Melissa Cromwell: How To Support Local and Eat Tacos

Ron Lyons (00:16):

If you have to eat one meal for the rest of your life, one meal, it's all you can have for the rest of your life. What's it gonna be? Tacos,

Melissa Cromwell (00:23):

<Laugh>,

Ron Lyons (00:25): Launch

Speaker 3 (00:25): Sequence activated.

Ron Lyons (00:26):

Welcome to CelinaRadio.com.com. I'm your host Ron Lyons. And if you think that Celina, Texas is just a quiet, little sleepy jam with absolutely nothing going on, then you better buckle up becauseCelina Radio is about to launch.

Speaker 4 (00:50):

3, 2, 1.

Ron Lyons (01:09):

Guys, thank you so very much for tuning in to another episode of CelinaRadio.com.com, and we've got a very special guest today for you, somebody who's running for school board and who happens to also be the president of the Greater Celina Chamber of Commerce. That's right. We've got Melissa Cromwell today, and I think you're really going to enjoy this interview. Now, as you know, it's political season and I'm trying to get all the candidates in. We have two that are not gonna be on the show. They don't think I can put my political beliefs and views aside, so, you know, ultimately I'm just gonna chalk that up to that's their loss.

Ron Lyons (01:56):

But the ones who are coming on the show, I'm doing my level best to give you some insight into who they are as people. If they wanna talk about some of their political views and perspectives or what's going on in the race, they're more than welcome to. But I've got something coming up very soon that I think you're definitely gonna want to listen to. And that is my interview with our current mayor, Sean Terry. And let me tell you what's so unique and special about this. It's not one of my typical feel good, have fun kind of podcast episodes. Quite the contrary on this one. He said, take me to task, ask me the hard questions. And guess what I did. But that's not for today. Today we've got Melissa Cromwell, guys, I'm here right now with Melissa Cromwell, and you know her because she's with the Chamber of Commerce. So Melissa, how are you doing today?

Melissa Cromwell (03:03):

I'm doing fantastic. How are you?

Ron Lyons (03:05):

I'm really, really good. So give me an I what's, what's the official title that you have with the Chamber of

Melissa Cromwell (03:10):

Commerce? I am the President of the Greater Salona Chamber of Commerce, the

Ron Lyons (03:13):

President. And, and something that I think a lot of people don't know is that the Chamber of Commerce, that's not actually like a city office. So e explain that relationship between the Chamber and the city.

Melissa Cromwell (03:26):

Yes. So the Chamber of Commerce is its own 5 0 1 [inaudible] [inaudible]. So we are separate entity from the city of Celina. Now we do work very closely with them on loss of things we call ourselves the three- legged stool, the edc, and the city and the Chamber, because we do work so closely. So I think people sometimes confuse that fact. But I do not work for the city of Celina. I am employed by the Chamber of Commerce.

Ron Lyons (03:50):

That's very, very awesome. And and how long have you been in your role over at the Chamber?

Melissa Cromwell (03:55):

So I've been there nine and a half years at the Chamber of Commerce.

Ron Lyons (03:58):

Been there nine and a half years. And so you've seen a lot of changes during these nine and a half years, and we we're gonna get into some of that stuff with the chamber in just a second, but you got something else crazy going on in your life right now. You've got yourself into a little election that's going on right now. So tell tell us about that. What's going on with that?

Melissa Cromwell (04:16):

So yes, the, the Celina isd, of course the Bobcats are a passion of mine and a passion of my families. Once that I got involved with the chamber years ago I made sure that that relationship with the school was there because it's so important that our business community is involved with our school district because we wanna make sure that we are supporting them and they're getting the resources that they need because we are a wealth of knowledge. So in doing so, I got involved in so many aspects of the school district. I sit on the naming committee, I sit on the Bobcat Council, I sit on the for the new school, for the, the Long-Range Planning Committee. I sit on the Career and Technical Education Committee. I sit on another council at another school. So I got so involved with the school district.

Melissa Cromwell (05:11):

We started doing career days and we did the Bobcat Bootcamp with the school this last year. So we do the tailgating at the first home football practice when they wear pads. So I got so involved in everything. I thought, well, you know what, I, I think it's time that now that I take that one step further. I was looking for something for me to do, not just as the chamber president, but me as Melissa and a wife and mother before we moved here. I was very involved in nonprofits. I've always worked for a nonprofit, but I was very involved in other nonprofits and volunteered a lot of my time outside of work. So I hadn't

really found that one thing to volunteer for, for myself and for my family. And so I prayed about it and I, I, I met with different nonprofits to kind of see what they were doing. But then in the end, the school board and running for school board was just up at the front for me. Since I have a third grader and all of this growth, I knew that I wanted to fight for her, that whatever happened in all of this, that she would come first. So I decided last year that that's what I was gonna do, that when it became available this year that I was gonna run for school

Ron Lyons (06:27):

Board. Okay. And so maybe a question that maybe I shouldn't ask this, we're not gonna get deep off into politics too much, but we are gonna talk a little bit about it because it's kind of what's going on right now and politics are like a big deal in this town right now, in case, you know, you may not have noticed that, but <laugh>, it's, it's a little, it's a little insane out there right now. So I'm very, very curious. Why did you decide to run against your particular opponent? It was there, was there some, some decision making, some some reason for that? What, how did that happen?

Melissa Cromwell (07:02):

Sure. So last year the school board actually had an opening. They had a school board member who stepped down because he moved out of state. And so they had an opening and I applied for that opening because they were choosing that from an application process. So at that time, I applied for that opening and of course I didn't get it. They chose, well, a wonderful person, Jared Calvert. So I decided then, well, I'm gonna look and see what's what, what other people will be up this next year and how I wanna proceed with that. And in the meantime, I met other people out in the community that said, I'm gonna run for school board next year as well. And so in talking with them, they were like, who are you? Who are you going to run against? Who are you gonna run against?

Melissa Cromwell (07:47):

What are you going to do? And for me knowing my opponent personally, it just made sense for me because he doesn't have any kids in the school district anymore. He's been on there on the board a long time and his kids are often graduated and I thought, you know what? My daughter is still in school. I think it's super important that you're still engaged as a parent in the school district. So I told him months ago that I was planning on running and running against him, and that was the only reason why. It's because he did not have kids in the

Ron Lyons (08:19):

School district. Okay. All right. That's fair enough. So, like I said, we're not gonna get crazy off into politics if you want to do that. There's these boards on Facebook and you can go out there and just see how sometimes it seems like those of us in Sina hate each other, but that's not the truth. You know, better than that. I know better than that. But people get very passionate about their politics and that's kind of going on right now. It'll all be over around May the sixth. And hopefully everything starts to calm down. But since we're not gonna talk about that, guess what we are gonna talk about? We're gonna talk about Melissa Cromwell. So people like to tune in, they like to learn a little bit about people. So I know how long you've been here, I know what you do right now, but we're gonna get a little more in detail with, you know, some of the little facts about you. So being that you are the president of the Chamber, this question is gonna be one that people are gonna find very interesting. Where would Melissa Cromwell like to eat? And we already know that everything in Celina is awesome. Yes. So we're not,

we're not, we're not choosing one because the rest are not great. But I just want to know personally, we want to know personally, where would you like to eat?

Melissa Cromwell (09:28):

Okay, so this may sound funny, but sometimes I would rather not go to a restaurant, but I will order something from each restaurant that I like.

Ron Lyons (09:42):

Yeah.

Melissa Cromwell (09:42):

I will go to Millie's and I will order their house salad with their house dressing. Okay. And then I will go to tender and get their mac and cheese.

Ron Lyons (09:52):

Okay.

Melissa Cromwell (09:53):

So, and then I will go to Lucy's and get their fried pickles and that's just, or their fried mushrooms, depending on what kind of day i I have had. And then I will go to toasted Walnut and get their chicken and avocado and I will go to bongo bows and get a cheeseburger. Oh my gosh. So I have my favorites.

Ron Lyons (10:12):

Right.

Melissa Cromwell (10:13):

I will even sometimes call Doggo and order a dessert pizza because I just have my favorites at each restaurant. And if, if I had my choice, that's what I would do is I would go get all of that stuff and then go home and pick out on

Ron Lyons (10:27):

That. I'm just, I'm, I'm just sitting here thinking, so if Melissa Cromwell says, Hey, we're gonna have dinner, come on over and have dinner, it's gonna take her an hour and a half to collect everything cuz she's gotta go to like 10 different restaurants to get it. Yes. But do you, do you do any cooking at home? Is that something that you typically do or is that something

Melissa Cromwell (10:42):

Absolutely. No, you do. I was born and raised. My mother is an amazing cook and at a young age she had to go back to work. And so I started making meals for my family. I love to cook. I love to bake bake homemade breads and cinnamon rolls. And I, I, I can cook anything. We have our staples. My kids will tell you growing up that I plan out a menu a month in advance. When my older two were at home and I grocery shopped for the whole month, and we had a calendar, you knew what you were going to eat every day because everything was scheduled out for, for weekend meals. We knew what nights we were going to eat out, but every other meal we made at home, it's, it, my my daughter always says, is this homemade? And I'm like, yes ma'am, it is

Ron Lyons (11:31):

<Laugh>. That's so awesome. So you don't really have to go to any of these restaurants. You could do anything you want in the kitchen and, and, and make a great meal, but there's some amazing things out there. So sometimes you gotta go get the fried pickles.

Melissa Cromwell (11:43):

Right. Some I, yeah, I don't have a fryer. So yes, sometimes you just have to get the fried pickles for

Ron Lyons (11:49):

Those seasons. Right. And, and I typically ask people whenever they come in here and they, they sit down for an interview, I say, do you participate in all the events that happened on the Square? In your case, you participate in nearly every single thing that happens on the square. So what's it like being on your side? You're the behind the scenes on so many things, the Wine crawl and the Cajun Fest and everything else. So tell us what it's like being on the other side of that.

Melissa Cromwell (12:15):

So there's so much planning that goes into every event, and I couldn't do it without my committees. We have a committee for everything, and those are all volunteers, people who are taking out of their own time to help us. So I couldn't do without them. But there's tons of planning that go into wine Crawl, Octoberfest, the Chamber partners with the city on Cajun Fest, splash and Blast Beware the Square. So we are always working on an event. I met with the city yesterday about it. So we are always, always working on an event behind the scenes.

Ron Lyons (12:47):

So you've got all of those things that you work on. Do you have a personal favorite event of all those? Like one that you're just like, I I really, this one's kind of near and dear to my heart. I love this one.

What's, what's one of your favorites?

Melissa Cromwell (12:58):

Well, of course Octoberfest is my favorite event. We used to do, so the Chamber of Commerce used to put on the Balloon festival for 20 years. And when it just didn't become, it wasn't financially feasible for everybody in town because people were coming to the Bloom Festival. They were going to Old Celina Park, and then they were leaving and nobody was coming downtown and nobody was even getting gas anywhere be, so no tax dollars were being made in town that day. So at the Chamber we were like, okay, that's not, we really looked at what is our mission. And our mission was to make sure that we were helping the businesses in our community. So we came up with Octoberfest Mark Mecker, it was, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna lie, it was Mark's idea. Mark started it in Addison and it was his ideas. So we started it just so we could bring the businesses business downtown to the businesses. And it is so fun. The whole day is just, there's something for everybody. And I laugh so much, and it's fun to get dressed up and it's in our costumes and it is just so fun.

Ron Lyons (14:10):

So I've enjoyed most all of those events. Sometimes several years in a row now, things like that. And, and I love that one too. I absolutely love every, every bit of that. In fact, I've done a few videos on it, as you know, and those things always get high view counts. People love that sort of thing. So would you

agree that doing those things, like having our events on the square, isn't that just part of hanging onto our small town feel and keeping this just this Celina as we know it alive? Isn't that all part of that?

Melissa Cromwell (14:41):

Absolutely. And as we get bigger and bigger with our events, you know, we could move them back out to the park. But why should we, when we can just expand what we're doing downtown and just, I just love, I want people to see our downtown. People don't realize what an attraction it is. And, and if they can't visit everything that day, I'm hoping to put it in their brain that in a couple weeks or in a couple months, they're gonna come back and visit the downtown and spend the day.

Ron Lyons (15:09):

Absolutely. And we all know that the growth is coming. I mean, it's, it's here. It's, it's been coming for many, many years. You've seen a lot of changes so far. So how do you feel about all of this growth? Are you, are you kind of like man, it's not great, but I understand it. Are you like, Hey, you know what? Come on. Love it. What's, what? Where does, where does Melissa Cromwell stand with the growth?

Melissa Cromwell (15:30):

Well, I'm kind of in between. I know it's coming. Like I've worked with the city and the EDC so long that I know it's coming. But when I actually see it, I think it's kind of a surprise and a shock to me that we've been working and planning on it for so long. When it's actually there, I get a little bit of anxiety because I think, oh my gosh. Especially when things pop up quickly, I'm like, oh no, here it is. Here it is. And I always tell people when they're online and asking for, oh, we want this and we want this, and I'm like, oh, slow down, slow down, <laugh>. I just want it, I want it to be done. Right. And so I just want things to come in at a ni at a good pace. Right. because I don't want to any business that moves into town to feel like they aren't welcomed. And if I miss someone, then I feel like I'm, I'm not doing something right that my staff's not doing something right. I wanna make sure that we're making everybody feel welcome.

Ron Lyons (16:26):

I like that. I like that philosophy. And of course, you also work with a, a board, is that, is that the correct term for it? Yes, there's a, there's a board board board of directors. Board of directors. And, and you actually, what's the relationship between, say, your position and the board of directors?

Melissa Cromwell (16:42):

So I report directly to the the board of directors. They're 11 board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce. And I report directly to them. So they're my bosses. I have 11 bosses.

Ron Lyons (16:51):

You have 11 bosses. And I have heard Alexis Jackson say something similar Yes. That she, she works for many people as well, the EDC board. So that's kind of how that is. And you've got different things that you do. Like you said you partner with the city, partner with edc, work on these different events and functions and things like that. So would you say that the Chamber of Commerce and Celina has a, a really good relationship with the, the city and with the

Melissa Cromwell (17:17):

Edc? Yeah, absolutely. We meet on a monthly basis. We partner on lots of things, state of the city. There's the EDC, round table discussions coming up. I have gone to them to conferences to help to run a booth for people asking questions about Celina. We did a customer service training called the Fish Training a couple of months ago in January that we're going to be now sharing with our members this summer. So we do a lot of things together.

Ron Lyons (17:44):

That's awesome. So, so we've talked a lot about, you know, chamber of Commerce and stuff. Now that we, we ain't get into a little bit about Melissa Cromwell. So tell me this, where'd you grow up?

Melissa Cromwell (17:55):

So I grew up in a small town in Kansas, north central Kansas. It's called Talmid. It's a town of 150 people.

Ron Lyons (18:04):

Big town, very, very big town.

Melissa Cromwell (18:06):

So I went to a country high school, so in a town next to us, all the country kids went to the high school in Chapman, Kansas. So that's where I graduated

Ron Lyons (18:15):

From. Gotcha. And so <laugh>, when you're in high school, you know, there's these little cliques, like you've got kind of the, the people who are into this or into that. I don't know how your high school is divided up, but what would you relate to more back in those days? Like, were you like a rock and roll kid? Were you a country kid? Were you a, were you a sports person? What would you say you were in high school?

Melissa Cromwell (18:37):

So I was very athletic in high school. I ran track, I played volleyball, I played basketball. I played softball, so I was part of the athletic group. But I was also part of other groups as well. I just, I always tell my kids, my kids ask me, were you popular in school? And I said, well, I was nice to everybody and I liked everybody. So I got along with everybody. So I don't know if I was in the popular kids group, but I had friends that did lots of things when I was in high school. We still had a smoking section outside, you

Ron Lyons (19:15):

Know, I remember that.

Melissa Cromwell (19:16):

So I had friends who smoked and so I would go out and hang out with them. Sometimes it, it, it didn't really matter. I mean, I just loved, I loved all of them, so I, I really had a great relationship with them, but I athlete in school and so I, I do have that side. And I also I went to college on an athletic

Ron Lyons (19:36):

Scholarship as well. Wow, that's very awesome. So what, what sport was that for The, for

Melissa Cromwell (19:40):

The college track and field.

Ron Lyons (19:41):

Oh wow. Very, very interesting. That's probably one of those little known facts that maybe not everybody knows about Melissa Cromwell. So now I'm not even gonna ask you that question because we just answered it right there. So that's, that's very awesome. And I know that you have a son who has maybe recently joined the military, is that right?

Melissa Cromwell (19:59):

So he's been in the Marines three years.

Ron Lyons (20:01):

Oh wow, okay. So not that recent. He's been in for a minute now. So tell, tell us about, and it's your son?

Melissa Cromwell (20:07):

Yes, my son Carson. Okay.

Ron Lyons (20:08):

Tell us, tell us about that. How does it feel being a military mom in this day and age?

Melissa Cromwell (20:13):

That just gave me goosebumps. So yeah, when he, so for us, and this is one of the things that I am so passionate about with the school, is that when he was growing up, he always had a choice to go into the military. For us. We said, you can go to college, you can go to community college, you can go to technical school, you know, or you can join the military. For us, it was always an option or a choice because my husband is an Army veteran. So nev not one time did we ever not say, if you, if you wanna join the military, military, we will support you a thousand percent. And so when he was a senior during Covid in 2020 he came to us and said, I just want you to know I'm join. I, with all this covid stuff, I don't know what college is gonna look like. I'm, I'm gonna join the Marines.

Ron Lyons (21:03):

Wow. And your response was receptive.

Melissa Cromwell (21:07):

We were so proud of him. I mean, proud and sad at the same time because when your kids go off to college, like you still get to see them on the weekends. If they come home, you can go visit them at college, they get to come home for holidays. But when your son joins the Marines, like they go to bootcamp and you don't even get to talk to them for 16 weeks. Wow. Like, no, you can write them letters, but you don't get to see their face. You don't get to talk to them for 16 whole weeks. And this is someone who has lived with you every day for the past 18 years of their life. So, absolutely. And when he joined during C O V D with all the restrictions, we weren't allowed to go to graduation. When then when he got his first his papers to go to his first base, the bases were closed because of Covid. So we still couldn't even go visit him then. So when he left Sep in September of that year for bootcamp, we didn't see him until March of the next year.

Ron Lyons (22:06):

Wow. Okay. Well, you know what, much respect to your son for his service, thank you. To me, there's no higher calling. So not everybody sees it that way, but I do. And I, and I know the sacrifices that that our people give in, in the military, similar to law enforcement, there's just certain positions, certain things you do that just demand respect just by default. And that's one of 'em. So tell me this, you've got a very busy life. I mean, you have so much stuff going on, there's no way you can run the Chamber of Commerce in the fifth fastest growing city in the United States, right. And not be crazy, crazy busy. So tell me, what do you do for fun?

Melissa Cromwell (22:43):

<Laugh> for fun. Well, she's

Ron Lyons (22:45):

Like, wait, I don't have fun. I don't, I don't

Melissa Cromwell (22:47):

Have time. And I, I actually told the women's group this morning the Chloe Women's Group, the Chamber what time they could have fun. And when they couldn't <laugh>, cuz they have to network. It's not net funning, it's networking. So oh my gosh, I'm a lot of fun. Thele Chamber is a lot of fun. I work a lot of nights and evenings doing events for the chamber, doing events in the community. That is fun for me. But for fun, fun, I have Caitlin, Caitlin is nine years old and she is such a unique personality and imagine she grew up with teenage siblings and she is like a little adult and she's always like, what are we doing today? What are we doing tonight? Yep. Like, she is so fun and she plays volleyball and she wants to cheerlead and she wants to dance and she want, we'll go down to the park and just practice volleyball with her or shoot the some basketball around or just go play.

Melissa Cromwell (23:46):

She loves to ride her bike. And so we go on lots of walks while she's riding her bike. And you know, that girl loves to shop too. I'm telling you. She loves makeup <laugh> and jewelry. And so she's always like, mom, let's go shopping. Her favorite store is five Below. So I'm like, girl, let's go. We have so much fun and we'll straighten each other's hair and she'll put makeup on me and she is the best at makeup. Wow. Holy moly. She watches video tutorials and she does my makeup sometimes and I'm like, oh my gosh, that's better than me. So Caitlin and I have a lot of fun together and you know, Scott and I still date my husband, so once a month we have date night. I love it. We, we date, we love to do fun things when we date. And so he is a lot of fun and I, I keep saying that, but we have a really good time. Our family does, has a really great time. My daughter and her husband are a lot of fun as well, and we love to hang out with them and go to their house and hang out. So we do most of our, my fun time is spent with my family.

Ron Lyons (24:50):

That's super, super awesome. To you, it sounds like you've got a really happy life. Yes. And, and that's always a good thing. And you've chosen Celinas your home, and so, so why, what is it about Celina? Like why Sina that you, there's a whole country here. We've got all these states and all these great places.

Why is Celina, Texas?

Melissa Cromwell (25:08):

Well, when my husband first got transferred in his job and was told that we had, he had to pick a place to live. We could no longer work from home. We came down here to the Dallas area and I am the spreadsheet queen. So I did a spreadsheet of all the schools around Dallas from their class size to school size to class size, to feeder schools, you know, grade schools into middle schools, middle schools into high schools, their school rankings. I did a huge spreadsheet and Celina wasn't even on there. But then when we started looking in Prosper somebody said, Hey, have you looked at Celina? And we were really dead set on living in Prosper, but the real estate lady was like, you really? I think you should look in Celina. And I was like, Celina, what is Sina? I grew up, I was born fun fact in Celina, Kansas. So fun. Oh

Ron Lyons (26:02):

Wow. Very, very

Melissa Cromwell (26:03):

Interesting. Yeah. So I was like, okay, well this is kind of a sign. So we came up Tiina and the first place we stopped was the Chamber of Commerce because I had volunteered for local chambers where we lived for many years. So I knew they would have information about the city. And Cleve Razor was in that office, that's where the chamber used to be in Cleaves office. And if, you know Cleave Razor, he is the most welcoming individual. So kind. And he wel he welcomed us into his office with open arms to started talking about Celina, what Celina was about, and we hooked us up with, with a real estate agent like Andy McInally within like 10 minutes. And we just looked at each other, my husband and I, and we knew because we were from small town Kansas, and we knew this is where we wanted to be.

Ron Lyons (26:56):

That's very, very cool. What a great story. And that's kind of like, that kind of epitomizes exactly what the, kinda the spirit of Sina is. It's so welcoming and it's just so kind not in political season. Okay. I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna put a little parenthesis around that. Not in, not during political season. And even that stuff with the political stuff, it's kind of like the same small groups out there, you know, trying to take each other down at the knees. So not, not withstanding that this community is absolutely incredible. Celina is is absolutely amazing. And so we're very, very glad to have you here. We're very blessed in this community to have you. I've been a member of the Chamber. Love everything you have going on. Love the events downtown. There's just, everything about it is just a big part of the growth of Celina Texas. So you probably already know this, but you know, we always do something kind of fun right on CelinaRadio.com.com. Yes. You've, you've probably heard that before. So right now you have to wonder, is he gonna pull out a game? Am I gonna get blindfolded or, you know, what exactly is gonna go on? So are, are you nervous at all about that?

Melissa Cromwell (28:07):

No.

Ron Lyons (28:08):

<Laugh>. <Laugh>, are you

Melissa Cromwell (28:10):

Sure about? I'm not, I'm not really a very, I'm not really a nervous person. Ron Lyons (28:14):

All right, well that makes me happy. First of all, how would your family and friends describe you?

<Laugh>. She's pausing. She's thinking

Melissa Cromwell (28:24):

I can, I think it just depends on who you ask. <Laugh>,

Ron Lyons (28:30):

I think the real answer is the one that you're not telling me right

Melissa Cromwell (28:34):

Now. <Laugh>. I am, they're gonna say she, she's crazy. So cuz I'm always asking people to do things that they wouldn't normally do to think outside the box. And they're like, you're crazy. And I'm like, no, I think, I think we can make this happen. And I just, and I do that everywhere, not just at work, but

Ron Lyons (28:52):

Even to your family

Melissa Cromwell (28:53):

Members. Oh, absolutely. My my kids are always like, mom, really? And I'm like, yes, <laugh>. And even my adult children are like, mom. And I'm like, I know we should take a family picture like this. And they real, they're like, oh my gosh.

Ron Lyons (29:05):

I like it. I like it. Okay. What is your favorite word?

Melissa Cromwell (29:10): My favorite word?

Ron Lyons (29:11):

Yeah.

Melissa Cromwell (29:12): Is no

Ron Lyons (29:14):

<Laugh>. Okay. <laugh>.

Melissa Cromwell (29:16):

Would you like me to explain that?

Ron Lyons (29:18):

So it's, I have to know why. Melissa Cromwell (29:20):

So it's very hard for me to say no to people. Okay. If people are always asking me to do something or to participate in something. And your kids are always asking for something, so I have a really hard time saying no. It's a boundary thing for me. I, I work all the time. I, I do things all the time. So if no is an important word for me to try to stick with my boundaries, so No, no. I like when I can say no, I, I literally pat myself on the back and I'm like, okay, that was good. You said, no, <laugh>, I know you really wanted to do it. And you, you don't have time. You could have fitted in Good job saying, no,

Ron Lyons (30:00):

I like it. I like it. You didn't tell me no when I asked you if you wanted to be on the show. That's right. That's so that's good. Because I would've, I would've been a little upset about that, but, okay.

Mcdonald's or Whataburger?

Melissa Cromwell (30:11):

I'm gonna pick Whataburger.

Ron Lyons (30:13):

All right. Okay. We can continue this conversation then. We're doing good. So

Melissa Cromwell (30:17):

<Laugh>, I love the orange and white.

Ron Lyons (30:18):

Well, that's awesome. Hey, yeah, that's true. That is so very true. So how far back in your life do you have your earliest memory? At what age are you like I can remember back to what age.

Melissa Cromwell (30:30):

Okay. So my brother is three years younger than me, three and a half years younger than me. And I remember going to the hospital and picking him up.

Ron Lyons (30:40):

Oh wow, okay. That's crazy. That's

Melissa Cromwell (30:42):

Awesome. And that's, it's just a single memory. I don't remember other stuff around that time, but I remember that single memory of, it's my bro, my older brother and I not being in seat belts in the backseat. I was three. He was four. Here's this little baby, and here we are just roaming around in the backseat.

Ron Lyons (30:58):

That's super, super cool. So if you had to eat one mule for the rest of your life, one meal, that's all you can have for the rest of your life. What's it gonna be?

Melissa Cromwell (31:05): Tacos.

Ron Lyons (31:06):

<Laugh>. Okay. <Laugh>. I, I noticed there's a, there's a pattern here. You paused on a lot of those things. You didn't pause on

Melissa Cromwell (31:16):

The tacos. No. Have you ever had Dairy Queen tacos?

Ron Lyons (31:19):

Yes. I have

Melissa Cromwell (31:19):

Most amazing tacos ever.

Ron Lyons (31:22):

<Laugh>. Oh my goodness. That is hilarious. Okay. What do you think the world's gonna look like in 50 years, 50 years from now? What do you think the world's gonna look like?

Melissa Cromwell (31:37):

Oh my goodness, 50 years from now, what is the world gonna, I think everybody's gonna have an electric car. I think the power grid will be able to sustain that in 50 years. I think they'll figure it out eventually. I don't think they'll be paper money anymore. I think everything will be electronic. In 50 years. You may even have a chip in your arm that reads everything instead of having to carry your cards around. I mean, I really think it's going to be, everything's going to be electronic.

Ron Lyons (32:03):

Well, that's awesome. What's your favorite color?

Melissa Cromwell (32:06):

Red.

Ron Lyons (32:06):

What does that say about you?

Melissa Cromwell (32:08):

Red is fun. Red is powerful. Red means business.

Ron Lyons (32:12):

If I could go out right now and buy you anything that you want for your birthday, what would be the perfect gift for me to bring back for your

Melissa Cromwell (32:19):

Birthday? My birthday's in three weeks. So let's see. See, Ron Lyons (32:23):

Anything she giving me, giving me time to figure out how to

Melissa Cromwell (32:25):

Get this? Yeah. Is it, do I have an unlimited budget? That's my

Ron Lyons (32:27):

First question. You, you have unlimited budget, but you can only choose one thing. What am I gonna, what am I gonna go buy for Melissa Cromwell?

Melissa Cromwell (32:36):

Probably a purse.

Ron Lyons (32:37):

Oh wow.

Melissa Cromwell (32:37):

I love bags. Any kind of bag or purse. I am the bag lady.

Ron Lyons (32:42):

I like it. I like it. So tell now I don't personally have any, but I, I like the fact that that's something that you, that you can respect. Something that you enjoy. What, any name brands, anything like I, I kinda like this or this or you just kind of like all over the place.

Melissa Cromwell (32:56):

No, I'm a lover of any bag. It doesn't matter. Grace Bridge is my friend. I love to buy bags at Grace Bridge. I know the money's going towards something good, but I am just a bag

Ron Lyons (33:09):

Person. I like that. So, so give me one thing in your life that you're afraid of.

Melissa Cromwell (33:15):

Snake

Ron Lyons (33:17):

<Laugh>. So two things. She didn't pause on tacos and snakes. So we're <laugh>.

Melissa Cromwell (33:23):

I grew up in Kansas where there were a lot of rattlesnakes and I am afraid of snakes.

Ron Lyons (33:29):

And when you were growing up and everybody has these ideas, I'm gonna grow up and be this, or I'm gonna grow up and be that. What'd you wanna be when you were growing up?

Melissa Cromwell (33:36):

A teacher.

Ron Lyons (33:37):

Oh, good. Very good. That's, that's very cool. What a, what a great and very worthwhile passion and obviously still very important to

Melissa Cromwell (33:46):

You. Yes. I actually, that was my major in college. I did my student teaching and then decided I didn't wanna do it.

Ron Lyons (33:53):

You decided you didn't want to

Melissa Cromwell (33:55):

Do it. And my advisor in college was like, you realize you're graduating in five months. And I was like yeah, I know, but I don't really wanna be a teacher.

Ron Lyons (34:02):

Wow. Very, very awesome. So what's the best age to get married?

Melissa Cromwell (34:06):

Well, my daughter just got married and she's 24, so 24, 25. I think that's a good, it was good for her. She was ready. She's a teacher at Odell here in town, and she and her husband started dating when she was a freshman in high school. So I thought it was a perfect age for them to get married and I'm having my first grandbaby in August. Just an fyi. So.

Ron Lyons (34:32):

Nice. So when you became the president of the chamber and all of these things, COVID wasn't going on at that time, COVID came along kind of in the middle of that. So would you say that that really impacted your job or was Covid really not that impactful on what you do?

Melissa Cromwell (34:51):

Oh, no. Covid impacted every way that we communicated with the businesses. And finding out what their needs were. So when Covid happened I myself decided because the city started doing videos supporting local businesses. We were people were like, Dorothy Allen were creating apps so people could online order for these restaurants and the, and we, we did this shop local, keep local community local campaign. So I decided I was gonna call every business that was a Chamber member and say, how are you? What do you need? Okay. I

Ron Lyons (35:32): Like it. I like

Melissa Cromwell (35:33):

It. After the 10th call, I couldn't do it anymore. The, the emotion and the constant crying just hearing their stories about what was happening to them, I couldn't do it. The emotions for me was just too much. I just felt like we weren't able to do enough that we were gonna try to help them. But it just got me. So I called Corbett Howard and I said, Corbett I need your help. I have all these other businesses to call, but I can't do it. I have cried with every one of these people and I, I don't know if I have it in me to do the rest. And he said, because the chamber was struggling as well. You know, we didn't ask any of our members to pay their membership during Covid, so we were struggling as well. And I was like, I just, I can't do it. So Corbit took that list and he called the rest of the members for me and said, Melissa wanted me to call you. What do you need? She, and I think it's easier to ask for somebody else, what do you need? I was asking, what can I do for you? He was saying, what can Melissa do for you at the chamber? So he called every one of those businesses personally. Wow. And took notes what everybody needed and got it to me. And we tried to help as many people as we

Ron Lyons (36:51):

Could. That's very, very awesome. And I like to pivot, take something really serious and then flip it into something kind of fun. So if you, if you went home after this meeting, after we finished this podcast, you go home and there's a penguin in your house, what are you gonna do about it?

Melissa Cromwell (37:07):

I'm gonna call Cody Webb

Ron Lyons (37:09):

<Laugh>. Why Cody?

Melissa Cromwell (37:10):

Because Cody is the master of all animals. I swear to God. I saw a mountain lion out by our house, right? And the first person I called was Cody. The, the animal was literally sitting in front of my car as I'm sitting in it. And I knew it wasn't a bobcat, it was still light enough out. And I was like, there's no way this is a mountain lion or whatever. And I literally am hitting the button. I can't get my phone like I'm in a panic. It's staring at me in the middle of road. I hit the button and I'm like, call Cody Webb. And he answers and I'm like, there is literally like a mountain line or something staring at me right now. <Laugh>. So he knows everything about animals and he's my go-to guy. And I would call Cody and say, Cody, I have a penguin in my house.

Ron Lyons (37:52):

<Laugh>. Yeah, I have a penguin in my house. <Laugh>, if you if you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

Melissa Cromwell (38:02):

I would be like an evergreen or spruce because I would love to be a Christmas

Ron Lyons (38:07):

Tree. Oh my gosh. Isn't that awesome? That'd be great. And, and here's a question that I end with a lot, but I'm not gonna end with you. I'm just, I'm giving it to you in the middle. Okay. So would you rather fight one horse sized duck or a hundred duck sized horses? So think about that for a second. One horse

size. That's a big duck. One duck that size. Or a hundred duck sized horses. Now you've got a hundred little horses running around that are the size of a duck and you have to fight one or the other. Which do you fight?

Melissa Cromwell (38:39):

I grew up around geese that chased you. So I can't imagine a big duck chasing me <laugh>. That would scare me to death. So I'll take, take the, I'll take the little horses.

Ron Lyons (38:50):

<Laugh> you going go with a hundred duck sized horses. Yes. I like that. And, and since you're in the chamber, you can probably answer this one really well. So you've gotta sell hot chocolate in Florida in the summer. How do you do it?

Melissa Cromwell (39:04):

I could sell ice to an Eskimo

Ron Lyons (39:06):

<Laugh>,

Melissa Cromwell (39:07):

So it would be no problem.

Ron Lyons (39:10):

How, how do you do it? What do you do?

Melissa Cromwell (39:12):

I I would have a fantastic booth set up and people would just wanna do it because they would, I would say it was the best one. I would have the right price on it. I would probably wear some fun costume.

People would just wanna stop and see what I'm doing.

Ron Lyons (39:25):

<Laugh>. And, and then they're gonna buy your hot chocolate. Yes. In the summer in Florida. So look around this room right now. You see this room where we're in this? There's a, there's a set from 1970s TV show that we were filming here. We've got our little podcast thing set up here. So you see this room, how many basketballs could we fit in here <laugh>, the look on your face? <Laugh>.

Melissa Cromwell (39:50):

Couple thousand.

Ron Lyons (39:51):

A couple thousand? Yeah. And, and you know, you're fairly confident in

Melissa Cromwell (39:56): That <laugh>. I am.

Ron Lyons (39:58):

You know a lot about basketball size and room dimensions.

Melissa Cromwell (40:00):

I played basketball, my kids all played basketball. My husband played basketball. Yep, I got it. I know how many can go across the floor. I'm like, I'm looking at that up the wall. Yeah, I got it. A couple thousand

Ron Lyons (40:12):

<Laugh>. If you delivered pizzas for a living, if that was your job, how could you benefit from scissors,

<laugh>,

Melissa Cromwell (40:19):

Scissors,

Ron Lyons (40:20):

<Laugh>?

Melissa Cromwell (40:22):

Hmm. Well first of all, I would check to make sure, cuz you know how they always, they don't always cut the pizza correctly, right? So I would check 'em to make sure it's all cut. If not, I'd use the scissors to make sure all the slices are cut correctly.

Ron Lyons (40:32):

<Laugh>, that is such a reasonable answer. <Laugh>. I like it. How lucky are you?

Melissa Cromwell (40:41):

I don't believe in luck. I believe everything happens because you've made it happen. I've or you've, I just don't believe in luck.

Ron Lyons (40:49):

I like that. So if you could get rid of any one state in the country, which state leaves? Hmm.

Melissa Cromwell (41:02):

God. I'd have to think. See my import export. You know what we, what we import into Texas from other states. That's what I think about is stuff like that. What would, what would Texas need from those other states in order to survive? So we can't get rid of those states. What state has nothing? Nothing to offer us. <Laugh>. That's what I think about.

Ron Lyons (41:21): Which one is that?

Melissa Cromwell (41:24): Oh my gosh.

Ron Lyons (41:25):

You're gonna make some people mad in that state, but they probably don't listen to rain.

Melissa Cromwell (41:28):

Maybe Pennsylvania. Oh, well that's Hershey's chocolate. See, I can't I couldn't do do that. Maybe she's so torn. Connecticut. Connecticut,

Ron Lyons (41:35):

Connecticut. Cuz nothing good comes outta Connecticut.

Melissa Cromwell (41:37):

Do they export anything outta Connecticut? I don't know. So there you go.

Ron Lyons (41:40):

<Laugh>. So Connecticut is gone. Gone. Oh man, that is funny. So I think that we've probably covered an awful lot of stuff. So I I I do want to end on one question for you, and that is, if you could go back in time and give your, let's say 17 year old self, any advice, what advice would the Melissa Cromwell of today give to her 17 year old self

Melissa Cromwell (42:10):

Save more money. <Laugh>.

Ron Lyons (42:15):

I think we can all benefit from that. So we're, we're living in the most amazing city. We're blessed to be here. Absolutely. It's incredible. And we're, we're very, very blessed to have you in the position that you're in. And, and folks, if you have not met Melissa, come down, meet her at the chamber, join the chamber, get involved in these events on the square, and just get involved in this community. Melissa Cromwell is a fantastic way to engage in this community. So guys, that is Melissa Cromwell.

Ron Lyons (42:51):

Guys, what did you think about Melissa Cromwell? She is such a happy person. And to be right in the middle of a political race and the president of the Greater Celina Chamber of Commerce and to be involved in all of these events, there's so many events going on. She's very, very, very busy. I, I can hardly ever find a time to just talk to her for a second because she's always going 900 miles an hour. So the fact that she's so happy in the midst of all of this and living life on her own terms is a testament to who she is. And I think we're very blessed to have her in the city. I have no idea whether or not she's gonna win her race, but we are still blessed in the city to have her here doing the job she's doing for this great city.

Ron Lyons (43:43):

Either way, I wanna ask you this. What do you think about this music? I really, really, this is like some eighties jam. And so that's, that's my stuff, right? Eighties music. I love it. And I thought, you know what, we're gonna go out on some eighties music today. You know why? Because we can. There's enough people out there. We, we get I, I'm guessing we're around 1500 to 2000 listens every time a podcast drops and I'll, the numbers go up. Many of them, it goes way up. It just kind of depends. But that's a lot

of people. And when we survey the people, there's a lot of people who love eighties music. So why not? Why not? Somebody asked me on Facebook. I, I, I, they didn't ask me. They made kind of a comment, kind of an ugly comment, which is not uncommon from this person. They direct a lot of stuff towards me. But they said, where's your radio tower? Because if I can find your radio tower, then I can find your supposed radio station. Celinaradio.Com. I just wanna say this, it's a podcast. I don't have a radio station. There's no radio tower,

Ron Lyons (45:01):

But there is some really good eighties music right now. So put a smile on your face.

Ron Lyons (45:07):

Know how blessed we are to live in this city. Know how amazing it is. You could end up living anywhere else in the world, but for some reason got his chosen to put you right here in Sina, Texas. So let's lift ourselves up. Let's do better. Let's be better people. Let's remember that we're human beings first and political idiots. Way on down the list somewhere. So guys, look forward to that episode. I've got coming up with the mayor, Sean Terry. It's gonna be kind of eye- pening. Think you're gonna be surprised. But

until then, guys, as I always say, stay safe and God bless.