Today, Tony Pratte, our regular monthly co-host from The Soundroom, joins us on the podcast.  Because the world has been turned upside down right now, and things are a little crazy for everyone, we’re going to be doing things a bit differently. For today’s podcast, Marla and Tony will be reversing roles, so Tony will be driving the show, and Marla will be the co-host.  Things are changing– some things a lot and others not so much Tony’s regular daily routine, from 7 am to about 5 pm, has not changed all that much. He is in residential construction,  a service which is deemed essential. So he is still going to job sites daily, even though the way that he shows up on site is a little different for now. For example, he is only dealing with one trade at a time, at the moment, although the foremen for the different trades all have to be present on-site, to co-ordinate everything that needs to be done.  And Tony is now doing virtual electrical inspections, rather than physical ones. So, for the time being, the electrical superintendent films Tony going through the house, while the owners are sitting at home. We’re all spending more time in our houses so it’s a great time for fixing things We’re all spending a lot more time at home right now than we used to in the past. Our homes have become everything for us right now. And, as a result, we are all living a bit harder in our houses and certain issues are coming up, making this a very good time for fixing things up in our families, and also around the house.  All this family time is allowing us to return to the way we used to live, and helping us remember some of the long-forgotten domestic skills we used to do in our homes, like fixing things, cooking, and baking.  The resources that are out there for making home improvements Currently, there are many different services available for having the items that you need for your home, or your home improvements, delivered to your door very quickly.  Marla’s influential role in green building Many people don’t realize quite how influential Marla is in green building, and with women in the building industry. So Tony would like you, the listener, to fully understand how everything that Marla does has come about.  Marla talks about how it all started for her Marla and Tony met back in 2006, at the Home Builders Association, in St. Louis. That was when Marla officially started in the green building industry.   A few years before that, Marla experienced something in her family that really cemented her pursuit of better things for better homes, and better things for her family as well. While Marla and her family were on a short cruise, her daughter developed an angry red rash all over her arms and legs. They took her to the doctor when they returned home, and he said that it looked like a topical reaction to something she had touched. Marla realized that it must have come from the sheets, so she began researching what had been used to clean the linen on the cruise ship. She eventually hunted down their MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) and discovered that they had been using a highly allergenic additive in their laundry detergent. As a result, the doctor recommended getting all the additives out of anything that would touch her daughter’s skin, going forward. That included laundry detergents, soaps, and body lotions.  It was very difficult to obtain those items without any added fragrance or dyes, fifteen years ago  The birth of the Green Home Coach Between the experience with her daughter, and working for her friend’s energy efficiency company in the green building industry, Marla finally felt that she had come home. She realized that she could help people by sharing all the information that she was obtaining for herself and her friend’s business.  In 2010, Marla and her friend parted company in business (although they are still friends) and she started working on what eventually became the Green Home Coach.  The Green Home Coach has subsequentl