This is the Baymont podcast with Marty Solomon. I'm his co-host, Brent Billings. Today we are joined by special guest, Kate Schmidgall, the founder and director of Bittersweet Creative and the founder and editor of Bittersweet Monthly.

In 2014, she was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the DC Chamber of Commerce.

Kate, welcome to the show.

Thanks very much.

One of my favorite people, Kate and Dave, have been just wonderful, amazing friends. So excited to get you on the podcast, Kate. It's good to have you here.

How about you talk about any other things you would add to the introduction that we gave you, the finer things of life and family.

And when I say family, one of the things I love about visiting you is every time I have visited you in DC, you have this big extended family with like you've intentionally lived in an area where you could open up your home to a neighborhood that needs more beautiful hospitality and homes.

So your family is even not you have to talk about their names and identities, but like your family.

Tell us about your family and and all of the finer things of life, Kate. Well, thank you for having me. It's a true honor. I first and foremost want to mention that I'm married to my beloved partner, Dave, who has been pasturing at National Community Church, the Lincoln Theatre campus.

And that is definitely a big part of our family, the community through the church.

And then our neighborhood is is also very much our family. And you mentioned a few youth. We have mostly been adopted by a group of about 12 young men who we met because we were fostering at the time and the kids that we had with us were out playing and met the kids in the neighborhood and that begins sort of this.

Auntie and uncle situation for Dave and I and a lot of the young people on our blocks, none of whom well, I should say most of whom do not have never known their fathers or don't have strong male presences in their lives.

So this is very much how we give the extra love that we have we don't have kids of our own, nor do we have pets. So we have a lot of extra love.

Which besides plants is going to these kids.

That's beautiful. It's been a great thing to be able to watch and see and experience like it's just your home is a very special place on a very, very short list for me personally.

Just a great I feel like your your guys is radio spiritual radio is tuned into the same frequency as mine and just a wonderful place of I say that and I know that you're getting a much stronger signal of that Holy Spirit radio than I am, but nevertheless it's been such a beautiful place of rest for me and I'm very thankful for that.

What a wonderful place there in a corner of our fine country here. Okay, so I feel like there's a whole lot of history in what was just said so maybe Kate you can tell me a little bit about how you know Marty or Bama or whatever and how that all came together because apparently this is a very special relationship.

It is it is and Marty is an honor every time you come. Marty's well loved in DC in Bama has been part of the teaching at our church at the Lincoln theater specifically for many years actually.

Dave and I have been listening along for a few years and then hosted a group just prior to COVID of about 40 people who came to our house every week to listen and discuss.

And then one of the is one of the joys that COVID stole from us, but then it continued past that in smaller groups virtually a lot of the people kept listening, including myself with a Bible study with my mom every Sunday.

And I did Marty a few times and I know much of the congregation listens regularly so we've been been students for quite some time and really appreciate always the authentic curiosity and since your questions that both of you bring to the text I think in our journey of learning to ask better questions Bama has absolutely been vital in an important teacher for us so.

Yeah, I can remember getting the first email from from Dave and Kate's husband I remember I was in Salt Lake City.

...