Family, Community, and Legacy | Sherry Diederich

On this episode of Slightly Less Scripted, we welcome Sherry Diederich—Catholic Central parent, Board Member, former Mothers Club President, and President of TDA Insurance. Sherry reflects on the journey of building TDA Insurance with her husband, Mark, and the values that guided their family and business through the years.

The conversation highlights what Catholic Central has meant to the Diederich family, especially watching her sons, Daniel ’15 and Matthew ’18, grow through the Basilian tradition before joining the family business.  

The episode also touches on the profound impact the Basilian Fathers have had on the Diederich family through their emphasis on faith, humility, relationships, and holistic Catholic education. From entrepreneurship and parenting to legacy and vocation, this conversation offers a heartfelt look at the importance of family, community, and forming young men with purpose and character.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Welcome back to uh slightly less scripted. We're here with Jerry Diedrich. He is a CC mom school board member and also president of uh TDA Insurance Financial, right? Correct. I get it everything right. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

And past uh CCMC president twice.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Perfect. Well, welcome on to the show. We're glad to have you.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Well, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Um Yeah, I'm excited uh to talk about everything, you know, CC related, but also TDA and you guys being uh a school partner and supporting us. I mean, when's the first time that you heard about Catholic Central?

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Um, so my boys went to Our Lady of Sorrows, right? I was a public school girl. My husband was a Catholic school boy. He actually went to Divine Child. Um, we won't hold that against him. And so when we were going through the whole process of everything, uh, we came here for a tour and all that and fell in love with it, right? And we had older uh friends that had older kids who went to Catholic Central, and Danny and Matthew went through camps and everything like that. It was just, I just fell in love the minute we walked through the door, so I fell in love with it.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Yeah, you guys are a total CC family. I think Matt and Dan, they still help out with lacrosse too, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:33

They did, yes. Or they were they they did. Danny um coached JV basketball and lacrosse and Matthew helped him coach lacrosse. They took this year off because they Danny had a baby, Matthew got married.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Which congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Yeah, thank you. So they were a little busy this year. Hopefully they'll get back into it. They loved it.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

Yeah. Tell us about you're just telling us before the podcast started. Tell us a little bit about the the wedding that was this past weekend. How was it?

SPEAKER_00 1:58

It was so amazing. Um, the one thing I love the most, and I think this is a big attribute and contribution to uh CC is most of the groomsmen were CC boys, right? And we took a picture and it was like anyone from CC get up here and take a picture. It filled the whole dance floor. So it was amazing. So when they say there's a brotherhood, there is a brotherhood. Like it doesn't die, it doesn't go away, it sticks with those are your core people for the rest of your life. And I also say there's a motherhood because most of the parents that were there are like my best friends, my really good friends. And it was the relationship we formed here. So brotherhood, motherhood, all go together. So it was amazing. St. John's, um, just great time. Feather Nelkie, Feather Fulton just brought the spiritual lift to the wedding. And I mean, I could tear up, I tear up when I talk about it. So it was really good. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Congratulations, and we got to make sure to get the the photo to put it in the illuminator.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Those are yeah, those are always my favorite. Looking at the illuminator and then seeing the the weddings, and it's all the people from CC and it takes up half a page. Right. It probably stresses uh Sean out a little bit. Looks like it's a lot of information.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

I need the caption for everybody. Yeah, you can't list all the names because there's too many.

SPEAKER_02 3:19

But no, that's awesome. Uh I want I was gonna talk a little bit too about um uh TDA. How did that get uh all started basically?

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Well, it's our 30-year anniversary, so that's a good question. So Mark, my husband, and I met when we were both working at GM, and I ran the GM Insurance Call Center, and Mark was an executive. And Mark was going to have to travel a lot and move a lot, and I wasn't gonna do that. I'm family core and stuff like that. So he went and started a nationwide agency. Why I stayed on at GM to um, you know, make sure we could pay the bills and everything. And Danny was born right then, and um, we were nationwide, we did extremely well, number one in the state, number one in the region, 32nd in the country. And then they just we saw the writing on the wall that we were forcing our friends to be with just nationwide, it wasn't the best option for them. So in 2010, we moved to independent. Independent means we have multiple carriers we can quote you through. So if one carrier isn't good for you, we can move you to another one. So it doesn't feel like we have to pigeonhole you in something, and it's better for the clients. So it was an amazing journey. Um, starting over twice wasn't fun, but it's been great. The boys are coming over and taking over the business, which just as a parent, when you start something and you can pass it on to your kids, it's just the best feeling. And I'm so proud of them. It's not easy. Um, if anyone knows my husband, he makes them work for every single penny. They probably get paid less than any of our employees just because they have to earn their keep and they have to experience the hardship and everything like that. But CC has been a great factor for us. Um, being involved with CC, we've gotten a lot of relationships, so we've gotten a lot of clients from them. Um, they taught my boys discipline, knowledge, and goodness, and that's carried over to their work environment as well. So um, it's a really nice fit for both of us.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

That's got to be special to be able to work with just your boys and have your whole family basically run the comp. I mean, that's a very special thing.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

It's very special. Sometimes it's very funny, and sometimes it's very stressful. Which is also difficult too, right? It is. The first day Matthew walked into my office and he's like, Mom, can you explain this charge on your credit card? I go, What? No, I cannot. It's none of your business. I go, file it under none of your business. He goes, We don't have a category for that. I go, we'll make one. And he's like, Dad, can you help me with this?

SPEAKER_01 6:04

So yeah, because they're not just coworkers then. So you you you can't really leave it at work because then you're gonna take it home too.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

So yeah. And then Danny and I are so much alike. So Danny's taking over more of what I do, the marketing, the uh property casualty, everything like that. Matthew's taking over more of what m Mark does, the financial planning, payroll, commissions, HR, all the stuff that I'm not, you know, then yeah. So it's funny. So Dan and I, um, we have a lot of fun together, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:37

At at its base, what um, you know, explain a little bit about the um financial and insurance industry at its base, you know, what services do you guys provide and what like you know, for maybe someone who or students that don't know or anything.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Yeah, absolutely. So what we wanted to do is we wanted to make it easy for the consumer, right? We don't want you to have to go to five different places to take care of your insurance. So we can take care of your personal insurance. Like if you when you go off to college, if you need renter's insurance, we can do that. When you um go off your mom and dad's policy for auto insurance, we can take care of that. My husband's a financial planner, Matthew will be one. Start early that you know, invest early because you can invest a little and it grows by the time you're um up there. So he can take care of financial planning. We also can take care of like your health insurance when you turn 26 and you need to, you know, get your own health insurance plan. Um, we can take care of that. We also, if you start a landscaping business or any type of business, we can take care of your business insurance as well. So we just like to be the one place where we have many experts in every field. You only have to come to us and you only have to call one person.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Yeah, it's kind of like it's enterprise basically. So whatever your needs are for anything you could help with it. Yeah. That's pretty. I mean, that's gotta be fun, you know, fun to do. Was it scary to go off and do something on your guys' own instead of having, you know, maybe like a stable source of income, salary, whatever? Was it kind of a scary moment to do?

SPEAKER_00 8:04

It was very scary. And it was a leap of faith, right? There was a lot of um nights green, a lot of rosaries said, a lot of phone calls, you know, um, because especially going from GM when you had a steady income, you had the benefits, market accompanied car, uh, and you had to just take that out, and you it was up to you, right? The one thing I would say to people is people think, oh, you own your own business. You can take, I mean, I have friends like, oh, it's a nice day, let's go golfing. Well, I have 33 people I have to make sure I can pay and feed and be responsible for. So you're always on when you're a business owner. It's never even on vacation, you're still on, but it is very rewarding.

unknown 8:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

And you just have to live by it, did I do the right thing? And can I put my head down at night and sleep?

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Right. So if you're true to yourself, you're true to God, you're true to the people that you're serving, everything will fall in place.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Yeah, some people might think maybe you make your own business and then it's like I get to set my schedule.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

But it's probably very much the the opposite.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Yeah, especially like uh if you have an employee call in. Okay, well, someone still has to answer the phone. Guess what? I'm picking up the phone, I'm now answering it. Um, but we really have good employees. I'm very blessed that we have good employees. We have a CC boys working for us, um, which is fun and some family and stuff. But it is anything that is worthwhile takes a lot of work, a lot of dedication, and a lot of hard work. So you have to be willing to sacrifice and put it in and do the right thing, and then things will come to fruition for you.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

Yeah. Did you go to school for would you say you went to school for what you do now?

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Well, I actually the funny story about me is I was Methodist and I actually wanted to become a Methodist minister. So I went to Adrian College to become a Methodist minister. I played three sports there. What sports? I played volleyball, basketball, and softball. Wow. Yeah. So that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

I just saw a video about that too. So apparent, apparently, I don't know if it's true or not, but I saw it on Instagram. But I guess a lot of the athletic ability comes from the mother and not the father. Well, we'll take I'll take the sci scientifically actual.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

We're we're gonna tell Dan that. Because Dan was able to uh play football, basketball, and across here. Matthew played football and track. So and then, oh, of course, I think at one point he won the intramural basketball, so that was huge.

SPEAKER_02 10:49

So the IBL, which is probably the biggest achievement, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Than anything else. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Yeah. I would tend to agree with that, probably. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Yeah. Um, but I'm sorry, I lost track. So Yeah, went to uh Adrian, played three sports, and then I wanted to be a minister, and then my mentor um passed away and it just it was life-changing for me. So then I went into marketing um because I like to talk to people, I like to create things and everything like that. And I got an internship with GM. Um, and then they paid for me to uh go to Madonna and finish up there and everything like that. So it was it was really fun, it was good. It was a it was an interesting journey for me, but I learned a lot along the way. I think you have to reach your lowest to find your highest, right? And it makes you appreciate it, it makes you um work harder for things and to just see see the good in people.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

Yeah. I mean, yeah, it seems it seems like you're like a you'd be a good networker, like you'd be good with people, and it's probably a really big part of owning a business and building relationships and especially with insurance, probably building you have to build a lot of trust with people. So, like how you know, how does that how does that side of business work when it's you know, maybe not always about numbers and stuff like that, but it's more about the people side.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Well, I think relationships are the most important part in any aspect of your life, but especially in business. Um especially in a service industry business. And when you are handling people's money and you're protecting their assets, right? Uh I want you to trust me that if your house burns down, you're gonna have enough coverage and you're gonna be okay and it's not gonna devastate you, right? I wanna make sure you have enough life insurance so that if you do pass away, your family's taken care of. So it's all about making sure that you're provided and you trust me with it. So many of the times it's not a nine to five job, right? Like this morning I was at a networking event at 7:30 this morning, right? It's it's what you do. You go to networking events after work, you volunteer, you coach, you get involved, you you that's how you meet people, right? You can't just sit at your desk and expect people to come to you. You have to go get people. Yeah, and if one word of advice I could give to young people is get off your phone, get off your phone and talk to people, interact with them, shake their hand, look at them in the face, have a conversation, find out what their life is about, right? And when you find out about someone's life, you usually have something in common with them and you become connected and form a relationship with them.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

Yeah, you just uh you stole the question I was gonna ask you. I was gonna ask you for a piece of advice for young people, but now I can just move on to the next thing too. So it was perfect. So I was gonna uh swing it back to uh to Catholic Central a little bit and uh talk about kind of your time here serving on the board as the second female in CC history, and the first was Mrs. Janice Sharkey. So, how how what does that mean to you being able to serve on on the board and and you know still be part of the community that you love?

SPEAKER_00 14:08

When I was asked uh to be a part of the board, it was such an honor, right? Um, it was an honor, but it was also I had to take a step back and say, can I do the job they need me to do? Will I be able to be direct and uh say exactly my opinion and not what I think other people want to hear? And I've always been kind of direct with everyone, but CC means so much to me that uh it was a it it was a little hesitant, right? What Father Nelkie and Father Fulton are the world to me and they're part of my family. So it was an honor, it was great. I I think Ed probably thinks I bring a little too much to the table sometimes because I have 800 questions, but it's it's amazing. It has been amazing to see the formation and the growth of CC, the direction we've taken, this beautiful you know, edition, everything that's happening, our increase in students, our increase in staff, having kids like you come back and teach is amazing, right? I it being a part of the board is such a special, special thing, and it is not one I take lightly for granted. And it's one that I try to invest as much time into. And when making decisions about the future of CC, to have we do have a great board that has a collaborative effort. We all hear each other's opinions, we all respect them. We might not all be on the same page, but eventually we get to the common ground.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

Yeah, you guys are all trying to do what's best for the school, but you might have different someone might want to go left to get there, and someone might want to go right.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Yeah, but it's it's great because we have we have different people that have different backgrounds. So you're getting a good um, you know, group effort and a lot of different variety of thoughts and stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:14

How how do you go about, you know, when you disagree with someone, how you know, how do you go go about settling it or go on, you know, okay, we're actually trying we're trying to work towards the same thing, you know, how do you deal with like that conflict resolution though?

SPEAKER_00 16:27

So I think you have to take a deep breath to start with, right? And you have to listen to the individual and hear them and not judge them or judge their opinion or form an opinion before they're finished, right? And you have to look at all the facts and do I'm a big pro-con less person, right? Pros of this going this way is is A, B, C, and D. Cons are A, B, C, and D. What way outweighs each one? And I think the board does a really good job of that. Um, they go th we go through like how can this impact us in the future? What will this impact us in the future? Uh and as a board member, you have to be on a committee. So I'm on the finance committee, which that is hysterical.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

And I guess that's probably the most uh maybe the toughest one to be on.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

It's it's the most um it's it's the most uh um I can't even find the word. Uh it's it's fun. Yeah, it's fun, it's fun. We have we have some pretty just pretty fun discussions.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

I'm I'm sure definitely when it comes to the finances of the school. And you know, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

And so which takes me here is we could not CC could not be where we're at without every single donor possible. Like, even if you contribute a dollar a month, if you're a part of the 1928 club and you're you're doing $19 and 28 cents a month, thank you, thank you all so much. Every little dollar matters, and if you can't do it financially, but you're doing it with your time and your talents, that's a huge part too. Like CC is built on a community, it's not built on one person, it's not built on you know whoever, it is about everybody. And I mean, we've been very, very blessed with um with donors that give quite a much and their time and talent, and we cannot thank them enough, but we also need the the the 1928 guys, we need everyone involved, you know.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

So I think it's just cool that like you know you're able, you know, you guys family, you're able to serve on the school board, you guys are a community partner. You not only preach it, but you also live it and do it. It's very just very CC like, you know what I mean? Like that's kind of what the the whole community is about.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

I think the biggest thing CC gives to our boys and the families is you get what you put in put in, right? I remember both of my boys, their freshman year in college, and you may have been the same way. They text me and they're like, We did not realize how special CC was. We can't thank you enough for making the sacrifice to send us there. They're like, how people think coming in second is okay. You know, they're like, What's that all about, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Yeah, it's confusing when you when you first get on the real world and people are okay with it.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Yeah, they're like, no, well, no, we're not second in anything. We always strive to be first, and when we're second, it we didn't do our job, right? Yeah, uh, so CC also teaches about with like the um what is the the day of giving, the where the boys go out and do all that. That's a huge impact. And I think The service day. Service day, thank you. I couldn't remember the name. When a community like CC can make such a huge difference in your life and make a difference in your boys' life, it's your responsibility to give back to them, yeah, right? And to give back to the future of CC. So what my boys had, I want 8,000 other boys to have, right? I want my I want CC to be here when my grandson comes here. Hopefully, he will. Um, you know what I'm saying? So I I think it's everyone's responsibility, but especially my responsibility, because it was so impactful on our family.

SPEAKER_02 20:25

Yeah, it's a it's a powerful place, but you know, we have to protect it too and keep it. So that's 100%.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

We can't take it for granted.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

No, but you can't take yeah, you shouldn't take anything, you shouldn't take anything for granted because crazy things happen all you know all the time. You talked a little bit about um Mrs. Sharky right before we started the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Yeah, I just I love Mr. Sharky.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

I I I just want you to, you know, kind of open up about Mr.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Sharky and what she means to you and and so I can I don't know if she knows this or not, but I consider her my role model, right? Um I remember my Danny's freshman year, and I went to the general board meeting and she gave her speech, and she was she talked about the m motherhood and how it's up to you to get involved and give back and everything like that. And I mean, she just lights up a room when she walks in. Like anytime I see her in an event, it's she's the first person I want to hug and the first person I want to thank for everything she's done. She set the stage for all moms um to look up to and to imitate and try to do half of what she did, you know. Uh there's just not words enough to explain my gratitude for her and everything that she taught me. She's such a kind, gentle person. She loves CC. She would do anything for CC. She would do anything for anybody, right? Um I know if I had an issue and I had a caller, she would be right there for me.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

It's very uh very baz she's very bazillion-like, and there's a lot of people that have worked at the school that are very bazillion-like and willing to give up. a large chunk of their time and effort and put it into the school and the community, which I think the Brazilians have good a done a good job of instilling kind of with their of their leadership a little bit. What what do the bazillions kind of mean to you and your family?

SPEAKER_00 22:15

The world.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

I know you're close with them.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

We are very close. Yeah, yeah. Um yes. They they are part they are like part of my family and I'm very blessed for that. They have they have taught not just me but our family and um like my boys' wives now what it means to be humble what it means to be a servant what it means to keep God first your faith forever family always. I know I know that both my boys like just look up to Father Fulton and Father Nokie and Father Hubert and Father Thompson. They they learned they learned a lot. They learned a lot from them and they see them. The funny part is like we sometimes you hold priests like this like great I mean they are great is you know what I'm saying but that they're perfect and they you know and they're not human. They are human right they are human but they just have a deeper relationship with God and we need to learn how to have that relationship with God even just a fraction of it. And if I can tell a funny story. Absolutely please yeah so when Father Nelke um couldn't say mass at Christmas Eve we have him come over for Christmas Eve, right? And my my sister-in-law actually went to school at Ladywood when he was at Catholic Central. So we're always like did you go to prom together? They did it. But she makes um so he comes over and we say mass right and my boys have to do a reading and we all reflect on it and everything like that. It's great. But then she makes and play games. So if you see the video from Father Nelkie's think he has reindeer antlers on and he has to catch the two with his reindeer antlers and I'm like no one else in the world could get him to do that except for my boys. So it's funny.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

You just get to see them as uh I've told this to my mom before but when you work with them on such a close level of course they're priests and of course they have you know this special God given talent but they're also like you get to see them as the human side. Sometimes with your maybe with your uh parish priest you you know you really only say see them saying mass or at the altar or you might see them at at the Kroger downtown grabbing groceries. You're like oh what are you doing outside but yeah with the with the bazillions you get to you know you get to see all aspects of them because they they're also they're also working at a school so they're also doing a job on top of being a priest and it's um I've always told them I said I think that's a very you know Christlike thing to do and and to be like because it's it can't be easy to you know have all a lot of pressures of being a priest and then on top of it also having you know to do a job and have a community you're you're held on such a high pedestal that like sometimes you can't even just laugh at a joke without being judged.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Yeah you know what I'm saying I'm like oh but when you have that relationship and and they know that you're not gonna judge them and stuff it's it's fun. It's that I mean they are wonderful people. Um Father Nelke still has made uh dinner so I'm just gonna remind him of that. Good he promised me a dinner like I think it was 15 years ago that he was going to cook for me. And um still waiting on it? I'm still waiting on it. And I I which is fine but he he brags about this soup for the whole time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

It's just just a reminder.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Just a reminder.

SPEAKER_02 25:56

Good so yeah you remember the first bazillion that you ever met?

SPEAKER_00 26:01

Uh Father Thompson. Was it it was at whole uh holy family uh he said um he said mass there and you know he shook his hand and stuff and the boys were there and he's like are you guys coming to CC and he was he actually was the Mothers Club moderator my first year uh my maybe first and second year uh so that was fun and then father huber of course um father huber and father Nelke were my moderators when I was president through the Mothers Club CCMC yep the CCMC and we had so much fun it was I mean it was it was so much fun and I think that's where I was able to form such a special bond with them um because you spent a lot of time with them right um but yeah and they their guidance for the Mothers Club is amazing um you know they have to deal with over a hundred women and we all have our own opinions and we all want to do things like on a scale they've never seen before so it was fun for them to be able to bring it bring us down to earth and say listen let like what's the important thing right for sure but um yeah I had father I had father Hubert and Father Nelkie actually walk in the fashion show with their sister what Father Eva walked with his mom and Father Nelkie walked with his two sisters and that was probably one of my most special memories it was it was great. Do you have any words for uh a mom who maybe is hesitant to join the mothers club or is thinking about it, contemplating it but's not sure if she wants to yes um don't let rumors get in the way don't let stereotypical things get in the way you will never regret being a part of the CCMC. You will regret not being a part of the CMC. Get involved early um you don't have to be president you don't have to serve on the executive board you don't have to lead a committee but if you can just be a member you will form a relationship with those women like that you've never had before it's also then you have eight hundred other moms watching out for your son. You know it's it's it is probably some of my best memories and in my in my life is the experience I had at the mother's club and all the events and you can pick and choose what events you you go to. You don't have to go to all of them right um but there I would go to all I would go to all of them because they're fun and I feel like this year I haven't been able to go to as many like I was very disappointed got to miss me crowning but um I'm happy they're still doing and I happy but get involved early. It's the same advice we give to the boys yeah don't be don't be a 245 or just get involved get involved and then you know what too then you're sending an example for your son right if you're involved then your son sees you're involved they're more likely to try to do something and I would encourage the dance to get involved with the dance club right just the more you're involved the better it will be yeah the more the more you put in the more you'll get out of it. Yeah awesome cool I got one final question for you all right uh this one's more of just a fun one but you know summer's coming along do you guys have any trips planned anything fun that's gonna happen over summer anything you're looking forward to well I think we have like seven CC boy weddings oh okay so wedding wedding season Matthew was the first one to start off um and thanks to Matthew we redid our deck so I hope to spend a lot of time there but we do we have a wedding in Chicago we have a wedding up at uh Gun Lake we so we have a lot of weddings like that and hopefully um we try to do what we try to do is a family vacation so instead of Christmas gifts we do um experiences uh I promised Father Nelke I would never we did one over Christmas and we weren't home for Christmas Eve. I promise I would never do that again. But hopefully planning that uh you know we'll probably do that at the beginning of the year. So we had a huge one that we just did before the wedding and before the baby also we went to Aruba which recommend that. It was probably beautiful it was gorgeous. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

Well congratulations and uh and thank you so much for your time first and foremost and then obviously for everything you do for the school and the community too.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Well thank you so much for having me on this was so fun.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

Thank you so much