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Cannes Lions, Traveling, Speaking on DEIB & Mental Health
319 Plays2 years ago
I had an amazing time in the South of France at the Cannes Lions Festival. I had a rant about my experiences being there...
Topics
- Cannes Lions
- Speaking on DEIB & Mental Health
- The benefits of traveling
- Monte Carlo
- Influential
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Follow @BiggerTalksPodcast on instagram and my personal page @EricBigger.
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Transcript
Return from Cannes, France
00:00:01
Speaker
Bigger Talks, Bigger Talks.
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We back, we back, we back.
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By the way, we back from the south of France.
00:00:10
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They call it con, I want to say cans.
Merchandise Promotion Announcement
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So before we get started, it's Bigger Talks episode.
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By the way, we're still in the month of June and you get 35% off of It's Miracle Season merch.
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That's the promo code for 35% off all products for the entire month of June.
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Get that.
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By the way, you also can sign up for one-on-one miracle coaching with me.
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Work with me personally as I help you evolve, heal, and become your best self.
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So click the link on my bio on Instagram and sign up for one-on-one coaching.
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Let's have an intentions call and see if you're a good fit.
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We can work and we'll win.
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But yeah, so...
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We're back.
Cannes Lions and Professional Insights
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I'm back from the south of France.
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In today's episode, I'm going to talk about Cannes Lions, the festival for the biggest brands and corporations and partners in the world.
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DEIB, that's diversity and inclusion and belonging, mental health, traveling, and my experience there for a week.
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Here we go!
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So, there's a...
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This trip was booked probably like four months, maybe three months in advance.
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I think four months in advance.
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I think we booked it in January.
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Shouts out to Influential, Ryan Dieter and Chris Dieter, the brothers who own and operate one of the biggest brand agencies in the world.
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So I've been working with Influential for probably like the last five or six years, post-TV show, post-The Bachelorette.
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And what they do is they pitch brand deals.
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So I've worked with partnerships with...
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Wells Fargo's, McDonald's, Uber, Tide, NASCAR, Northwestern Mutual, Cress, you name it.
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I didn't work with a lot of the partners through Influential's agency.
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And I'm so grateful for the opportunity that they've given me to work with some of the biggest brands in the world.
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So...
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Ryan Dieter is the CEO and founder.
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I think they started that company in 2014.
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And over the course of me meeting him and working with, you know, Influential and their company, I built a good rapport with him.
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And, you know, we had several conversations where I was telling him, you know, I think brand deals are amazing.
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They're phenomenal.
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They pay good money.
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I'm so grateful for the opportunity to present them on my platform.
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But I had got to a space where, you know,
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I was kind of over just being a face with the brand and a product on my page.
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And I said, you know what?
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I want to do something more meaningful.
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I want to be pitched as like a thought leader, as a speaker, as someone who has real IP about the brand partnership space, about market awareness, brand awareness, ROI, how to create content, what people, you know, brands should hire.
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Yeah.
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And so I had the opportunity to speak to like Wells Fargo marketing team, Fidelity's marketing team.
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And really, it was interviewing me on, you know, brand awareness, marketing for like influentials.
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I mean, influencer campaigns.
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And I was giving them my IP on what I know, what I've been through, my ins and outs of being in a brand space on social media and how I've done so well and how they can do well through the voice and the perspective of
Diversity and Personal Growth
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mine.
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So with those opportunities, it led to me having the opportunity to go to Cannes, to go to Cannes, Cannes, France, South of France, baby, to speak with
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On a few panels through Influential, and it was an amazing experience.
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I just got back.
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I was there for a week.
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And some of the biggest brand names in the world from Pinterest, Meta, T-Mobile, Yahoo, Microsoft,
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Spotify, New York Post, Page Six.
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I mean, it was just an incredible, incredible experience.
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And it really opened my mind to what's going on here in a corporation and the brand space.
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And a lot of people that was in attendance were like influencers, creators, celebrities, athletes.
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but as well as CMOs, CEOs, and brand executives, the people who spend the money with people like Influential to spread the budgets through creators like myself or entertainers or celebrities.
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And I had a chance to talk to some of the president from Coca-Cola, got some real deep insight on how they think and how they scale and what they're looking forward to.
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But the main thing that really was eye-opening for me in this experience was that, for one, this was a dream come true.
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Right?
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A dream come true.
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I've always had the dream to travel the world and speak.
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And this was one of the first of many that will continue to
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And then speaking on something that I was passionate about, something I was very aware of and had experience and insight on.
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So the two panels that I spoke on, or the two topics I spoke on the most while being there through Influential was DEIB, diversity and inclusion and belonging and mental health.
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And being there for the week.
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I came to realize that, for one, there's nothing but women in this space.
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You know, as CEOs, as HR, diversity and inclusion, VPs, it's a bunch of women.
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Also in the mental health.
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And I was like, there's no...
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minority representation from a male's perspective in this space when it comes to diversity and inclusion and for mental health.
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As you know, 75% of men, they say commit suicide.
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So I got like this aha moment.
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My aunt, Renee Myers, is VP of diversity and inclusion for Netflix.
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So she gave me some pointers to kind of like think about and talk about.
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And what she told me,
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I'm not kind of talking around, but what she told me about diversity and inclusion and belonging, it's not about just black and brown people, minorities or women.
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It's really about gender identity.
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It's about class.
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It's about culture.
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It's about sexuality.
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It's about disability.
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It's about reflecting and respecting what people believe in, where they come from and how they think.
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And, you know, her quote is...
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Diversity is being invited to the party and inclusion has been asked to dance and belonging peace comes from even if you can't dance, you still are able to join in and be a part of the experience.
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So I say all that to say, with all that information and the opportunity to speak, it opened up my mind because the last episode I spoke on, you know, ego death, me pivoting from being this, you know, talented, successful,
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you know, TV personality, influencer, creator, however you want to label it, doesn't matter.
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To like, I want something more, something more meaningful.
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I was like, you know what?
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This is a space that I can thrive in.
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I can really speak on diversity and inclusion and belonging.
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And I definitely can speak on mental health.
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One of my biggest challenges in my life was growing up in Baltimore City, making it out, you know, moving to the other side of the country,
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And not only move to the other side of the country, but having success, public success, and then really like, wow, I made it out.
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I made it in some people's eyes, but also building a community of people who don't look like me, who don't talk like me, who don't understand where I come from when it comes to like the entertainment industry, my clients, most of my clients are Jewish.
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Um,
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or they're not minority.
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They have really good, you know, they're successful.
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I have high-end clients that speak a different language, that think different, that act different.
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And I understand their world.
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I can relate to them.
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I know how they think.
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I know what they believe in, their thoughts, and their opinions.
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But also, I'm from Baltimore.
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I know how people in the inner city and the urban communities think and how they see the other side of the world, the Hollywood, or the people who don't look like them or dress like them.
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And so my confusion and challenge was like, I'm from this, but this is my world.
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How do I, why do I keep experiencing these things?
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And I was like, bingo.
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I'm the one who bridges the gap for everybody.
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Right.
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Like I'm the one who bridges the gap for black and brown people, the minority, but also for high and high class, rich, successful people to get all parties involved to understand one another from a open mind and unconditional love space.
00:09:10
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And so that with that being said, I was able to kind of like, oh, I get it.
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I see why I belong.
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I belong because I'm curious.
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I belong because I can relate.
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I belong because I have experience.
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I belong because I can speak all parties language.
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I play all sides.
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And I know what both sides think, feel and think, you know, like I get it.
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Um, so that was like really good to know and understand.
Mental Health Discussions and Experiences
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And then mental health was just one of those things.
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As of recently, like at least the last two months, I've been experiencing, you know, people in my life is really close to me having like mental health battles, you know, being depressed, uh, having panic attacks, you know, question if they want to live or still be here.
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And so I have real life experiences that I can relate to.
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Opposed to before when it's like, you know, you read up on information or you kind of got followership or you can be an advocate for mental health that I am, but you don't really have as much firsthand experience where you can really talk about it.
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But now because of these last few months, I have really firsthand experience of someone really having a panic attack.
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someone really been in a crisis, not feeling like themselves, not wanting to be here.
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I can speak because I can relate.
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Also my experience with depression, right?
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My dark night of the soul, spiritual depression, not having energy to do things, not being as motivated, questioning like, what is my career?
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What is my identity?
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Who I want to be?
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What do I want to do?
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I can relate.
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I can speak.
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Also, you know, as a man being strong, right?
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holding in my feelings and emotions all the time and not really speaking on it because of fear of being judged or fearing that I'm going to appear to be weak.
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I have that understanding and perspective and I can speak on it.
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So those two things, diversity and inclusion and mental health has really opened my mind.
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Like I can thrive in this space and I will, and I'm going to help the world be a better place because of my information and insight and perspective about diversity.
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all sides of diversity and mental health.
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So that was really good and such a miracle moment.
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You know, Oprah said tweetable moment.
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I actually just made it up.
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So now I got a new term.
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Miracle moment.
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That was my miracle moment.
00:11:26
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However, I also had the opportunity to speak at Spotify with reality, virtual reality tea with Danny and Evan.
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They have a podcast on page six sponsored by New York Post.
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And we just had a very incredulous discussion about all things.
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mental health, healing, you know, how I've healed from, you know, being on TV, like TV shows like The Bachelor, Bachelorette, and how that helped me start my healing process to be where I'm at today.
00:11:58
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And we talked about numerology, numbers, dating, relationships.
00:12:03
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And, you know, God is so great, that interview went viral.
00:12:07
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And it got some press out in France,
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And it did really well.
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And I was so happy to receive that acknowledgement, not for vanity, because look at me, but for what I was speaking on.
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I wasn't talking about who I was dating, how many followers I had, or what was next.
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And, you know, and, you
00:12:27
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It wasn't about that.
00:12:28
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It was about real life experience, me being transparent, me being authentic, me speaking my truth and being vulnerable with the audience to connect to people in a real way and not a, you know, vanity way, TV, you know, social media way, but a real way because everyone struggles with mental health in some form or way or have.
00:12:47
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And I spoke on my experiences and.
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It just felt good to be free and not to hide myself because I want to appear to be successful or happy all the time because I think that's who I got to become or appear to be or I was hiding myself.
00:13:01
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So that was great.
00:13:02
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We had a beautiful interview and it was just, you know, it's just all the lines, you know, aligned for me on top of.
Balancing Personal and Professional Life
00:13:10
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My dad being in and out of hospital the last two weeks, four times, you know, before I got to Cannes, south of France, my dad was in and out of hospital at least three times.
00:13:21
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And then while I was there, he went back to the hospital.
00:13:23
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So imagine you being somewhere out of the country, far away, and you getting calls that your dad is being admitted to the emergency room.
00:13:31
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So on top of having someone in your life, you know, having depressive thoughts at the same time.
00:13:38
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So that's what I was dealing with when I was in France.
00:13:41
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But yet I went on stage and I talked about diversity.
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I talked about mental health and I talked about struggle and success and pain and all these things that people didn't really know I had going on.
00:13:53
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And the contrast was crazy, but also the polarity of that was was even greater.
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So.
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My dad is fine.
00:14:01
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My close, you know, family member and friend is doing well as is doing great as well.
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I'm sorry.
00:14:09
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So, yeah, it's it was a beautiful experience and I'm just so thankful for it.
00:14:14
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And this is my rant about Cairns Lion.
00:14:17
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I'm definitely going back.
00:14:19
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Definitely going back and travel, travel, travel.
00:14:25
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people you must travel.
00:14:26
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That experience opened my mind and allowed me to really take in what I have.
00:14:32
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Because when I was in Europe years ago when I was on a show, I didn't really know where I was at, what I was in.
00:14:38
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Of course, I was filming.
00:14:40
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But now I can really be grateful for traveling and being in that space this time around because...
00:14:46
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I really appreciate every little detail about it from the people there to the food, to the wine, to the experiences I had, the executives I connected with, the influencers and creators I built rapport and relationships with.
00:15:02
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I even saw some people from like high school and who I did past brand deals with.
00:15:08
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Like it was just it was just an overall great experience.
00:15:11
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And I'm telling you people, travel, travel, travel, travel the world.
00:15:17
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It'll open you up.
00:15:18
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It will heal you.
00:15:19
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It will reveal to you things you didn't know about yourself.
00:15:21
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And by the way.
00:15:23
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I met Jay Shetty.
00:15:25
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Jay Shetty and I had a powerful conversation about mental health and crisis.
00:15:29
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And, you know, one of the questions I asked him, I said, what do you do when a person you know is experiencing depression and having a panic attack and they're in crisis mode?
00:15:40
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You know what he said to me?
00:15:42
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That person needs a trainer, a personal trainer that can hold them accountable, who's mindful of, you know, psychology,
00:15:53
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that can get them to move their body, hold them accountable and give them actionable items and coach them through the process to be better and get out of their own way.
00:16:03
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I said, man, he's talking right to me because that's what I do as if he didn't know it.
00:16:07
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But he also said idle time,
00:16:09
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can be a nightmare and it's not good.
00:16:11
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And most times when people are going through the most dark days or dark moments, it's because they have idle time and they have time to kind of think and process the stuff they don't want to think about.
00:16:22
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So he believes in deep rest.
00:16:24
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He believes in working as much as you can for the thing that fulfills you.
00:16:30
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But he also said idle time is not good for any of us.
00:16:34
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And we all need human connection.
00:16:35
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So shouts out to Jay Shetty.
00:16:37
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I'll be on this podcast 2024.
00:16:39
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I promise you.
00:16:40
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Mark my words.
00:16:41
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He'll be talking to me about doing something amazing for this world and the world of the world.
00:16:47
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So, yeah, that experience was just... I also ran into James Worthy.
00:16:50
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Shouts out the big game, James Worthy.
00:16:52
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James Worthy is a former...
00:16:55
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A Laker player from the 80s and the 90s in Hall of Famer.
00:17:02
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And he was in South of France.
00:17:04
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Second time meeting him in person.
00:17:05
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We got a photo.
00:17:06
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We spoke.
00:17:06
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He gave me some wisdom.
00:17:08
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And it was cool.
00:17:10
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It was cool to meet him again and really have a real conversation.
00:17:15
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Yeah, South of France, Cairns Lions was amazing.
00:17:18
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Thank you to Influential.
00:17:19
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Thank you to Ad Council, to all the women that was on the panel with me.
00:17:22
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Thank you.
00:17:23
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If you're listening to this, to everyone that's going to listen, Google Cairns Lions, like some of the biggest brands in the world are there.
The Transformative Power of Travel
00:17:31
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And they're there to kind of like represent and speak on what's next phase.
00:17:35
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And it's just really like a big old event activation of big brands having fun and people speaking on stage.
00:17:43
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So it was a healing experience.
00:17:45
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I'm so happy I was invited.
00:17:47
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And I'm just thankful, guys.
00:17:48
Speaker
And I appreciate you guys listening to Bigger Talks podcast.
00:17:51
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If you like this episode, please share it, download it, subscribe.
00:17:56
Speaker
And yeah, let me know more what you want to hear.
00:18:01
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And oh, by the way, I went to Monte Carlo.
00:18:04
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I went to Monte Carlo for a day.
00:18:06
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And that was amazing.
00:18:08
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Amazing.
00:18:09
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Like it looks just like it looks on TV, on videos, on pictures.
00:18:12
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It was beautiful.
00:18:14
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I had a good time, ate some good food and just sipped on some champagne.
00:18:20
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It was great.
00:18:21
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So.
00:18:22
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But travel people, this is another Bigger Talks episode.
00:18:26
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I trust all is well in your world.
00:18:29
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Move your body.
00:18:29
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They say motion changes emotion.
00:18:31
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Prayer works.
00:18:33
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You matter.
00:18:33
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You're loved.
00:18:35
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And you deserve to be healed once you reveal what's holding you back.
00:18:39
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So that's
Closing and Engagement Reminders
00:18:40
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all.
00:18:40
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That's it.
00:18:40
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Remember, 35% off for the entire month of June.
00:18:44
Speaker
The promo code is MIRACLES, M-I-R-A-C-L-E-S, all caps.
00:18:48
Speaker
And sign up for one-on-one coaching.
00:18:50
Speaker
And like I said, again, share, subscribe, and download this podcast.
00:18:56
Speaker
Bigger Talks, I'm out.
00:18:58
Speaker
Peace and love.