Alright next installment here at the Kay & Shi Show and during welcome week and introduction week, we just want to share a little bit about our family history while we welcome you to the family at the same time.

Kay:

Well, we grew up here in Reno, Nevada, which is a close-knit community of individuals, and had a great time getting to grow up here on the west coast of the United States of America. But here’s a little fun fact that you might not know about us. Shila and I didn’t actually always really love each other super lots.

Shi:

Well, we always loved each other super lots but we definitely did not like each other through our whole childhood. There were a lot of differences in the way that our family was positioned, especially economically as we were growing up that made our experiences a lot different and that served to be a barrier for our relationship for a long time.

Kay:

It sure did. When Shila was born, our parents were actually on food stamps and welfare and when I was born, our mom was just about to graduate from college and our parents leveraged everything to get her through that college degree. But we came up in different environments in the home, which definitely led to some different perspectives.

Shi:

Plus, seven years apart is just a hard age, you know. To be 17 and 10 there’s not always a lot you can bond on, but as you can tell, the older we’ve gotten the closer we’ve gotten, and we have lots to bond over now. But that is a good fun fact for everyone, and you heard a little bit about our family history there. Our parents moved to Reno from Southern California before I was born. So, we are born and raised here in Reno, Nevada, and we’re proud Nevadans.

Kay:

Proud Nevada girls, for sure. Even just recently we’re telling somebody about the magical summer mornings where you can practically smell the lake water. It feels like it’s a part of who we are and we’re proud to be here in Northern Nevada. We’re going to talk just a little bit about who we are individually. But I’ve got to brag because Shi, you are like next-level Northern Nevadan. Not only were you born and raised here, but you then also went to the University of Nevada Reno then you also went back to the University of Nevada, Reno to get your master’s degree and now you teach at the University of Nevada, Reno. So, you’re like a next-level local.

Shi:

That means I must bleed blue and run with the Wolf Pack. Well, thank you. Yes, I love UNR and the house that I was raised in, or at least went to elementary school in and all my early memories are right around the university. And you heard Kay share that mom went to the university. She was graduating the same year that Kay was born and so there’s a lot of family history with the university and I feel so fulfilled getting to teach one of my favorite subjects there, which is Sociology. I just love what you can gain from a discipline like Sociology, where you’re able to see another angle, another view, and the influence that social structures have on us. But besides being a proud part of the Wolf Pack long-running I mentioned in the last installment that I’ve got three kids.

So, Wesley and Emerie are actually twins and as of right now when we’re recording this, they are in sixth grade. So, middle school this year, which has been a lot of fun to get to watch them integrate. Then Annadelle who’s in second grade is just flourishing and doing so well. She’s my gymnastics queen, currently is obsessed with gymnastics and absolutely loves it and in fact, her catchphrase is, “Want to see my best handstand.” And we hear it at least 100 times a day. I’ve been married to Chad, the father to my children for 15 and a half at this point, and we are still in love. We have a goal to get to 100 years of marriage, and we’re feeling pretty confident that we’ll make it there. But we are proud to live here in Nevada. We’re proud to have been business owners at the Squeeze In, and now we’re proud to get to pursue our careers in other ways.

Kay:

It is so fun to get to grow alongside you, Shi, and have watched you become a mom and learn so much through the process. You know, Danny, my partner now of 12 years we’ve been together, been married for eight of those years. We were both there on the day that your twins were born and overnight, the boy I had been dating for six months became Uncle Danny and has been that way ever since. And yes, I have been married to Danny for that long and in 2021, Danny came out to me as a non-binary human, and we’ve been so proud to see them really flourish in this light and the way that they get to express themselves.

So, I come from a rainbow family, which is where one member identifies in the partnership as LGBTQIA and we are proud to fly our rainbow flags in honor of my beautiful partner. We share a daughter, Violet. She is four years old, the love of our little lives. She’s such a light and such a beauty, and we’re so grateful to have her. Then yes, as you heard us mention in the last installment, Tommy is on the way, and that you will be going through and share that all together here on the Kay & Shi Show. We are proud to be business owners that service people globally now, even outside our community, and able to expand our kin, our tribe, our family, to expand you all here into our community and a part of what we do, because we truly are better together.

Shi:

Well, I’ve just got to take a second to brag on my little sister, because Kay, you are such an incredible individual and I’m so glad that I also get to be alongside you in this journey. She was being extremely modest. She has helped grow some massive businesses. She’s been taught by Facebook, not on Facebook, but by Facebook and she was named Mrs. Reno and competed in the Mrs. Nevada competition, won Miss Congeniality. Can’t wait to see you compete again after you have Tommy and work towards that goal Kay. But you’ve accomplished a lot and I wanted to make sure we celebrated all of your achievements.

Kay:

Well, thank you. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, when you spend the 18 years of your growing up life, you get to learn a lot along the way and that’s one of the things that Shila and I are so proud to bring to the table is practical knowledge, institutional knowledge like Shila gets to bring with her Sociology. And you guys are going to get to experience that all alongside us here on the Kay & Shi Show.

Shi:

See you on the next one.