There was just all of these like swatches and swabs and colors and trays and things. I remember just being genuinely kind of confused as to like what was happening in there.

Kari (00:00:42):

Everything was very hidden.

Mary (00:00:45):

Anybody who could come up with this is amazing.

Dr. Khouri (00:00:48):

Oh my God. How did you build these?

Phil (00:00:53):

We were staying in the basement and I was gonna take a shower, and where towels had always been, there was this little homemade photo studio. That was one of the first times I think I actually really saw one of them. I don't think I said anything. I think I just laughed and warned Kristen that there's a nipple where the towels should be.

Music (00:01:22):

Dearest one. You was are so dear to me. I want you near to me. Truly I do. Dearest one. When I'm away from you, each night, I pray for you. Truly. I do. Life, you know, is funny and skies aren't always sunny. But please believe me honey, they're sunny when I'm with you my dearest one, I do.

Randi (00:02:40):

I think it's still awkward for you to talk about.

Brian (00:02:44):

We don't bring it up.

Randi (00:02:46):

Right.

Justin (VO) (00:02:47):

So that was my mom and dad, Brian and Randi Johnson, and this is the story of how their nipples changed the world. My name is Justin and I'm the oldest of the five Johnson kids. I've making movies ever since I can remember

Justin (VO) (00:03:01):

And that's how the dinosaurs got 'distinct.

Justin (VO) (00:03:04):

My first filmmaking icon was dad, who was absolutely obsessed with capturing every moment of our simple family life.

Brian (00:03:11):

We have to get away from the windows cuz it messes up the light. There's Luke's Garfield cat clock. There's their 7up light from the popcorn stand.

Kari (00:03:24):

Daddy takes a picture of everything.

Justin (VO) (00:03:26):

I was born and raised in Wisconsin, in a city called Eau Claire. Eau Claire is a mid-size town surrounded by farmland. We love our beer, our Packers, our Jesus, and it's also known as the self-proclaimed horseradish capital of the world. My parents still live there in the house I grew up in which. like their old wooden TV. hasn't changed much. Well, except for one room, but we'll get to that later.

Kari (00:03:55):

Mom and dad are two of the most different personality types that you could ever put together.

Jesse (00:04:01):

Dad. He is stoic. If he can be as like close to the door as possible like in a chair and he won't be asleep.

Kristin (00:04:09):

An uncomfortable chair. Yeah, preferably like a stool.

Jesse (00:04:12):

Dad has always been the person who's aware of what can go wrong.

Brian (00:04:16):

Come down slow and don't use don't use your feet too much 'cuz, it'll ruin your sandals, Randi, it'll ruin your sandals.

Sue (00:04:26):

One thing that I appreciate about your dad is his attention to detail with your mom, and some of it's cuz she can't see well and some of it is just because he's so detail oriented and she's not.

Randi (00:04:39):

I'm considered legally blind. Brian is looking out for my needs before I even realize my needs. Brian gave me the Kindle. It's really special to get 'em this big. These glasses, Brian looked up for me to help me be able to see TV at a distance so ...they look weird.

Kari (00:05:01):

Mom is just the most extreme extrovert, always wanting to be with people and wanting to do as much charity work as possible and she doesn't wanna miss out on anything. Dad kind of gets rolled into mom's energy and I think it's good for him that mom kind of brings him out.

Randi (00:05:25):

This is what dates look like for us. Often, it's like after we take packages to the post office. Hello Joel. Hi. I'm good friend of of Mary Joe.

Joel (00:05:37):

Yes, I remember.

Randi (00:05:37):

Yeah.

Joel (00:05:38):

How are you doing?

Randi (00:05:39):

Oh, good!

Justin (VO) (00:05:43):

What were your first impressions of dad?

Randi (00:05:45):

Not quite cool enough, you know.

Brian (00:05:47):

That's right.

Brian Zinn (00:05:50):

We grew up in Amery, which is a small town in Polk County. His dad was a businessman.

(00:05:58):

Brian, he was a very sharp person. He was very smart. He had a little bit of a stutter and that caused him to be shy I think. So he would spend his time doing more thinking and and pondering things and creating things than most of us.

Ann (00:06:14):

Randi was the free spirit. I know she went to Europe and met Mother Teresa. She had a conversion to Christianity but that didn't change her basic philosophy about freedom and creativity. You know, she was a different kind of Christian than your dad. He was very conservative and certainly didn't come from that background. She was a hippie.

Brian (00:06:39):

I saw her walking across Graham Avenue here. That was, that was it. I just knew she was the one

Randi (00:06:47):

I jay walked?

Brian (00:06:48):

Sure you did.

Randi (00:06:49):

Of course!

Brian (00:06:49):

Of course you did.

Randi (00:06:52):

So I knew Brian was interested in me and it took me a while. We were in the same small group at church. You just shared a Bible verse and you said, apply your heart to discipline and your mind to words of knowledge.

Brian (00:07:07):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>.

Randi (00:07:08):

And I'm like, wow, he's disciplined <laugh> because that's my weakness. You know how they say opposites attract and there is something about that.

Ann (00:07:20):

He was like a rock and she was like the red balloon tied to the rock. You know, <laugh>, this is a good match.

Randi (00:07:36):

I mean we really thought we were all set at three kids, you know, thought that seemed just fine. And then I was like, oh, okay, four and a colicky baby and we're homeschooling and now five. Five children and four pets. <laugh>,

Brian (00:07:50):

There's Frisky. Okay, let's get somebody else here.

Randi (00:07:55):

And Brian is not one that likes a lot of commotion.

Brian (00:08:01):

Just let Jesse do it. Get back, watch him, watch him

Justin (VO) (00:08:09):

For much of the eighties, dad worked at the supercomputer company, Cray Research making integrated circuits for the Cray-3. Dad used his engineering skills to keep order in the house. Here's just one example.

Brian (00:08:22):

I wanted an impersonal way to have some control over time where I didn't have to watch the clock and then tell you to get off the television. I bought a clear plastic box that's commonly used to go over thermostats and then I bought a simple bathroom mechanical timer. I wired it up so I could take the TV plug and tie it into the box so your kids couldn't get in there. So the media timer was designed to be an extension of myself.

Kari (00:09:01):

He'd set it for an hour

Kristin (00:09:03):

behind a locked plastic case.

Kari (00:09:05):

Yes, it it was.

Kristin (00:09:06):

It had a key

Kari (00:09:07):

It was under lock and key

(00:09:11):

And right when it hit zero the TV shut off. No power to the tv.

Brian (00:09:18):

It literally unplugged the tv.

Kristin (00:09:21):

No! <laugh>. It was so tangible.

Kari (00:09:24):

You lived and died by the media time

Brian (00:09:25):

I was real happy when I figured that one out.

Justin (VO) (00:09:32):

After six years as a technician, dad switched to a night security role at Cray, which paid less but gave dad more energy and time to spend with the family and his various side projects. Definitely growing up I could tell that we didn't have as much money as other people, but looking back at some of the tapes, some of the moments are pretty absurd.

Luke (00:09:51):

Double wrapping! Wood!

Brian (00:09:57):

What is it, Luke?

Luke (00:09:59):

And it comes with the movie page.

Randi (00:10:01):

The movie page?

Brian (00:10:02):

The movie pages. Oh, Luke likes the movie section in the newspaper.

Randi (00:10:07):

We lived on pretty tight budget for a big family.

Brian (00:10:11):

13, 14,000 a year was,

Randi (00:10:14):

That was a good job at Cray, and I was part-time working as a nurse so that helped.

TV Reporter (00:10:20):

The highly competitive computer market has meant no guarantees and some tough decisions for Cray.

Justin (VO) (00:10:28):

Everything changed in the mid nineties when dad was laid off. Even as a kid I could tell that money was getting even tighter and dad was around a lot more and mom was around a lot less since she had to start taking on brutal 12 hour night shifts at the nursing home.

Jesse (00:10:45):

Mommy work?

Brian (00:10:46):

Mommy's at work.

Justin (VO) (00:10:48):

Suddenly dad was scrambling to bring in all the extra income he possibly could including teaching computer classes and even becoming a part-time teacher at my little Christian middle school. And having my dad as a teacher when I was that age wasn't something I was thrilled about.

Classmate (00:11:07):

Are you looking for Justin?

Brian (00:11:09):

Oh, just looking around since I'm here. Hi there Justin.

Justin (VO) (00:11:14):

What I didn't realize or even appreciate is that my dad was an entrepreneur, even from a young age

Uncle Dick (00:11:21):

And I've got a picture here in the Amery centennial book. The popcorn stand.

Brian Zinn (00:11:28):

My friends would be at the beach, swimming, goofing around- and when we got thirsty we'd go over here and give him some money and he would give us a piece of ice with some flavoring. We were goofing around and he was making money.

Brian (00:11:41):

I didn't think of them goofing around, but at times I'd think, hey, you know, I, I make money in the summer with my own business. But no one respected me for it.

Justin (VO) (00:11:54):

I remember the popcorn stand as just this thing that was like rotting in our backyard. I had no idea how much it actually meant to him. Suddenly those side projects became much more important, and dad was spending more and more time in the basement developing them into something to help make ends meet

Brian (00:12:11):

Computer, with business stuff on it.

Kari (00:12:14):

His earliest one was called Dial-a-Deal. It was basically an audio version of Craigslist and then where mom came in is that she recorded all of the voice menus.

Randi (00:12:25):

Hello, do you like a good deal?

Jesse (00:12:27):

Mom was the original Siri

Kristin (00:12:30):

<laugh>

Lou (00:12:32):

And then of course there was Brian's automated phone system. Instant Info.

Randi (00:12:39):

We used it for prayer chain so that the same message would be received by everyone. Soccer coaches used it

Justin (VO) (00:12:46):

And with five kids in the house, every business was a family business.

Kristin (00:12:49):

They would do mailings. We would get like a fraction of a cent for every envelope stuffed.

Kari (00:12:56):

As we got older, what we worked for was actually media time.

Kristin (00:13:00):

Oh God I forgot about that.

Kari (00:13:00):

And that was free for dad and more valuable to us. It was the perfect system.

Brian (00:13:07):

It was just tinkering. It was just experimenting and seeing if something would, would catch.

Lou (00:13:14):

Who knows how Brian's brain works

Justin (VO) (00:13:17):

Growing up. Dad was always the head and mom was always the heart. As parents and as business partners they were inseparable.

(00:13:26):

And while different in so many ways, faith was something they both shared.

Randi (00:13:31):

Happy birthday, dear Jesus, happy birthday to you.

Brian (00:13:39):

God made you just right. Didn't He Luke?

Kid (00:13:42):

Are you a millionaire?

Randi (00:13:44):

Well we're all rich aren't we? We're rich in the Lord. Just think those mansions we got in the sky.

Justin (VO) (00:13:49):

But unfortunately that same faith is what started driving us apart. My brothers and sisters definitely bought in.

Randi (00:13:55):

Praise ye Lord.

Luke (00:13:57):

Hallelujah!

Justin (VO) (00:13:59):

For me, religion was never something I was thrilled about.

Justin (00:14:03):

Then there was thousands of angels, praising God all the way.

Randi (00:14:08):

Okay, thank you Justin.

Justin (00:14:12):

Now can I open up a present?!

Randi (00:14:12):

Well you can open, do you want to open your last door?

Justin (VO) (00:14:17):

I stayed close to home for college but I dropped out after just over a year. Put everything I owned in a suitcase and moved out to California. That physical distance from mom and dad really emboldened me to start asking questions that I had been thinking about for years in long and often contentious email threads.

Kristin (00:14:39):

Yeah, I think she was worried about you and we knew she felt worried about you.

Justin (VO) (00:14:43):

Dad stayed out of it, which basically meant that he and I didn't talk at all. In those years when I would come home, it wasn't to spend time with the family, it was just to see friends

Justin (00:14:54):

Summarize the last four years of your life, in three words.

Kristin (00:14:58):

Justin left me.

Randi (00:15:01):

Farewell shots. It goes so fast.

Justin (VO) (00:15:05):

In 2006, those email arguments spilled over into real life with a confrontation about my lack of faith sending mom into tears. I became more and more secretive about my life. A year later, my girlfriend and I moved to New York and became fully immersed in life there.

Friend (00:15:21):

...just because it's Memorial Day.

Justin (VO) (00:15:23):

Oh yeah, totally. I mean I'm gonna be fucked up all weekend.

Justin (00:15:27):

Who wants to go to Lit?

Marissa (00:15:28):

That's where I'm saying. That's why I'm going there.

Justin (VO) (00:15:30):

The Midwest and my boring religious parents couldn't have seemed farther away. I didn't even bother going home that year. Emails and calls with mom and dad just became less and less.

Brian (00:15:47):

Let's go out, Wigs.

(00:15:55):

Okay, Wiggles. Here we go. Go outside, go on.

(00:16:01):

Wiggles.

Randi (00:16:09):

The phone rang and was doctor telling me, oh I'm sorry to tell you, but the results came back cancer and you'll have to have surgery within the next couple weeks, and he couldn't tell me very much else. So it was just wow.

(00:16:29):

Yup.

Ann (00:16:33):

Your mom handled that whole situation in such a sort of matter of fact way.

Aunt Kirsten (00:16:39):

I think we have a family tradition of assuming that things are gonna work out. So when your mother called me, neither of us cried that I remember. I'd be surprised if we did. Neither of us cry easily.

Ann (00:16:57):

I was afraid for her. You know, I mean you could die and and she was very young.

Justin (00:17:08):

And when you told dad, you know, what was that feeling like?

Randi (00:17:11):

What did you, what did you think?

Brian (00:17:13):

It was hard. That's pretty much the short answer.

Randi (00:17:18):

Dad is sensitive.

(00:17:22):

It was maybe harder for him than me. He couldn't protect me from it.

Jesse (00:17:31):

I remember one time he was driving me and he just kind of like unprovoked. He- you could tell he was like kind of tearing up. He was just like, you know, I don't know what I would do without your mom.

(00:17:45):

Like I couldn't live without your mom. And I was kind of seeing mom and dad as adults for the first time and just seeing them as two people who loved each other, who were given this like existential threat.

Justin (00:18:02):

And that gets to the point of just imagining dad without mom.

Kristin (00:18:05):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. I think that's what he was doing.

Brian (00:18:16):

Randi, I love you very much.

Randi (00:18:20):

I count it a privilege and an honor to be your wife.

Brian (00:18:25):

I promise to help to bear your burdens when the times get rough,

Randi (00:18:30):

I will be your faithful friend, lover and companion. No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. I will stand by you.

Brian (00:18:40):

I give myself to you right now. Everything.

Justin (VO) (00:19:03):

I found the email where mom told me that she had cancer and I didn't even reply to her for a week. I didn't call her. Nothing.

(00:19:26):

How could I have possibly been that busy?

Luke (00:19:37):

I came to visit mom at the hospital immediately after her surgery and you know, it was kind of weird and uncomfortable, for me seeing mom so vulnerable in a hospital bed.

Randi (00:19:49):

I'm not a very vain person. I don't even know how to do makeup. But when it comes to having a breast removed that is very, very emotional.

(00:20:02):

They took something from me, you know, that it's very much a part of being feminine and just human.

Justin (VO) (00:20:15):

The least I could do, of course, was fly home for Christmas that year.

Kristin (00:20:26):

Hey Justin.

Justin (00:20:28):

Hey guys.

Kristin (00:20:30):

Oh, what day are you leaving?

Speaker 23 (00:20:34):

Saturday.

Kristin (00:20:35):

Okay, because I might be able to take you.

Kari (00:20:40):

What do you need, Jess?

Jesse (00:20:40):

Can you take this?

Brian (00:20:46):

Okay!

Randi (00:20:46):

Yay! Merry Christmas!

(00:20:50):

Merry Christmas! All the kids, all my kids home for Christmas.

(00:20:57):

The best present I could ever have!

(00:21:00):

Alright, all my kids, home for Christmas ...

Luke (00:21:01):

It's cold out there.

Kristin (00:21:05):

All of us together. I think it did mean more than I expected it too.

Brian (00:21:09):

There you go. Mom and the Christmas tree,

Justin (VO) (00:21:13):

For us in the Johnson Family it was always a Christmas tradition to watch the old home videos that dad had captured over the years.

Justin (00:21:22):

What made that exciting for you to like keep track of our lives so well?

Brian (00:21:30):

I saw it as a tool that would motivate you to learn skills.

Justin (00:21:37):

What do you see, Daddy?

Brian (00:21:37):

I see Justin.

Randi (00:21:42):

That's our old camcorder.

Justin (00:21:42):

I love this thing! It's so, cool!

Randi (00:21:44):

That's what Justin wanted.

Justin (00:21:46):

Now I can record you when you're filming me!

Brian (00:21:57):

And I just knew in the future you kids would probably appreciate it,

(00:22:06):

Who's your favorite brother and sister?

Jesse (00:22:07):

I like Justin and Luke and Kari and Kristin.

Kristin (00:22:10):

Awwwww.

Kari (00:22:13):

The way we're laughing, it just was this deep joy

Justin (VO) (00:22:19):

And for me it was the most time I had actually spent with the family in years.

Justin (00:22:27):

What's your schedule for today?

Brian (00:22:27):

Whatever your schedule is.

Randi (00:22:33):

Thank you for so, so many blessing and for this food and this time together. In Jesus name, Amen.

Kristin (00:22:41):

When I think about that Christmas, there was just something kind of magic about it. I think we did just kind of all have a fresh sense of we really care about each other.

(00:22:49):

That was kind of a, a big moment

Randi (00:23:01):

For six months. I didn't have reconstruction so I had just one breast and then a scar

(00:23:10):

and that was really hard.

(00:23:16):

I have journals in here.

(00:23:18):

I came across one that I didn't even remember. I had.

(00:23:23):

Brian said things were too much and went off. I don't know where he is, so I'm just here journaling.

(00:23:32):

We were just at such an impasse. We had had an argument earlier, which we don't have a lot of arguments and he just took a walk basically. But we've never really done that before where one of us has walked out on an argument.

(00:23:47):

I kind of felt like, whoa, I think we need some counseling. There just was not quite the same intimacy, you know, that we're used to. So there was, there was tension

(00:24:04):

and I hear so many stories of women whose husbands or boyfriends ditched them. It was the most complicated emotions that we've had to deal with and I don't know where we would've gone with it.

(00:24:27):

It's a couple's disease. This isn't just the woman, it isn't just the man.

Brian (00:24:39):

You go in the room with your wife and then basically it's like the doctor ignores you and then just deals with your wife. And all of a sudden I did not exist. Emotionally or whatever, he was just pushing me out of the room and that I just could not accept. As soon as I sensed that I thought I am going to exist, I am gonna be a part of this deal, I am gonna make sure what the surgeon saying is good for her.

Luke (00:25:34):

A lot of those cupboards are not actually what most people keep in their cupboards. I've got my Genesis and Super Nintendo and 64 carts here. It's nowhere near what the plan is for it, It's supposed to be much more organized than that.

Justin (VO) (00:25:50):

Of all the siblings, Luke's the most similar to dad. He's quieter, a bit of an introvert and deeply religious. And in 2006, a year before mom's diagnosis, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Luke (00:26:03):

I think mom might have been one of the first people I told like, oh, like I think I maybe need to get get checked out.

Randi (00:26:11):

And I remember him coming home and saying, mom, I think it's a tumor. And it was

Luke (00:26:19):

There was a point in my treatment where it was actually a trip I took with mom. Just me and mom went to Indianapolis to have this very complicated, like very intense procedure done to make sure that I was cancer free. Dad made sure I had a very good surgeon to do that. One of the best

Randi (00:26:40):

Brian's personality is one not to accept the status quo.

Luke (00:26:45):

He smoothed that process out a lot I think. Like if we come to him with like something's wrong, like he wants it fixed and fixed like the right way

Justin (VO) (00:26:56):

While mom and dad were figuring out their next steps. I was on my first trip to Europe. And hearing the good news that mom's cancer was now fully in remission, she was my first long distance call from the road.

Randi (Phone) (00:27:11):

Hello.

Justin (Phone) (00:27:12):

Hey, what's up? It's Justin.

Randi (Phone) (00:27:13):

Hey Justin, what's up with you?

Justin (Phone) (00:27:17):

not too much. I'm just hanging out in Berlin right now.

Randi (Phone) (00:27:20):

Well tonight is the church meeting Rock Berlin.

Justin (Phone) (00:27:24):

Oh really?

Randi (Phone) (00:27:26):

Yeah, probably get free beer and

Justin (Phone) (00:27:28):

I've already got, I've already got plans.

Randi (Phone) (00:27:30):

Oh, Okay.

Justin (Phone) (00:27:31):

It's nice. I'm staying with this guy Adrian. His mom is like, she's almost as nice as you are. It's pretty ridiculous.

Randi (Phone) (00:27:38):

Aww. <laugh>.

Justin (Phone) (00:27:40):

But I better go. It's like a dollar a minute to talk <laugh>.

Randi (Phone) (00:27:42):

I know. Thank you so much for calling. We love you.

Justin (Phone) (00:27:45):

All right, love you too.

Randi (Phone) (00:27:46):

Praying for you too. Be Safe. Bye-bye.

Justin (Phone) (00:27:48):

Bye.

Justin (VO) (00:27:51):

Back at home, things were still tense over breast reconstruction options and dad had gone into full problem solving mode

Justin (00:27:59):

And to you, like who is mom? Like what does she represent?

Brian (00:28:03):

She is, she's my dream girl. She's the treasure of my life.

Randi (00:28:09):

Even though I'm a nurse, we have had a tendency to search out other alternatives, and Brian is a researcher.

Aunt Kirsten (00:28:20):

Well, the whole process of your mother's post-surgical recovery was kind of baffling to us. Frankly,

Randi (00:28:32):

The traditional approaches of implants or flap surgery just weren't gonna work for me. That they, that wasn't a good choice for me, especially at that time because I was starting a new job and really needed to be there day one.

Brian (00:28:46):

And eventually God led us to various discoveries of people who could help.

Randi (00:28:54):

In April, dad happened to hear on the 10 o'clock news there was a health spot and they were talking about this surgeon in Florida that does a new less invasive type of breast reconstruction.

TV Reporter (00:29:06):

The Brava bra was invented by a south Florida plastic surgeon and some experts say it is the next breast thing in cosmetic medicine.

Dr. Khouri (00:29:15):

About 15 years ago, breast implants were in the hot seat and I thought there should be an easier way to do this than inserting an implant.

Dr. Jeffers (00:29:22):

It was sort of a newer idea that perhaps you could reconstruct the entire breast with just fat. Dr. Curry had tried to use a device that he had to basically expand that area so that you could put the fat in it.

TV Reporter (00:29:36):

Brava works by what scientists call tension induced growth. First soft plastic are placed over each breast and connected to a small vacuum device called a smart box.

Randi (00:29:47):

It is outpatient, no incisions. I only had to be off work three days at a time. I couldn't refuse that. I thought, yes, <laugh>, well let's check into this. And of course, at first we're like trying to look it up. There's not very much, there's no website and we're trying to figure out is this for real?

Dr. Khouri (00:30:14):

So your mom and your dad came to me and saying, you know, I wanna try this. Your mom was very well educated on the subject. She had done her research.

Randi (00:30:25):

There was something so exciting about being a pioneer in a new type of breast reconstruction. And this immediately changed everything. We were a team, we were on the same page now. Once we met Dr. Khouri, it was, we were on an adventure.

TV Reporter (00:30:43):

But the process is slow, very slow.

Dr. Khouri (00:30:47):

The growth is really one milliliter a day. It's basically a drop a day of sustained use. This is no quick fix.

Randi (00:30:56):

The machine I was supposed to use for the expansion was just so difficult for me. I just couldn't tolerate it. Usually I am pretty tough.

Brian (00:31:06):

Yeah, she just couldn't stand it, and that's why they called it the turbo because it was like

Randi (00:31:12):

Turbulence, torture.

Jesse (00:31:15):

So I was in very close quarters with mom during her reconstruction and so I was kind of aware of what that was like for her. I knew it was kind of painful for her. It would make loud noises and it was kind of like this real like contraption. She thought it was so funny and she was embarrassed about it, but she was also so just like lighthearted about this thing that I really didn't realize at the time was causing her a lot of physical pain. That was something that most people didn't see.

Brian (00:31:43):

There's a place for a, a little pump to attach. After the surgery, some of the, the fat that he injected would seep out and it would pull here and it would be sucked out of here into the little pump and destroy the pump. He didn't have very many and they were very expensive. Okay. I talked to my guy who owns auto parts store in Eau Claire.

Jim Meyers (00:32:12):

Do you have a Mityvac back here yet, Chad? So this is really what it is. it's, it's a pressure bleeder, brake bleeder.

Brian (00:32:25):

Well look at that! In a brake line bleeder, you have to separate the air from the oil when you take air out of a brake line. I mentioned that to my plastic surgeon and he was all for it. So the fat accumulated down here before it got to the pump. Okay. So the woman would wear this underneath. It was quite a, quite a thing, but it would save the pump. So women could just go to an auto parts store and buy a brake line bleeder!

Randi (00:32:56):

And it made a big difference in the outcome of my surgeries.

Dr. Khouri (00:32:59):

It was good to have an engineer who could troubleshoot it back in Wisconsin. He was pretty good at fixing it

Justin (00:33:07):

Apparently, now other women who are using the same construction device are buying these.

Jim Meyers (00:33:12):

No, I didn't. That's great, that's great. I never thought he would use this for that. Only Brian.

Randi (00:33:28):

A lot of women say I never realized how important nipples were, you know, always trying to hide 'em or whatever and like, but it's so strange to see just one side.

(00:33:40):

It was just a constant reminder of our cancer taken from us.

Dr. Jeffers (00:33:48):

When you get to the point of talking about your nipple reconstruction, you have a couple options. As a patient, you can either, number one, not get any reconstruction, you can go ahead and get a tattoo, which can look very realistic when you're looking at the front end. But if you're looking from the side, then you obviously don't have a nipple. Nipple reconstruction using tattoos only is just like any other tattoo, they can fade with time. You can have nipple reconstruction where you are basically rearranging the tissue on your reconstructed breast to create a new nipple. I usually tell patients it's like nipple origami.

Randi (00:34:24):

There's a study and that says only 13% of women are totally satisfied with surgical nipple reconstruction. 13.

Dr. Jeffers (00:34:32):

Or finally nipple prosthetics. There are some that are just, don't go so much for the look of a nipple, not trying to look realistic. It's more to have a certain shape within clothes, for example. I mean, there's not a lot of options.

Dr. Khouri (00:34:50):

So I was sitting there and explaining the various procedures of how can we build a nipple to your mom and dad. And I was explaining the technique. I said, you know what, let's do a mold of your normal nipple.

Brian (00:35:03):

You know, he did some little temporary thing and he was frustrated with it and

Randi (00:35:07):

<laugh> and it was pretty crude. It didn't stay on very well, but what he was thinking is a picture so that his work would look nice and finished.

Dr. Khouri (00:35:18):

It was kind of okay, but there is no good way to reconstruct the nipple, especially for unilateral when you have to another one to match, it'll never look like the other one.

Brian (00:35:28):

And I said, well, can I figure this out on my own? He says, oh yeah.

Dr. Patchett (00:35:50):

Confess.

(00:35:52):

Is it safe babe? <laugh> little cultural reference for you there. All right.

(00:36:00):

I remember him approaching me and telling me that he had a non-dental question. I mean, I don't exactly remember exactly how he put it, but I remember him saying, yeah, I have some questions for you, but it's not related to my teeth. It's like, or teeth. And it's like, okay. It's like, you know, you always wonder when people approach, it's like, so what's he try to sell me? You know? But I knew that wasn't Brian, so that wasn't an issue.

Justin (00:36:21):

Can you show me?

Dr. Patchett (00:36:22):

Yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

(00:36:25):

So I keep a little bit stashed in my lab anywa. This is where I store it anyhow, let me get something to mix it with here. But yeah, Alginate, it's been around in dentistry for ages. It's like a powder that you mix just mix with water.

(00:36:45):

And he was looking for a way to be able to make a mold. His approach to me was professional, but still, I, there was a moment of awkwardness too when he started to explain, at least I know on my part it's like, oh wow, okay, really? But yeah, and, and of course I was supportive. It's like being a married man myself. It's like, yeah, you know, you're, you're still fulfilling the, the command of that one flesh relationship, that unity and enjoying the blessings of intimacy of marriage. And it's like, yeah, okay, well hey, good for you guys.

(00:37:24):

So this stuff is set, so here you go. You can get a, an impression of my thumb.

Brian (00:37:33):

It was just a little corners and I'd go in the kitchen sometimes and do little experiments when no one was around. I mean, it really didn't take up much room at all. I would just have to hide it.

Randi (00:37:47):

We were just learning together. I was always all in. I was, it was just part of a new adventure.

Dr. Khouri (00:38:02):

It is a challenge to build that little nipple to match the other size. It's not only a pigment or color, which is difficult to match, but also there's a texture that's difficult to achieve.

Randi (00:38:16):

He really came up with it pretty quickly. When I got our first prototype, it was like, wow, it really makes a difference.

Brian (00:38:35):

The doctor saw that and was pretty impressed.

Randi (00:38:37):

He was amazed.

Dr. Khouri (00:38:39):

Wow. How did you do this nipple? The nipple we build in the operating room comes nowhere close!

Randi (00:38:49):

Dr. Khouri asked if I wanteded to come down and be a part of this show and tell, and I was, I was thinking, oh, what, what dress should I get? And this, this, this looks good. And then it was like, no, actually <laugh>, the dress won't matter. <laugh> He was always training doctors. So he had about a dozen international breast surgeons again with them. He said, you're gonna put that on and they're not gonna know it's not real and we're thinking. Yeah.

Dr. Khouri (00:39:22):

I fooled one of the world expert in breast surgery. He said, I couldn't believe this, Roger, how did you build this nipple? Said, it's a fake one. Said no way. He had to go back in the room, examine your mom again, again and look and say, oh my god. He couldn't believe his eyes.

Brian (00:39:43):

It was like, Candid Camera like, is this a joke? <laugh>? So it was like, oh, all these high end people wondering how I did something.

Dr. Khouri (00:39:55):

And your dad saw that and he said, does anybody that do that as, as a business? No, they've tried, never really worked out.

Randi (00:40:02):

Brian could see how this would be really great.

Dr. Khouri (00:40:05):

There's clearly a need out there and then jumped into it.

Justin (VO) (00:40:11):

And so it began with mom as outreach and customer service and dad problem solving behind the scenes. With nothing else out there quite like it. And with a little help from Dr. Khouri, mom and dad's business quietly started to gain a following.

Dr. Jeffers (00:40:26):

I had gone to a course in Miami about fat grafting and your parents, they were there showing the nipples that they had created and I just thought that was such a fascinating idea and your mom's story was so compelling.

Brian (00:40:40):

We had a hundred plus doctors and there was just a few vendors and we just kind of had 'em to ourselves. It's like we go to Miami and then we're in this whole other world where the medical community kind of appreciates us and all these world class surgeons,

Doctor (00:40:58):

Naturally Impressive. It's called the, the people who make this.

Brian (00:41:05):

You go to these big hospitals and talk to these high end people and you go back to Eau Claire and you're just nobody.

Randi (00:41:17):

Nobody knows what happened

Brian (00:41:19):

And nobody, and hardly anybody could appreciate it. It's just like having two different worlds.

Justin (VO) (00:41:34):

Unlike the small businesses of our childhood, no one else in the family had a clue what was going on.

Brian (00:41:41):

Living room table, dining room table, I would box things up. That's what it was. I guess we just had Jesse to hide it from. So that made it easier <laugh>. It took a while to move into the room.

Kari (00:41:55):

Kristen's room used to be a multipurpose room. It was a library, had bookshelves all over it.

Dr. Patchett (00:42:02):

Okay, this is the house, for insurance purposes.

Kari (00:42:07):

And then once we went away to college and that room was empty dad found a new use for it.

Kristin (00:42:20):

It was October 2008. I was bringing my boyfriend to meet my family and so I'm like, oh hey Phil, come check out my old bedroom. <laugh>. We opened the doors and it's just like unrecognizable. Like there's still my like volleyball trophies on the wall and then there's like samples of latex. Yeah, adhesive. And it was just like, oh my god.

Phil (00:42:44):

Everything just looked so homemade. I felt like I was intruding.

Kristin (00:42:49):

Dad came in and was like, this is not you've, this is really, everything is set up exactly the way it needs to be and please don't touch anything. It was like very clear he just like didn't want us in there

Phil (00:42:58):

And I just could not process what was happening. I'm like, is this, is this real <laugh>?

Jesse (00:43:03):

And I actually don't remember seeing a nipple any of the times that I walked in there. But you know, dad always had his spaces that were kind of cluttered and full of you know, things that he would just kind of like blur and be like, this is just a bunch of junk everywhere <laugh>.

Justin (VO) (00:43:17):

What is that <laugh>

Brian (00:43:19):

Your generation would know nothing about, but it's a very interesting piece of equipment.

Kari (00:43:29):

I never peeked, you know, if there was something covered with a sheet, I was like, well that's, that's private <laugh>.

Justin (VO) (00:43:35):

Slowly a select few were let in

Lou (00:43:37):

And I think I might have asked do you have like a brochure? And he did and he brought it to me but gave me the proper warning.

Uncle Dick (00:43:48):

I knew he was doing something I really didn't know exactly. You know,

Lou (00:43:54):

It was his understated way of saying, look, if you open this brochure, there are gonna be pictures of nipples in there

Uncle Dick (00:44:03):

And be truthful. I was just floored.

Lou (00:44:08):

It reminded me of the Instant Info. You know, it was like that sort of thing. A need, meeting that need with the knowledge that he had or felt that he could easily arrive at. So I guess in some ways it really didn't surprise me. It just seemed very Brian-like.

Justin (VO) (00:44:22):

But not everyone would agree that this was Brian-like myself included.

Aunt Kirsten (00:44:27):

The fact that he would have a business is not entirely surprising. The fact that he would have this sort of business just totally blew our minds. <laugh>. It's just so, it's really surprising <laugh>

Justin (00:44:43):

And for you to go from it being just for mom to being a broader thing, did you struggle with that kind of decision?

Brian (00:44:51):

It was, it was okay. It worked well other than just, you know, getting over the, the fact that you're dealing with such a personal thing

Justin (VO) (00:45:03):

To say we grew up conservative when it came to sex was definitely an understatement.

Jesse (00:45:08):

Mom and dad didn't give us very direct pressure about anything to do with like sexuality or nudity or anything. We got the picture from like the culture we were in.

Music (00:45:25):

Jesus is still alright with me, Jesus is still alright, oh yeah.

Speaker 33 (00:45:31):

We live in a world where we're obsessed with women's breasts.

Speaker 34 (00:45:33):

The FCC for example, considers female nipples a sexual organ. But what makes the areola a sexual organ? The gender of the person it belongs to.

Speaker 33 (00:45:42):

I used something very quickly so that they would get the point. I don't wanna see your boobs.

Speaker 34 (00:45:48):

It's the biggest cover up of the 21st century. Yes, nipples

Speaker 35 (00:45:52):

Movies are definitely a hard thing because you know, when you're going to Blockbuster or Hollywood, there's, they've always got those movies and I mean there's so many, like just about every movie that comes out anymore is rated R, PG 13.

Speaker 34 (00:46:03):

Does she have like, you know them little pink teeny nipples?

Speaker 35 (00:46:05):

Oh yeah.

Speaker 34 (00:46:06):

What I think you probably are not aware of, is how difficult it is for a guy to look at a girl with purity in his heart when she is dressed immodestly.

Speaker 37 (00:46:21):

Are the kids heads really gonna explode if they see nipples on a painting?

Speaker 36 (00:46:25):

To be uncovered is a shameful thing.

(00:46:28):

Nipples.

Speaker 37 (00:46:29):

Nipples.

Speaker 36 (00:46:29):

Nipples.

Speaker 37 (00:46:30):

Nipples.

Speaker 33 (00:46:31):

Oh my god, you have to stop using the word nipples.

Jesse (00:46:35):

I think a book just appeared on my bed one day, which is fine. I think, you know, that conversation isn't necessarily fun. <laugh>,

Kristin (00:46:44):

But they gave you an American girl book later.

Kari (00:46:47):

I don't remember if they gave it to me or if I found it, but that was kind of my lifeline to understand just like puberty, cuz I didn't feel comfortable talking to mom about it. It wasn't an open dialogue that we had. So. I did a lot of independent research, <laugh>

Justin (VO) (00:47:04):

And dad had pretty extreme views on what crossed the line.

Jesse (00:47:08):

You know, you're watching a show and people start talking about like, you know, something being like sexy or you know, like a body part.

Jerry Seinfeld (00:47:14):

But I think I see a nipple

Jesse (00:47:22):

Or the sitcom, and like the audience starts going, woo.

Kristin (00:47:27):

Dad had an ear for that, he'd come down. This seems marginal.

Kari (00:47:30):

Right- he catches the one kiss of the episode and then he changes the channel

Kristin (00:47:34):

and the show is now banned.

Luke (00:47:37):

I really appreciate like dad would like fast forward movies and stuff and he was really good at like,

Kristin (00:47:43):

Except when we watched Forrest Gump, he fast forwarded almost the entire movie

Kari (00:47:47):

Well a lot of the 70's were pretty marginal.

Luke (00:47:50):

That's what I'm saying. he was good at like cutting that material out.

Kristin (00:47:52):

I don't feel like I've ever actually seen that movie. <laugh>

(00:47:54):

Banned.

Kari (00:47:57):

Somebody says a curse word.

Homer Simpson (00:47:59):

Dammit.

Kristin (00:47:59):

Banned.

(00:48:01):

Even like a crush.

(00:48:04):

Banned.

Kari (00:48:05):

This content is a little marginal. I think we need to change the channel kids.

Jerry Seinfeld (00:48:09):

Hey, everybody's got 'em. Look. I've got 'em.

Justin (VO) (00:48:15):

While funny to look back on, this kind of extreme attitude was a part of why dad and I struggled to find any common ground to talk about.

(00:48:22):

When I would call home, the most I'd get from him would be limited to a quick hello and goodbye.

(00:48:30):

Neither myself nor my siblings remember a specific moment where we found out about the business. However, by 2015 we knew the basics, but not much more than mom and dad sell nipples.

(00:48:42):

My girlfriend had recently become my wife and we had moved from New York to Los Angeles.

Marissa (00:48:48):

We own a car!

Justin (VO) (00:48:49):

Being the one kid who lived away from home and just generally being a little bolder than my siblings. I asked dad if he could give me a tour of his lab. Miraculously he agreed and of course I was gonna film the whole process.

(00:49:07):

We were both pretty nervous.

Justin (00:49:11):

Yeah, you don't have to talk, but I'll put a microphone on you anyway. Just clip it to clip it to your nipple.

Brian (00:49:16):

Yeah, right. <laugh>

Justin (VO) (00:49:20):

With no idea what to expect, for the first time in over five years, I stepped inside the room.

Justin (00:49:29):

Okay, so I wanna see the different steps, basically.

Brian (00:49:33):

Different steps.

Justin (00:49:34):

Where does it, where does it start?

Brian (00:49:37):

Here's your mold. We've developed a whole set of instructions and all of that for that. Okay, there's your mold and here's these.

Justin (00:49:50):

So you made those.

Brian (00:49:51):

I made those.

Justin (00:49:52):

Oh wow. That's crazy. Is that a sticker yet?

Brian (00:49:57):

You put adhesive on it whenever you wanna wear it. So this becomes that becomes this becomes that.

Justin (VO) (00:50:11):

Here's my quiet conservative Forrest Gump fast forwarding dad going into the nuances of the perfect shade of nipple pink.

Brian (00:50:19):

When you thin out the color, it changes its intensity. So I had a thin, the thin part, each color has a certain code to it.

Justin (00:50:30):

They're all pierced.

Brian (00:50:31):

They're all pierced. Just, they're just like little insects.

Justin (VO) (00:50:34):

Edgy.

(00:50:35):

Now where's like the actual, what kind of stuff do you like mix to make all these like,

Brian (00:50:40):

Well, this is the new silicone I'm transferring to that is just more, more durable for what we're doing. And with my product it has to be able to stand lots of movement, lots of cloth rubbing, who knows what happens to these things. I get the areola started there like that. I go through lots of toothpicks.

Justin (VO) (00:51:03):

So what's the measuring?

Brian (00:51:04):

So many grams go in the nipple hole and so many grams make up on areola. That's, that looks correct. Point five's close enough. So there's a label on it. Each one has its own personal serial number. According to the doctors, there wasn't much, much of this that was done before that was worthwhile.

Justin (VO) (00:51:29):

There was this depth of knowledge and all these elements to this that dad was really proud of.

Brian (00:51:37):

Very exciting.

Justin (00:51:38):

I've never been over here.

Brian (00:51:39):

Well, the cats spent lots of time here.

Justin (VO) (00:51:43):

Just kind of cracking that door open a little bit was something where I was able to really appreciate dad in a way I hadn't in a long time. maybe never, honestly,

Brian (00:51:55):

There it is all coded now. Okay.

Justin (VO) (00:52:02):

And he started to become a lot less boring in my mind.

Randi (00:52:08):

Almost right away, it seemed like people were happy and always like to the point of kind of surprising us, like, wow, they really like this <laugh>.

Mary (00:52:20):

Oh God, don't look out here. Oh God, please don't look out here.

Randi (00:52:25):

Do you need help?

Mary (00:52:25):

No, I climb this. I climb up there like a little monkey. Let me get this, I'll, I'll go get the other ones. But this is how they come. We're talking absolute perfection. And you work it just, just around the edge of the nipple.

(00:52:45):

I just, I never felt good. I was always depressed and I wouldn't let my husband see me ever without a bra on. And he would, he would get a little upset with me. He said, it doesn't matter to me, but it does to me.

(00:52:59):

And you, the nipples, you just lay 'em down like this.

(00:53:03):

It was just a part of me missing, just a little part. But honest to God, when your mom, she knew that color, she knew the size. She says well, do you want the bigger ones? I, I don't know. <laugh> My husband, he noticed it that day when he walked in and I <laugh>.

(00:53:23):

He goes, oh my god! This is amazing. It's just something this small can make you feel so much better about yourself. You never would think that. The one thing they always told me is, every time you look in the mirror, you're gonna know you've had cancer. With these, I don't, I don't think about it every time. I don't think, oh, you've had cancer. I don't. This is the first time I cried about it. I've never cried <laugh>. I got no reason to because I was, you know, I, okay, I'm through. I've got sur- I've had the cancer, I'm done with the cancer. I've moved on and I'm good. But now I'm better <laugh> much better. I don't have to do it for anybody, but I did it for me. because of your mom and dad,

Brian (00:54:14):

This pedal just simply turns on the light box that I devised from just a decorative light. That's all it is. And I found a little white cover from a cottage cheese type container and it makes it so it's nice and soft and I use the lights to help me see alignment, et cetera.

(00:54:35):

I figured out that really if I just do 10 or so different models with really good good colors, that people pretty much get something that worked well for them.

April (00:54:48):

Especially for women of color, most things out there are not geared toward us. So you, we have to do a lot of the groundwork for ourselves. I had to start looking outside of the box and I felt there had to be a, a nipple out there. Somebody had to make one.

Brian (00:55:09):

This chart here represents five plus years of developing colors and then seeing if they really work for a customer. We go from really dark, we have a darker color than this as well. It basically looks black, and a lot of places don't cater to darker nipples for instance. I just wasn't satisfied with what was available in the- in the common market.

April (00:55:39):

And at the end of a few nipple surgeries when they've told you that this is it, this is what we do, you're still not there. You're still not a hundred percent and you know it and they know it.

Brian (00:55:53):

These are fisker, you know, circle makers for people who like to make scrapbooks and just paper things. Things that have nothing to do with making prosthetic nipples

April (00:56:09):

Technology such that we should be able to do more than we are doing and don't just mutilate us and then let us go. That's not it. That doesn't cut it because so many people need this. So many people. A

Aunt Greta (00:56:25):

A small business is tough. Brian wouldn't have done it on his own. This is where Randi makes Brian look good because she's the voice.

Randi (00:56:45):

Naturally impressive. How may I help you? Hi. Hi Katherine. yeah, my name's Randi and what can I do for you today?

(00:56:54):

For us it's really pretty amazing how it utilizes both of our skills really well.

(00:57:01):

So we kind of customize as we go. We'll send you one and you can say, oh that color's a little too dark or a little too light, or I guess I do need a little bigger or smaller areola. So it really helps you be able to see it.

Brian (00:57:16):

Why would the woman wanna talk to some grumpy guy on the phone about something so personal as nipples?

Randi (00:57:24):

Okay, so there's a, maybe you were looking at the Lee because that had the oval nipple that you were talking about and so that's fairly smooth. It doesn't have so many bumps, but it still has some character to it.

(00:57:40):

We've been in business about nine years and the first five years we put out about 500 individual nipples, and since then we've done about 3,500 <laugh> in the last four years. So it's significant. And you know, it's just bit by bit. It, it's not hundreds a day,

Brian (00:58:04):

It's more of a, a ministry than a business.

Randi (00:58:09):

We put in a letter and some instructions in the, the bags

(00:58:16):

And then you could put in a yellow sheet and I'll do the congrats-

Brian (00:58:19):

After that, after we print the instructions, the can put the sheet in, yes.

Randi (00:58:30):

Brian is hard to give himself credit, I think for the importance of what he does. It's just like, well I just do this.

Brian (00:58:42):

Just problem solving, trying to see things from the opposite way most people do and then try to figure out the simple effective ways to create a quality product.

Randi (00:58:54):

But it probably helps you feel good to know my part of it too. That is making a difference. Cuz a lot of people say,

Brian (00:59:01):

Sure,

Randi (00:59:02):

Thank your husband for inventing this

Brian (00:59:03):

but I, I don't, it doesn't go to my head

Randi (00:59:07):

<laugh>.

Brian (00:59:08):

So.

Randi (00:59:10):

But I think it's hard for him to fully comprehend and it's even hard for me to fully comprehend

Justin (VO) (00:59:21):

As time has gone on most of the family has become more comfortable talking about the business, which has led to some interesting situations.

Kari (00:59:29):

I was coming home for Christmas break and one of my best friends was dropping me off

Phil (00:59:35):

When Brian saw that I had an iPhone he kind of pulled me aside and asked me to look up the website.

Jesse (00:59:41):

Dad came to me with his little point and shoot camera, and he was like, you know, how do I make sure that the colors on this nipple are accurate?

Kari (00:59:50):

And I, I kind of just made this comment like, oh man, I gotta sleep in the nipple room.

Phil (00:59:57):

And so then he stood beside me and just like had me go through, look at all the pictures, click on different various nipples and like put things in my cart.

Jesse (01:00:07):

So I like told him how white balance works. And then over, you know, six months or something, he ultimately created this like perfect little photography station for his product. Now it's in like an ice cream bucket and honestly it works great, <laugh>, it looks good.

Phil (01:00:23):

So I knew that it was completely humorless. Like he just had to figure out if it worked.

Kari (01:00:27):

I apparently had never told her that dad was making nipples and so she was very, very confused. <laugh>.

Phil (01:00:36):

It was very real <laugh> in that moment.

Justin (VO) (01:00:40):

Even the younger generations are finding out, though the concept still needs a little explaining.

Kristin (01:00:45):

Ingrid said something about like, oh my grandpa makes nipples. And mom was like, you might wanna talk to her about how she says that cuz people might think that's a little strange if she just says, my grandpa makes ni- makes nipples <laugh> . Mom said if, maybe just tell her, you know, my grandpa makes nipples to help people who've had cancer. and I was like, well yeah, I could coach her to say that, but she'll probably just say, my grandpa makes nipples and we'll see <laugh>. But probably someday soon she'll probably understand it a little better. Maybe if she gets to see them or something like that.

Justin (VO) (01:01:23):

But I think because of the Christian concept of purity, it's not easy for everyone.

Luke (01:01:31):

It's actually pretty hard for me to think very long about what dad does. You know, like, I'm not gonna <laugh>, it's, I only go so far cause I don't wanna be thinking about other, you know, the female breast, you know, unless I'm married, you know? So it's hard for me to wrap my mind around like being able to do that

Justin (01:01:57):

Do, do like people at church know, like,

Randi (01:01:59):

Oh yeah.

Justin (01:01:59):

Okay.

Randi (01:02:00):

Oh sure. Most of them. I mean, our close, our close friends.

Brian (01:02:04):

We don't bring it up.

Randi (01:02:05):

Right.

Pastor Rob (01:02:07):

If you think about your life, you know, there's this huge ocean and you're a ship in it and you want to get somewhere, you want your life to get somewhere, your life will get it will go toward what you think is true and important.

Justin (01:02:20):

What do you think, you know, maybe even your initial reaction or what people's initial reaction would be to like, oh, Brian's got a secret room full of nipples. Like what does that kind of thing, what does that evoke and how do you think-

Pastor Rob (01:02:32):

I don't think most people would've any idea how to handle that. They'd think I was lying to them or making a really off-color joke or something

Randi (01:02:45):

Really nice to meet. I forgot again.

Speaker 36 (01:02:46):

Ross.

Randi (01:02:47):

Ross and Lisa. And I'm Randi.

Pastor Rob (01:02:51):

Your dad doesn't talk about a lot of things anyhow, and I suspect if he was making plastic cups, he wouldn't talk about it a whole lot in the foyer of church.

Randi (01:03:02):

Well, there's definitely bravery in this. It's not an easy question to respond to when people say, so what kind of work do you do? Sometimes I just say it, it's a medical device related to my breast cancer. You know, and that's usually enough to shut people up.

Pastor Rob (01:03:21):

So it, it's, it's way bigger I think, than anybody knows. And I don't know the extent. I really don't know. I mean, if he sells 10 a week or a hundred a week or I don't have any idea. But what I've seen makes me think that it's way more extensive than he lets on.

(01:05:02):

The context here is this. No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it'll be hidden or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on a stand so that those who come in may see the light. He's talking here about how are you perceived, what impact do you have in the world around you?

Justin (VO) (01:05:23):

Since everything was done entirely through the mail or online, neither mom or dad had really ever met a customer.

Randi (01:05:31):

Some of our people we get to know, I get to know like a friend.

(01:05:37):

Did you have a nice Christmas with your 95 year old mother <laugh>? That's so precious.

(01:05:43):

I call 'em client-friends <laugh>. So that's what I love. <laugh>,

Justin (VO) (01:05:50):

One of mom's favorite client-friends happened to live in my area, so I jumped at the chance to fly her out. And with her failing vision, I asked Luke to help her arrive safely with the unmentioned side benefit for me being that he would get to meet a client as well.

Justin (01:06:06):

So mom, are you excited to meet this, meet this person?

Randi (01:06:08):

I am very excited to meet. Sallee, yeah.

Justin (01:06:13):

First time?

Randi (01:06:14):

First time to meet in person. We've talked by phone.

(01:06:16):

Is there a door bell?

Sallee (01:06:24):

Well, hello!

(01:06:27):

Oh Randi! Come on in! <laugh>.

Randi (01:06:33):

Oh, I've been anticipating this for a while. And-

Sallee (01:06:36):

Me too, me too.

Randi (01:06:40):

Yeah. This is very meaningful.

Sallee (01:06:46):

Well, for me, just being told that I had cancer was a shock to me because I was so naive about cancer, period. Because it, there wasn't any in my family or anybody that was close to me that had cancer. And when I got the nipples, it wa- it, it changed how I felt about going through losing something that was pretty much near and dear to me. <laugh>.

Randi (01:07:18):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>. It does feel strange even after I had my breast reconstruction to look in the mirror and just see one nipple, that asymmetry. Whereas now I just feel like getting dressed or after a shower or whatever, I, I look in the mirror and it, it makes me feel happy. I just feel like dancing <laugh>

Sallee (01:07:38):

Me too.

Randi (01:07:39):

<laugh>.

Sallee (01:07:40):

I feel exactly the same way. I feel grateful. He should be put on a pedestal, in my opinion.

Randi (01:07:50):

<laugh>, he might not like that.

Sallee (01:07:53):

<laugh>. All right, well if that was still rolling, could you erase that?

Randi (01:07:56):

Well, he's got a fan club. He's got a fan club.

Sallee (01:07:59):

Well, I'm a fan. Yeah. A big fan of yours as well.

Randi (01:08:04):

Thank you. Yes.

Justin (01:08:06):

Sallee, if you could give a message to my dad, someone who acknowledges that it's helping people, but I think he doesn't really get that kind of face-to-face thing.

Sallee (01:08:19):

Okay.

(01:08:21):

Do I start now?

Justin (01:08:22):

Yeah. Yeah. Whenever.

Randi (01:08:37):

Oh hello! Aww. You're here to celebrate Christmas. Oh look at this! All my kids, All the kids, all my kids home for Christmas. The best present I could ever have. Alright, all my kids home for Christmas. Now it's really Christmas.

Justin (01:09:14):

Whoa! You excited for Christmas? It's here. It's happening.

(01:09:22):

A bit nervous. Here we go.

(01:09:25):

Alright, well here's the movie.

Kari (01:09:27):

Yay!

Justin (01:09:28):

Dad hopfully you enjoy it.

Randi (01:09:31):

Okay, dun-da-dun-dun-da-dum, drum roll.

Justin (01:09:45):

You can look towards that camera and record a message for my dad.

Woman (01:09:53):

I just wanna tell you, thank you so much for the boost of confidence that you have given me. Just knowing that you've had a surgery like that and you're not even 30 years old yet, it's still very difficult. And so having those prosthetic pieces, it just, you know, does something for you.

(01:10:13):

And we ordered some nipples and when they came I was in love. I was like, oh my gosh. I was so excited. I didn't read the directions, I just did the, looked at 'em, did the glue, stuck 'em on. And I just looked in the mirror and I started to cry

(01:10:30):

To be able to be physically normal again. It's life-changing.

(01:10:39):

I just didn't look natural anymore. this product, it's just a real miracle and a real gift from God.

(01:10:50):

I was exhausted from everything and thought I don't really wanna have any kind of reconstruction as far as nipples. Your parents, they've given me a whole new feeling about myself. They really are offering something special for women who've been through quite a lot.

(01:11:10):

Nipples didn't seem like a big deal to me, but I feel more complete. I'm really grateful for that.

Sallee (01:11:20):

Hi Brian. I wanted to sincerely thank you for helping me with my nipples. They're beautiful.

Mary (01:11:39):

If he'd walk in this door, the first thing I would stand here. And if you'd say that's your dad, I'd be running over to him. And give- and I wouldn't let go because he's changed my life that much. He's like a hero to me. I really hope your mom and dad understand what they've done for us.

April (01:12:02):

I just want you to know that because of you, I'm so much closer to feeling whole. And I know that so many women out there have been helped by your innovation.

Sallee (01:12:22):

You are an amazing creator of something very wonderful for so many people on so many levels, and I'm truly grateful to you. Thank you, Brian. From the bottom of my heart.

Justin (01:13:05):

How do you feel, dad?

Brian (01:13:07):

It's well done- it- it would take me a few times to really truly soak it all in. So...

Justin (01:13:13):

See, me and dad, were the criers. <laugh>. We love you Dad. <laugh>.

Brian (01:13:22):

Thank you. Love you too son.

Justin (VO) (01:13:30):

It was amazing to see the change in dad after the screening. There was a pride there I hadn't seen before. a confidence in his work.

Justin (01:13:50):

All right, so this is what my dad makes.

Pastor Rob (01:13:54):

Wow. Once of the shock of it wears of, you think about somebody needing it and using it, it's really pretty remarkable actually. How did, I don't know how he even does that.

Jim Meyers (01:14:12):

Oh gosh. That is very realistic. My goodness. That's amazing.

Dr. Patchett (01:14:28):

Oh, look at that. It's translucent. So some of the skin comes up. So he had to balance all that color and stuff. Guy's an artist, isn't he? <laugh>. That's wild. That's wild. And I had, have, I, I do not know who that belongs to and I do not want to know <laugh>.

Randi (01:14:50):

I think dad has changed with doing this business. So I think it has helped his self-esteem.

Luke (01:15:01):

This topic being more discussed and the trip to visit Sallee has kind of helped me understand more. Just like this really makes a huge difference for these people's lives. It can just make life so much better when things like that feel like they're fixed.

Randi (01:15:23):

It's not a story to be ashamed of.

Kristin (01:15:27):

Hey, time to light the candles, girls.

Brian (01:15:29):

Candle time.

Randi (01:15:29):

Merry Christmas everyone. Happy birthday. Jesus. Right?. We'll get

(01:15:36):

Do you want me to pray?

(01:15:39):

Okay. Let's have a prayer. Okay. This is so special. Thank you for all our blessings. Thank you for the beautiful gift that we celebrate at Christmas in Jesus name. Amen.

Justin (VO) (01:15:51):

Like 2007, this Christmas was different. After spending all this time with everyone in my family. It felt like I really knew them for the first time as adults. I loved following my career around the country, but just how much was I missing out on here at home?

Justin (01:16:16):

We had a very exhausting day yesterday.

Randi (01:16:20):

What did you do?

Justin (01:16:22):

We bought a house in Minneapolis.

Randi (01:16:24):

<laugh>, not really?

Marissa (01:16:28):

Surprise!

Randi (01:16:29):

Surprise.

(01:16:30):

Really?

Justin (01:16:33):

Filming with you guys and all the family was so nice. Now we wanted to be, you know,

Marissa (01:16:37):

Closer.

Randi (01:16:39):

Oh, I can't believe it. <laugh>.

Marissa (01:16:44):

I can't believe it either. It's crazy.

Randi (01:16:47):

Totally shocked.

Justin (01:16:48):

I knew you would-

Randi (01:16:49):

Now they won't fall off in the ocean.

Brian (01:16:51):

That's good! Okay. Thanks for calling.

Randi (01:16:56):

Okay. Love you. aww, see you soon.

Brian (01:17:02):

I would never have chosen this profession

Randi (01:17:04):

<laugh>,

Brian (01:17:06):

But it's something that, that's God's plan for me and I'll keep doing it

Justin (VO) (01:17:16):

For something so small, it's amazing what a nipple can do.