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Summary
Nash Mahupete, President and CEO of QLI, shares a deeply personal journey that begins in Zimbabwe and leads to a 25-year career inside one organization. He reflects on arriving in the US as an immigrant, starting as a CNA with no intention of staying in health care, and slowly discovering the meaning of mission, community, and leadership. Nash opens up about grief, regret, impostor syndrome, and the moments that reshaped how he views people, work, and responsibility. His story is not about titles, but about learning when to speak up, how to serve others with dignity, and why believing in people changes everything.
Key Takeaways:
(00:00) Introduction.
(04:52) Leaving your home country to seek better opportunities requires courage.
(08:56) Personal connection transforms work from being transactional to deeply meaningful.
(11:20) A clear organizational mission attracts and connects talented team members.
(13:28) Self-doubt can be reframed using supportive mentors and repeated success experiences.
(16:00) Nash’s grandmother taught him that unconditional care creates loyal communities.
(19:16) Your past circumstances do not determine your future success trajectory.
(30:24) An organizational mission should encompass all stakeholders, not just customers.
(34:32) Teach children values repeatedly, like doing things right the first time.
Resources Mentioned:
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Transcript
Nash Mahupete: One of the regrets, the very few regrets that I have about my time at QLI is I did not speak up about what I needed.
Peter Murphy Lewis: The world does not run on headlines. It runs on people who care. I'm Peter Murphy Lewis, and this is People Worth Caring About. Alongside my co-host, Jalene Carpenter, we sit down with the unsung heroes, caregivers, healers, helpers, the ones doing the real work even when no one is watching. These conversations are not polished, they're personal. Because behind every act of care is a story worth hearing. New episodes drop regularly. Get updates at peopleworthcaringabout.com.
Peter Murphy Lewis: All right. Hello, hello. Hola, Jalene.
Jalene Carpenter: Hello, hello, my friend Peter.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I'm excited, Jalene. This Friday afternoon, we have somebody special. You know why?
Jalene Carpenter: Well, I know why he's special. Yes. But do you?
Peter Murphy Lewis: Yeah, because you can't pronounce his name, and I can't either. So we're going to test this out. Both you and I have nine-year-olds, and we try to teach them to confront their fears by practicing. Why don't you give it a swing? How do we pronounce his name?
Jalene Carpenter: And then when he actually gets on, then we're gonna let him say his name correctly.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Yeah. He'll correct both these Midwesterners.
Jalene Carpenter: Okay, because I'm gonna butcher it, I'm gonna start by... Before I say his name, I lovingly call this guy the most interesting man in the world.
Peter Murphy Lewis: That's a beer commercial.
Jalene Carpenter: Those beer commercials were wrong. Okay. Instead, the most interesting man in the world is Nash Mahupete.
Peter Murphy Lewis: That's good. I would say Nash Mahupete.
Jalene Carpenter: Oh, that sounded not as cool as mine.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Well, before we let him on, I want to know is if Nash on this podcast is as good as his LinkedIn profile. Because if it is, there's no way he's single. He's the best-looking guest we've had on People Worth Caring About.
Jalene Carpenter: Yeah. I think every other guest would agree with that. But he's also, I'm not exaggerating, he's the coolest guy ever. And I'm afraid, Peter, he's gonna be like, "All right, guys, I gotta go," and you and I are gonna be like, "No, we have more questions. We want to learn more about you." I think we gotta like... Can we find something wrong with Nash?
Peter Murphy Lewis: Something boring?
Jalene Carpenter: Yes.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I doubt it.
Jalene Carpenter: I don't know. That's our challenge is to find out why Nash is secretly really not a cool, most interesting man in the world.
Peter Murphy Lewis: All right, let's start off with that.
Jalene Carpenter: Let's do it. Okay. And, so am I introducing? We're ready?
Peter Murphy Lewis: Yeah. This is how things work.
Jalene Carpenter: All right. I know. I'm new at this, Peter. Hello, everybody. I'm so excited to introduce to you all the most interesting man in the world. Not just in the great state of Nebraska, but the world. My dear friend, Nash Mahupete. Welcome Nash.
Nash Mahupete: Well, you got the first name almost right. It's Nash. Peter had it almost close.
Jalene Carpenter: Oh, I was so off. I'm so sorry, Nash.
Nash Mahupete: Well, I put you on the spot, I was like... When you asked me to pronounce my last name, I was like, "No, I want you guys to go on air and then you guys give it a shot so that we could have something to at least laugh about right off the bat." It's always [0:03:26.4] ____
Peter Murphy Lewis: I have a small advantage... I have a small advantage, Nash, because my wife is from South America, so I got into soccer or international football, and there is somebody famous in the last 10 years with a similar last name that's a soccer player, and I had some type of reference to pull it up. And I don't think Jalene knows what international football is.
Nash Mahupete: There you go.
Jalene Carpenter: I do. Thank you very much. But it's also kind of sad...
Nash Mahupete: I also heard you say something and I'm like, "Okay, you guys know how to blow smoke." You're like, "Oh, yeah, this has gotta be the best-looking guy." I think I heard you say that about Kyle Benish, too.
Jalene Carpenter: Oh no.
Nash Mahupete: I think you say that about every one of your guests.
Peter Murphy Lewis: No, you confuse best-looking for most annoying. Kyle, if you're listening to this, I say that with love.
Jalene Carpenter: Kyle had on the best shirt. Kyle while an audio podcast...
Nash Mahupete: Oh yeah he did. He was wearing a Hawaii shirt.
Jalene Carpenter: Kyle had on Hawaiian shirt. So your shirt is plainly colored, so you're not winning in that department.
Nash Mahupete: That is true. That is true. I'm a little plain today.
Jalene Carpenter: We've talked a little bit, Nash, but we're pretty easygoing, and I'm gonna let Peter kick things off. We might make fun of each other, interrupt each other, but it's all in good fun.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Nash, tell me your story. When did you come to the US? Where are you from? How old were you?
Nash Mahupete: All right. My story in America starts on April 18, 2000. April 18 is also the independence of my country, which is Zimbabwe, former Rhodesia, British colony. I came to the United States. I'm one of six children. My parents were sending me out in the world to make a better life for myself. Zimbabwe's economy was tanking, still tanking. I don't know how deep it can tank, but it was tanking and free-falling. They said, "Other opportunities will exist in the diaspora. Go out and make do for yourself somewhere else." I had a sister in England. Still have a sister in England. She's got a family over there too. I had a sister in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. When it came down to choosing between the two of those places, I was tired of tea at four o'clock. The British thing. I was like, they colonized me for so long. I'm going to America. When I got here, I was like, "Oh crap, this is the America part of it, huh?" And it was Omaha, Nebraska. But I've made it home ever since 2000 and I've enjoyed it. It's been a great thing for me and later on what became my family.
Jalene Carpenter: I know, Nash, your basic story, which is CNA to CEO, which is phenomenal, and we'll unpack all of that. But tell me the story of actually becoming a CNA, because if I know a little bit of the story, you weren't exactly like, "Yes, I'm a CNA. I'm excited to be here." Tell me that.
Nash Mahupete: No. Well I was working at Pizza Hut and I was looking for a job that would help me go to school because I needed something that had flexible hours, something that I'd go to school in the morning and you'd go to work in the evening, and something that I would be able to work a lot of hours. 'Cause I was an international student, I needed a lot of hours, something that would be open maybe 24/7. I had a couple of people that I knew that worked at this place called QLI and they do your training and everything. I was a person who... My mom is a nurse, my sister is also a nurse, but I had no inclination of doing anything healthcare. My education then was a track that was gonna lead me to environmental sciences. After I was done with an environmental sciences degree, I was gonna go back to Southern Africa, work for a non-governmental organization, and make my life down there. I just say QLI happened because I found QLI and it became the place where I love and grew to. I didn't start off as your most stellar team member. That's something else. I know, Jalene, you started right there as an entry-level team member as well in your career. But yes, I did not start off as your stellar team member. I was a good employee worker, if you wanna call it that. I got the job done. I was here for the residents only. It was not a social club. It was a matter of just get in here, do your work, and I'm here for the residents and only the residents alone. Boy, was I wrong.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Some people say long-term care is hard. The person who trained me to be a CNA said it's a lot easier if you care. When did you realize that you cared and that this wasn't something for you to get lots of hours and help pay for college?
Nash Mahupete: QLI is unique because you have a young population that we serve. When I got to QLI, I was working with people my age and sometimes even younger. That was a different connection to this world of being a caregiver because that could be just me right there in that chair. We serve people with brain injuries and spinal cord injuries and help them, rehab them back to life. I remember just seeing the people. For me, they were people. I think the caring side of things for me was I cared immediately about the people I was working but I did not... As serving, you know, as a people I was a caregiver for, but I did not care so much for the people who we would do the work together. I was disconnected from what our mission was because I only thought I was here for the residents and that's who I came to serve versus seeing the big picture of things. I can delve into that a little bit later, but it was immediate. Because I had a need for hours, I remember one time I worked like a crap ton of hours and one of my supervisors pulled me in and said, "You can't do this many hours." They capped my hours. I decided to go and get other jobs. I always had a second job and it was in senior living. Again, that was another place where I saw...
Nash Mahupete: I remember being in Zimbabwe, my grandmother had a stroke. She lived with us for several years. We didn't know what we were doing. We were just helping her, carrying her, putting her from place to place. I remember that she didn't get as well of care as she could have gotten because we didn't know what we were doing. Even just the transfers or even helping her out or showers and things like that, she didn't get what she deserved to get for somebody we loved. For me, this was also an opportunity of taking care of somebody's loved one. I saw it from a dignity aspect as I was an extension of their family in so many ways.
Jalene Carpenter: I'm curious. You're clearly a very driven person, Nash. One company tells you, "Sorry, you can't work this many hours," you just get another job so you can get more hours. In that period of your life, though, did ever in your... Were you ever thinking, "I'm gonna run a company someday. I'm gonna be a CEO one day"? Was that at all in your head? How did that transformation happen? This is where Peter's gonna reframe the question because I'm not a good question asker.
Nash Mahupete: No. That's a perfect question. That is a very perfectly framed question. I had no intentions of growing within this organization. I think it was one of things of, for me, it was a job and I was filling a role that was necessary. I had my own path in life. Like I said, I was young and dumb as well. The other piece is when I showed up, I later learned that every organization has its own mission and its own culture. When you get connected to that culture and mission, you understand how you fit into the organization because the goals of what that organization is, especially in the human services aspect, we're here to help put some meaning in people's lives. For me, the part of, "Am I gonna grow and run this?" That was never the inclination. I had opportunities for people to say, "Hey, you should do this," and I was like, "No, I've got other... I've got other plans. I'm gonna be going to Southern Africa. I'm gonna have an environmental sciences degree." As young as I was, I failed to take advantage of the first few years that I was here at QLI because I had what I thought were my plans and my outcome. And so when I surrendered some of those plans and trusted the people that believed in me, I actually found myself growing and seeing myself as a leader. To me, a leader is a person who invests in other people and builds other leaders. Then I started actually seeing myself grow when I started investing more than just in the people that I was taking care of at the time.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Nash, you are very accomplished based on what I'm seeing right now on your LinkedIn. You became a CEO in the last year. You started off a CNA. You didn't know you wanna work in long-term care. I'm interested in two things. Do you ever get imposter syndrome? Do you ever feel like something's too big for you and that you're gonna struggle? Because I think our audience listening to this, looking at you, be like, "Man, this guy's unstoppable. He's invincible." Take me into your head. What sits on your shoulder and makes you scared once in a while?
Nash Mahupete: Yes. The idea of imposter syndrome, at some point, yes, because I had lots of opportunities that I was put in situations and roles that I did not believe I was worthy of. I kept finding myself in those situations. I've been at QLI for 25 years. When they asked me to do something such as training new team members and onboarding, I was like, "I'm not the right person for this. I've got this funny accent and I shouldn't be doing this." It's like, "Well, just try it." After then after a while, it's like, "Okay, it's going well." Then, "Hey, how about this opportunity?" Then you're like, "Maybe no. I don't think I'm the right person for this. There's somebody who's more qualified than me." It's like, "Well, just try it." I can tell you that the idea of classic conditioning, when you get an opportunity and you go through that cycle, you can either... Because what we do at QLI is facilitate learning and neuroplasticity. And so what you do more often, you become. And so what I learned by people pouring into me and helping me reframe things such as adversity, in the beginning, I would always just push away and then all of a sudden, it's like, well I proved myself wrong, even my own doubts wrong.
Nash Mahupete: And I had to get away from that cycle. And so it was a matter of once I got an opportunity, it's how do you reframe it to see, "I see people believe in me," and then also seeing we are a team of leaders. Nobody's gonna put me ever in a position to fail. I have an army of individuals around me who are gonna lean in and help me out. The imposter syndrome became less and less. As I continued to grow where I typically would have had the self-doubt, I was thankful, I was prayerful, I was somebody who then saw, "Thank heavens that somebody's seeing me and I will work hard to grow in that area that they believe in me." But I also know that I'm not perfect. They're not hiring me or putting me in this role because I'm perfect, but they believe that I can continue to grow. And so the help that I've gotten from a lot of people has helped me reframe the idea of imposter syndrome to rather something that is positive. There's still doubt, but it's a matter of I'm gonna tackle this because other people believe in me.
Jalene Carpenter: You're very self-aware, Nash. I think obviously it comes from your upbringing at QLI. But I have to imagine there was probably influential leaders, people in your life from before coming to America and then after coming to America. Who would have been those foundational people for you and what did they teach you?
Nash Mahupete: I had a very fortunate to have had a lot of people in my life. One of the most influential people was my grandmother. She was a tiny little lady. And we lived in the city, but then she lived at the farm. My grandmother was a widow and ran a almost 280 hectare farm by herself. She hired hardened men who were tough, rough, but really because of love and how she showed up. While other people in the area had farm workers who had a transactional type of relationship, my grandmother had what almost was a community where it was full of acceptance and they were like family. We didn't call them farm workers. It was Uncle so-and-so or Big Brother so-and-so or Sister so-and-so. And so that's the part that I saw from the community that my grandmother was creating, that you should always find an organization that's gonna see you and accept you for yourself, for who you are. And the organizations that I've been affiliated with in the United States tend to be aligned with where my grandmother and my own parents had this value of, even though somebody's working for you, you take care of them as if they are your own family in so many ways.
Nash Mahupete: And that is something that I'm also set to do as a leader is just like myself when I started QLI, somebody believed in me. And this is what we do for individuals. My story is not just unique to mine, it's the QLI story that see the person who's walking in on day one. I don't care if they're picking up trash, I don't care if they're sweeping floors, but treat them like they could be the next CEO of this organization. Believe in them. Pour a lot of trust and belief in them and nurture them and see them bloom. And so I'm the story because I'm this young guy from Zimbabwe who came in many years ago, who grew up over here, and people poured in me and actually didn't just have it as a lip service type of thing, but actually did it. And now I am the person who's in the role to make this happen for QLI.
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Peter Murphy Lewis: Nash, Jalene knows this story that after living in South America for 15 years, I always say that Latin America taught me to be a better listener that I don't think that I would have acquired here living in the US all my life. What's something that living in Nebraska or living in America helped develop in you that you might not have developed otherwise?
Nash Mahupete: Yeah. That's a lot to unpack there. The reason why my parents sent me to the United States was because you can try and work your butt off in Zimbabwe. There's a lot of people with advanced degrees who are cleaning car windows on the street with a bottle of water so that they can earn and scrap for a living in light of unemployment and everything. But what I learned coming into the United States, first of all, was no matter where you start, if you don't believe that the past determines who you are, but rather the decisions that you can make today going forward, you will find success. That's one of the things. Coming to the Midwest, I think what I learned was it's very hospitable. You have people who are willing, I can't tell you how many times I've asked people to just sit down and just have a conversation with me. Now the only disadvantage is they always invite me for coffee. I don't drink coffee. I drink tea and stuff like that. But it's like I've been to so many Starbucks and coffee places, stories and whatever else, and it's like, "Yeah, let's go meet coffee." And it's like, "Yeah, I'll drink water that morning."
Nash Mahupete: But people are hospitable. People are warm. Everybody's willing to just give you some time. I remember riding a train when I was in England and my cousin, they call it a train driver, he said, "Hey, just say hi to a few people on the train." I was on his train going back out to Essex and he said, "Just say hi to a few people over here and see what happens." And a guy sitting by and I say, "Hello." And he looks at me like, "What is about to go down over here?" And I'm like, "How you doing?" And he just like, let's not... No eye contact, no eye contact. And the next person, "Hello." And they're like, "Okay, something bad is about to happen." You do that in the Midwest, I mean, even in the trucks you get that little one-finger salute. People are welcoming, hospitable, and it reminds me almost of back home, this ethos called Ubuntu, which is "I am because you are." There's this collective essence towards how we can grow together. And that's something that is unique of the Midwest, unique of Nebraska, unique of Omaha. But I still feel we can do better and not be as divisive as we are sometimes.
Jalene Carpenter: It's interesting because I would have made... I'm not from Nebraska originally, Nash, I'm from Seattle, but I've lived here almost as long as you have. And I would agree, these people here in the Midwest, we'll lump Kansas in, I guess, Peter, that's just... You're near enough. But people are so incredibly friendly. Yet I think from a national narrative, if we were to talk about a welcoming place that would be open to refugees and immigrants, we would not be at the top of the list. Nebraska wouldn't be at the top of, "I really want to go there." And it's just strange that your experience was the opposite of maybe what national public perception would have been.
Nash Mahupete: I think we can still definitely do better. I sit on the CIRA board from a refugee aspect, and there's some work that we have to do to get to understand each other so that we can continue to welcome each other. When you think of even just Nebraska, the biggest growth has been through net immigration, not migration of people looking to move over here from other states, but it's immigration. And even from our populace at QLI, our team members, we have a bunch of immigrants that are taking care of other people's loved ones. I feel we have to put Nebraska on the map for being the welcoming place it is and have a lot of people come over here and do some amazing things in the healthcare sector.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Nash, I learned from running a 50-mile ultramarathon that there's nothing in this world that can bore me, that I can be super focused and just be patient with myself. What did you learn from track and field, being an athlete? And what is your personal record in your favorite event?
Jalene Carpenter: Hang on. Before we go on, Nash, you notice how he slipped in that one time I ran a 50-mile ultramarathon?
[overlapping conversation]
Peter Murphy Lewis: I did not mention that I won. I did not mention that I won.
Jalene Carpenter: In your [0:22:56.4] ____
Nash Mahupete: Yes, I did notice that piece.
Jalene Carpenter: Sorry, Nash. Go ahead. Please answer the very eloquently put question.
Nash Mahupete: 50 miles, I still... I want to ask him some questions as to what were you thinking?
Peter Murphy Lewis: I never said I was smart.
Nash Mahupete: 50-mile ultramarathon. I played lots of sports. One of them was track, 100 meters I ran. But I went to a boarding school, so that's something that I... Sports was an outlet. It was an all-boys boarding school, no girls around. Marist Brothers was the Catholic sect that it had come from. We had a bunch of brothers and priests and we had to go to mass and all that good stuff. But I went to a Catholic boarding school and to leave campus and get to see girls and enjoy anything other than a bunch of boys at school, sports was the outlet. I ran track, played soccer, played tennis, basketball, then later on rugby. It was one of those things that sports was the thing. But my best and favorite event other than basketball was probably the 100 meter. I like the 100 meter because it was done with rather quickly. While you're running 50 miles, we're already done and hanging out.
Jalene Carpenter: Nash, I described you as the most interesting man in the world, but we all know that behind really cool people are their family, and most importantly for dudes, it's their wives. Tell me about your family.
Nash Mahupete: My immediate family. First of all, like I said I'm one of six kids. From that side of the family, I have my older brother in South Africa, then my sister in England, then a sister who used to live in Omaha that I came to, who now lives in Texas. She lives in Frisco. Then myself in Omaha, Nebraska. Then I have a brother who lived in Cape Town. He's still got some houses over in Cape Town, but then made Omaha home for about a year three years ago and then got cold. His kids were playing soccer in the snow and he said, "We're done with this." He now lives in Georgia. Then the baby who's in Zimbabwe. My mom is currently in the country awaiting her green card to get approved. She's bouncing between three homes between Omaha, Georgia, and Texas. We love that. My dad is since deceased. That's a story that I'd like to share a little bit about finding an organization that cares about you and actually speaking up. Yes, my dad passed away in 2002, a couple of years of me being in the country, and I wasn't able to go to his funeral. I'll talk about that later.
Nash Mahupete: 19 years ago, I married a beautiful woman by the name of Sabrina. Her mother works at QLI as well. I say that my mother-in-law introduced us. My story is my mother-in-law said, "There's a very handsome guy, tall, dark, handsome with long dreads, and you should meet him." Then she told me, "Hey. I've got my daughter and you really need to take her off my hands." That's my story, but that's not exactly how it happened. She was living in Indiana at the time and we did the long-distance thing for a little bit and she ended up coming back to Omaha. She's originally from Boston and then came to the Midwest with her family. Now we have two kids, Dominic and Jada. Dominic is 17 years old. Jada is 16 years old. They're both driving and, man, car insurance is expensive. That's a little bit about my family.
Jalene Carpenter: We went from this emotional thing about your dad to the realities that car insurance is really expensive.
Nash Mahupete: Yes, it is.
Jalene Carpenter: I think Peter will ask a question better about your dad.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Yeah. I want to hear why losing your father and talking about finding the right organization that supports you, what stands out there. I think that's the first time I've ever heard those words.
Nash Mahupete: Yeah. No. My dad passed away a couple of years of me being in the United States, and there were four of us outside of the country. It was my brother in South Africa, my sister in England, and my sister and I in the United States. She was living in Texas already. And my dad passed away suddenly. And it was at least my problem. That was my issue. And it was not QLI's problem or anything, but they were very supportive. I didn't speak up about what I needed in life. And what I needed at the time was probably some financial support in order for me to go back home. So I wasn't able to go back to Zimbabwe for my father's funeral. And that was a very difficult time to not be able to get back home. And yes, it was challenging. My dad's my hero, and all of a sudden he's gone. And I wasn't also a person, like I said before when I started this, I wasn't your stellar team member. But I also didn't believe that QLI and I had nothing in common other than the transactional relationship. And I do know one of the regrets, the very few regrets that I have about my time at QLI, is I did not speak up about what I needed, is the support for me to go and be at my father's funeral. That was a challenging piece.
Peter Murphy Lewis: How long did it take for you to forgive yourself? I missed a lot of family funerals living in South America, and it took me a long time to forgive myself. I know that you didn't actually have a full option, but that doesn't mean that you always are easy on yourself. How did you process that?
Nash Mahupete: I lived with it for a long time. But I think one of the things that you do is learn from certain situations. And we've gotten to a point where even for our QLI team members, when there is any catastrophe that happens in their life, we meet our team members at the point of need and jump in and help out. It was always that organization, so I'm not saying that we do that because I'm in the role that I'm in. But we've gotten to the point of also making sure that we're asking the right questions of the team members, what's happening, connecting a little bit deeper so that we can meet people at the point of need. There's more to it than what policy says you have when it comes to bereavement and whatever else. But we've had some people who have had some tragic situations at QLI, and I'm very proud of the organization we are and the ability to be humanistic in so many ways and support the team members we have in a very specific way that they need to be supported. That's maybe the way we process it is... Or at least I processed it is, what I wasn't able to advocate for myself, I would like us to be very intentional about advocating for others.
Jalene Carpenter: I'm really curious, Nash. You've mentioned several times of you were there for the residency, you were not a stellar, you were not necessarily a team player. And it sounds like even after two years of what I know is an amazing company to work for, it sounds like you still didn't actually believe that they cared about you. Or that's how I interpret it. What happened? When did the switch flip, or who was it that made you understand, "Oh, that that mission on the wall, they mean that in their heart and I'm part of it"?
Nash Mahupete: Yeah, I think when I started understanding the mission a lot more, that when we talk about QLI's mission, then I only associated it with the residents. When I saw that it also meant team members, families of the residents, funding sources, our community, that's when I started connecting a little bit more. Because we talk about our mission. Our mission is to deliver life-changing rehab and care, protect dignity, instill purpose, create hope, and commit to excellence. And so those are things that are part of our mission. And when you see that and you only think about it, that to deliver life-changing rehabilitation and care, protecting dignity, means for the residents only, you're missing a whole lot of the other pieces. And so every time I ask people and they're asking about, "Hey, how does this work here?" I ask them, "What's the mission?" And then I ask them, "Who do you serve?" And they say, "Well, I serve the residents." And it's like, "Well, you serve the mission." When you serve the mission, you understand a lot more when it comes to it's about the residents, their families, our team members, each other in so many ways, funding sources, because they're also stakeholders in this whole thing, and our community at large. So when people start getting that, when I started getting that and understanding that, that's when I started seeing myself as part of something even more special, something bigger than myself. Before, I was just here as an agent to help the residents I was working with that day. I don't know if that answers the question.
Jalene Carpenter: No, that totally did. And I don't want to totally switch gears and get off of such a lovely philosophical discussion, but I've again described you as the most interesting man in the world, and we would be remiss if we did not discuss your time as 'Dancing with the Stars' Omaha. So tell me...
Nash Mahupete: How did you find that?
Jalene Carpenter: Tell me, please discuss with us your time with 'Dancing with the Stars'. And did you win? How did this all work?
Peter Murphy Lewis: What music did you choose?
Nash Mahupete: Jalene and Peter are sleuths. They go and find things that we do not need people to find.
Peter Murphy Lewis: We're gonna put the video link in the footnotes for anyone who wants to see it.
Jalene Carpenter: It's going in the chat.
Nash Mahupete: I'm gonna go and find a private investigator and find a few more things and then figure out how I can come back on this podcast and reveal some things about Peter and Jalene.
Peter Murphy Lewis: We're older than you. There's not evidence of things that we did when we were younger.
Nash Mahupete: Are you sure you're older than me?
Peter Murphy Lewis: No, I'm not sure.
Jalene Carpenter: No, I think we're probably all exactly the same age, Peter.
Nash Mahupete: Yeah. I'm like...
Jalene Carpenter: You didn't win. Is that what happened? You didn't win, Nash.
Nash Mahupete: I got a fair score. I got a fair score. I danced to 'Vivir Mi Vida'. Yes. It was being volun-told to do something. That's the other thing. My predecessor, I'm gonna put her on blast over here, Patricia Kearns, she was the one who was supposed to do 'Dancing with the Stars', but then she's like, "Hey, guess what? You get to do this." And I go, "How?" It was for a fundraiser. QLI supports an organization by the name of Teammates, and they were doing something that was called Dancing with the Omaha Stars. I had to put on some pretty interesting pants that were flared at the bottom and shirt with frills on it.
Peter Murphy Lewis: At least they were seeing them.
Jalene Carpenter: It's on YouTube. Not that people need to look that up right now.
Nash Mahupete: We need to kill the internet or something, I don't know, so that we can destroy that. I need to hack into some system to destroy that video forever.
Peter Murphy Lewis: Nash, I have one last question before we start to wrap up, and it comes from my childhood. I always say that the phrase that I've heard most of my life from my mom is... I'll paraphrase it because I'm messing up right now, but the only thing that you can control in your life is your attitude. I've heard my mom say that hundreds of times. If I interviewed your kids today, what would they tell me is the thing that they've heard most out of your mouth as a father, your words of wisdom that you repeated?
Nash Mahupete: Hopefully they'll say that I love you no matter what is one of the things. But what have I told them the most? "Do it right the first time." I think that's what I've probably told them the most. That's probably the biggest thing. Something that my dad always used to tell me was no matter what the result and outcome is, if you can look back to the person in the mirror and you know you applied yourself and tried your best, you should be proud of that person no matter what. Doing it right the first time, because I know my kids like to sometimes take shortcuts, that's why I tell them that the most, but also be proud of themselves for the work that they put forth. Your mom's got sage wisdom. Jalene, what's yours?
Jalene Carpenter: That I tell my kids?
Nash Mahupete: Yeah.
Jalene Carpenter: Actually, it's similar to what Peter's mom would say is you get to choose. You get to choose the outcome. I have a couple of perfectionist children who think they're supposed to be perfect at everything the very first time they try it. They're fifth and seventh grade, and so it's like no, and if they don't, then they're failures. It's like you gotta choose your outlook. Choose your outlook on this.
Nash Mahupete: I think the things that we tell our kids the most is something that's important because that's the truth that we want to sometimes tell ourselves, but we fail to tell ourselves those things as well.
Jalene Carpenter: Yes, 100%. Well, Nash, we had one goal, and that was to find out that you're actually secretly really boring and uncool, and I think we failed. Peter, did we fail?
Peter Murphy Lewis: We failed.
Jalene Carpenter: Nash, we didn't even have time to unpack all of the awesome things that your organization does, but thank you so much to you, to QLI for everything that they do. I think it was awesome to spend time with you.
Nash Mahupete: Peter, thank you very much for having me over here. Jalene, thanks for all the work that you do with the Healthcare Association and supporting all of Nebraska. Very appreciated. I love this podcast.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I got one ask of Jalene. Let's give it another shot as Nash's full name. I'll let you go first.
Jalene Carpenter: That's not fair. You go first. I have to pull... I need to have it pulled up in front of me so that I can...
Peter Murphy Lewis: Nash Mahupete.
Jalene Carpenter: Okay, hang on. I think I can get this. Is it Ma or Mu on the front end?
Peter Murphy Lewis: No coaching. And did you just close your eyes?
Jalene Carpenter: Mahupete.
Peter Murphy Lewis: You think that's gonna make you pronounce better? Anyone who's listening to this and can't see her, she closed her eyes to try to do it well.
Jalene Carpenter: Mahupete. I got it!
Nash Mahupete: Yes! You got it.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I'm turning off the recorder. I don't want anyone to know that she was better.
Peter Murphy Lewis: That's a wrap on People Worth Caring About, born from the documentary built to keep the stories going. Shout out to Nebraska Health Care Association and Jalene Carpenter for helping launch it, and to Ohio and New Mexico for making future seasons real. Watch the docuseries online or at peopleworthcaringabout.com. And if this episode meant something to you, leave a review. It matters. Take care of yourself and the people worth caring about.
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