In this episode of Building a Life and Business Together, Stephanie and I sit down to talk about a significant shift that happened for her when we attended Empowered Podcasting in North Carolina.

Stephanie went into the event feeling a little like she was simply tagging along with me. She had made a commitment earlier this year to get back into rooms with people, rebuild her business, return to mastermind groups and coaching, stay consistent with her podcast, and begin creating momentum in this next season of her life.

But somewhere during that weekend, something changed.

She realized, "I belong here."

After more than 20 years of podcasting, along with her experience as a coach, speaker, and mastermind facilitator, she stopped seeing herself as someone who was merely accompanying me to a conference and began seeing the people in that room as her peers.

That realization opened the door to some meaningful conversations, new relationships, and even an invitation for Stephanie to get back on stage and speak at PodIndy in November.

We also spend a significant portion of this episode talking about what has become my favorite technology purchase of 2026, the PLAUD Note Pro.

I've been using mine constantly to capture daily reflections, coaching insights, conference conversations, ideas that come up while Stephanie and I are walking or driving, and anything else I know I may want to revisit later.

Stephanie began wondering if she should have one of her own.

Now that she does, she shares some of the ways she's already using it, including:

• Creating transcripts of her podcast episodes
• Capturing podcast ideas while she's driving
• Recording ideas and next steps for projects around the house
• Remembering important conversations and decisions
• Taking better notes from appointments and other conversations
• Capturing thoughts in the moment before they disappear

We also talk about how having transcripts of our conversations allows each of us to bring those conversations into our own ChatGPT environments and continue thinking through what came up long after the original conversation is over.

And, in full disclosure, we explain exactly how Stephanie and I ended up receiving complimentary PLAUD Note Pros after I had already spent months using, recommending, and loving the one I had purchased at full price.

PLAUD Note Pro Affiliate Link: http://plaudus.sjv.io/en2jd6

Affiliate disclosure: If you purchase a PLAUD product through my affiliate link, I may receive a commission.

Stephanie and I have several opportunities coming up where we'd love to see you in person.

GodMade Creator Conference: October 22-23, 2026 in Franklin, Tennessee - Register at https://godmadecreators.com

• We are not speaking at this event, but we will both be attendees there.

PodIndy: November 7, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana - Register at https://podindy.com

• Stephanie and I will both be at PodIndy, and we'll both be speaking.

Podfest Expo: January 2027 in Orlando, Florida - Register at https://podfestexpo.com

• Cliff will be speaking at PodFest - Stephanie will be attending as well.

If you're planning to attend any of these events, send me an email and let me know. We'd love to connect with you while we're there. My email is Cliff@CliffRavenscraft.com

Thanks for listening to Building a Life and Business Together.

Until next time, we encourage you to live your life on purpose.

Stephanie and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary.

Thirty years.

As we thought about how we wanted to mark this milestone, I had the idea of sitting down together with 30 questions designed to help us reflect on the life we have built, the challenges we have navigated, the ways we have changed, and what we have learned about love and partnership along the way.

Neither of us reviewed the questions ahead of time.

That turned out to be part of what made this conversation so meaningful.

Some questions immediately opened the door to stories we had not talked about in years. Some caused us to see our past differently. A few contained assumptions we completely rejected, which led to conversations that were probably more revealing than the questions themselves.

We talked about the two young people who got married 30 years ago and what they understood, and misunderstood, about love.

We reflected on the financial struggles of our early years, including digging through our change jar to buy gasoline with pennies.

We talked about becoming parents, the mistakes we made, the parenting philosophies we eventually rejected, and our realization that we were not simply raising children. We were raising adults.

We revisited the season when I left the insurance business and we went all in on building our own business, including the enormous financial and emotional pressure that decision created.

We talked about how our beliefs have changed, how our understanding of marriage has changed, and how we have learned to give each other the freedom to continue becoming who we are.

One of the themes that emerged throughout the conversation is that neither of us needs the other to remain the person we used to be.

Stephanie is not simply my wife. I am not simply her husband.

Neither of us completes the other because neither of us is incomplete.

Instead, we have created a relationship where we can continue growing, changing, exploring, and becoming while choosing to walk through life together.

There is one phrase from this conversation that may stay with me more than anything else.

Recently, while Stephanie and I were navigating a particularly difficult and emotionally charged situation, I asked her, “Are we good?”

Her response was:

“We’re never not good.”

That phrase captures something about our marriage that I had never been able to articulate quite that way before.

Circumstances change.

Money changes.

Health changes.

Children grow up.

Beliefs evolve.

Careers shift.

Life brings things we could never predict.

But our relationship is not built on those surface-level circumstances.

As we approached the final question, we were asked to imagine sitting together on our 60th wedding anniversary and looking back on the next 30 years. What would need to happen for us to consider that second half of our life extraordinary?

My answer ultimately became very simple.

I have no idea what the next 30 years will bring.

But if I have the opportunity to partner with Stephanie through all of it, that will be extraordinary.

This episode is a special crossover episode of Building a Life and Business Together, The Cliff Ravenscraft Show, and Thriving Mosaic.

I hope our conversation encourages you to think about the relationships, choices, changes, and experiences that are shaping your own life.

And perhaps it will even inspire you to sit down with someone you love and ask a few questions of your own.

A lot has changed since our last episode.

• Meagan and Jacob closed on their first home
• Matthew returned from his month in Japan
• And McKenna signed the lease for her apartment in Texas.

We share the latest updates and look ahead to our upcoming U-Haul adventure to Fort Worth.

I also share how Next Level Mastermind: Momentum moved from an early idea to its first official meeting in just four weeks.

• We talk about the three-month initial commitment
• The faster-paced hot-seat format
• And the emerging Momentum framework that helps people move from clarity and insight into committed, calendared action.

Stephanie shares that she has begun creating her own personal manifesto. She reflects on protecting her highest-energy hours for the work she wants to pursue and reports that she has already completed five of the eight personal connections she committed to making during July.

In Episode 829 of The Cliff Ravenscraft Show, I share the seven-day process I used to create my personal manifesto and how it became a living declaration of who I am becoming, what I am devoted to, and how I want to live.

Listen to Episode 829: A Manifesto for Living With More Clarity, Devotion, and Momentum

Are you a woman in our community who is navigating a season of change, rediscovering who you are, or feeling called to move forward with something meaningful in your life? Stephanie would love to hear what is happening in your world and have a conversation with you.

Email Stephanie at stephanie@stephanieravenscraft.com.

Next Level Mastermind: Momentum is an ongoing weekly mastermind environment for entrepreneurs who are actively building something meaningful and are ready for greater clarity, accountability, and focused forward movement.

Check out all the details about Momentum at https://cliffravenscraft.com/momentum

After you’ve had a chance to look over the page, email me at cliff@cliffravenscraft.com with “Momentum” in the subject line and let me know if it feels like something you would like to pursue.