Episode 28

Mahjong Madness

Published on: 11th March, 2024

Join host Erika Audrey on this charming episode of Clover Club as she sits down with Melissa and Bethany from Mahjong Social ATL. Dive into the fascinating world of mahjong, exploring its history, strategies, and the joy it brings to communities. Discover how these friends turned their passion into a successful small business and learn about the unique bond formed through the game. Tune in for a delightful conversation about mahjong, friendship, and the magic of turning shared interests into thriving enterprises.

Transcript
Speaker:

Welcome to Clover club, a podcast

about curious conversations and stories

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intended to make you laugh and learn.

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I'm your host, Erica.

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And today I am joined by two out of the

four members of Mahjong, social ATL.

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I've got Bethany and Melissa ladies.

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Hello?

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Hi.

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Hi, how are you?

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Doing well, how are you doing so well?

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So I really appreciate you taking

some time out of your very

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busy schedules to sit down and

come and Clover club and chat.

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All things Mahjong.

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Thanks for having us.

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Oh, it's my pleasure.

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So I was telling the ladies

before we started recording that

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I started to do research for this

episode and my start was to Google.

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What is Mahjong?

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And then I stopped because I thought

probably a lot of people listening

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have heard of Mahjong and know

that it's a game, but probably

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don't know a whole lot past that.

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So I wanted to chat with you guys

and learn about it sort of live.

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And I think people listening will

probably be in a similar space as I am so.

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Tell me everything, how

did this get started?

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Tell us what you're doing.

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Yeah.

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So, , this got started a

little over a year ago.

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I guess we should go back when.

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My mom who's been playing

Mahjong since, before I was

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born, which is over 40 years ago.

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, Taught me, Molly, Val, and

Bethany, all how to play Mahjong.

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I already knew how.

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Yes.

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I was going to say that.

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Bethany.

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Already knew how to play.

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She had been in I'll let her tell her

a little piece, if she would like.

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Yeah.

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So my grandma taught me.

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Oh, Years ago probably.

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I don't, I don't know.

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I was trying to talk to

my mom about this early.

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I ran into my mom at Drybar and.

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Yeah.

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I was asking I'm like, mom,

when did Nina teach us?

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But it was, it was a long time ago.

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It was, I don't know, maybe

like eight ish years ago or so

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it was definitely pre COVID.

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And then my grandma used to play all

the time, multiple times a week with

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her friends and then COVID happened.

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And because they were older, they

were nervous to be around each other.

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And so their games kind

of just came to a stop.

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And so my mom and my sister, and I would

go over and my aunt sometimes and my

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cousins and we put our masks on and we

would just play Mahjong with my grandma.

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And it was so fun.

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, but yeah, that's how I learned.

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That's adorable.

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And so backing up to when we started

playing together, I can't even remember

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the impetus for it or how we decided to,

but three of the four of us who formed

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Mahjong, social, our neighbors like

literally houses down from each other.

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So part of it is that we were all.

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Friends anyway, and convenience and

our kids all play together, but somehow

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we all decided we wanted to learn.

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So my mom taught us Bethany, as we just

learned, I already knew how to play.

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And Bethany's mom came and

helped teach a little bit also.

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And within a few weeks we were playing,

we were playing slowly, but we were

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playing, , and we, despite busy schedules

managed to have a pretty regular game.

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And sometimes that looked like once a

week actually having scheduled games.

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And we started out ambitious with

rotating who would host and we would have.

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I like a dinner or a heavier spread

and then it kind of turned into, okay,

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well, can we just get together quickly?

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When can we do it?

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The kids are down.

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Let's go.

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Or can we trick the husbands and to

all getting together and watching the

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kids while we kind of back into the

corner and play Mahjong at this table.

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And so we've really maintained

our regular game for over a year.

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And, , it's been a whole lot of fun.

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That's awesome.

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And so the way this all started,

I would say in September or

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October Bethany, had a dream of

opening up a parlor, if you will.

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W what.

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Was it

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like

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brick and mortar.

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Social club.

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If you will.

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To host events, but then also

to double as like a Mahjong

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space, but to also be used for.

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Whatever.

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I don't know.

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Yeah.

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But that was your original idea.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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I'm super into that.

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So, But nice.

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Still happen.

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So it could, but brick and mortar

space in Brookhaven where we

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live is not easy to come by.

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, and certainly not inexpensive.

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So we kind of.

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Pivoted a little bit and

said, well, what if we taught.

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Mahjong lessons and all three

of us besides Bethany, we're all

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kind of like, well, when are we

going to have time to do that?

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How's that?

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How's that going to work?

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You know, whatever, but Bethany.

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, was persistent and, uh, And she

is persistent and a go getter

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and is excellent with the

checklists and the follow-up.

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And we got it together and started.

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We had a bunch of meetings and

Bethany has a, has an, had a ton

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of ideas that she has executed on.

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And, , we've built this,

this little business.

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We started live with our lessons

in December and the interest I

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would say in lessons has been

greater than we ever anticipated.

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Yeah.

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Much bigger than we ever imagined.

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It seems like this has just skyrocketed,

like you were in Atlanta magazine, right?

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Yeah.

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, how did that come about?

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That came about.

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I was at, Ansley and I had just

played tennis and I was in the locker

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room and I saw this girl and she

was wearing this pickleball outfit.

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And I saw her like out on the

pickleball court and I told her,

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I was like, I love your outfit.

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You look so cute.

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And I don't even know.

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We started talking about match on.

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And she is also a member of Ansley

and she happens to be a freelance

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writer and writes currently in a

magazine and writes for Southern living

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and all these great publications.

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And.

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Said she's like, actually I, and

I told her that we were thinking

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about starting this business, but

it was like very, very early on.

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And we were just kind of in the beginning

process of even just like getting ideas

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out there and she's like, well, if it

really happens, let me know because I'm

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actually writing an article about modules.

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And I was like, okay, so.

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We, I reached back out here

and I said, we're doing it.

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So she interviewed us and

that's how we did that.

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That's amazing.

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And I find that when you're onto

something, like when you're on the right

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path and let me know if this resonates

with you, it seems like things really

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click into place to support that journey.

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And it sounds like this is

the perfect example of that.

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I agree with that.

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There are things that I'd never would

have thought could happen that seem

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like they're going to happen, or,

you know, Opportunities that we've,

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we've been approached with where

I'm just like, I can't believe that.

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Like this is happening

that we get to do this.

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This is awesome.

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So exciting.

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Do you all of you have kids.

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Almost.

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So half of you.

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Yes.

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So, , I have three kids.

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Bethany has two kids.

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Val has two kids and Molly

is due with her first.

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And, uh, Any day now.

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Oh my goodness.

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Okay.

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So that is like some serious, the

fact that all of you can maintain

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scheduling with each other.

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And I mean, that alone seems

like it would be such a.

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Uh, mountain to climb.

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It's.

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A lot of whiteout and highlighters

and my paper calendar.

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That is like it's.

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A mess, but it's, it works.

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I guess.

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So far it works.

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Bethany.

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What's your sign.

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I'm a Virgo.

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I was literally about to

be like, are you ever go?

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Cause I am too.

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And I'm like, I do have a paper

calendar and the obsessive about

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scheduling and making shit happen.

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My husband and I ever get divorced.

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It's going to be because

of the paper calendar.

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Oh, really?

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Yeah.

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It's not on the calendar.

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If the Mahjong social ever

breaks up, it might also be

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because of your paper calendar.

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Bethany.

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We're taking the Enneagram test.

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No.

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Ooh.

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I feel like you should.

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I know.

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I feel like I'd probably find

out some stuff I might not want.

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No.

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No, it's the best.

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The have you taken it, Melissa?

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I have, but I can't remember what I am.

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Okay.

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, You should take it again or

like pull up your results.

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But , it is to me, the most fascinating

of all of the personality tests.

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Um, but I'm curious, I'm a Virgo and

I'm an eight week seven, which people

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listening are like that fucking trucks.

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Um, but I'm real curious.

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I'm real curious.

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Um, report back.

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Yes, please.

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, okay, so we've got Bethany, the

planner, , Melissa, you're a lawyer.

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Yes.

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Do any of your law skills

transfer to this endeavor?

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I don't know how much of my law

skills translate to the endeavor other

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than my ability to think logically.

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And I think that can translate

into planning or it did translate

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into planning the lesson.

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And how we were going to teach

the lesson, although to be clear.

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My mom, I think is shocked that

I am decent at teaching because

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she's seen the level of patients.

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I have trying to teach my children

things and she's like, thank

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God you were never a teacher.

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So, I don't know, but my ability to

like, think through the steps of how

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you get from point a to point, you know,

E or F for whatever, playing the game.

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I think, I think some of

those skills translate.

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And then from the business running

aspect, this is nerdy, but I

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really enjoy personal finance.

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So I like to manage the finance side

of the business or track the budget

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and the spending and all of that.

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So that's not really.

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Law per se, but yeah, it does intersect

a little bit with my law job that I have.

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So.

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Look at a very analytical mind.

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So it makes sense to me that those

things would kind of overlap.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So, , Melissa, Molly and

valor, all attorneys.

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Oh, okay.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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Free legal advice.

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They have done a great job of

really just like breaking it all

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down because it's a confusing game.

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There's lots of rules.

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There's lots of nuances and it's,

there's always these exceptions to.

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You can do this, but you can't

do it here and you can't do that.

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And, but, and when I feel like

when your mom taught y'all, it was

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kind of just like, let's just play

and y'all figure it out and okay.

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It's.

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It works, but we really wanted to

be able to have like a concrete

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lesson plan to really break it

down and make it make sense.

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And they did a great job at that.

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I can't, that's not my forte.

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So that's awesome.

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So let me put a pin in the personality

stuff, cause I do want to swing back

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to that, but will you share with

people what the fuck even is module?

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So Mahjong is a tile game.

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It's played with tiles.

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We actually brought us up to show

you and I left it in the car.

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Oh, that's okay.

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Because I don't know if you've ever even

seen a set, not in real life in real.

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Okay.

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Well, we have one to

show you as soon as a.

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The rain stopped.

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And if you hear rain in the

background, I apologize.

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It is what it is.

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Um, so it's a tile game that

originated in China and there's

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several different forums, , even

other than American, which is what

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we teach and what we can talk about.

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, most there's Japanese

Mahjong and, , others.

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And so China Mahjong came over to the

United States in either the:

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thirties and, , Jewish women actually

up in the Northeast, standardize the

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game, , and formed the national Mahjong

league, which still exists to this day.

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, and they are the ones that

every year put out the, um card

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of hands that you play with.

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, and back to your question, Erica,

what is the game of Mahjong?

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So basically there is a card of

hands that have put out by the

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national Mahjong league every year.

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Okay.

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, and this is to play American

Mahjong, , and each card has

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like 60 plus hands on it.

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And by hand, we mean a row of.

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, 14 tiles.

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Oh, wow.

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Okay.

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And so on the card, there are 60 plus rows

of symbols that indicate 14 tiles that

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you have to collect over the course of

the game in order to achieve a Mahjong.

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And the first step of the game is.

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There's a shuffling of the

tiles, and then you arrange your

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tiles into what's called walls.

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, and there are four walls you play

typically with four people, the

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game can be played with less.

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Okay.

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, and then there's the dealing of the tiles.

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And then there's something called

the Charleston where you pass

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tiles to all the people at the

table in a very specific order.

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Okay.

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And then once all of that is

done, , you have your tiles.

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Everyone has 13, except for the

dealer has 14 and then it begins.

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, discard and picking up of tiles from

the wall, sort of like a card game

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where you would discard cards and pick

up cards until you have all of the

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tiles that you need to form a hand.

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That is a module.

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Okay.

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Is this a quickly paced game or

is it like slamming methodical?

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Yeah.

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At first, it takes a long time

because it's just, you're learning.

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So when.

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I feel like that's a question.

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We get asked a lot in classes, like in our

1 0 1 class people ask, like, when y'all

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get together, how many games do you play?

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Or like how long does it

game typically take you?

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And I think when we first

started, there would be games.

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It would take us an hour.

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Yep.

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Okay.

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Sure.

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And that that would be a long time.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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Now I would say like 10, 15 minutes.

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If we're, if we're chit-chatting maybe

20, but like, If I'm playing with my

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mom, the game, she is not talking.

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She won't play unless

she's playing for money.

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And that game better be

done in like 15 minutes.

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Then you can get very, very fast.

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, but it takes a lot of practice and time.

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So when we, you know, host the

lessons or do guided play, , you

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know, that our guided plays are

like two hours long and maybe.

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The players are playing three games, max.

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It's really clicking for people.

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Yeah.

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Interesting.

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, okay.

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So you mentioned the dealer has 14 tiles.

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, is the dealer one of the four people

or is that an external person?

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The dealer is one of the four

people and it's also, the

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dealers also referred to as east.

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Okay.

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The direction east.

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Okay.

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And, , the way you determine who the

dealer is, well, there's two ways really.

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, either there's a pair of dice that

you play with and you can all roll

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and whoever rolls, the highest

is east, which is how we play.

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Or if you have a regular game

where you're rotating houses

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or locations among the four.

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People that are playing the host

might be east and in tournaments.

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, There are these Mahjong

tournament's seen at Mazda.

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It's like a whole thing.

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Yeah.

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And there are tournaments.

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And I think at the tournament, , each

table has a host and the host starts as

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east and brings the set that they play

with at the table and that sort of stuff.

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But that's basically the extent

of my knowledge on Mahjong.

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Tournament's cause.

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And then it rotates, like.

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Taste rotates.

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To the right east to west or until.

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, so you mentioned playing for money.

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Do y'all play for money to you?

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Yeah, what's the most you've

ever won in a game of Mahjong.

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So it's funny because.

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My grandma used to call me and

she'd be like, I won so big today.

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I was the big winner and I'm

like, oh, what'd you win?

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And she was like $2 and 30 cents.

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It's not a lot.

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I mean, But it makes it fun.

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So yeah, hands on the card has a certain

value associated with it and they range

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from anywhere from 25 to 75 cents.

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Okay.

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Um, so this is like a structured.

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Yeah.

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So like, depending on the hand,

you're playing, that's how much

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money you may win, but then also

there's different rules around.

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Who pays what?

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So like if we're playing a game

and Melissa, through the tile

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that I picked up to win, then

she would have to pay me double.

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Oh, Yeah.

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And then like my grandma, like

people have their house rules.

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Like it's people have our table

rules, whatever you want to call it.

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But my grandma used to play,

like if you rolled a double,

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the whole card was doubled.

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Ooh.

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Interesting.

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So there's ways to spice it up,

but the, the values on the card.

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And I was just looking to see if I had

a card with me to show you and I don't.

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Okay.

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Um, but the, the, each, each hand

has a value and the values are in

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sense a as we play it, not dollars.

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Although I suppose if you wanted

to, you could play for dollars.

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Are there ever fights or tension

or , does this get heated?

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So not in our game and our game

with the four of us and anyone

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else I've ever played with.

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It's a friendly game of Mahjong.

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Okay.

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That said.

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There are Facebook groups online and I

kind of have poked around in some of them

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both when we were starting the business.

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, to, you know, kind of

strategize on how best to teach.

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, but also sometimes, , to answer questions

that we might have because these

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groups are a bunch of typically women,

but not always, there are men too.

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, playing the game and they'll come to

the Facebook group and they'll post.

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And they'll say I was playing

today and player X did Y.

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And is that okay?

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Why or why not?

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And people get into it.

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I mean, people are in tents and.

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And low and Facebook groups,

people always get intense.

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I think.

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Uh, you know, in the comments.

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But also the games sound intense and

there's a lot of discussion in these

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groups about, well, those don't sound like

the people that you want to play with.

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Like you maybe need to be playing.

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Uh, friendlier game.

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And so it's, you know, it can,

I think be intense and I'm sure

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at the tournament's, it, it is.

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, and the national Mahjong league has their

rules and, and those are their rules.

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And, you know, we teach by the

rules because we want people

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to know how to play correctly.

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Right, but you know, we're there also too.

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Part of the beauty of the game is that

it gives you an outlet to socialize

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and have fun with your friends too.

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So we're not, we're not too intense

about it when we play ourselves.

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Hence the social and Mahjong social.

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Exactly.

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Okay.

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So I want to circle back to.

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A lot of people have things in their

life that bring them joy and pleasure

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that they share with their friends.

427

:

And I think it's natural for that to lead

to conversations about like, could this

428

:

be a thing, could this be a business?

429

:

Like, should we pursue this?

430

:

But I feel like maybe 99% of

the time that never happens.

431

:

But.

432

:

Taking that step and actually

creating this is a huge deal.

433

:

So how, like, how does that feel?

434

:

It's exciting.

435

:

I mean, It was kind of just like

a, oh yeah, this would be fun.

436

:

We could teach a few people here and

there and it's just, I mean, This

437

:

is supposed to be our side hustle.

438

:

And it is.

439

:

Taking over.

440

:

It's like, yeah, no, I mean,

my, my real job has kind of.

441

:

Is bad.

442

:

So, , hope hopefully no one from

your real job is listening now.

443

:

Um, but now it's.

444

:

It's I dunno.

445

:

It's crazy.

446

:

It's cool.

447

:

I mean, it's just, it's exciting.

448

:

So, yeah.

449

:

What is it like going from being

friends to business partners?

450

:

And I know there's only a half of

you here, but I think that that's,

451

:

to me sounds horrible because

I don't play well with others.

452

:

And so I'm sure that there are kind

of boundaries being pushed and you're

453

:

learning about each other in ways

that you wouldn't have a reason

454

:

to prior to something like this.

455

:

Like, is that an interesting

part of this process for you?

456

:

Yeah, it's been interesting.

457

:

I think that it's funny

because I mean, we all.

458

:

With the accepted a Molly now

just like comes to our house and

459

:

walks right in and all of that.

460

:

And that's great, but

like, we live on the same.

461

:

St.

462

:

We do a nanny share

between our three families.

463

:

Our husbands go out to

dinner way too often.

464

:

And like, you know, it's all three of

our houses on our streets, kind of just

465

:

like a revolving door, I feel like.

466

:

And so like, we typically set up

at my house and so I won't even be

467

:

home and they'll just come in and

set up and be there and then leave.

468

:

And, you know, it's.

469

:

I don't know.

470

:

It's so far, it's worried.

471

:

It has, but I think, , We

all, , went into this and.

472

:

Still feel that it's friendship

first, , over, over the business.

473

:

So I think we're all conscious

of that and we wouldn't let.

474

:

Anything blow up, , the friendship

just because of the business.

475

:

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

476

:

Yeah.

477

:

Okay.

478

:

But that part is more important to me.

479

:

Yeah, absolutely.

480

:

And how long have all of

you, so you're all neighbors.

481

:

Did you meet because your neighbors

or did you become neighbors?

482

:

Cause you were friends.

483

:

Um, no, we, we knew each other.

484

:

So Bethany.

485

:

Grew up with my brother.

486

:

She's my brother's age.

487

:

My younger brother.

488

:

So w I've always kind of like

known who she was and we, you know,

489

:

grew up in Jewish Atlanta as well.

490

:

And it's just a small community

and everyone knows everyone.

491

:

We went to the same summer camp.

492

:

So she and I were never

friends because there's a.

493

:

Decent age gap between the two of

us, but she already lived on the

494

:

street when we moved onto the street

and our daughters are the same age.

495

:

So it's like through our kids

and just through shared history

496

:

and then Val and Bethany friends.

497

:

Yeah.

498

:

So then Val and I met before

my husband and I met oh, wow.

499

:

That my husband and her

husband sounds very incestual.

500

:

Pledge brothers like at Georgia together.

501

:

I was at Alabama and I was dating

somebody at Georgia at the time.

502

:

And so I'm new Val through that.

503

:

Okay.

504

:

So.

505

:

So I knew her.

506

:

And then when I started dating my

husband, I was like, wait a second.

507

:

I met this girl.

508

:

And so, yeah, and then she moved across

the street and so it's been awesome.

509

:

And then, and then valley.

510

:

Val.

511

:

She's edit Val and Molly

went to law school together.

512

:

Ah, okay.

513

:

Okay.

514

:

I love this.

515

:

Yeah.

516

:

This is so great.

517

:

, is there a level that this could get to

where this becomes the full-time thing?

518

:

I know with three lawyers,

that's a huge, like a huge bar.

519

:

No pun intended.

520

:

Yeah.

521

:

I don't know.

522

:

I need health insurance.

523

:

Yeah for me.

524

:

No, for me, the federal

government benefits are.

525

:

Uh, I call it the bronze handcuffs.

526

:

I can never.

527

:

You know, it's not like I'm getting

paid tremendous amounts of money, but

528

:

the benefits are, uh, keeping me there.

529

:

I'm probably will for life that

said, you know, to your question

530

:

earlier of what does it feel like

to go from an idea to a business?

531

:

For me, I'm such a box checker

and not an entrepreneur.

532

:

At least I don't think of myself that way.

533

:

Some people say that, but look at you now.

534

:

And it's, I mean, it's exciting

for me because it feels

535

:

very out of the box for me.

536

:

That said, I don't think I would ever

take the leap to leave my day job.

537

:

And I also think it would be difficult.

538

:

To scale.

539

:

Okay.

540

:

, Without.

541

:

A whole lot of effort that I

don't know, I haven't made to.

542

:

To put into it.

543

:

I totally get that.

544

:

I totally get that.

545

:

So, okay.

546

:

This is maybe an appropriate time to segue

into a topic that I wanted to bring up.

547

:

So we talk about scaling.

548

:

So to me immediately, I think of like

retail and having like a product, because

549

:

there's only four of you and there's

only so many classes that you can teach.

550

:

Right.

551

:

, so , there's another group

of women in Texas, Dallas.

552

:

In Dallas who created some tiles and

there was a controversy with that.

553

:

, is that something that you could

share with people about why and what

554

:

kind of the aftermath of that is.

555

:

Yeah, so modular, like you

said, it originated in China.

556

:

I'm so traditionally Mahjong tiles have.

557

:

Chinese characters on them.

558

:

, and.

559

:

This another company out of Dallas

makes gorgeous, beautiful tiles.

560

:

Yeah, they're not traditional.

561

:

, and so I think that they did

get a little bit of backlash for

562

:

kind of white washing Mahjong.

563

:

Is that PC?

564

:

I don't know.

565

:

Yeah, no.

566

:

, just.

567

:

Cause they were, I mean, they're gorgeous.

568

:

They're very beautiful.

569

:

, but they don't really necessarily

represent that traditional characters.

570

:

That came from the game from China.

571

:

Okay.

572

:

And there's a lot of history.

573

:

, In the Chinese characters tied to Chinese.

574

:

Culture, I think that are represented

on the suits and the tiles and in other

575

:

ways, and I'm not an expert by any

means, and I'm not even going to try

576

:

and say what, what those things are.

577

:

Yeah.

578

:

But changing the tiles completely

kind of disregards that the history.

579

:

It goes with the characters

on the tiles to be fair.

580

:

I think they were just kind of

the first ones that did that.

581

:

And now there are a lot of other

companies that are also making

582

:

tiles that are not traditional.

583

:

And so I think that, and now Mahjong

has like all of a sudden had this

584

:

like huge resurgence it's crazy.

585

:

And so.

586

:

I think that the traditional

towels are really, really cool.

587

:

, and I love the history of them.

588

:

I like the other ones as well.

589

:

I think that just people

knowing about the game is fun.

590

:

Well, that's kind of what I was going to

say is I kind of like to skirt the line

591

:

with some of these conversations because.

592

:

To me, what, what I would extrapolate

to the story you just shared is that

593

:

these are people who are passionate

about a game and wanted to make it , I

594

:

would assume accessible for people.

595

:

And I think intent is so important

when it comes to that type of thing.

596

:

And I mean, how are they doing now?

597

:

Like where they canceled

or they're doing great.

598

:

They're doing fabulous.

599

:

And they, I mean their website,

their branding, it's all beautiful.

600

:

And they have.

601

:

You know, tiles and mats

and bags and collaboration.

602

:

And all kinds of all kinds of stuff.

603

:

There's an art center program.

604

:

Wow, you know, Okay.

605

:

They're doing really well.

606

:

There's an online platform.

607

:

, that you can play Mahjong on

and their tiles are featured on.

608

:

That platform like you can choose

to play with their tile faces.

609

:

, and I really, you know, I

think it was Mahjong Molly.

610

:

There's like a, there's like

a whole, like, you know,

611

:

Mahjong world on Instagram.

612

:

But I think it was Mahjong Molly,

who sort of said a few weeks

613

:

ago or months ago that really.

614

:

All these teachers like us who are

benefiting so much from the resurgence

615

:

of myalgia and kind of owe it to the

Mahjong line for kind of reinvigorating.

616

:

Yeah.

617

:

Something that most people associate with.

618

:

Frankly like old ladies.

619

:

Totally.

620

:

Totally.

621

:

And, , you know, the other,

I guess, way that people are

622

:

familiar with Mahjong now and.

623

:

Uh, and are intrigued by it, us

by watching crazy rich , Asians.

624

:

That's what, that's, what most people

who, who come to take our class and we

625

:

say, so what's your connection to Mahjong?

626

:

How do you know about it?

627

:

And they say crazy rich agents.

628

:

Okay.

629

:

Fair enough.

630

:

And then there's a huge crossover.

631

:

We we've found between

Mahjong and needle pointing.

632

:

What?

633

:

Yes.

634

:

Yes.

635

:

So all these women we've had so many women

come take our class and they have heard

636

:

about us through like their stitch club.

637

:

Or.

638

:

Yeah.

639

:

So there's a, yeah, the Atlanta

stitch club, we're actually doing a,

640

:

uh, Collaboration, what they rated.

641

:

We taught one of their, , code co-chairs.

642

:

Uh, we taught one of their co-chairs

a couple of weeks ago and actually

643

:

the other co-chairs coming to

the Hawkins and Clover lesson.

644

:

Cause she was sick for that lesson.

645

:

And she reached out to us and

said, could we do an event?

646

:

What do you think would work?

647

:

And I said, there's so many, I'm

looking through your members.

648

:

There's so many names I recognize

from our lessons that so many

649

:

of you already know how to play.

650

:

We could do like a guided

play just for the stitch club.

651

:

And so we're doing that in April.

652

:

Oh, that's so cool.

653

:

How it just all is clicking together.

654

:

Like so seamlessly.

655

:

Yeah.

656

:

And she said, I think she said the Venn

diagram is a perfect circle or something.

657

:

Between stitch club and Mahjong.

658

:

Oh, so.

659

:

, do your husbands play?

660

:

Mine does so mine, I, we, I kinda

just made him learn because we would

661

:

put it on the calendar and he hadn't.

662

:

Yeah.

663

:

I wrote it in pen.

664

:

Um,

665

:

we were down at the beach, like.

666

:

Just vacationing with like, it was

me and my mom, my dad, my sister, and

667

:

my husband, and we needed a fourth.

668

:

And my dad refuses to learn to

play, which is frustrating, but, so

669

:

I was like, you can do this, like.

670

:

You'll figure it out.

671

:

He did.

672

:

Like annoyingly fast.

673

:

I feel like men, you know, like

just pick these things up and

674

:

he's really good at it and it's

annoying, but, , it is fun to play.

675

:

That's awesome.

676

:

That's really fun and we're all going on

spring break together, and we're going to

677

:

try to get our husbands to play with us.

678

:

We'll see.

679

:

And husbands do learn, or men do

learn kind of annoyingly fast.

680

:

And I think because there

is a lot of overlap between

681

:

kind of card games and this.

682

:

Yeah, poker and gin Rummy, and the

way that , the hands come together and

683

:

Mahjong, and we actually, we hosted

an event on Valentine's day and we

684

:

didn't want to limit it to women.

685

:

So we said, yeah, Don't go out

to a super expensive dinner where

686

:

the restaurant is packed, come

play Mahjong, bring your husband.

687

:

And so a bunch of women did

and we had a great time.

688

:

It was a lot of fun.

689

:

I think the men really enjoyed it.

690

:

So are your weekends just

totally jammed up with this?

691

:

We try to balance the need between,

you know, we all have our kids'

692

:

activities and our own stuff.

693

:

And.

694

:

This.

695

:

And so we've kind of said like,

okay, we got to cap it somewhere

696

:

because I think we could yeah.

697

:

Have it jam packed.

698

:

Like I think we could teach five

nights a week and we would fill

699

:

the classes because awesome.

700

:

They're all filling up.

701

:

It's crazy.

702

:

I mean, we're very, very, very lucky.

703

:

Yeah, but you've, I always say like, it's

a combination of luck and preparedness.

704

:

Because you wouldn't be so smooth

sailing, if you didn't know what

705

:

you were doing and you didn't.

706

:

You know, it's crazy though.

707

:

When we launched our first class

in December, I remember saying we

708

:

advertise that there were eight spots.

709

:

And I remember saying I'd be thrilled

if we just felt four of them.

710

:

As long as somebody shows up and we have a

full table to play with, I will be happy.

711

:

Yeah.

712

:

And we filled the whole class.

713

:

We're teaching a class tomorrow for 20

people like, wow, we're going to them.

714

:

Like.

715

:

They.

716

:

Yeah, it's crazy.

717

:

Oh, this is exciting.

718

:

Well, when I hear Mahjong.

719

:

I I'm like, that'd be cool to play, but

it feels intimidating just because there's

720

:

obviously a lot to understand about it.

721

:

So it makes sense to me that this

is a space that needed to be filled

722

:

in the Atlanta Mahjong scene.

723

:

, Would you ever do like, Mahjong

social pop-up in New York

724

:

city are like, hell yeah.

725

:

Let's go.

726

:

I'm thinking business expense,

vacation kind of hybrid.

727

:

Having the attorneys.

728

:

Here is not helpful because I keep

saying like, well, can't we just

729

:

write that off as a business expense.

730

:

And they keep telling us like,

Schitt's Creek it's a write-off.

731

:

That's a write off.

732

:

What does that mean?

733

:

What the government pays for it.

734

:

No.

735

:

Keep me in line.

736

:

But no, we've had a one request

to travel to Dublin, Georgia.

737

:

Oh, which.

738

:

Oh, yeah.

739

:

That'd be amazing.

740

:

Val is actually from Dublin.

741

:

So we thought about maybe.

742

:

And then one request to it

asking if we'd come to Athens.

743

:

And we said, absolutely three of the four

of us went to UGA, but that one hasn't

744

:

panned out yet, but we would, we would be

open to going, you know, Bethany's got.

745

:

Her parents have a beach

house on 38 and we're like, we

746

:

should, we should go down there.

747

:

I was down there.

748

:

What was it?

749

:

Over new year's.

750

:

And we would just like, it was me

and like two other girlfriends.

751

:

And we just like brought our

Mahjong stuff to the pool because

752

:

they both know how to play.

753

:

And we were just playing and these women

were like, oh my gosh, I'm so jealous.

754

:

And like we just met people and they just

like, come up and start playing with us.

755

:

So Mike, we could just go

down there and fill it class.

756

:

Yeah, this is delightful.

757

:

, so, okay.

758

:

, , we're hosting a class here

on Sunday, March 24th.

759

:

There's only one spot left, I think.

760

:

Right.

761

:

That's right.

762

:

It would be filled by the

time this podcast airs.

763

:

But if not, you can try it and Hey,

maybe we'll have you back if it's a

764

:

success, but what can people expect?

765

:

So they sign up for a class.

766

:

They come in.

767

:

Tell me about the structure of the

class and what they can expect to take

768

:

away after taking just one class.

769

:

So, , the first class that we offer,

if you're a brand new beginner

770

:

or you've never seen a Mahjong

card or a Mahjong tile before.

771

:

Is our 1 0 1 class, it is two

and a half to three hours long.

772

:

Typically we host in Bethany's

basement, which is perfect for Mahjong.

773

:

Looks like a speakeasy great vibes.

774

:

Um, but we also host, as Erica just

mentioned in shops or private parties

775

:

in people's homes or whatever works.

776

:

So when you arrive for the class,

we have, , as Bethany likes to

777

:

say, light bites and libations.

778

:

Uh, which vary depending

on the time of day.

779

:

, and we host, , I think the most

we've taught to date is 16.

780

:

Okay, so we have tables of four,

but we make sure to have one

781

:

instructor per table of four.

782

:

Okay.

783

:

The ratio is important to us.

784

:

Yeah.

785

:

Um, and then the, the structure of

the class is basically, , we learned

786

:

the suits of the tiles of which there

are three, and then there are some

787

:

suited tiles, which we also learn.

788

:

, we do a little hands-on exercise there.

789

:

, we learn how to read the Mahjong

card so that you know what all

790

:

the symbols and numbers mean.

791

:

, and we do a few hands on

exercises to kind of solidify

792

:

that aspect of Mahjong as well.

793

:

Okay.

794

:

And then we move into how to set

up the game, how to deal, how to

795

:

do the Charleston, which I think

we talked about earlier is kind of

796

:

a series of passing of, of tiles.

797

:

And then we move into the actual game

play and we play a very slow coached game.

798

:

, kind of walking each player through,

, which hand they might want to try and

799

:

play on their card and why they would pass

certain tiles and why they might want to.

800

:

I pick up a tile.

801

:

, or not, and moving towards, trying to

achieve Mahjong with all the little

802

:

nuances explained along the way.

803

:

Um, so that's, that's the class.

804

:

And after the class we have like a little.

805

:

Tips and tricks booklet that we pass

out at the beginning of the class, and

806

:

that is every participants to keep.

807

:

, and then, , we have a new

structure now where you also

808

:

get to keep your module on card.

809

:

So you leave the class with your

imagine card and your little

810

:

booklet and that's, that's the day.

811

:

That's awesome.

812

:

Yeah.

813

:

Do you find that people are like

when's Mahjong one or two, like, and

814

:

they're like ready for the next step.

815

:

They are.

816

:

So we do, we have Mazda.

817

:

We have math 1 0 2 as well.

818

:

So we do recommend that for like, after,

you know, 1 0 1, if people enjoy it,

819

:

which we've, I mean, Everyone we've

really had most people come back,

820

:

not everyone, but most people do.

821

:

Yeah.

822

:

At 1 0 2, we just do a quick

recap of what we learned in 1 0 1.

823

:

It's a two hour class.

824

:

And, , it's a little bit.

825

:

The pricing is a little different.

826

:

And then we, after that recap, we

do a partner game where you partner

827

:

up with somebody and you're sitting

around the table and you all play.

828

:

And then we do everyone breaks

up and plays their own hand.

829

:

Okay.

830

:

And then we also do guided play.

831

:

So guided play is a lot

more just like casual.

832

:

You just come and it's kind of, for

those people that already know how to

833

:

play, but maybe don't have their own

set yet or don't have a regular game.

834

:

Have.

835

:

I have like the four people to

play with necessarily, like we've

836

:

had a lot of people meet in our

classes, which has been fun.

837

:

And then they'll come back

for guided play together.

838

:

, and then we also provide like

all the food and drinks and we

839

:

do all the setup and breakdown.

840

:

So you just have to show up.

841

:

That sounds awesome.

842

:

So fun.

843

:

It sounds like tennis.

844

:

Like I play tennis, but I don't have

a lot of people to play tennis with.

845

:

So it's like when you meet somebody that

plays, it's like, can we be friends?

846

:

Like play tennis.

847

:

Obviously this with you anytime.

848

:

I am not very good.

849

:

Oh, perfect.

850

:

In that case.

851

:

Um, we're going to follow up on that.

852

:

I feel like I always say I peaked with my

tennis career last spring when I was the

853

:

captain of my tennis team and I hated it.

854

:

And haven't picked up a

racket literally in a year.

855

:

It'd be in captain hated being

captain for the team I was captain of.

856

:

Okay.

857

:

Because I'm so competitive.

858

:

And I had one of those people on my team.

859

:

Who's like, every time she would

fuck up, she's like, it's okay.

860

:

We're just here for fun.

861

:

Right.

862

:

And I'm like, no.

863

:

I wouldn't want to hang with me.

864

:

I'm not competitive to a.

865

:

Really?

866

:

Yeah.

867

:

I'm shocked to hear that.

868

:

And your calendar actually.

869

:

Yeah, it seems like a tight AAA.

870

:

I am not competitive.

871

:

Really?

872

:

Okay.

873

:

We can't play.

874

:

No.

875

:

After that might be for the best for me.

876

:

My skill doesn't back up my mouth.

877

:

That's my problem in life.

878

:

, Well, ladies, thank you

so, so much for your time.

879

:

, I appreciate the kind of verbal

intro to module and got hearing

880

:

about the inspiration of this

buddying awesome business.

881

:

And hopefully if you're listening,

you've enjoyed this episode and you know,

882

:

if you have some sort of little side

passion like this, I hope that you've

883

:

gotten some inspiration from today.

884

:

And maybe you can, you can start

your own thing and end up in Atlanta

885

:

magazine and sold out all over town.

886

:

, ladies we're can we find you.

887

:

Most of our stuff is all

on Instagram right now.

888

:

So we are at Mahjong social ATL.

889

:

Perfect.

890

:

And so when you have a

class it's on Instagram.

891

:

So if you guys follow them at Mahjong,

social ATL, you can see upcoming

892

:

classes, including the one at Hawkins

and Clover and play for yourself.

893

:

, all right, cool.

894

:

As always listeners get 10%

off@hawkinsonclover.com with

895

:

promo code Clover, Cub Kluver

club, all caps and Bethany.

896

:

Melissa.

897

:

Thank you so, so much for your time.

898

:

Truly appreciate it.

899

:

, and we'll hear you all next week.

900

:

Thank you ladies.

901

:

Thanks for having us.

902

:

Bye.

903

:

Perfect.

904

:

That wasn't so bad.

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About the Podcast

Clover Club
Curious conversations and stories intended to make you laugh and learn.
As a shop owner and hair stylist with an impressive number of stamps on her passport, Erika Audrey has heard or experienced it all. And she's ready to share. These real life conversations and stories will make you laugh, cry, and gasp- sometimes in the same episode! Join Erika Audrey straight from Atlanta gift shop Hawkins & Clover. Welcome to Clover Club.

Thank you-
Theme Song: Nick Pantano of Sound Space https://www.soundspaceatl.com
Branding: Shari Margolin https://sharimargolindesignco.com

Contact-
pod@hawkinsandclover.com

About your host

Profile picture for Erika Audrey

Erika Audrey

Erika Audrey, a luminous presence hailing from the vibrant city of Atlanta, Georgia, is not your ordinary hairstylist and boutique owner. With a zest for life that's as contagious as her laughter, Erika is poised to take the podcasting world by storm as she embarks on her latest venture.

Launching her debut podcast is a natural extension of Erika's multifaceted personality. With an uncanny ability to seamlessly weave humor into her conversations, Erika's laughter-inducing anecdotes and razor-sharp wit are bound to captivate listeners. Her intelligence shines through as she tackles a diverse range of topics, proving that beneath the laughter lies substance and insight.