Every Detail Matters: Manifesting a Win

I thought I knew what manifesting yourself into something meant. As it turns out, I didn’t, but I do now. And we did it. And we can. Theory into practice, and we have no plans on stopping now. If you want it, go for it, and go for it with all you have.

Evening out in Asheville

For us, we learned this with the biggest opportunity of our lives.

From the moment we heard the proverbial knock on the door and understood the opportunity in front of us, we decided to make sure we would not miss our chance. And it worked.

We did it with focused dedication, deep attention to every detail, and frequent, open conversations between the two of us to make sure we were staying on track. There was one large reward at the end, the final goal, but there were numerous steps and smaller goals in between, and every one of them was as important as the other, including the grand prize.

You can’t achieve the final goal if you don’t focus on and meet every smaller step that leads to it. In our case, with this project, we had to pass through each step, each audition, to move on. The end of it all would be a chance to compete on What’s in the Box?, a new Netflix game show that promised fantastic, “jaw-dropping” prizes, including what was being billed as a “life-changing” jackpot: the Super Box.

Waiting for a big reveal...What's in the Box?

Oh, and the show would be filmed in London, so a free trip would be the cherry on top. If nothing else, that alone would be worth it.

We were told the first step was setting up a call with a casting producer, a Zoom, actually. From there we weren’t really told the process. But we did know this was the first step.

Working on rebuilding our place, winter 2025

Something clicked in us immediately. We’d had a pretty tough year leading up to this point, and this sounded not only rewarding, but fun. Something to help put some wind back in our sails, if nothing else. It happened to be a moment in our lives where we really didn’t have any direction. We knew we were at a change of chapters, we just didn’t have a path yet. But we could see one opening up...

We immediately jumped into thinking through everything, determined to be our best from the very start. This was our path. This would be our new beginning.

We wanted this. We needed it, really. From the moment we were told about the interview, we decided to make this happen, or at least to be sure that if it didn’t, we had done everything in our power to present ourselves as best as possible. This included everything from food and health, to rest and sleep, to general appearance. From that moment forward every detail mattered.

On our daily 2-mile hike up the mountain preparing for the show

Joey quit drinking alcohol almost a year and a half before this. I still had a drink or two here and there, not much, but some. That stopped. We’d already been eating well, healthy food is important to us anyway, but we took it to the next level, thinking through everything going into our bodies.

We were in decent shape after a few months of rebuilding our land and gardens after Hurricane Helene, but we added a couple-mile walk up the mountain every afternoon as part of our new routine. We treated this more like preparing for a sport than a television game show. And we’re still just talking about getting ready for that first interview.

Why? Because every detail matters.

We told ourselves, out loud and often, that if at any point we weren’t picked, we’d be okay with that, as long as we could look back and know we couldn’t have done anything more or better.

Eating healthy from the garden

We knew that if they didn’t like us, that was one thing. Not much we can do about that. We are who we are, and we didn’t want to try or pretend to be anything else. We do love each other. We do have fun with most anything we can. We love adventure. We generally get excited and might talk over each other just a bit. We aren’t afraid of emotion. These weren't things we needed or wanted to change. For this part, take us as we are.

But everything else? That was fair game.

Prepping kimchi with bok choi from our garden

If casting was going to Zoom with us, we were going to look good, not just on the outside, but inside too. We were going to be, and look, well-rested, happy, and eager to chat. We were told one afternoon that the first interview would be the next afternoon, that night and the day leading up to it were dedicated to relaxing, resting, and talking to each other. We reminded each other to speak clearly, take turns talking, and truly listen.

We’d been through something similar before, having been on Caribbean Life and House Hunters International. Different shows and formats, but we remembered how the producers would slow us down, direct us where to look, and help us tell our story in a concise, clear manner. We knew those same directions would apply here.

Paramount for us was that if they wanted to “meet” us, they would meet our best selves. We all have versions of ourselves that show up at different times. Our happy or sad self. Healthy or careless. We wanted to make sure that the best Joey and Scott were the ones showing up, not just for the interview, but for our lives in the weeks leading up to the grand prize. A mindset.

As a side bonus, we’ve worked to keep those “best selves” present ever since. Another prize we didn’t expect.

When we finished our first Zoom, we shut the laptop and looked at each other.

“That felt good,” Joey said.

“Yep, really good,” I replied.

We went back through everything we could remember, took notes, and reviewed what we’d been told and what we’d been asked.

On the call we were given exercises that involved ranking different images: people, objects, dated events. We spent an afternoon discussing what they might be looking for and decided this was likely a format that would be used in the game.

It was obvious we couldn’t learn everything in the world, or become trivia masters overnight. But these also weren’t Jeopardy!–style questions. They were broad: pop culture, sports, music.

So how do you prepare for that?

Joey bought a stack of trivia cards. We carried them everywhere. Driving in the car? Questions. Cooking dinner? Same thing. Random moments throughout the day? A few more cards. It was fun.

I created a notebook — Our Box Game Study Guide. When was the NFL started? The NBA? MLB? Hockey? When did the Oscars begin? Who won the first one? The most? We studied geography. We filled in blank maps of the United States and Europe and Africa. Over and Over. We told ourselves that if we could answer even one question because of this effort, it would be worth it.

It was, and we did. More than once.

As we approached each interview and call, we treated that step as the most important thing in our lives at that moment. The grand prize didn’t exist if we didn’t get past the step in front of us.

A trip to Chicago we'd already planned & booked changed over to a wardrobe shopping trip - it was a week before the show

As we passed through each new step, new interview, we sat down and recounted what they'd asked us. How could we apply this to our list of things we might need to know. What might they mean by this? I know it might sound obsessive, but there was no former broadcast of this show for us to refer back to. We weren’t being told a whole lot either, which was fun, exciting and mysterious, but also a bit terrifying. What were we getting ourselves into?

The contrasting architecture in London was incredible

After a few weeks and a few rounds of interviews, we were told we were going to London. But with one last caveat: it was still not a guaranteed spot. We realized it would be incredibly stressful to pack, prep, and fly over not knowing and wondering if we’d actually be chosen, the worry would be encompassing, so we made an immediate decision: we were on the show. No thoughts otherwise. Every bit of planning and prep from that moment forward was for being on the show, not whether we would be.

They said there would be curve balls in the game. For us the game had now begun, and this was the first test and first curve ball.

We flew to London a little less than a week later. Joey had begun looking into the time difference and what we could do to mitigate the five-hour adjustment. We’d be flying out of Charlotte in the evening and arriving in London the next morning, around 8 a.m. their time. From there it would take about two hours to get to the hotel and check in. We’d meet production, settle in, and then have the afternoon free. The following day was scheduled as our “rest day.” Production wanted all contestants to have one full day to enjoy London, but also to recover from travel.

Checking out the neighborhood near our hotel

We decided to take that a step further. We didn’t want to even need a rest day, we wanted to be fresh and ready from the moment we landed. Four days before flying out we began gradually shifting our sleep schedule. The first night we went to bed an hour or two earlier than normal. The next night, three or four hours earlier. The final two nights, we were in bed by 6 or 7 p.m., not always sleeping, sometimes just watching TV or talking until we drifted off, then getting up at 4 a.m.

On the day we flew out, after waking at 4, we boarded the plane and fell asleep within an hour. The flight was about eight hours, and we woke up when we smelled coffee, roughly forty minutes outside of London. We’d gotten a full night’s sleep and arrived bright-eyed & bushy-tailed, clear-headed, and ready to go the moment we landed.

After checking into the hotel we spent that afternoon exploring, walking the neighborhood, and the next day, the “free day”, we were up at 6 a.m., eating breakfast and hopping on the Tube into central London to be tourists for the day. We couldn’t have been more ready.

Below: Making the most of our free day in London

The next day, our lives became fully beholden to the show. We were taken to the studio and, for the first time, told in detail how the game would be run, the challenges we’d face, and the actual format. We’d been instructed to pack all of the wardrobe options we’d submitted, so we brought everything with us for final selection. From there, we were taken to what would become our second home for four days: our dressing room.

We went in, set up our clothes, and the waiting began. Before leaving for London, we’d written down a set of statements, things we’d been saying to each other throughout the process, a mantra of sorts, and we placed them on the table. The butterflies showed up, nervous excitement that just kept growing. This was going to be so much fun.

We didn't have time, so next visit...

After a short wait, a producer came in and showed us the outfits selected for each of us. We were told to get dressed and that we’d be heading to a conference room for a meeting in about an hour. Our excitement multiplied. We knew this meeting, where they would finally meet us in person, along with everyone else, was it. The make-or-break moment. Breathe. Be your best self. Relax.

After the meeting, where we met the other contestants & introduced ourselves, and were subtly evaluated, we went back to our dressing room.

And waited.

Then came a knock at the door. Opportunity or disappointment? Turns out it was the best news we’ve maybe ever received.

You’re in.

I won’t even try to describe our excitement. It isn’t possible. I’ll just say it was the first of several incredible, unprecedented experiences for us. I’m still riding high months later. Even writing this brings chills.

Once we’d seen the dressing room and understood our setup, we talked through our backstage food and beverages. Production had provided snacks & drinks in the rooms, and would take requests if there was something in particular you needed. We decided to go to a grocery store ourselves that night anyway. For both our hotel room and dressing room. We wanted to stick with what we knew, what we normally ate and had been eating leading up to that moment. Don’t change anything now. Nuts, fruit, trail mix. Sparkling water, no soda. We set up everything we needed.

For lunches or dinners, when they took our food orders, we thought carefully about spice, meat or no meat, and healthier options. For the most part we didn’t eat the whole portion of what they brought us. We never wanted to feel too full if we were called on stage, you never knew exactly when that might happen, so we always wanted to be easily ready.

As it turned out, the flow of the game mirrored our preparation. Each box was a massive prize, but also just a step toward the final prize and end goal, the Super Box. You had to win at least one box to move forward, so we focused on each, one at a time. We didn’t think about the final box until it was only one or two boxes away.

Real Estate? Sort of...better get this right

Toward the end, it began to set in that we might actually win. We hadn’t allowed ourselves to think about it before, we were just trying to win the next box. But we’d set ourselves up for this, both through preparation, especially mentally, and in our gameplay. One step at a time. Every detail. Focus on what is in front of you. Get the next question right. Win the next box.

Finally, with two boxes left, we started to look past “the next box” and believe we could actually win.

It was either just before the last or second-to-last box when I turned to Joey and said, “I have this calm feeling, no stress, no pressure. We’re meant to be here.”

He looked at me and said, “Same.”

From that point on, everything became surreal. I have memories that match what I’ve seen watching the show since it aired, but the perspective is slightly off. I know it’s me there, and I remember how everything felt, but the details of that final episode in my mind are very blurred. What remains are the feelings, the emotions, the big picture. The confetti. Did all of that last one minute or 30? I have no idea.

And I don’t mind that at all.

The moment. Everything for us has changed since this instant.

I’ve told myself to soak it all in, take all of this as it comes, it's such a unique experience that few will ever be able to have. Plus we’ll never have an experience like this again. We’ll never get to feel these feelings and emotions like this, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

Or is it? I've realized I might be wrong. We’ve done it before, why not shoot for it again?

We can certainly do this again if we put our minds to it. And now we know how.

Manifest your dreams