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Ep.1: The Strategist and the Counsellor
182 Plays1 year ago
https://www.instagram.com/awakenadhdpodcast/?igshid=MmIzYWVlNDQ5YgIn this episode you will be introduced to us, your SEMI-PRECIOUS sisters Amber and Jade. While it’s a bit of a bio for both of us, you will come to see why we talk about being “uncut and unpolished” and how we are learning to embrace being beautifully imperfect, absurd, random, clumsy, sweary, rebellious and sometimes forgetful hot messes!
As is typical for Amber, she will avoid answering anything that gets too emotional or raw (at least in this episode) and Jade will over share her story and try to pry vulnerability from Amber’s soul! While there is a bit about us, our families, career and disposition - we also try to unpack what the hell we are doing producing a podcast. - neither of us have enough time or commitment to completing projects so it will be amazing if we get past this first episode up!
Buckle in, it could be a rocky first rodeo!
To follow and subscribe to your mildly unhinged SEMI-PRECIOUS hosts, you can connect via Instagram
Connect with Jade:
If you are wanting to understand more about Jade and her counselling practice or ADHD Coaching you can visit Awaken Insights, Awaken ADHD or on socials Instagram and Facebook
Connect with Amber:
If you are curious about Amber and her brand agency you can visit The Edison Agency or follow her on socials LinkedIn or Instagram
Credits:
Produced and Hosted by Amber Bonney and Jade Bonney.
Sound Engineer: Ashton Bonney-Wright, Entice Media
Creative Director and Social Content Creator: Amber Bonney
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Transcript
Acknowledgment and Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
This podcast is recorded on the lands of the Buterung country and we wish to acknowledge them as traditional owners. We recognise First Peoples of Australia as the original storytellers of this country and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. You are listening to a Sally Precious podcast hosted by Uncut and Unpolished sisters, Abba and Jade.
00:00:27
Speaker
We're on. We're on. Is this episode one? Is this episode one? It's happening. Oh my goodness.
00:00:37
Speaker
All right. Well, we have been practicing for quite some months, so just had to jump on in. Here we go. All right.
Meet the Hosts: Amber and Jade
00:00:46
Speaker
Welcome. Very excited. Yeah. Amber, do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself? Sure. Not that I don't know. I know. You do know me. My name's Amber. I'm a brand designer and strategist. I run my own business.
00:00:57
Speaker
Happening.
00:01:00
Speaker
I have a blended family that includes a husband, three children, two dogs, and now a cat. And I would like it on the record that I am not a cat person. You are now. I am now, but typically not. Uh, I'm in my forties. I'm still hanging on to my youth for dear life. Um, and I have a couple more years before I reach the big five. So that's me.
00:01:27
Speaker
Didn't really hear anything about you as a person though. You're just a professional bio. Yeah. Okay. What about you as a person? I'm a bit offbeat and weird. Yes, you are. I'm quite driven professionally and personally. Quite. Extremely, obsessively. I have a dark sense of humour. I have just moved.
00:01:54
Speaker
from the Surf Coast, an idyllic Victorian town, to inner city, ironically, to achieve work-life balance. Yeah, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I get it. It is a bit funny. It is. Is that sufficient personality description? That's enough, yeah. I guess we'll get to know you a bit more as we dive in.
00:02:15
Speaker
We will. All right. The other half is semi-precious, Jade. That's me. So I am... I wrote in this script sometimes fiery. Probably a lot fiery. I'm pretty fiery. But I'm also pretty calm. I'm very empathic. I am...
00:02:33
Speaker
creative and passionate and neurodiverse and an introverted extrovert. I decided. Yeah. I feel like that's just a foot in both camps. It is. I didn't really want to choose. I don't like making decisions. I feel that way about menus, but it's a little bit different.
00:02:52
Speaker
I'm a private practice counsellor and I have one husband, two kids. Just the one husband. Just the one husband and a million animals. I'm a cat person and dog person and lizard person and chicken person.
00:03:08
Speaker
funny person and what else have I got? Guinea pigs. I'm giving Jade big eyes right now because she has a menagerie and it's a constant source of stress and yet she continues to grow the animal sanctuary. I really kind of only want to grow them at certain times of the month. I need to adopt a new kitten. I feel like you should just get some chocolate.
00:03:32
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. So I'm the younger sister and I'm still just comfortably coasting in my 40s, Amber, just like to say, being the younger sister. We'll unpack that another time.
Purpose and Mantras
00:03:45
Speaker
How comfortably coasting I am, except for I am quite
00:03:51
Speaker
I don't know that my crow's feet and my 11s, I only learned that term recently. What do you see term 11s? 11s, the crosses in between your eyebrows. Oh, I'm getting Botox to try and remove those. Yeah, well, I think that my 11s are actually because I have to look so concerned with my clients all day long.
00:04:12
Speaker
Oh, that's so hard. And so I end up with this cranky face. It really is deep concern phase. And I think I should be able to claim Botox as a tax rebate. Yeah, I'm sure. You just need to get a better accountant. We have had that conversation many times too. Hope my accountant's not listening. I don't think this is the audience for your accountant, just saying. But I was thinking, because we're quite similar, but we're also very different.
00:04:43
Speaker
And I thought our Miro board, which is what we've been planning this podcast on, pretty much illustrates our differences. Jade's chaotic and I am structured and everything needs to be in a nice, neat row. She opened up the Miro board this morning and said, what is this random text in the middle of here and why have session two plans mixed up with another episode?
00:05:12
Speaker
I couldn't really answer that question. No. If only you could have seen Jade trying to copy and paste text from one box to another. It was really infuriating. So tech savvy is also not high on my list of skillsets. Anyway, that's a bit about Jade. It is.
00:05:30
Speaker
Well, let's segue into why are we actually doing this podcast? Why indeed? I feel like there's a lot of podcasts out there. Some part of me was like that ship sort of already sailed, but then selfishly I felt like I needed an emotional outlet. So that's kind of what that is.
00:05:48
Speaker
Unless we go back to blogging, is that going to make a comeback? No, sure. No, that's gone. You would make too many editorial errors in a written blog. I would. But you know, I think as a neurodivergent woman, I'm a verbal processor. So are you. So talking a lot and sharing stories.
00:06:09
Speaker
is something we do really well.
Personality and Upbringing
00:06:11
Speaker
I think it actually stemmed from either in a social situation, someone saying you two should do a podcast because I would listen to that, or potentially us admiring at how funny our conversations are and feeling like that was wasted content. We are really funny. I know it doesn't sound like it thus far in episode one, but we'll get funny. We do promise to be quite amusing.
00:06:37
Speaker
Yeah, because I think we live pretty different lives, right? We do. Yeah. And I would not want your life at all. Thanks. I'm not offended by that. Well, I think I would describe myself as an introvert with a fast-paced life, and I would potentially describe you as an extrovert with a slow-paced life.
00:07:02
Speaker
That sounds about right. I think that's why I said introverted extrovert because I am an extrovert, but I really don't like to be go-go-go. I like to be out in nature and a bit more quiet and not a big fan of the city. You do too many things on the weekend for me. Like you're always out canoeing and then wrestling crocodiles and then going to a sanctuary and then having breakfast somewhere and then back onto the lake and then buying another pet.
00:07:33
Speaker
But that's a relaxed weekend. No. It's not flying up and back from Sydney in a day. And that's easy. Seven meetings in one hour. Anyway, riveting content. Riveting content. So why the podcast was, I suppose, at the root level, an opportunity for us to download. We have pretty complex lives, even though they're quite different. So giving us the opportunity.
00:08:00
Speaker
to talk about it and potentially, I wouldn't say inspire other people because that sounds really wanky, but I would say anyone listening who enjoys listening to us banter and ramble and overshare would definitely get something out of it. I think so. If not just pure entertainment. I mean, you could be laughing with us or at us. It doesn't really matter to us. No, I wouldn't be fazed by either of those things.
00:08:26
Speaker
Alrighty, so should we talk now a little bit about our mantras for life so people can really kind of understand who we are? Mine's pretty simple. It has influenced both work and personal life. I can't remember how it came about, but it's basically bite big and chew like hell.
00:08:46
Speaker
It used to be bite big and chew like buggery, but it felt like that was a bit insensitive and didn't sound as good. So chew like howl, I feel like that's got some guts behind it. All right. So what does it mean to you? How does that show up for me? It means being fearless.
00:09:05
Speaker
I think I'm a pretty fearless person. It means not being defeated by a problem. I do not like the idea that I cannot solve something. And so, especially when someone says you can't do something, that really motivates me to say, fuck you, and I'm just going to do it and then do it better than you.
00:09:22
Speaker
Is that just like the rebel in you or? Maybe. I did have a year two university lecturer that told me, didn't think I was going to make it in the industry. I didn't have what it takes. Thanks, John. John was a middle-aged white man at the time. So, you know, surprising lack of support there. Well, there's nothing to drive us further than a middle-aged white man telling us what we should or shouldn't do. Should or shouldn't do.
00:09:51
Speaker
It also shows up in me just having lots of side projects literally and then figuratively in my head. I think the amount of podcasts I've designed in my head or books I've got on the go, businesses I want to launch, that's the sort of thing that goes through my head all the time.
00:10:10
Speaker
It shows up in me in both positive and negative ways. Sometimes the negative is not knowing when to say no because I'm so interested and curious in learning new things. It can mean I can overcommit and then lead to burnout. You think you overcommit?
00:10:29
Speaker
Do you ever do that? And they've ever seen you. Jade's giving me a smart ass 11 face. So I can see her frowning empathy, but also she's got smart ass eyes. So I know how to read that situation. Yeah. Yeah. So I can over commit. It also means I'm not very good at living in the now. And my lovely sister Jade is way better at living in the now. Am I?
00:10:52
Speaker
Yeah, you are. You like to run baths with a glass of wine midweek during witching hour. Nobody does that. Nobody does that at five o'clock on a Wednesday. I do have to practice trying to be present because it is not my natural state. So, bite, beak and chew like hell? That's me. That's you. All right. So mine? Yeah. The green part of Amber and Jade.
00:11:19
Speaker
If anyone didn't get the connection between semi-precious stones and our names, that's really how I came up. That's it. I mean, technically, I need just tree sap. I think I am. Yeah. With lots of mosquitoes. So in actual fact, you are the semi-precious and I'm sap. Sap. Good. Then we've got the get up. Bolted sap, which means I have great cheekbones and actually I do have good cheekbones.
00:11:45
Speaker
Well, a lot of the best amber in the world comes from the Baltic areas. And the cheekbones. Well, because people who like Polish and German and Scandinavian, they have good cheekbones. Come on. It's Sunday morning. Goodness gracious. Anyway. All right. So mine is more like bite lots of small pieces, chew them for a bit, forget how to swallow, choke, spit them out, and then repeat the process.
00:12:11
Speaker
Such a delight. It's almost catchy as yours, right? No, it's not. But I feel like it illustrates me nonetheless. Yeah. That kind of too many tabs open.
Podcast Focus and Humor
00:12:21
Speaker
I feel like you need to get a bit more succinct with your mantra. So yeah. If you were a brand.
00:12:28
Speaker
What would your tagline be? Too many tabs open. I totally get that. Yeah, but that's not really, that's kind of how I process, right? Do you know that my phone actually flashed up an alert saying, you have 500 internet tabs open. Would you like to close any that haven't been used for a month? And I actually had little heart palpitations at the thought of losing all of that information that I may have wanted to go back to at some point.
00:12:53
Speaker
You know you can put tabs into subfolders on your foreign rights so that you can section them by category. Yeah, you told me that once before, but you never showed me. You've got to get onto that. I didn't do that. Anyway, I digress. All right, so maybe mine is more like stay curious and keep breathing. Yeah, that's more inspiring, I suppose. I feel it. Then I have too many taps open.
00:13:17
Speaker
It's more of a statement, less of a mantra. I think stay curious for me kind of leans into that being fearless that you were talking about because I can get tangled and afraid of trying new things or putting myself out there. If I'm like, well, I'm just curious, I'll just go and have a look. Then if it doesn't work, I'll just kind of back out and do something else.
00:13:43
Speaker
So I think the curiosity part for me says, you know, embrace that failure, just give it a go. Does that make sense? It does. I feel like what you're saying is you're motivated by bite big and you're using that to leverage your own motivation. She's giving me curious, don't be narcissistic now.
00:14:07
Speaker
Yeah, maybe, but bite big feels too scary to me. I still want to bite small. Bite small and stay curious.
00:14:20
Speaker
Yeah. And, and obviously. That'd be a good de-gustation restaurant. Bite small and stay curious. Yeah. Just, you know, inhale that mint foam. But don't joke. And keep breathing. Um, I think that needs to be everybody's mantra. Yeah. Keep breathing. I will talk about the breathing book on some future episode. It's called Breathe. Look it up people. Sounds good. It's important.
00:14:48
Speaker
Now, on each of our episodes, we are going to talk about our semi-precious moments of the week. Is that true? That's true. Yeah. And the reason we do that is because we want it to be an opportunity for us to take notes of the things that are funny, really. Imperfect, absurd, random, clumsy, forgetful, hot, messy. Hot, messy. Yeah.
00:15:13
Speaker
So, we should get t-shirts that say hot, messy. We should. Semi-precious, hot, messy. Semi-precious, and the tree sap. Watch your space. Yeah. No, no, no tree sap.
00:15:27
Speaker
All right, so what's yours? I can't think of one for this week. All I'm doing in episode one is committing to that we will be talking about semi-precious moments. Then from here on in, I will be using my notes and my phone, which pretty much runs my life to document what those moments were.
00:15:47
Speaker
Okay. Fair enough. I did spend four hours at the hair salon. I don't think that's a semi-precious moment, but I did sort of want to reevaluate my life and I was hungover. I mean, it was a little bit absurd. It was a long time, bright lights, loud music, and I was really thinking, why did I schedule after a night that I knew was going to be a big night to get my hair done?
00:16:10
Speaker
Yeah, that's absurd. Not sure that that's... Well, it is semi-precious. What is it? Absurd, clumsily, forgetful. I mean, I did plan them well in advance. I just think it goes to that bite-beacon-chew-like hell sometimes. I'm a bit non-realistic with what I schedule into my calendar. Oh, you feel like you're a bit non-realistic. I do. Yeah. Again, that's my sarcasm.
Teasers and Conclusion
00:16:36
Speaker
Apologies, it might not come across too well.
00:16:39
Speaker
All right. Well, I also didn't really capture anything, but I thought my morning illustrated some of my hot messiness. Messiness? Do tell. Do tell. Well, I don't need to tell you because you received the phone call. I do too. She said, are you going to be here on time? I said, no, I can't. And my bra.
00:17:05
Speaker
I've got more than one bra, but I wanted a certain bra and I couldn't find it. You really need that certain bra for an audio only podcast.
00:17:16
Speaker
Well, we were going to record it, but I think I forgot to press record. So you're telling me that phone that we set up. Yeah. Looking at us is not recording anything. It's not recording anything. I told you, you pressed record before I was ready. It's not recording, but I am wearing the good bra now. Okay. Well, it's all about how you feel with this top.
00:17:40
Speaker
on the inside. I couldn't find the bra. I found the bra. I'd shoved it randomly in my second drawer for some reason. It doesn't belong there. Then I had to go to the shops to buy my eight-year-old a squishy because yesterday she was very distressed that she didn't have a new squishy.
00:18:01
Speaker
I don't know why I felt compelled to go and do it, so I had to go and do that this morning. What is a squishy? Ask an eight-year-old. Is it the big teddy thing, or are you just talking about a...? No, not a squishmallow. Different. Any of those little things that you fidget and play with, but the particularly squishy ones. The ones that burst in a terrible for the environment.
00:18:22
Speaker
Right. And so she said to me, I don't want the ones that burst. I want the ones that are just kind of soft and slowly rebound. It was a long, detailed conversation. Anyway, boring, squishy conversation. And then on the way here, I also called you and said, I was almost hit by goddamn golf ball on the freeway.
00:18:41
Speaker
That was terrifying. It was like pinging towards me. I saw my life flash before my eyes. Not really. What flashed? Were you having to call the insurance company? How do I? I feel like trying to wedge that into your week would be annoying. That might remove Wednesday's bath and gin session.
00:18:57
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. That's true. I don't like those sort of conversations either. But anyway, what the hell is a golf ball doing? Pinging down everywhere. Yeah. So then I spent the rest of the drive in writing an angry letter in my head to the golf course. You know, you just would put a claim in on your app and never have to speak to the golf course, right? I wouldn't. The injustice of that.
00:19:18
Speaker
Or I'd write the angry letter. I write angry letters in my head, but I don't actually send them. I do also have a lot of internal monologues that are usually ranty. They're usually external because you usually call me and tell me. Yes, right. That's back. Now we have a podcast that we can do our ranty monologues. This is just going to be ranting for 25 minutes. We have set a goal for all future episodes to be under 30 minutes.
00:19:47
Speaker
Where are we at today? Well, we have recorded, stopped and started a few times. So don't tell them that. We have to drink a water pause. Jade's coughed about 90 times. I think it's the bra.
00:20:04
Speaker
Too tight. Too tight. It is actually. So anyway, back to what we were saying, semi-precious moments. We will be capturing them and making sure that we end every session on what has been the semi-precious moment. And what about little gems? Little gems, yes. So we do have a sound for little gems.
00:20:31
Speaker
That's our little gem sound. Unfortunately, Jade can't actually reach it, so we might have to set up a little code for... Yeah, a little hand signal. I was just waving at her then. Well, don't wave because that's your pause signal. So I'm going to turn to shoot while I'm pausing, but you're just wanting our little...
00:20:51
Speaker
Oh, so lovely. So what are our little gems? Our little gems are just things we think are little useful nuggets. Hopefully there's a few. I think if we get through a whole episode and haven't had any little gems, it's a bit of a waste of an analogy. It is so
00:21:10
Speaker
have we had any little gems today? Can we retrospectively look back and say what Jade said was definitely a little gem there? Look, nothing's coming to mind. It's not to say, it's not true, but I do have a poor memory.
00:21:27
Speaker
It's probably more of a reflection than me. Working memory is not working. No, no, it's not. All righty then. Well, we'll try and insert some little gems. So next episode, what's it called? What's it called? Growing up. Growing up. Yep. It's right there on the board and it is your color. Yeah. It is onto my color. Yeah. So Jade saying, shut up. It's your turn to talk. Everything's color coded on our narration.
00:21:51
Speaker
So growing up, Jade and I are from a family of five girls, so there's a lot to unpack in growing up. And we aren't going to talk about ourselves just every single episode, but just to give you this context on what has caused the level of neuroses in both of us. So life in the 70s, you were in the 70s, right? Yeah, I was born in the 70s. You were born in the 70s, good.
00:22:20
Speaker
The level of freedom that came from that, living with mental health, we'll unpack a bit about that. What else do we want to talk about? In the first episode? Yeah. No, second episode. The second episode? Yeah, just that, I guess.
00:22:35
Speaker
Yeah, what it was like growing up, how we think that shaped who we are. We'll try not to cry. Maybe not. Maybe we should do that one on like a Saturday evening with some gin. What, to get more emotional? You know, lean into it. Jane's just trying to make me cry because I don't cry very often. Lean into it.
00:22:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So that's episode two. If you want to listen to more of our ramblings, follow and subscribe on your favorite potty platform. Do I say potty? Do you think it sounds like a toilet? Oh yeah, it does now that you said that. Just with poor language. Appreciations hurt me. On your favorite podcast platform. She's giving me mental health worker voice. Here's my radio voice.
00:23:24
Speaker
So thanks for listening. Until next time, embrace your uncut and unpolished selves. Nicely done. Thank you. Thanks. Au revoir. Toodaloo. Bye. Bye.
Disclaimer and Sign-off
00:23:46
Speaker
This podcast represents our personal opinions and experiences only. No content should be taken as professional advice or recommendations. As a professional counselor, it's my legal obligation to maintain my client's confidentiality. Any therapy anecdotes are based on experiences throughout my career, not individual client cases.