's just like, um, this past Saturday, we, you know, we volunteered with a, um, the Franklin challengers, which is a, um, a special needs baseball league. And it was Mindy myself and our, our son Cohen who's 15, he pitched. And so we all did something different, but I tell you what, we walked away and all three of us were highly impacted and

just amazed of what's going on there and just being around them. It definitely lifts your own personal spirit. yeah. The joy of just being there and the joy on the parents faces that they have something like that for their kids just to come out and enjoy and be a part of. And you know, you're like, it's just baseball, but it is an organized activity that these kids and their parents and their siblings are out there with them, helping them play ball. And it is

It's one -on -one helping these kids play and it's just really special. And everyone's just thrilled to be there. Even Cohen, he's like, yeah, I want to go back. He's like, can I go back next week in a pitch? we're going back this Saturday so he can pitch again. great. Cause maybe you guys can share that. Cause a lot of people when I will talk to people that are known say, Hey, you should join us. You know, we're always looking for volunteers. And a lot of times they'll say, you know, that they don't

Jason & Mindy Hoover (25:51.756)
where to find those things for their kids. I love that there are the pages like Moms of Franklin. I always see that question is where can we involve our kids? And a lot of them are usually for adults. A lot of people don't want to do things with kids, but how can we change our generation if we don't start when they're younger? Right. Very good point. Yeah. And I love how that baseball, because I know Cohen plays, doesn't he play baseball?

how it kind of ties them in and kind of, you know, find those things that they're already interested in. Exactly. Find a way to make a difference that way too is good. Yeah. So if somebody wants to donate, can you share some information on how they can do that? Yes. If you go to Ray of Light Foundation, so it's rayoflighttn .com, we have a website that has all that information. If you have kids that want to get involved,

There's a lot of information there where we have our own team board where they're organizing things this year. That's something new. We're trying to get them to be more involved in creating different initiatives or just a place for them to meet and talk about how to put something like that together. And maybe in the future, they'll have a nonprofit or something like that that they can help the community. So there's tons of information there. Like I said, there's seven initiatives.

We're constantly posting stuff there. also have, you know, shows where we're having parents help us do shows where they haven't done singing or musical theater in a long time. they're, I'm trying to invite them to do shows that will benefit the hospital as well. Very nice. Yeah. That's fantastic. And so the, I'm sorry, what did it was, what was that pallet initiative called? I'm sorry, pallets.

Palliative care. It's called the bereavement. Yeah. Okay. The ray of light bereavement. And so there's information on there too. Yes. And if you know anyone right now, it's just for patients and families of Vanderbilt. And it's just for the caregivers, but I know they were telling us that some of the siblings, the parents that were attending this class said that the siblings had really benefits. So that's our next goal is to provide that. absolutely. Yeah.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (28:09.938)
And then also some of the funds for that palliative care, they do care boxes. That's like we just did, think last month or maybe three months ago, I can't remember. They sent me a picture of a care box that was those, what do call it? Wax seals, like writing letters. Because there's a lot of kids that are on palliative care that are at home and don't get to go to the Vanderbilt hospital and get any of those events where they're passing out baskets and all that. So we try to create care baskets.

that go home so that they feel like they're still at the hospital and people are still there thinking of them and wishing them well. love that. I do too. That is so sweet. Yeah. I didn't even think about that. If they're not at the hospital, I guess it could be, you know, out of sight, out of mind in a sense. And isolated for them, you know, cause that's the great thing about Vanderbilt. You can walk, you know, even if you have your

your IV and so that they can walk around the hospital and see people downstairs on that stage or the Ryan C. Corrass. You know, there's things for you to feel like you're still a part of the community. So when they're at home on palliative care, it's kind of, you know, we don't want the kids to feel like it's the end already, you know, so we tried some craft and some activities for them to do at home. but there's always Vanderbilt. I didn't even know they did a butterfly release. There's so many things that, you know, Vanderbilt does and really

I've learned that a lot of the families that have gone through are the ones that start the nonprofit that are helping them. So we're a huge part of that, which is pretty neat because I know you, Mindy, you guys did a walk for Sydney's, you know, it's for the JDRF. Yeah. So our daughter went through the oncology program for about five years at Vanderbilt with some issues. then the week later, after being released from oncology, she was diagnosed with type one diabetes. So

We're just switching towers at Vanderbilt. And of course, that's a lifelong thing. So we're still there and tackling that. we did the walk, the JDRF walk and fundraising and being a part of that over the years has really helped us be able to cope with a lifelong illness that if not treated properly, you know, could, you know, couldn't, well, what would you say?

Jason & Mindy Hoover (30:29.354)
end not well, but. So I'll lighten the mood just a little bit here and I'll even be transparent. So I'll share the story out there for everybody, but it's kind of embarrassing. when Sydney got diagnosed, were, well, she had had the test and we had to go into the office to see the doctor and get the results. Well, we still had hope, right? It was something else.

And I'm sitting there thinking, please, please, please, please don't. Cause I can't just, you know, I can't stand thinking that my, my little girl is going to have to put a needle in, in her arm or whatever, multiple times a day. was a big phobia for her as well. It's a big phobia. And I mean, I'm fine with needles, but I just, could not stand the thought of that. And so when she was sharing and she's like, yeah, it's definitely a type one diabetes. like, okay. And we all just kind of take this deep breath. I said, so does

mean shots and she said, unfortunately, or something to that effect, unfortunately. So, you know, she'll have to monitor. Well, they continue talking. They didn't realize I'm over there starting to unbutton my shirt. I'm getting hot. mean, are starting to spin and next thing I know I'm waking up in the next room on the doctor. He's in triage and Sydney's right there beside me, you know, trying to comfort me. I'm like, who's the patient? I'm like, no, wait, what?

take care of her, please. I was like, and afterwards, mean, I was like, how embarrassing that your dad faints in the doctor office. And then they threw you into eight hours of training immediately as soon as you get the diagnosis because you can't leave without knowing how to take care of your child. So it was very, very overwhelming as parents when you get these diagnosis. yeah, mean, Vanderbilt was great. They just got him off the floor and just helped.

He went overboard and lighting that, that diagnosis. They were checking his blood sugar, making sure that he didn't have it too. I could just see Sydney saying, we're not giving birth here, dad. Yeah. Just wait for that day to come. I'm going to ask you to be there. I ruined all of my chances.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (32:54.222)
But all that to say it is it's it can be very overwhelming as a parent and as a patient and with whatever illness you are going through so it's appreciated When they are Jason when you said, know, how can they Find out how to help how to donate it can also be a place of any mom that's at Vanderbilt or even at Williamson, know memorial something that just wants to email and say, you

how did you start your foundation with so -and -so? Because I've had that a lot. Raymond's mural is in downtown Franklin at our shop, and I have parents all the time that'll call and say, we would love to do something like that. And I just kind of found this is what I did. It's nothing like not teaching college or anything, thank God, because I'm not good at that part. But I just tell them what I did, and that's a place they can go to as well if they just need to get an opinion from a mom or some advice.

Just let them, I just want everyone to know that ray of light was for everyone for, know, and that's what we thought that we were just going to do stuff for kids that had cancer that was at Vanderbilt, but it's just keeps growing because that's, guess, God's plan for us. So. Well, and so that's perfect. I and I love, I mean, you have the biggest heart and, you know, you. Taking people and helping them and guiding them. But so I know we're talking about

the foundation and, and things like that, the nonprofits, but you do have a, your own business. You talked about it just a little bit. Share a little bit more about what your business is, because I'm sure a lot of listeners would be interested to know more about it as well. Which one? So 12 years ago, my daughter Riley, um, you know, was, um, thinking about, well, she wasn't thinking about, we did.

I think it was called, it was either Main Street or it was Pumpkin Fest. I it Pumpkin Fest. Was it Pumpkin Fest? Okay, I couldn't remember. It seems like forever. I was part of Pulteite Theaters Youth Actors Guild where we always did a fundraiser for the seniors. And I would do some kind of show or they had to do rehearsal. And they were like that year, they were just over it. They said, can we just get dressed in costumes and take pictures with the kids? And that led to a mom saying,

Jason & Mindy Hoover (35:14.286)
Do you guys do this for birthday parties? And of course my daughter, who's such a business minded girl at 14 said yes, we do. I ran out of cards. This is where her acting skills came. I ran out of cards, but let me get my mom's hair. Her hair business, because I cut hair. I'm a cosmetologist where I was. I'm slowing down and phasing out of that because I have too many businesses. So we opened a princess dreams do come true princess business, princess parties.

which is a business that the princesses go to your birthday parties and entertain. Sydney, who's Mindy and Jason's daughter that we were talking about, she was our first group of girls to be the princesses. At age 15 as Sophia the first, because that's all she could do at 15. She wasn't even of age to work yet. She just volunteered. Yes. She just volunteered with the approval of her mom.

So yeah, she was a baby. She's all grown up now, but, she's still princessing. It's not her full -time job, but whenever I can get her on a day off, she still covers that for us. it started off with princessing at people's houses. And then a mom suggested us open our own venue. And that's where Riley's came along. And that's located in downtown Franklin. You can host a tea party, spa party. The little girls come in and they get their hair, makeup, and nails done.

and then they go into the tea room with the princess and have tea time. So it's been 12 years. keep asking my daughter that now works for a company in Nashville. I keep saying, are we going to close our business yet? And she just keeps saying, no, it's just too personal for her. But I mean, I remember her sitting in the city of Franklin asking them for a business license and she was only 14. And she said, well, I could keep doing it under the table or you can make me pay taxes.

What is it? love Riley so much. That's awesome. Yeah. So that's our business in downtown Franklin. It's still there. We're pretty busy on Saturdays and Sundays. tell you, I don't mean to step on you there, but real quick, Sydney, she will not break character. I don't care what you do, even as the dad. I mean, I, I figured that out pretty quick. She, she wouldn't break character at

Jason & Mindy Hoover (37:35.412)
No, I remember a grandmother asking her, what school do you go to? And she's the best. I'm telling you, she is the best Snow White hands down, probably even better than the ones at Disney. Please don't quote that. My name is not Blonde Dina Vergara Cruz. She literally will not. That grandma was the sweetest and she even whispered and she goes, I don't know what you mean. You know, she just did not.

great character. And I was sitting there as her host and her, lady was even say, come on, we tip here. And she's like, she even did that little. I was like, okay, she's definitely working for us for a long time. And she got in the car. I can't ruin the magic. said, so I use that first group of girls that worked with us set the presence of our business. Like a lot of the girls. Yeah. A lot of them were my choir students when I was still

choir director in public schools. a lot of our dresses were too that we bought from love the dress. It is true. is. And we revamped them and all that stuff. Did a Cinderella thing on it. So yeah, now you have started a new venture at like in the past couple of months because why not? But it's kind of like everything come into fruition of like all of your directing and your

in your activities and all of your contacts, all kind of coming together in one place. I, I, when I think about this business that I started, just a month ago, I think of the moment that we moved our moving truck and moved into an apartment. Cause we didn't know if we were going to stay in Franklin or if we're going to move to Spring Hill or whatever. And every bit of any of my business

Any of the jobs that led me to this business, again, we're going back to the community, is a community led for me because of all, I wanna start first with Mary Pierce at the Heritage Foundation, who's not there anymore because she's retired. But she was the first person I even talked about my experience in Las Vegas being in the entertainment business. And from there, she just called me yesterday for an event.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (39:51.926)
And it's still providing stability and a community to support all my things that I do. And it's not surprising that I got here from everything that kind of tied together, you know, for these businesses. A lot of it too, I say it's about my son because he's taught me to live life to the very fullest and never to take anything for granted. His motto, you know, I said that earlier that you can't be a part, you know, you can't complain if you're not a part of yours.

His view was said was you can't choose what happens in your life, but you can choose how to respond. And so I take that dearly because Mindy, know, a lot of our travels and our job experiences were not what we expected. You know, our dreams that, you know, we hoped for our future are not what led us where we are today. A lot of people that are not agreeing to things that we do, you know,

I just, I don't know, I just remember lots of times where I'm sad at home. I'm not doing enough. Or is this my plan? Is this God's plan for me? And still after owning this business in just a month and getting the opportunity in two weeks, I'm like, what am I doing? But I really think it's my community that kind of led me here.

Besides the princess party business that happened because that group of kids were from pull tight theater, youth actors guild. And those are the ones that were doing the costumes and then led us to the princess business. And the princess business led us to a mom in the community telling us to own our own venue. And then from there, Raymond and my students all said, you know, you're so good. You're with Ms. Mindy. I mean, I wish she was a parent because my kids were in the program and you guys would say,

Blaine Dina, can you give us advice? Can you tell us how's the kids doing? And I would grab that mic and start with my kids first and say, okay, you did this wrong. You didn't say your lines here. Led me to directing. So I direct musical theater. I was directing kids and adults at Pultite Theater. But then when my son got cancer, he really talked to me about how great I was with kids.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (42:11.014)
And not only because he was one of the three that I raised, but he just noticed when I'm doing the party business, when I'm cutting, my clientele ended up turning from adults to kids because I saw the need to cut kids' hair because I have patience for them. know, now led me to going to some studios in Nashville and Williamson County. And then it led me to the Williamson County Parks and

and I learned some stuff there. But it was time my older son, Ryan, had told me, I was just saying, okay, this is something that kind of bugs me and this kind of thing kind of bugs me. I'm about giving scholarships to kids that can't afford it. And that's what my goal is for my new theater that I just opened called the Franklin Playhouse. Is I want a place that can invite anyone to do theater, no matter what your finances are.

And it's not there yet because I just got it, you know, so I do have, you know, registrations and fees and stuff like that. But that's what I'm hoping. I hope that my community will see how important it is for me to grow this business and be able to share my love for theater to all, not only kids, families. We're doing Freaky Friday right now and I have a couple of kids

backlight and I love what Melissa does at backlight and so I'm just excited to have another place for for kids with you know those kind of abilities to be able to do a show too at another place. Right and a lot of people may not know but backlight productions is another activity for special needs adults and teenagers to be able to perform on stage and was helped started by a

good friend of both of ours, Alissa Horica and also some other people in the community and they've kept it going for quite a few years now. But yeah. So on that, the new business, where can people find more information about it? The Franklin playhouse .com and we're located on Seaboard Lane in Mallory, which is very central, which I'm excited about for people in Brentwood and Nashville. I've had a couple of kids

Jason & Mindy Hoover (44:31.744)
East Nashville, guess, you in Green Hills, some people love to come to Cool Springs and shop and do errands and stuff. So it's great for their kids to come take class while moms do an errand. So we're right there in the heart of Cool Springs. Right now we're doing, like I said, we started a month ago. I have a class called We Are Family, and that encourages families, moms, dads, grandparents, cousins, you know, to do shows with the youth.

So we have a couple of moms doing shows with their kids who haven't done theater. I mean, there's one mom that's the lead. You have to come see her. name's Plum, Jamie Rose Plum. And she's a caterer here in Franklin and she's the lead of that show. And she's like, I'm just hoping that I can remember these lines. I love it. Where was that when Sydney was growing up with her mom that was musical theater herself, you know? So you have to come out. Maybe Jason will come out and so will Cohen.

We'll do a show that all of you four can be in it. I'm Cohen on and Jason on stage. I'll do like a baseball themed one. So Cohen says, okay, I definitely know how to hold the bat. Well, know that Sydney always wants to sing for you any opportunity that she has. And that just is a Testament that like, when you have kids in their twenties that are still willing to come back and sing.

for free or just for no reason, but to just help you raise money for different benefits, either it be Ray of Light or for a scholarship fund for Franklin Playhouse. I mean, that just speaks volumes that they still wanna come back. I'll tell you a little secret that just last month when I posted that I was opening my own theater, it was so neat to get a lot of my college kids, even Sydney,

that just sent me a text that said, Ms. Plain, we don't know anyone that's worked harder than having four jobs. Now the director, H .O., they're like, we are so super excited for you. And then I asked them if they would do this Greece tribute fundraiser for Ray of Light. And of course, there's Sydney. She's like, I'll do Sandra Dee. She knows exactly what she's doing. It is, you you mentioning that for me.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (46:54.994)
as just one little part of being a teacher for them. It just brings so much joy to my life. And I know how blessed I am when they're calling me, one student's in New York and called and said, can I take your reference letter and change the date? Cause it was like five years ago and retweak it. And I said, yes, that's great. Cause I would still write you one, but if I don't have to write it you could just change the date, that would be great. It's nice to hear what they're doing in their life and know that I made

a little staple small piece of their life because they mean so much to me. I don't think I would be successful in my grief if it wasn't for the people that surround me and the community that I'm in, honestly. A lot of moms ask that, how do you survive losing a child? And two, know, especially watching your child try to beat cancer and having no control because that's our job is to take care of our children.

I just really honestly, I know sometimes it's hard for people to take help from people, but for me, it saved my life. If I didn't have my community, I definitely can say that I would not be happy and perky and smiling because my son was like that during cancer. So I kind of feel like a hypocrite if I wasn't the same with him gone. agree. And if you have a servant's heart, then if you're not serving, then you're miserable.

So I completely agree and I get that that resonates with me that like we were saying earlier, if you're having a bad week, if you're having a bad season in your life, just getting outside yourself and pouring into other people pulls you out of that. with this situation, you know, and the going back and forth and the yo -yo of the emotions that you guys all went through as a family.

sometimes just having that outside stability there just works miracles in your spirit and your heart. I watched it. I watched it happen to you that even everybody's like, how is she so busy? How is she directing a show? Because we have the same friends and we all talk about each other. Lovely, of course. But we were like, how is she doing this? And I'm like, because if Blandina is not busy,

Jason & Mindy Hoover (49:12.33)
She's not happy and she needs this. She needs to be pouring out to process. It's coming to the server, you know, when you're used to having 30 tables and then it's a slow day and you make all those mistakes. That's how I feel in life. If I'm not busy, you know, and I keep telling her, Oh, I'm going down now to just, just my feet. I'm not working for anyone. So what do I do? I'm like, maybe I'll sign up to be a substitute teacher for the theater teachers. And I'm like, what am I doing now?

I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. It's just, you just want to be busy because it brings so much joy in your life. So yeah, just, just like you guys, mean, who would think a real estate group, you know, would want to give back to the community and cause you know, you're, shining a spotlight to us, but you're also providing information for people that can't, you know, that don't know this stuff is going on in Nashville. So I'm fair.

very grateful that you guys are doing this and have asked me to be on here. Um, then just chit chat. mean, this is so just laid back and cool and fun. mean, talking to adults and not kids. Thank you. Well, voting for me. Well, we love you. We love everything that you've done for our family and being a part of our family and always having my stinking back. You know, we've both gone through so much in the past 10, 15 years and we

remained friends. I was telling you yesterday and you're like, stop it. I'm going to cry. But I'm like, it is just so nice to have someone with a kindred spirit that just loves to serve and that we have kept this friendship for so long. And I deeply appreciate you and thank you so much for coming on today. you're welcome. Thank you guys. Thank you for letting me speak about Raymond and all my endeavors. I'm just so blessed by my community and all my friends.

And Jason, do you see my son watching over me? Gotta mention that. I'm so grateful for my family, but most importantly, I'm grateful that I'm able to continue my son's legacy because he's here more than ever. I agree. Amen. Perfect wrap up there. Thank you so much, Blandina. Thank you. Thank you, everybody, for tuning in and listening. And we'll definitely be putting some notes

Jason & Mindy Hoover (51:34.4)
in this podcast so that you know which websites to go to. But just to recap, Landina, help me out. want to make sure it's rayoflighttn .com. Yep. And there's a lot of information on different ways to get involved. And then also for your new venture, you have the franklinplayhouse .com. Is that correct? Yes. Perfect. And

Outside of that, just remember she has the dreams do come true. Princess parties. Princess parties. Absolutely that. And, say what? And Riley's. Yeah. So many different great things. my gosh. No one. know everyone says, what do you do for your signature at the end? I said, I, I just should put praying hands. Just pick one.

Visit us there. But yeah, hopefully it'll be on your guys's page This has been so so much fun and I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Well, thank you I only wish you guys the very best and if you're buying a house, I mean shoot I'm you know, that's for a while before you guys got into real estate But I'm just saying you guys are just perfect to make sure people are taken care of. So thank you for all that you're doing Thank you so much. All right well

That's a wrap for today. Thank you all for tuning in and we'll be talking with another guest here shortly and look forward to hearing from everybody. If you have anybody that you know that we should also bring on this show, please reach out and let us know because that's what we're doing is we're trying to shine a spotlight on these different organizations that a lot of times people just don't know about.

and we want to celebrate them. So thank you for tuning in and we will talk to you soon. All right. And that brings us to the end of another episode of You Matter Nashville. We hope today's show has left you feeling as uplifted and inspired as we are. Remember, the spirit of Nashville lives in all of us and every small act of kindness echoes throughout the community. A huge thank you for listening and even being a part of our You Matter community. If you love this episode, please share with friends and leave us a five -star review.

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it helps us reach more listeners and spread the love. And if you know anyone that is looking to make a move to Middle Tennessee area, we are real estate professionals known as the Hoover team, and we would be honored to serve them with excellence. Until next time, keep making a difference Nashville. You matter more than you know.