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0:46

Hi, everybody, welcome to the Speakers

0:48

series. My name is Jiselle Vonsis.

0:51

I am the head of the Mike Gudra podcast network,

0:53

and I am joined by one of my favorite

0:56

creators, Dramas.

0:57

Hey, Dramas, Welcome.

0:59

Thank you, Thank you so much for having me paying

1:02

me that compliment one of your favorite creators.

1:04

Wow, of course, I think I

1:06

like to say you're one of our founding

1:09

fathers, one of our founding thereators.

1:11

Right, yeah, yeah, it definitely it definitely

1:13

feels that way, like we've kind of you know, gotten

1:16

this thing often running together and it's been

1:18

a great process, you know, throughout the last

1:21

couple of years at this point, which is crazy.

1:22

Yeah, you were one of the first content creators

1:25

to launch a podcast with our network back

1:27

in July twenty twenty one.

1:29

Yeah. Wow, it doesn't feel like that long ago,

1:31

but also feels like so much has happened between

1:33

so that it's a beautiful thing.

1:34

We've done so much.

1:36

You have two podcasts with us, Life

1:38

is a Great and The Street Stoic,

1:40

which relations on both and

1:42

as you know, Michael Dura, is one of the few networks

1:45

that really elevates and celebrates our voices,

1:47

our story our community, our

1:49

storytellers.

1:51

You know, I wanted to start back to like.

1:53

That July moment, but even a little bit

1:55

further back to when

1:57

you first heard about the network. What was

1:59

your first reaction to a

2:02

network that really celebrated us and why

2:04

did you think it was the right home for you?

2:05

I was ecstatic, you know. I think for

2:08

me as a creator, it was kind of like

2:10

I knew what I wanted to speak about, you know,

2:12

and I knew the type of commentary

2:14

that I wanted to have. I knew that I wanted to

2:17

start being able to move into a place of really

2:19

just being authentic and not having to

2:21

conform. But you know, prior to micro

2:23

Tura, and you know, coming from the world of radio

2:26

that I existed in prior to really podcasting

2:28

full time, it was as if I had to keep

2:30

kind of changing parts of myself to adapt

2:33

into this sort of pre existing mold that

2:35

that was already existing, you know, and that was getting

2:37

frustrating for me, you know. So it was just kind of at a

2:39

point where as a creator, as a creative,

2:41

not knowing what I was going to do next, and then

2:44

bam, I hear the news about Michael Tudaan.

2:46

It was just kind of very serendipitous sort of moment

2:48

where it was like, this could be the thing I've been looking

2:50

for, you know, where I can speak to my community

2:53

and speak to it from my unique vantage

2:55

point within the community. And you

2:57

know, I think it's been a beautiful sort of

3:00

showcase of the diversity that exists within the

3:02

Latin community as a whole. And what I'm most excited

3:04

about or most proud of, is the fact that we're representing

3:06

so many different facets of an incredibly diverse

3:09

community, and I don't think anybody feels like they

3:11

have to change who they are to exist

3:13

within it, which is a beautiful thing.

3:15

Yeah.

3:15

Absolutely, And you mentioned radio,

3:18

so tell us a little bit about that. You

3:20

got your start in radio and sort of how

3:22

did that lead you in the podcasting.

3:24

Does it feel similar, does it feel different,

3:27

does it feel natural? Yeah?

3:28

I mean what's ironic is I was doing

3:30

podcasting like years ago

3:32

in my mom's basement basically, you know, like

3:34

before even radio is like on my

3:37

radar as an opportunity. I just remember

3:39

like being really into the idea of

3:41

this sort of it felt like an act of rebellion

3:44

almost, you know, from from traditional format

3:46

and you can talk about whatever you want, and there wasn't

3:48

you know, this censorship. It was a very underground

3:51

kind of thing. And then you know, getting into radio

3:53

and that was a beautiful experience because I think it taught

3:55

me how to hone my voice a little bit, how to tell

3:57

a story, how to you know, sort of get better technical

4:00

aspects of it. But I still always,

4:02

i think, longed for the freedom of podcasting.

4:05

But I look at radio kind of as my

4:07

college experience almost, you know, that was

4:09

like my years really learning, really kind

4:12

of just grinding it out. I was fortunate

4:14

enough to really learn from some of the best, particularly

4:16

you know, with the Breakfast Club, getting to be around

4:18

people who are literally hall of famers within

4:21

their own industry, you know. I feel like

4:23

that definitely has led to my comfort in

4:25

being unapologetically myself, you know, seeing

4:28

them be that way speaking directly

4:30

to their community. Seeing people like Charlemagne

4:32

start a black podcast network, you know,

4:34

and being unapologetic about it, you know, and

4:36

really harnessing those voices,

4:39

I think showed me that I can have a place,

4:41

we can carve out our own niches and find success

4:43

doing so. So I think radio prepared

4:46

me for some of I think the boldness

4:48

that you need to have in order to go out

4:50

into the podcasting world and really

4:53

want to make a difference by being unapologetically

4:55

yourself. I think radio, like I said, was like that college

4:58

learning experience for me, home my

5:00

craft a bit and then being able to sort of

5:02

take the reins off when it came to podcasting

5:05

and just kind of go all in on my own voice and being

5:07

truly creative without any limitations.

5:10

Yeah, that's great, and you've definitely gone

5:12

all in you have two shows

5:14

with us, as I con said earlier, Life

5:16

as a Gringo and The Street Stoic.

5:18

Tell us a little bit about each show and what

5:21

makes it so special for you.

5:22

Yeah, so Life is a Greeno is obviously

5:25

the first one. It's like my baby, It's it's kind of

5:27

my personal diary, if you will. You know, it's

5:29

the sort of core of it is my experience

5:32

in my otherness, you know, sort of not feeling

5:34

fully ingratiated into my Latin community,

5:36

but also you know, being reminded that I

5:38

am othered by you know, my upbringing

5:41

in suburban New Jersey, you know what I mean. So that

5:44

gray area was kind of the core

5:46

of the show, and you know, sort of I guess now

5:48

there's a lot of other terminology for you know, the Nosabo

5:51

kids and things like that that I think relate

5:53

a lot to my story of you know, not speaking perfect

5:55

Spanish and being shamed, you know, by your family

5:57

for it, and and I think that journey

6:00

into finding comfort within your

6:02

own skin and not sort of feeling

6:05

like you have to conform to some asinine

6:07

standards set by you know, God knows

6:09

who. At this point, we don't know who. The who's the one sort of

6:11

setting the tone for why you have to speak Spanish,

6:13

for why you don't or whatever it might be, right, Like, it's really

6:16

just about authenticity at the end of the day. And I think

6:18

within that it's a journey of somebody

6:20

finding themselves on a regular basis, the one

6:22

that we're all on, the never ending journey that is

6:24

personal growth, and I think that that's kind of

6:26

become the core of life as a good in go And

6:28

then to me also providing with sort

6:30

of the Thursday Trends sector of

6:32

it. We do the two episodes a week, one of them being

6:35

about you know, stories directly affecting

6:37

our community. That was important to me as well,

6:39

being able to provide people with sort of a one stop

6:41

shop to really feel connected to what's

6:44

going on within the Latin community. And then the second

6:46

one, the Street Stoke Podcast, is a

6:48

daily podcast that's you know, just meant to inspire

6:50

people, you know, and it combines my love for hip

6:53

hop with my love for ancient philosophy.

6:55

And again it's sort of existing in that otherness

6:58

of showcasing things that aren't traditionally

7:00

supposed to go together but actually fit

7:02

perfectly, you know, and that's sort of me being able

7:05

to inspire others using the language that

7:07

I've been taught, you know, through music and the

7:09

culture that I've been brought up around.

7:11

Yeah, that's great. I

7:29

wanted to dive a little bit into life as

7:31

a gringo.

7:31

Started with the title. I

7:34

fell in love with the show because of the title.

7:36

I thought it was just a great title that

7:39

kind of talks about the in between right, yeah,

7:41

between space that we all feel, you

7:43

know, were what they call the two

7:45

hundred percenters, right like we're American

7:48

and then we also rep for our flags.

7:50

Where did the title come from? Like why did you

7:52

gravitate towards that specific title?

7:54

So the story that like sticks out in

7:56

my mind of the actual like being

7:59

called a karingo is me being in

8:01

Puerto Rico, like eighteen or nineteen years

8:03

old, hang out with my aunt

8:05

who is around my age. Is a whole nother story.

8:07

But we go out to like a club or a bar one

8:10

night and I'm gonna go meet up with her friends. We're gonna

8:12

hang out. She's like showing me around and I meet

8:14

one of her friends. I instantly fall in love with her,

8:16

and I'm like trying to hit on her and

8:19

my aunt introduces me and she's like,

8:21

you know, this is my nephew from the States, and

8:23

this girl sort of without even blinking, and I

8:25

just like says, oh, so you're a gringo. And

8:28

it was like in jest and it wasn't

8:30

meant to be like this deep cup, but it was also

8:32

like one of those things that's like a half joke,

8:34

half serious type of thing where it's a reminder

8:37

that you know, even though you feel at

8:39

home there, you're oftentimes viewed

8:41

as other because you know, you're not necessarily

8:43

viewed as like one hundred percent you know here within

8:45

the culture. Right. I wasn't born and raised in Puerto Rico. My

8:47

Spanish is not great things like that, so they

8:49

view you as as something other, you

8:52

know. And I think for me, you know, growing

8:54

up in the otherness of growing

8:56

up in an you know, in a town that was predominantly

8:59

like Italian and Irish, my one

9:01

thing that I could fall back I was like, well, you know

9:03

what, like they can have their stereotypes about

9:05

what a Latino looks like, dresses like, talks like,

9:07

but I know when I go to Puerto Rico, like that's home

9:09

for me. You know, my father's very proud. We brought

9:11

me up on a lot of perto Rican tradition and things

9:13

like that. So this was like a punch to the

9:15

gut because it was like a reminder that

9:17

even though I thought these were kind of my people

9:19

and this is the one place I could really let my hair down,

9:22

it's a reminder that I don't fit in here either,

9:24

you know. So that was sort of the word gringo

9:26

just stuck in my head from that moment on. You know,

9:28

originally this was a book idea that I just had while driving

9:31

one day, and then you know, you and I got

9:33

connected to start talking about podcast

9:35

stuff and pitching ideas. Ironically,

9:38

life was a gringo was still kind of like that thing in the

9:40

back of my mind. It wasn't even like the thing I was leading

9:42

with, because I still was like battling

9:44

that imposter syndrome

9:47

of if I say this now, does

9:49

that take away my credibility to be on a Latin

9:51

podcast network? You know. So ironically,

9:54

I think me pushing past that discomfort

9:57

and then you and the whole team welcoming

9:59

it with open arms, celebrating it, you know. With

10:01

me, I think was like the last sort of piece of

10:03

my old self that I needed to shed before I can truly

10:05

be honest and vulnerable and represent

10:08

myself in the most authentic way, you know. So

10:10

that's why it is so incredibly special. And Michael

10:12

Thuda as a whole, and the whole team and everybody behind it,

10:14

you know, holds such a big place in my heart.

10:16

Absolutely.

10:16

There's so many topics that you

10:19

cover life, A lot of the

10:21

topics that I love and I think are

10:23

important conversations to have. One

10:25

you mentioned earlier was language. I think

10:27

your first episodes was with your

10:29

parents. You didn't grow up learning

10:32

Spanish. Yeah, And you know,

10:34

one of the things about Mike Ludura is that

10:36

we say language doesn't define

10:39

how Latin or Latina latine. You

10:41

are right, it's called and

10:44

there is, like you mentioned, that shame

10:46

around not knowing the language.

10:49

Or not speaking it perfectly.

10:52

I think even myself, yes, I'm

10:54

bilingual, and when I'm in rooms with native

10:56

speakers, I do get a little bit nervous because they're

10:58

like, you don't speak it perfect doing

11:00

it outside. I So I think there's

11:03

a lot of conversations still around

11:05

that. But tell me about that episode in particular

11:07

and why that conversation was important

11:09

for you to have with your parents and to basically

11:12

put it out there for the listeners.

11:13

Yeah, I think ironically it's probably the

11:15

first time we've ever really had that conversation

11:17

and we just happened to it in front of microphones

11:20

and recording, which I think it was a part of

11:22

that process. My goal with all this really

11:24

was like, just keep digging deeper, keep digging

11:26

deeper into the vulnerability, your honesty, Like

11:28

that's what's really going to connect with people, you know. Going

11:30

out on this journey and taking the risk of

11:33

like really going all in on podcasting, it was

11:35

like, because I want to make sure I'm making a difference and I'm

11:37

representing people and I'm making people feel seen. So

11:39

part of that is like really just being unafraid

11:41

to throw myself out there and put myself in the fire,

11:44

you know. And part of that was then having that conversation

11:46

with my parents and making sure we're recording

11:48

it for other people to relate to it. You know.

11:50

It's it's difficult because your parents

11:53

your parents, you love them, you're grateful for everything, but it's difficult

11:55

to have some of those harder conversations of like why

11:57

didn't you do this? You know what I mean. I've

11:59

held onto this for so long because you never did this. And

12:01

you know, obviously it's not like I

12:04

had some crazy traumatic childhood

12:06

as a result of this, but I think there

12:08

is sort of parts of myself that

12:10

wishes that I had a little bit more of that confidence,

12:12

and I wonder what it would have been like to have it at a younger

12:14

age, you know, to feel that connection at a younger age,

12:16

you know. Then also hearing their mindset,

12:19

you know, I think was important to showcase as well,

12:21

right where it's not just a one sided story, you

12:23

know, and them being able to sort

12:25

of express maybe some of the feelings

12:27

of not wanting me to be alienated

12:29

from my peers, you know, going into a school

12:31

that wasn't predominantly Spanish speaking, you know, that

12:33

didn't have a large Latin population, so making

12:36

sure that I didn't have an acset and the things that might

12:38

hold me back from being seen as as

12:40

just you know, your everyday hid there and having the same

12:42

opportunities, you know. So I think there are certain

12:44

conversations around that, and I think people probably

12:46

related to it because I hear a lot of feedback in

12:49

about that episode in particular, I think just

12:51

because like I said, I wanted to humanize my

12:53

parents a bit as well, I think was like

12:55

the bigger goal within it. Right, we see our parents

12:57

oftentimes as these like superheroes that are supposed

12:59

to have all the answers, you know, But when I think back,

13:02

it's like, Okay, my dad had me, you know, he was in his

13:04

twenties, Like what the hell. I wouldn't have known what the hell do

13:06

with a kid in my twenties, you know when I think back to that

13:08

time period. So I think conversations

13:10

like that are really important in the

13:12

bigger context when we zoom out of like

13:14

how we think about our relationship with our parents,

13:17

the things that we might be holding against them, but also

13:19

humanizing them, knowing that we're all just you know, trying

13:21

our best here and mistakes are going to happen. And I think,

13:23

you know, as a result of that episode, our relationship

13:26

grew and we got a lot closer, and it becomes easier and easier,

13:28

you know. So I hope that putting that on display and

13:30

that's why I love that episode, maybe encourage some other

13:33

people to have some other conversations with their parents

13:35

be it the same topic or just others, but just

13:37

being able to kind of get that connection and get some of those

13:39

answers that I think a lot of us are searching for but maybe

13:41

oftentimes are a bit too afraid to ask

13:44

about.

13:44

Yeah, and there's a lot of reasons

13:46

that parents sometimes have for not passing

13:48

down Spanish. You know, their

13:51

experience as immigrants here is

13:53

something that wasn't a great experience,

13:55

and so they want their children to learn

13:58

English, and we do, right, and

14:00

and our lives are lived in English. And

14:02

then for some of us like, yes, the language

14:04

in Spanish is great. And I think again

14:07

that's why Michael Dura doesn't say that all

14:09

our shows need to be in Spanish, because

14:11

English is really how we consume

14:13

our content.

14:14

It is how we're living our lives.

14:16

And this conversation about Nosabo kids,

14:18

right, that's come into popularity recently.

14:21

Can you define what that is and

14:23

why you're diving into those conversations.

14:25

Yeah, so, I think you know, as my understanding,

14:28

it's it's really just sort of a funny

14:30

way of describing people who

14:32

don't speak perfect Spanish essentially, right,

14:34

So like no, soabling less is probably has somebody to respond

14:36

obviously it's not perfect Spanish, right, So

14:38

it's you know what point you're trying to get across,

14:41

but you don't know how to actually perfectly say it,

14:43

right, And that's sort of the joke about it.

14:45

And I think it speaks perfect to that sort of

14:47

middle gray area where it's like, you know just

14:49

enough Spanish to like be a part of the conversation,

14:52

but you're also going to be like picked apart within the

14:54

conversation, you know. And I think that that is

14:56

sort of the gist of it. And I think it's an important

14:58

conversation that I keep having because I keep

15:01

running into it in different ways, be it the

15:03

feedback I get from listeners talking about

15:05

how they share in that experience, or even me personally.

15:07

You know, when I travel to Puerto Rico, which you know I've done a

15:09

lot over the last year, I make it a point to

15:12

try and speak in Spanish everywhere I go,

15:14

and I see sometimes some people are

15:16

receptive even if I'm not speaking it perfectly,

15:18

but others then, like the minute that I don't

15:21

say something grammatically correct, they start speaking

15:23

to me in English and refuse to speak to me in Spanish from there,

15:25

right, So it's like that conversation still needs to keep

15:27

happening because obviously there is some sort of

15:29

disconnect still within the community of like

15:31

the second you're not perfect within your Spanish,

15:33

it's like they take away your Latin card and now

15:36

you're back to being a gringo. Right, So I

15:38

keep speaking about it because I want to be a representative

15:40

for people. I want people to know I'm still on that journey

15:43

and I think it still is this thing that we

15:45

are like struggling with to a degree,

15:47

many of us when we are around to native Spanish

15:49

speaking people.

15:50

Yeah, it's definitely an important conversation.

16:09

You're also talking quite a bit about finances

16:12

and findcial literacy, which I think is also

16:14

super important for our community. You know, you've teamed

16:16

up with State Farm, one of our sponsors, to do

16:19

a lot of financial literacy.

16:20

Videos and conversations.

16:23

Why did you gravitate towards that topic?

16:25

Why was that important to you?

16:26

I think for me, the biggest

16:29

stressor that I can remember as a kid

16:31

growing up, like within the dynamic of

16:33

my parents, it was always around money. It was around

16:35

not having enough money, overspending, not being able

16:37

to do what we wanted to do, And there always was just some

16:39

sort of issue surrounding money to lack

16:42

of education, right, which I know now, but you know, at

16:44

the time, not realizing that other

16:46

people were being brought up taught about what

16:48

makes up a credit score or getting a credit

16:50

card, you know, their parents opening a credit card

16:52

joint credit card with them to help build up their credit, right,

16:55

or saving for college tuition or

16:57

saving in general. Right, Like these sort

16:59

of practice is you know, my parents, specifically on

17:01

my mom's side, like my grandmother never

17:03

had a bank account. They kept money under the mattress,

17:05

you know what I mean. So, like what financial literacy are they

17:08

going to pass down to then my mom like nothing,

17:10

right, So she's figuring it out on the spot. And that's

17:12

pre internet, you know, and school public school

17:14

systems don't do a great job of prioritizing

17:16

these things. So it's not information that's readily available

17:19

unless for generations your family

17:21

has been educating themselves on this as homeowners

17:24

and things of that nature. Right, But my parents, you know,

17:26

my mom was the first homeowner on her side

17:28

of the family, you know what I mean. So these are all things

17:30

that they're all learning on the spot, and as a result

17:32

of learning on the spot myself included, like I got into

17:34

financial trouble early on with credit cards and

17:37

things like that, and you know, for me, for a

17:39

long time, I assumed that I

17:41

would never be able to buy a home on my own, that I

17:43

would have to basically go under my spouse's name, you know, when

17:45

I eventually got married, and I remember going apartment

17:47

hunting and like the second they give you the

17:49

application, being like, all right, I know they're not going to approve

17:52

me. I won't even bother, you know, And that's just being

17:54

really frustrating in my life. So I made it

17:56

a point to turn that around, you

17:58

know. And I was fortunate enough time

18:00

to get connected through the Breakfast Club with somebody who

18:02

is a credit repair specialist, and working

18:04

with them, it educated me on the

18:07

process of finances of what makes

18:09

up a credit score. And you know, then I paid down everything,

18:11

I got my credit up, and then I learned about pushing myself

18:13

to saving and I want to buy a house, what does that take? Right,

18:16

So going on this journey and recognizing

18:18

like I just changed the entire course of

18:21

my life and future generations potentially

18:23

of my children and things like that, just by going on

18:25

this journey of doing the hard work to educating

18:27

myself. Right, my life is completely different. It's

18:29

in a far better situation than

18:31

I could have ever imagined because of this. You know, I'm

18:33

not relying on anybody else, So I recognize

18:36

the value in that, and I want to pass it down.

18:38

Like for me, it's always about throwing the ladder back down

18:40

once I've sort of you know, reached whatever climax

18:42

I'm going for. And that's why I've made it a

18:44

point of conversation, because I want to make sure people

18:47

are focusing in on the things that

18:49

actually going to have the most substantial

18:51

change to their life. Right, we're talking about breaking generational

18:53

curses, like these are core things that we have to

18:55

learn about and do if we really want to

18:58

get to a better place and as a community,

19:00

if we really want to have a seat at the table, you

19:02

know, having people who are in great

19:04

positions financially is the only way that's

19:06

really going to do.

19:07

So you've also talked about relationships.

19:10

There's a crossover episode with Amarala

19:12

Nera that is just so hilarious,

19:14

and you guys talk about toxicas and toxicos

19:17

and all that juicy stuff about.

19:19

Being in Relationships.

19:20

Is there an episode that stands

19:22

out as one of your favorites?

19:25

One of my favorite episodes, actually,

19:27

yeah, the one that I did with Frankie Ganis

19:29

is one of my favorite ones. His story

19:31

is so incredible to me, like he was somebody

19:34

who was like on his couch till he was in his mid thirties.

19:36

He's like sleeping on a friends couch those mid thirties, right, just trying

19:38

to hold his dream alive. And I just

19:40

found that psychotic, but like psychotic

19:42

in the most inspiring way. And I

19:44

loved hearing that story because to

19:47

me, it was just like, you know, it was

19:49

somebody who just fell in love with what he does

19:51

so much that he was willing to give it his all.

19:53

It was so profound to see somebody now

19:55

who's seeing an incredible amount of success,

19:57

well earned success with the show on Hulu This Fool.

20:00

He has the podcast as well, and I think

20:02

just hearing his first hand experience

20:04

to me was just like a touching reminder of

20:06

why I do what I do. You know, because I

20:09

felt inspired by I got a lot of feedback

20:11

from other people about how it was the inspiration that they

20:13

needed in that moment as well. You know. So I

20:15

think that being able to have

20:17

a platform to share these stories, you

20:19

know, is so incredibly important because sometimes

20:21

that's all we need, right, Sometimes we just need somebody

20:23

who looks like us, or sounds like us, or comes from our

20:26

background to remind us that it is possible,

20:28

right, and that the hardships that you're going through

20:30

are incredibly normal and you're not by yourself

20:32

within that you just have to push a little bit further, right,

20:34

And it's why movies like the Flaming Hot movie

20:36

are so impactful. And that was like a

20:39

huge movie for me that I was crying and felt

20:41

so inspired afterwards, right, Like, these are just moments

20:43

that I think we all need every once in a while

20:45

to keep us on our journey and on our path

20:48

and to feel seen. So I feel like I was able to contribute

20:50

one of those moments to some of our listeners and that's

20:52

incredible for me.

20:53

Yeah, And I think that's why Mi Gudua exists, right,

20:55

so that people can see us telling our

20:58

stories and sort of leading the narrative,

21:00

right, And.

21:00

A lot of the times we don't get to tell our stories.

21:03

And Mike Ututa's offering creators

21:05

from different parts of the country and opportunity

21:07

to tell that and different kinds of stories.

21:09

Right, yes, look forward to dram

21:12

most the content creator.

21:14

What's next? Where do you sort of see yourself

21:17

in the next couple of years.

21:18

I definitely want to expand in more

21:21

in person type of things, you know. I've

21:23

been doing some speaking engagements and things like that

21:25

to really just be able to touch the community in a real way

21:27

though, step outside of the normal corporate

21:29

speaking gig type of thing and try to connect with

21:31

people where they are and inspire people

21:33

in that way. You know. I've been also building a

21:35

wellness brand where we do you know, group

21:38

mentorship and coaching and trying

21:40

to inspire you know, members of our community, and that's

21:42

been really fulfilling. And seeing

21:45

just the way that people's lives have been changing

21:47

just over the course of a few months from having

21:49

conversations and just having somebody to feed off

21:51

of, I think has been incredible. And then I think,

21:54

you know, beyond that, I want to do more things

21:56

where I'm not necessarily behind the microphone

21:58

or in front of the camera. I want to be to give other

22:00

people from our community the opportunity

22:02

to have their voice heard or to bring their stories

22:04

to life, you know. So I think I've been blessed with

22:06

a lot of doors slammed in my face and as

22:08

well as a lot of you know, beautiful opportunities like this

22:11

one, where I have a lot of lessons that I can teach

22:13

to other people, a lot, a lot of experience

22:15

that I can shed on others to help them on their

22:17

journey and maybe make it just a bit easier than mine was.

22:19

So that's definitely the bigger vision is to be able to start

22:21

helping others bring their ideas to life as well.

22:23

Yeah, and I think it's a good reminder for us that

22:26

we are inspiring the next generation, right,

22:28

Like I know, for myself, I'm like, oh, I'm just here

22:30

listening to podcasts and like the launching

22:32

shows. But it is good to hear sometimes

22:35

that you know you are making a difference or

22:38

that this show really touched somebody.

22:40

And I know for me, is just a reminder

22:42

that we are doing important work right

22:44

and making a difference. With that, I

22:46

would love for you to give some advice

22:49

to folks that you know, want to

22:51

follow in your footsteps, that want to launch

22:53

podcasts, that want to be a content creator.

22:56

What sort of advice do you have for them?

22:57

I always think like you got to lead with authenticity,

23:00

right, You got to lead with what really speaks to

23:02

you. You know. I think it's it's easy to get hung

23:04

up and trying to recreate what's popular

23:06

and all those different things. But you know, this is

23:08

a grind, and if you don't truly have a passion

23:11

or a love for it, it's going to be very

23:13

easy to sort of walk away and quit, you

23:15

know, if it's not something you genuinely believe

23:17

in, you know what I mean. And I'm fortunate

23:19

that, you know, I feel like I've sort of found my voice

23:22

and it's allowed me to push past the more

23:24

difficult moments, you know, And I think that's probably

23:26

the biggest thing. I think a lot of people also

23:28

forget that their unique

23:31

experience adds something fresh, you

23:33

know. I think that it's a lot of people get caught up

23:36

and thinking everything's already been done, or that they

23:38

have to be somebody else, and they're sort of missing their

23:40

greatest asset, which is their lived experience,

23:42

their very unique vantage point.

23:44

You know.

23:44

I think that's the greatest thing that you

23:46

could bring to the table. You know that that's

23:48

been my experience. The more I've become

23:50

me and the more I've displayed myself and led

23:52

with that, the more opportunities have

23:55

begun to present themselves, you know, And I'm

23:57

grateful that I kind of figure that

23:59

out. And that's the biggest thing I would say,

24:01

is, like I always say, authenticity is your superpower.

24:03

And the second thing I always say is if you don't see

24:05

it, create it. You know, for me, that

24:08

is exactly what life is a going go. And this

24:10

whole journey I've been on is just that, you

24:12

know, I found my voice, and then

24:14

I tried to convince other people, you

24:16

know, in radio, that they should give me an

24:18

opportunity or that we should create this. They didn't see

24:20

the vision, so I went and created it somewhere else, right.

24:23

I didn't wait for somebody to tell me that now

24:25

is okay or that they agree with it. You know, I had

24:27

a vision and I went out and created it, and

24:29

you know, luckily other people saw that vision. But

24:31

I think those are the two biggest things, you know, is

24:34

lead with your authentic self, create the

24:36

thing that you want to see. And I think those

24:38

are the two things that are going to kind of help you

24:40

sort of weather the storms that you're neverly going to face

24:42

on your journey to finding success into

24:44

getting wherever you want to be.

24:45

Absolutely, and I would just add be

24:47

bold, take chances, write

24:49

that email, find into

24:52

that DM.

24:52

Who better to advocate for you than you?

24:54

Right, little tid, But I'll squeeze in there

24:57

on that note. One of the listeners of life

24:59

is a Gingo, like one the Day One people. She's

25:01

now my business partner because she was

25:03

bold enough to like keep being

25:05

on every episode giving me feedback, sending

25:08

me her resume, asking if I needed a virtual assistant.

25:10

When I got to the point where I could hire a virtual assistant,

25:12

she's the person that I hit up and now like we've

25:14

become business partners in my wellness brand, right, So it's

25:16

like it is that boldness, you know, and being

25:19

unafraid to say this is what I want

25:21

and this is what I can offer. So I love that you

25:23

mentioned that one little tip that I want to

25:25

add to that story.

25:26

I love that see persistence,

25:29

I'm putting yourself out there.

25:30

It's definitely important.

25:31

One fun fact about Dramos and I we

25:34

share the same birthday, so you know,

25:36

O query there coming at

25:38

you.

25:39

Parhamos.

25:40

Thank you so much for joining us.

25:42

It's been a pleasure chatting with you. We

25:44

love having you as part of our network. They're

25:46

doing amazing things and we're so

25:48

so proud of you. Just a reminder that The

25:50

Street Stoic Season two comes

25:52

out October twenty third, and you catch

25:55

life as a Getting Goal every Tuesday

25:57

and Thursday on My Kurtura.

26:00

Thank you so much for chatting with me and

26:02

for telling your story, and one's going to be like super valuable

26:04

for people to hear.

26:05

Thank you so much.

26:14

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