Hello and welcome to Living Phase 2. We’re Mike and Nancy and we’re so glad you are here! On this page you can learn a bit about us and and our transition into the second phase of life. Our hope is that what we’ve learned, our successes and mistakes, can help you as you navigate through the challenges and joys that come with this stage of living.
Mike and Nancy grew up in Kansas and met while students at Wichita State University. Nancy was studying Nursing and Mike was studying electrical engineering. It was love at first sight. Mike proposed 6 weeks later, and they’ve now been married for over 30 years. They have raised three amazing children, who are now starting families of their own. After 30 years of Mike working in the corporate world and Nancy raising the kids and starting a couple of internet businesses of her own, they decided it was time to chase their dream and own their own business together. They found Apple Spice and jumped in with both feet. Mike works operations and Nancy leads up marketing. In their time not working at Apple Spice, they enjoy volunteering, spending time with their kids and grandchildren, the outdoors, biking, hiking, travel, bourbon collecting, and relaxing with a good book.
They’ve also created a YouTube channel because some things are just better on video than with written word. You can find the Living Phase 2 YouTube channel HERE. And while you are there, thank you in advance for liking the videos you watch and for subscribing to the channel.
Mike’s Bio:
As John Mellencamp wrote….
“I was born in a small town, and I live in a small town…” Growing up in a small town in Kansas has made a big impact on Mike to this day. Mike’s family always encouraged him to hold tight to their small-town values such as hard work and faith in God. But they also encouraged him to dream big and strive for education and global exploration. In high school Mike was very involved in American Field Service (AFS) foreign exchange student program. His family even hosted 2 exchange students. This led to a yearning to see the world and experience all it has to offer. So, after high school, Mike strapped on a backpack and spent two months traveling around Europe taking in all it had to offer an 18-year-old.
Growing up during the 1970s and 1980s there were huge leaps computer technology and Mike was one of the original computer nerds. He had a dream to become and electrical engineer and to work in aerospace tech and if possible. He focused on receiving a degree in electrical engineering, with the goal of working in aerospace. Both his grandfather and father had worked for Boeing, and he thought he would as well. But God had other plans…..
Upon returning from Europe Mike enrolled in the electrical engineering program at Wichita State University, in Wichita, Kansas, the air capital of the world. It was during his time there Mike met the love of his life, Nancy. She was a Nursing student at the same university. They had both planned on staying local, close to family upon graduation. Mike was still thinking about that job as an engineer at Boeing. However, as is so often the case, things don’t always go to our plans. A recession occurred just as Mike was graduating prompted him to look broader for employment as an engineer. That lead to accepting a position with Honeywell Aerospace in Phoenix, AZ, and the first of many moves (13 total over their married life) for Mike and Nancy.
After several years as a product development design engineer Mike moved up to progressively greater levels of responsibility. Mike and Nancy even took a foreign assignment, moving to Munch Germany as the engineering representative for a new airplane program. After four years in Germany, they returned home, but not to Phoenix but to Florida in a position Mike took as his first engineering management position. After Florida other opportunities arose with the next being in Albuquerque, New Mexico to be promoted to Director of engineering and eventually to vice-president leading both military and small plane engineering teams with responsibilities over hundreds of worldwide team members. Mike found he had a both the skill and passion to transforming struggling teams and organizational cultures into ones that realize their full potential. Mike has a long-demonstrated track record for helping teams meet commitments.
Mike was later recruited from Honeywell to lead a worldwide engineering team at General Electric in Grand Rapids, Michigan and then finally recruited to L3 to lead their aerospace engineering team. It was then, after 30 years in the corporate world, and amidst a high level of frustration and disillusionment, Mike experienced his first layoff. This was the start of his successful second career. Mike and Nancy decided to take their years of experience and follow their dream of owning their own business. After much research and work, they opened Apple Spice Box Lunch Delivery & Catering Co. to fill a need in the corporate world they knew existed. After only one year, Mike and Nancy’s Apple Spice has become one of the most successful in the franchise network.
You can see more about Mike and His career at his LinkedIn Page here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-jacobsemprise/
Mike and Nancy are now following their next dream, starting a global community to help other follow their dreams in their second phase of life.
I, Nancy, am a family girl through and through with a heart for country living and a love for Jesus. I was raised in the great plains of Kansas and met my wonderful husband Mike while in college. I graduated with a degree in nursing and spent most of career working in labor and delivery and was a Lamaze instructor. Here’s the thing, teaching is and has been my true calling in life. I spent years teaching childbirth classes to soon-to-be parents, and I would teach my patients things they needed to know following their hospitalization. During this time I’ve taught religious education to children and taught basket weaving to adults. I’ve also created a machine embroidery design business and have taught machine embroidery through online classes. However, my most important role as a teacher was that of being a mother to three wonderful children and now two beautiful grand children.
Though most of my nursing career with in the maternal child field, I did spend a bit of time caring for the elderly as well as working as a nurse at a weight loss center. I’ve had a true fascination with nutrition and how what we eat affects our bodies. I have the belief that we can do much to care for ourselves through the food we eat and the way we care for our bodies.
My time currently is spent working with my husband at our box lunch and catering business, Apple Spice. When not at work I am snuggling our twin grandsons or spending time with my elderly mother who is in hospice. Mike and I are both active at our local church and are certified barbeque judges through the Kansas City Barbeque Association and steak judges through the Steak Cookoff Association. I also ejnoy cooking, gardening and crafts as well as reading and writing.
Together with family, Christmas 2021.
