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Season Finale: You can call ME...Karen
63 Plays5 months ago
Welcome to the season finale of the You Can Call Me Karen Podcast! This week, we take a heartfelt look back at the You Can Call Me Karen journey. What began as a group chat where we were having meaningful conversations about politics and social issues led us to the realization that we were constantly observing and discussing life and what brings us together. Join us as we revisit some of our favorite topics, share our most memorable “Who You Callin’ Karen?” stories, and give you a glimpse of what’s to come!
As always - a big thank you to Steve Olszewski for the art and images, Calid B and SJ Fadeaway for the musical mixings, and huge credit to Malvina Reynolds (writer) and Schroder Music Co. (ASCAP) (publisher) of the song “Little Boxes”.
Submit your “Who you callin’ Karen” stories via voice message to [insert podcast email here] and give them your best “Karen” label!
Lastly, please follow us on Instagram (@youcancallmekaren), TikTok (@YCCMKPod), and like/subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
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Transcript
Origins of the Podcast
00:00:25
Stephanie Jay
group chats. I don't know a single person who isn't in multiple group chats. While to some it is a necessary evil, the evil part being the sheer volume of text you receive if you step away from your phone for more than three minutes, but for us it's our lifeline. It is how we connect, check in, discuss the world around us, and it is ultimately how You Can Call Me Karen was born. That's right, the pod made it out of the group chat.
Season One Finale Introduction
00:00:50
Stephanie Jay
Welcome to the season one finale of You Can Call Me Karen.
00:01:05
Stephanie Jay
Hello, and welcome to the You Can Call Me Karen podcast, where we will discuss events from the world around us in an effort to highlight our similarities rather than our differences. I am Stephanie Jay, and I'm joined by two of my dearest friends, Karen Horowitz and Manny Rosa.
00:01:21
Manni
Hello!
00:01:21
Stephanie Jay
Hello. Hello.
00:01:25
Manni
We back!
00:01:27
Stephanie Jay
We back.
Journey from Group Chat to Podcast
00:01:30
Stephanie Jay
So today we are going to take some time to reflect on season one. It's been an incredible journey. What started as a group chat to help us remain informed and hold each other accountable as we navigated the results of the 2016 election ultimately evolved into a chat that did not only discuss politics. We realized that taking interest in politics and social issues really means we were constantly observing and discussing life.
00:01:56
Stephanie Jay
In the last couple years, we came together to organize our thoughts and ideas and the You Can Call Me Karen podcast was born. So today we want to revisit and discuss some of our favorite topics this season and reflect on how far we have come.
Podcast Format and Future Planning
00:02:10
Stephanie Jay
But before we do that, let's check in with me and Karen for who you calling Karen?
00:02:16
Manni
Who are you calling, Karen?
00:02:17
Karen, Steph, & Manni
you All I'm caring.
00:02:17
Stephanie Jay
Who you calling Karen?
00:02:20
Manni
For season two, I need to figure out a new, like, because I'm doing the Wendy Williams, like, how you doing? But like, maybe I need to be like, who you calling that?
00:02:25
Stephanie Jay
case
00:02:29
Manni
Like, hold up the little phone.
00:02:31
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Kids these days aren't going to know what this means.
00:02:35
Stephanie Jay
true.
00:02:35
Manni
That's not the demographic that we reach anyway, according to analytics. But maybe, yeah, maybe it's like, who you call, like a little text, but, uh,
00:02:39
Stephanie Jay
Oh, I like that.
00:02:45
Manni
Yeah, that's ah that's what my homework is for ah our time off, which I'm really sad about that we're coming to a close for season one, but I loved everything that you said in that intro stuff. Constantly observing and
Microaggressions and Allyship at Conference
00:03:00
Manni
discussing life. Those are some bars as the kids would say.
00:03:05
Stephanie Jay
Why thank you, boo.
00:03:05
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I don't know what that means.
00:03:07
Stephanie Jay
Oh, Karen.
00:03:10
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I mean, context clues.
00:03:10
Stephanie Jay
Not even with context, please?
00:03:11
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I get it, but I get it.
00:03:12
Stephanie Jay
Oh.
00:03:13
Karen, Steph, & Manni
But I've never heard it before.
00:03:17
Manni
um So I guess I could go first with my Karen story. It's interesting that you took it all the way back to um how our first group chat started. And this story is from 2019-2020. We're going to call these ah central office Karens. So ah I got a promotion in 2019 to work in administrative um offices for education and it was a really great jump for me in my career obviously as all promotions are.
00:04:03
Manni
it was really hard for me in the beginning because I have qualifications that um I was used to in the classroom but central office dynamic and rhythm is a little bit different and around this time there was the ah birth of DEI in communities and organizations. I want to say in the area that we were in, it started to pick up a little bit earlier than what the rest of the nation saw. I would say that like we were in a pretty progressive area where DEI was starting to be
00:04:40
Manni
incorporated into a lot more of the work that educators were doing than what we saw like months later. So um it was pretty natural. Anyway, I was on a team with two white women and I had two bosses that we reported to and the two women who were on my team were very experienced. They had been in the company or with central office for several several years and I was new to the rhythm of what central office was so I wasn't getting as much pu opportunity as they were just because I was observing I was trying to figure out what this all means I was in the middle of this like really big career transition but I want to say
00:05:29
Manni
maybe three or four months down the line I was given an opportunity to attend a ah conference for black women educators in leadership and my boss we had regular team meetings and my boss presented this opportunity to me with the team and I was excited.
00:05:56
Manni
As a teacher, Steph, you know like I never get to travel as a teacher, so I think this conference was like somewhere like in the West Coast, so I was excited about being able to get up and leave.
00:06:06
Manni
I was excited about being around a community of Black women.
00:06:09
Stephanie Jay
Oh.
00:06:10
Manni
I was excited that I was going to be able to expand and learn and grow as an educator, that I was going to be able to come back and report to my team. And as I'm going through all this excitement and enthusiasm in my body, one of the women, I believe it was one of my other bosses, interrupts my inner monologue and is like, um this is great, but I just wanna make sure that we are considering our white allies.
00:06:46
Manni
And the other woman, one of the women on my team started clapping.
00:06:54
Stephanie Jay
Oh.
00:06:55
Manni
Yes. And I wanted to bring up that story because it is currently November 10th and We are now again at the aftermath of a monumental election with a female candidate, and we are not going to discuss the outcomes, but what i what we what we could open this up to as we talk about all Karens and entitlement is what I'm kind of seeing paralleled on threads and TikTok, and that is ah white women liberalism.
00:07:35
Manni
And that story was my first not my first that side it, but that story was one of the harder moments in my career of experiencing a micro aggression from a quote unquote ally.
00:07:56
Manni
And da I think that as we look at these commentaries and this language that I'm seeing now on threads regarding like the blue bracelets and like, how can you know? And um I just, that story didn't pop into my memory bubble for no reason. You know, that story came up to my consciousness just now because I'm seeing a similar thing happening online and I'm seeing discourse about that.
00:08:23
Manni
you know regardless
Complex Dynamics of Allyship and Representation
00:08:24
Manni
of like my emotions I was thinking about but you know what I was I was listening back to the episode our friendship episode series ah friendship series episode three Karen where you were talking about how there was this moment of jealousy that you had had and I was thinking about that in regards to like wow um If only we were all so fortunate to be able to pause or if we all have the awareness and the mindfulness to be able to pause in those moments, how I would not have had to experience that, right? Because what it signaled to me was jealousy, distrust, anything but allyship. And
00:09:19
Manni
Thinking about the cost of all of that, like ah ultimately we didn't end up going on the trip because COVID happened. I didn't end up taking the, I didn't end up getting to go because COVID shut down everything a few weeks later.
00:09:32
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm.
00:09:33
Manni
But had their request have been granted, their jealousy would have cost our organization two additional plane tickets, two additional hotel rooms, two additional um ah tickets to the event.
00:09:33
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm.
00:09:52
Manni
You know what I mean? Instead of just moving out of the way.
00:09:56
Stephanie Jay
Yeah.
00:10:03
Stephanie Jay
So and I'm just being sure I understand like they thought that because they're allies they should have been considered to go to the black woman conference.
00:10:12
Manni
Yes.
00:10:13
Stephanie Jay
Okay I just wanted to just wanted to summarize um
00:10:16
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Just let me understand this.
00:10:17
Manni
You've heard correctly.
00:10:19
Karen, Steph, & Manni
i just um the The way that you used the word jealousy is really fascinating to me because it is it is it's like wanting to center yourself in every situation, in every
00:10:39
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm.
00:10:41
Karen, Steph, & Manni
um Yes, potential opportunity, not recognizing why that opportunity is in place.
00:10:45
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm.
00:10:50
Karen, Steph, & Manni
That opportunity is in place because you have been kept out of everything.
00:10:53
Stephanie Jay
a
00:10:55
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And so you you white woman are jealous of, it's just so like, it's like, like you hear what this is, right?
00:11:03
Stephanie Jay
but
00:11:06
Stephanie Jay
have
00:11:06
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Like, it's so, Like, but I want to be the oppressed, you know, like what I just, I don't know.
00:11:10
Stephanie Jay
You know what this.
00:11:16
Stephanie Jay
This kind of reminds me of back. um in our first episode um when we were talking about labels and stereotypes and Karen you asked you asked Minique and I like can you think of a time when like you're like a stereotype benefited you and there was like a big pause and you were like I mean if it's a stupid question Minique was like it was really funny moment um she but um and then that's when I was
00:11:33
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Hmm.
00:11:42
Karen, Steph, & Manni
It's a stupid question, move on.
00:11:46
Stephanie Jay
But I feel like we were like, that's when I talked about like, you know, I wasn't sure if my opportunity to, and not that I wasn't sure, I knew I was sure that I was got to take on the hip hop department at my dance studio was not just because I was black, but there was like that question.
00:11:56
Manni
Uh-huh.
00:12:04
Stephanie Jay
And, um and so it's just kind of feels like that, like, That was an opportunity. I'm Black.
00:12:12
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Mm hmm.
00:12:12
Stephanie Jay
This is a Black educators thing. This is why I'm invited. Like, not why, but part of why I'm invited to go. And so, you know, why take that away from someone in the, in the vein
00:12:25
Manni
Yeah.
Personal Stories of Vulnerability and Understanding
00:12:26
Stephanie Jay
of allyship?
00:12:28
Manni
Yes, that is what like, that is the language, the weaponization of the language is what I was hoping we could get to, right?
00:12:29
Stephanie Jay
It's the beginning.
00:12:34
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
00:12:36
Manni
So that it, okay, first of all, let's Let's define like how you will know if you are an ally. I think that's like what also this is about because of the blue bracelets and stuff. so you will know I was thinking about this yesterday. You will know you're an ally. If you are invited, you find yourself one sole white person at an all-black event with joy, good music, mac and cheese,
00:13:11
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm.
00:13:12
Manni
right um Some homemade cooking, the aunties, the matriarch.
00:13:15
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm.
00:13:15
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yes.
00:13:16
Manni
ah you will You will know you're an ally when you are surrounded by black joy and you don't have to self-proclaim it.
00:13:26
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:13:29
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And also you don't have to clutch your belongings while you're there.
00:13:35
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Sorry.
00:13:35
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm. And you feel because the because you feel welcome and at home and you feel, um you know, part of the book established.
00:13:39
Karen, Steph, & Manni
You feel
00:13:45
Manni
Because the trust has been established.
00:13:48
Stephanie Jay
Yeah.
00:13:48
Manni
you don't and and so okay So let me clarify, because I don't know if everybody knows what the blue bracelets are. So the blue bracelet is after the election, some white women were upset that other white women came out and voted um a certain way by a huge margin.
00:14:04
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yeah.
00:14:10
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Included.
00:14:11
Manni
or ah percentage. And so there's conversation of like, what do we need to do to show that we didn't vote that way? And black women are saying, right.
00:14:19
Stephanie Jay
And I think it was also within the white women community wanting to know who each other were as well.
00:14:27
Manni
Yes.
00:14:28
Stephanie Jay
Like, how do I?
00:14:28
Manni
Yes.
00:14:29
Karen, Steph, & Manni
This is interesting. OK, so to be clear, i do not I have not heard about this. So ah very interesting.
00:14:35
Manni
Yeah.
00:14:37
Manni
Yeah. Yes. And so if that, if people could take it that way of like, I want to know who you are like that, that is a conversation between white women, you know, I think what black women are saying, and that is making some white women upset is like, but don't bring us into it. You know, we're not going to center your feelings. We're not going to, this is not about us being like, Oh, you have a blue bracelet. Good for you. yeahm Like we're not holding the emotional weight and the emotional luggage.
00:15:06
Manni
any longer, right? And um I think that is a part of the conversations that I'm seeing on social media platforms, is that like a white, a bracelet isn't going to do it.
00:15:19
Karen, Steph, & Manni
a
00:15:20
Manni
So um at least, and and not in the sense of like, it's if you're looking to comfort, we would like for you to just leave us alone for a little bit.
00:15:37
Manni
i Right? Like, what's that?
00:15:38
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Except for right now.
00:15:41
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Except for right now.
00:15:43
Manni
Oh.
00:15:43
Karen, Steph, & Manni
but
00:15:44
Stephanie Jay
okay
00:15:47
Karen, Steph, & Manni
specifically.
00:15:48
Manni
Yeah. Yeah. We want to just kind of be in our own circles. And I think that goes back to what Stephanie was saying about like the opportunity that was set up.
00:16:00
Manni
aye The opportunity was set up because there are not a lot of black educators in my community that I can go to and that I can collaborate with.
00:16:05
Stephanie Jay
Okay.
00:16:08
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:16:12
Manni
And so the opportunity was for me to be able to go and be in one place at a time with other black women to collaborate with because there are not enough. in our communities and in our neighborhoods. And there is something very powerful that comes when our light is combined together that allows for us to work at our highest potential. And if I were to bring quote unquote allies to that, that would dim some people's light.
00:16:46
Stephanie Jay
Not to mention, there's just some unique challenges that Black educators and white spaces face.
00:16:53
Manni
mm hmm.
00:16:53
Stephanie Jay
and And it's nice to be able to have an opportunity to, like like you said, collaborate, discuss, share with people who experience it.
00:17:04
Karen, Steph, & Manni
in a very... Sorry.
00:17:06
Stephanie Jay
Yeah, and it's just an unfiltered way.
00:17:08
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yeah.
00:17:11
Manni
yeah.
00:17:12
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yeah, and I mean, i like I equate this to business, right? We have affinity groups where people can go and meet with people who have similar backgrounds, who look like them, who are the same gender, you know, like, for the same exact reasons that you're describing, because the experience of a woman in business, as an example, is quite different than the experience of a man. And so, yeah, when I can surround myself with women and talk about whatever came up that week that felt exclusive or discriminatory in some way, that's helpful. It's helpful to know how to tackle those situations. So yeah, I wish i wish people would think about it.
00:17:58
Karen, Steph, & Manni
in a way that they can relate. like I know what that's like to feel othered. And so I can only imagine what it's like to feel othered in every separate setting of your life, right? like So maybe just give people a little bit of space. I don't know. It just seems to clap, Manny. Oh my gosh. like
00:18:23
Manni
Yeah.
00:18:24
Karen, Steph, & Manni
ah So cringy.
00:18:27
Manni
Yeah. Yeah, it was was cringy.
00:18:29
Stephanie Jay
Karen, do you have a... Oh.
00:18:33
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Do I have a story?
00:18:34
Stephanie Jay
Do you have a Karen story this week?
00:18:36
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I do. Mine is um also from some time ago. So I have had an airplane, Karen. Now I'm going to have an airport, Karen. I spend some time in airports.
00:18:50
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I like i was wearing okay i was was walking through the airport a few years ago, and I was wearing like um boots, like flat boots.
00:19:01
Karen, Steph, & Manni
They were like, it's winter. They were leather. flat boots. And minding my own business, just like walking to my gate with all my things. And it was, I don't know why it was a very, it was like a quiet night at the airport. And there was like one woman walking in front of me and there was nobody else around. And after um i five minutes of walking, she turns around the woman who was in front of me, an older woman, and she was like,
00:19:33
Karen, Steph, & Manni
you know, you can take your boots to any shoe repair and they can make them quiet. And a I was like, so like we, I was so taken aback. I just was like, ah all I could, I didn't even understand at the at that moment, what a bitch she was being.
00:19:59
Karen, Steph, & Manni
because I was just walking. I was just walking.
00:20:03
Stephanie Jay
mmm mmm mmm mmm yeah
00:20:03
Manni
Oh my god.
00:20:05
Karen, Steph, & Manni
My boots, click ah I which I was very aware of after that fact. But like I didn't even notice that I was ah severely like ah intruding on her airport experience.
00:20:23
Karen, Steph, & Manni
and i like And so when it happened, I kind of laughed. ah because I didn't process what she was saying so I was just assuming she was saying something that wasn't horribly bitchy.
00:20:37
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I just kind of like laughed and I like went about my way and then it started processing and I was so mad. I was like, where is she? How do I find her to tell her?
00:20:48
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Like you just ruined my day because my boots are clicking and that's so upsetting to you that you had to say that.
00:20:50
Manni
Yeah.
00:20:54
Manni
Oh my god.
00:20:56
Karen, Steph, & Manni
ugh Karen just shut your mouth just learn when to shut your mouth so like yeah you know maybe just don't go out of your way to be a total bitch to other people i i couldn't i
00:21:00
Manni
Right.
00:21:07
Manni
Go out of your way to compliment people and then say, those are the loudest fucking boots I've ever heard in my life.
00:21:08
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm. my foods.
00:21:19
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I don't, I seriously like, I just, I'm kind of oblivious to things. Like when I'm in the zone, I'm just in the zone. But I just couldn't believe that you would get so upset about that, that you had to turn around.
00:21:32
Karen, Steph, & Manni
She didn't even know who I was. Like she was in front of me walking the same direction as
00:21:34
Manni
No.
Friendship, Growth, and Societal Impact
00:21:36
Karen, Steph, & Manni
me.
00:21:36
Karen, Steph, & Manni
She didn't even see my face until that moment. Like the fact that I upset her so much just by walking behind her.
00:21:45
Manni
My question is, what do you think she tells her friends after that?
00:21:49
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I know.
00:21:50
Manni
Like, I just told this girl in the airport.
00:21:50
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I know, like, what's her version of this story?
00:21:54
Manni
Yeah, what's her version? I just told this girl in the airport to go get her shoes fixed.
00:22:00
Stephanie Jay
And, like, her... And I was seeing...
00:22:01
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And her friends were like, yeah, you did.
00:22:02
Manni
And then her friends.
00:22:03
Stephanie Jay
Oh! Mm-hmm.
00:22:05
Karen, Steph, & Manni
You told her.
00:22:07
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm.
00:22:09
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Get some new boots, bitch.
00:22:09
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:22:10
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yeah. ah Anyways, Karens.
00:22:15
Stephanie Jay
Good lord.
00:22:17
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Fucking Karens.
00:22:17
Stephanie Jay
I'm fucking curious.
00:22:22
Stephanie Jay
Well, ladies, you brought it. Those were excellent Karen stories. And that's our Karens for the week.
00:22:43
Stephanie Jay
So we're podcasters now, guys.
00:22:48
Manni
Says the internet?
00:22:50
Stephanie Jay
ah apparently so um it's weird cuz I'm like anytime someone's like so what's new I'm like um a podcast? Like, it's like, I kind of forget or like, just a little something something get on Apple.
00:23:02
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Just a little thing.
00:23:07
Stephanie Jay
Um, so it's just interesting. I don't know. Anyway, um this season, we opened with what I think is the core of our purpose, or on our discussion on labels and stereotypes, which led to our most listened to episode Mr. Mom.
00:23:25
Stephanie Jay
We did a three-part series on adult friendships, examining lifelong friendships, breakups, and making new friends. And because once a dancer always an answer, we did a three-part series on dance through the lens of social dance and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders series on Netflix.
00:23:35
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And whoop whoop.
00:23:43
Stephanie Jay
um Which, by the way, I want to commend us again just one more time for not talking about dance team for our for three episodes of dance.
00:23:45
Manni
Hmm. Hmm.
00:23:53
Stephanie Jay
And we even brought in um Erica and we still didn't. So like big ups.
00:23:58
Karen, Steph, & Manni
there' still time just
00:24:00
Stephanie Jay
There's I'm just saying we really showed a lot of restraint and I'm just really proud of us for that.
00:24:00
Karen, Steph, & Manni
there's still time
00:24:05
Stephanie Jay
um
00:24:05
Manni
That'll be in season two.
00:24:08
Stephanie Jay
um So that's just kind of a recap of what um topics we kind of hit this season. But today what we're going to do is reflect the only way we know how through discussion home questions.
00:24:21
Stephanie Jay
So ladies, I've prepared some reflection questions for you.
00:24:24
Karen, Steph, & Manni
There's still time.
00:24:25
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Just, there's still time. I hope you're ready.
00:24:25
Stephanie Jay
So I hope you're ready to share your thoughts on these.
00:24:29
Stephanie Jay
I'm ready. You know, I'm going to start because I have thoughts.
00:24:33
Manni
so
00:24:34
Stephanie Jay
yeah
00:24:35
Manni
She's got dogs.
00:24:36
Stephanie Jay
I got thoughts?
00:24:39
Stephanie Jay
Okay, so the very first question I want to start with um is actually kind of an early confessional. So it's like, let's pretend we're at the end of the ah episode sharing confessional.
00:24:49
Stephanie Jay
My confessional is, what the fuck is the name of our show?
00:24:49
Manni
all that
00:25:00
Stephanie Jay
Just kidding. I know what the name of it is, but I don't get it.
00:25:03
Manni
Oh my god, Steph.
00:25:06
Stephanie Jay
ah
00:25:06
Manni
Here we are, episode 10, and truth comes out.
00:25:07
Stephanie Jay
Here we are, episode 10. and like
00:25:10
Manni
What, wait, what don't you get?
00:25:12
Stephanie Jay
um Okay, here's here's the thing. I got that we're called You Can Call Me Karen. We have a co-host named Karen, so obviously that makes like sense to me.
00:25:23
Stephanie Jay
but the way that the two of you both say it with the same accent, like when you ask and when you pause, you lost me. And I'm telling my husband, like the show's gonna be called You Can Call Me Karen, but there's something about some sort of like double entente and Minita and Karen say it the exact same way.
00:25:42
Manni
Yeah.
00:25:42
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yeah, comma.
00:25:44
Stephanie Jay
And he was like, yeah, you can call me Karen, you can call me Karen. Like he said it just like you.
00:25:48
Manni
hey yeah
00:25:50
Stephanie Jay
And I'm like, you lost me, I'm out.
00:25:51
Karen, Steph, & Manni
You still didn't even get that right, by the way.
00:25:53
Stephanie Jay
No, I'm sure I didn't.
00:25:54
Karen, Steph, & Manni
It's, it's you can call.
00:25:54
Manni
You can call me Kim.
00:25:56
Stephanie Jay
care So if anybody is wondering, your co-host stuff does not also know.
00:25:56
Karen, Steph, & Manni
yeah
00:25:56
Manni
You can put the accent on the me.
00:26:00
Manni
No.
00:26:00
Karen, Steph, & Manni
It's you can call me Karen.
00:26:08
Stephanie Jay
So ladies, can we bring to light what our name is about?
00:26:11
Karen, Steph, & Manni
yeah
00:26:14
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I kind of want Manny to do it, but let me just try the emphasis.
00:26:18
Stephanie Jay
Fastest.
00:26:18
Karen, Steph, & Manni
So it's you can call me Karen, or you can call me Karen.
00:26:28
Manni
Do you get it?
00:26:28
Karen, Steph, & Manni
You can call me Karen, right?
00:26:32
Manni
Right. Double on time.
00:26:35
Karen, Steph, & Manni
OK, next topic.
00:26:36
Manni
Next. I'm just kidding.
00:26:41
Karen, Steph, & Manni
ah
00:26:43
Manni
Okay, so here's, actually, I really am going to end there because I want Stephanie to like just be in this perpetual like confusion.
00:26:44
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Glad we sorted that out.
00:26:50
Manni
and But I will say, if you want to understand it, Listen to Hamilton.
00:26:55
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Look up grammar.
00:26:56
Manni
Yeah.
00:27:01
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Sorry, sorry.
00:27:05
Manni
Okay, there's a song in the Hamilton soundtrack where I think it's Angelica talks about how he changes the meaning of the love letter to her when he adds in a comma.
00:27:19
Manni
And that's all I'll say about this.
00:27:21
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Oh cliffhanger I like it
00:27:23
Manni
That's your homework. Cliffhanger, that's where all my listeners to.
00:27:25
Stephanie Jay
Oh, so you're not. Wow.
00:27:28
Manni
No, we're not. We're gonna keep it. who Nope, next. What's the next question?
00:27:32
Stephanie Jay
oh
00:27:35
Manni
That's it.
00:27:35
Karen, Steph, & Manni
For all our Hamilton Hamilton fans out there Like subscribe
00:27:36
Manni
Don't listen to Hamilton. If you still have questions, if you still have questions for season two, make sure to comment. Leave a review.
00:27:43
Stephanie Jay
Can I share? Can I share what Can I share what my question, why I'm confused maybe? Are you really just not gonna help me?
00:27:50
Karen, Steph, & Manni
You could share, yeah. Safe space, share away.
00:27:54
Stephanie Jay
Well, like, why would I ever let you call me Karen?
00:27:59
Manni
Oh, wait, got it after she said it.
00:27:59
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Have you been on this show?
00:28:02
Stephanie Jay
and I just, I don't know.
00:28:09
Manni
You know she got it after she was like, nope.
00:28:10
Stephanie Jay
I did just get it. Why would you let me call you? Because sometimes I am the Karen. I see. Okay, listeners, I had your back.
00:28:21
Stephanie Jay
You're welcome.
00:28:25
Karen, Steph, & Manni
She just took like so much verbal abuse, but she got there.
00:28:25
Stephanie Jay
No homework.
00:28:26
Manni
Oh, gosh.
00:28:26
Stephanie Jay
No homework. You can sometimes call me Karen.
00:28:31
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Look at what good educators we, by the way, we let you get there on your own.
00:28:32
Manni
There we go.
00:28:33
Stephanie Jay
Yes, okay.
00:28:33
Manni
There we go. She got it. We eventually got there. Yep. We didn't give you the answers. We didn't do the homework for you.
00:28:40
Stephanie Jay
I hate it when that happens.
00:28:43
Karen, Steph, & Manni
You can call me Karen, or you can call Karen.
00:28:46
Manni
You can call me care.
00:28:47
Stephanie Jay
You can call me.
00:28:50
Stephanie Jay
You can call Karen, or you can call me Karen, as in like Karen is allowed to call me.
00:28:54
Manni
Yes.
00:28:57
Manni
Yes, the two black women on the call getting back to our whole microaggression conversation.
00:29:02
Karen, Steph, & Manni
You guys, look at me clapping, the white lady.
00:29:02
Stephanie Jay
Yes. Wow.
00:29:06
Manni
since
00:29:08
Stephanie Jay
Awesome.
00:29:09
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Oh, that was so good.
00:29:10
Stephanie Jay
So, um wow.
00:29:11
Karen, Steph, & Manni
You guys, ah just for our listeners sake, that was not scripted. That was 100% real time.
00:29:17
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm. Yeah.
00:29:20
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Just need you to all follow along.
00:29:23
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Cool. Thanks.
00:29:23
Stephanie Jay
Yeah, it's like a couple years later in our planning and thoughts and discussion.
00:29:27
Stephanie Jay
I i understood right here right now, episode 10. So very raw, very real.
00:29:31
Manni
It's very raw.
00:29:35
Karen, Steph, & Manni
So funny.
00:29:35
Stephanie Jay
Um, so my initial thoughts when I think back, um, on just the creation of this pod, this season, um, my initial thoughts is how the hell did we do this?
00:29:48
Stephanie Jay
Um, like, I'm like, when I think about it or, um, I'm asking myself, like, how did we get through all of this? Like, you know, I work two jobs.
00:29:58
Stephanie Jay
You have a toddler, Karen's an ex in an executive. Uh, are you even in the country right now, Karen?
00:30:05
Karen, Steph, & Manni
in Berlin.
00:30:07
Stephanie Jay
Um, it's Minika, um, business owner, three children, professor.
00:30:08
Manni
Fancy pants.
00:30:12
Stephanie Jay
I mean, like scheduling was a bitch. So, um, I'm in Berlin.
00:30:18
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I'm in Berlin.
00:30:24
Stephanie Jay
um And so I guess um when I think about one my initial thoughts, when I'm like, okay, we have just finished season one, I'm mostly i' just thankful that A, we were able to make it happen with how busy our lives are if you to make time for this. um When I think about my initial thoughts of the show, I'm thankful for this creative outlet. And I'm also really thankful that the topics that are of interest to us have seemed to resonate with our listeners too.
00:30:55
Stephanie Jay
um So those are kind of just my initial thoughts when I think about season one. So my I'm going to pose the question now to you. What are your initial thoughts when I ask about season one?
00:31:06
Stephanie Jay
Anyone have thoughts that come to mind?
00:31:10
Manni
Hmm. Hmm.
00:31:10
Stephanie Jay
Just your initial thoughts, like season one, you can call me Karen.
00:31:15
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I um love that we have an excuse to do this like to catch up and chat all the time.
00:31:21
Stephanie Jay
Hmm. Hmm.
00:31:25
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I love that it seems to be resonating like people are giving us feedback and um enjoying this like listening like I just I can't believe that we did this and people like it. I mean, I knew people would like it. We're so great. But um but just to be able to chat with you both on a regular basis and um hopefully, yeah, make a difference and like bring people together. I think that's the thing that just makes me feel so good at the end of season one and I hope we get to do it for forever.
00:32:08
Manni
Yay. That was Karen being vulnerable, everyone.
00:32:15
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And we're done with that.
00:32:18
Manni
Closing back up. No. Um, so I want to go even further back than 20, maybe it was 20, 2016 ish.
00:32:36
Manni
when we were at a nationals getaway girls weekend.
00:32:43
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Uh-oh.
00:32:43
Manni
And Steph and Karen in college were pretty close because they're a little bit closer at age and you guys were on a similar side of campus when you guys first started going
00:32:55
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I feel like you're calling us old, but OK, continue, please.
00:32:57
Stephanie Jay
Yeah, that's what I'm hearing.
00:32:58
Manni
Well, you guys are a couple of years older than me.
00:32:59
Stephanie Jay
go
00:33:01
Manni
So like you had more time when you, a year older or two years older than your stuff.
00:33:04
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I just need to get that straight.
00:33:08
Manni
I'm just trying to, can I not provide context?
00:33:10
Stephanie Jay
ah Get to the point.
00:33:12
Manni
Can I not?
00:33:12
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Go on.
Listener Feedback and Constructive Conversations
00:33:22
Manni
so Okay, sorry.
00:33:27
Manni
I just want to say that you guys, Karen and I were ah not as, we were close in college, but we, it wasn't like this three trio.
00:33:35
Karen, Steph, & Manni
yeah yeah Yeah, I hated Manny in college.
00:33:36
Manni
So I want to make sure that our listeners understand that, that it wasn't until, yeah, she hated me and I hated her.
00:33:45
Manni
Didn't you throw a beer on me once?
00:33:46
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Just say it.
00:33:46
Manni
No, I'm just kidding.
00:33:48
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Oh my god, I was like, did I? Because I didn't even know.
00:33:48
Stephanie Jay
like
00:33:48
Manni
Okay.
00:33:50
Manni
You know that that wouldn't have gone down um for you to live to tell the story.
00:33:52
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yeah, ah yeah you would have murdered me.
00:33:56
Stephanie Jay
That's where I went. I was like, Manika's still with us. She's not in jail, so that didn't happen.
00:34:00
Karen, Steph, & Manni
She would have kicked my ass. I know I look like a badass, but I'm a little bitch.
00:34:08
Manni
And I know I look innocent, but I'm really not wrapped right.
00:34:11
Karen, Steph, & Manni
A big bitch.
00:34:17
Manni
cream Okay, so I'll get to the point of my story now.
00:34:17
Karen, Steph, & Manni
oh my god i'm sweat
00:34:22
Manni
I was going to say that it wasn't until we did these national trips that we had a like downtime where we could get and talk and be together. And Karen, you were just about to adopt Max or you had just started the process or Max had just come home with you. I can't really remember the timing, but I remember us three sitting together and having a conversation. And I'm bringing this up because I'm one of those people who is really convinced that there are certain moments in time that change the course of your life and I feel like this was one of those moments where you opened yourself up and I again I just want to say this to like I'm not trying to obsess over the my Karen story but I just want to say this as an as why Karen is invited into this sisterhood because it was at that moment where I truly saw where your heart was when you asked us
00:34:55
Stephanie Jay
Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
00:35:10
Stephanie Jay
Uh-huh.
00:35:18
Manni
about what it is you were about to do when um come bringing a Black son into this world. And you were full on open to everything that Steph and I had to say. You were ready to learn. you were it was It was so obvious in that moment that I no, we were tethered and we will forever be tethered.
00:35:46
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yeah.
00:35:47
Manni
And so to know that that's where really this friendship kind of took off and to where we are now closing out our season one thoughts, that's what I think about of like the moments that led us here beyond the Google documents and the audio calls, but that first moment of connection between the three of us where it really was about our soul,
00:36:13
Manni
That's what I'm thinking about right now. Yeah.
00:36:17
Karen, Steph, & Manni
God damn it, Manny.
00:36:18
Stephanie Jay
I mean as soon as you said like our nationals trip would we I do exactly what you were talking about because that was I was definitely that changed the trajectory of our friendship.
00:36:31
Stephanie Jay
I feel like we always, you know, I always felt close to the two of you, but there was something very, very special about that night in um and how we showed up for each other from then on.
00:36:44
Stephanie Jay
It was just completely different.
00:36:45
Manni
Yeah.
00:36:48
Stephanie Jay
So I'm so glad you brought that up.
00:36:51
Manni
Thanks.
00:36:52
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I'm not glad, you know?
00:36:54
Manni
She's crying, guys.
00:36:55
Stephanie Jay
Aw.
00:36:57
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I fucking hate feeling my feelings and you make me do it all the time.
00:37:01
Stephanie Jay
me
00:37:03
Karen, Steph, & Manni
um And also, Steph, you were like, there was something so special about that night and my instinct was to to make a sex joke. I just don't.
00:37:11
Stephanie Jay
thing yeah Once you go black!
00:37:13
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I don't, yeah, I don't do well with being vulnerable.
00:37:14
Manni
It was the best you've ever had.
00:37:18
Karen, Steph, & Manni
But I do remember that night and
00:37:23
Manni
She said, once you go black. See you, Bob.
00:37:28
Karen, Steph, & Manni
to be clear I have but um anyways I do remember that night and I I remember crying and I remember hating that just like I do now so ah thanks for that
00:37:33
Manni
We know.
00:37:45
Stephanie Jay
okay
00:37:52
Karen, Steph, & Manni
again.
00:37:53
Stephanie Jay
When I think that kind of like explains, you know, i in my opening, I said, like it's, we talked about, I talked about how in 2016, our group chat really kind of came as a way to support one another through that landscape. And I talked about the fact that we held each other accountable too. Like it wasn't, we were like, did you read about this? We were trying to make sure that we all stayed informed and stayed communicative. And we didn't just kind of wallow in whatever and I feel like we had the safety to do that because we had already established that when we are here for each other through deep real meaningful life events and and I feel like we
00:38:38
Manni
Hmm.
00:38:45
Stephanie Jay
I think that the conversations that we've had over the years and what we've written to each other, supported with articles and videos and and all that kind of stuff is the root of what we hoped to accomplish with You Can Call Me Karen.
00:39:01
Manni
Yeah.
00:39:02
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Well, and I also think I'm sorry.
00:39:03
Stephanie Jay
And no, that's it. okay
00:39:07
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I also think we ah genuinely challenge each other and I and i hope that our listeners hear that because I think that's something really special that we all need to seek in friendships.
00:39:25
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm.
00:39:26
Karen, Steph, & Manni
There's been times where it doesn't matter. One of us, any one of us has a perspective or an opinion on something that we bring to the group and you know, there will be times where we're all like, yeah, aligned.
00:39:41
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And there's other times where it's like, actually, here's some information that you should consider in that, you know, position that you're taking.
00:39:41
Manni
Hmm. Yeah.
00:39:50
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And there's times where we disagree and it's like, well, agree to disagree, and that's okay. And there's other times where we, one of us changes our opinion on something, which we don't, as a society, I don't think we do enough of is admit, admit when we realize we're wrong. And apologize for that you know like it seems so simple but the older we get the harder it is it seems like to do that
00:40:22
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And I just, you you know, I hope through these conversations that we have, and I hope for our listeners that they have people around them that, you know, they can continue to be reminded that you can teach an old dog new tricks.
00:40:36
Karen, Steph, & Manni
You can, you you know, change your perspective. You can learn and grow. And you too have challenged me so much over the years on that. um And I'm just excited to continue that dialogue and know that, you know, I'll continue to get better because of you.
00:40:48
Stephanie Jay
Hmm.
00:40:54
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And that's literally all of the vulnerability you're getting from me tonight. I'm done. I'm done. Thank you, I'm out.
00:41:04
Manni
She's gonna go hang upside down now.
00:41:09
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Fuck this shit.
00:41:12
Stephanie Jay
so um i don't i don't get it oh oh i see got it
00:41:13
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I just got that hang up signal.
00:41:20
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Because I'm like a vampire or something. Okay, good. I'm dead inside is what she's saying.
00:41:27
Manni
Yeah.
00:41:28
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll be here all night.
00:41:35
Stephanie Jay
so um So like, again, ah you know, this is obviously a recap and reflect. And there's one person who I was really nervous to receive feedback from about, you can call me Karen, and that would be my husband, Steve, because he has listened to podcasts for a long time like before people that was a thing and he listens to them a lot it's how he but he listened to them throughout the day and so obviously you know in support he listened but i was so nervous to hear what he would have to say um about the show and he i was really surprised by how positive his feedback was um
00:42:21
Stephanie Jay
mostly because what what he liked was our topics, which I think when we, the three of us were like, what demographic do we hope to reach?
00:42:32
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Mhm.
00:42:32
Manni
Yeah.
00:42:32
Stephanie Jay
um a man You know, we just did not really think that men would really be into it.
00:42:38
Stephanie Jay
And so hearing from him and seeing our analytics and seeing that men have been relating to our show,
00:42:42
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Mhm. Mhm.
00:42:46
Stephanie Jay
um That has been probably the most surprising thing about when I reflect on season one. And so I'd say that to pose to you what has surprised you most about um reactions, about feedback, um surprised you about the topics we've covered, like what has surprised you most.
00:43:12
Manni
I can start us for this one. First of all, we're not scared of you, Steve.
00:43:19
Manni
Just kidding. Love you. And he does our art and we're so thankful for him.
00:43:24
Stephanie Jay
Mm.
00:43:24
Manni
I had a conversation, this kind of ties into what Karen was just talking about, but the other day I had a conversation on FaceTime with my sister and she's just so proud of us.
00:43:36
Manni
And she, my sister is 12 years older than me. And so you, anyone who is a younger sibling knows like, oh my God, my sister's proud of me.
00:43:47
Manni
Right, the like little Monica is like jumping for joy, but also, you know what she said and gave very specific feedback is that we have helped her in her relationships and in her communication because she works with ah millennials and people who are around our age and she sees how we are having conversations and it has helped her in her conversations with the people who report to her, it has helped her in her understanding, it has helped her in her communication and that, so I, when we were doing this, you know,
00:44:23
Manni
I didn't expect that that would have that kind of lasting impact on people. I didn't even know if that was a hope of mine, but the fact that it's an extension of what we do here is really, really cool that we went through a series, I remember Stephanie,
00:44:32
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm.
00:44:47
Manni
So a little bit of breakage of the fourth mall. um When
00:44:49
Stephanie Jay
you
Future Hopes and Authentic Engagement
00:44:50
Manni
we were trying to figure out how we were going to do this and speaking of topics and what our podcast was going to be about, Karen and I wanted to kind of just jump right on in.
00:45:02
Manni
I can't remember exactly what it was, but Steph made the comment of, you guys, I feel like we are um like a band who's picking out the outfits and we haven't even recorded our first album yet and again to Karen's point that's how we check each other that's how we hold each other accountable it's light it's loving it's true and it's direct and so
00:45:13
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yes! It was the best, best analogy.
00:45:33
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Mm-hmm. And also we're like, so we're just going to record.
00:45:37
Manni
yeah
00:45:41
Manni
And so we have a couple of episodes that we tried out to figure out this cadence and to get to where it is that we wanted to be and what we wanted to be discussing and I think that those trial and error are what has led to this kind of feedback and I guess.
00:45:59
Manni
to finish off my like surprise me or my reactions it's just start just do it and then you can make changes and pivot once you actually hear it but just
00:46:11
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm.
00:46:15
Manni
start and do it. And then you can see, does this fill me up? Or is it depleting me? And to Stephanie's point of like, we're all busy. We all have 24 hours in a day that we are trying to cram things in. But the way that we have designed this fills me up but it's only because we actually started and tried and made a couple of mistakes and then figured out a formula that works for each of us so that that would be i don't know if that's like advice or anybody who's considering doing something in the future that you're hesitant about just freaking do it
00:46:56
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Just do it.
00:46:58
Stephanie Jay
yeah
00:46:58
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yeah, I don't I think Well, first of all, another kudos to Steve because he was the one who told us, like, your first couple of episodes you're going to throw away because you're going to figure out some stuff and, like, want to redo it.
00:47:14
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And that was a helpful mindset to go in with because then it's like, okay, we'll just figure this out.
00:47:17
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
00:47:20
Karen, Steph, & Manni
well We'll take our ah pass at it. We'll figure out what's working, what's not. We'll tweak things and we're ready. But I do think if we hadn't taken that approach, I would have personally like gotten to a point where I was just overwhelmed and wouldn't be able to do it.
00:47:36
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And so like diving straight in really helped me just get over that hurdle of the initial fear and just get to it.
00:47:43
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm.
00:47:47
Stephanie Jay
Yeah, I could I could drag my feet forever. We all know that about me.
00:47:52
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I mean, to be clear, it did take us like a full on year, I think, to get to the point where we started recording.
00:47:56
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm.
00:47:59
Karen, Steph, & Manni
So it wasn't something that happened overnight, but
00:48:02
Stephanie Jay
For sure.
00:48:03
Karen, Steph, & Manni
um But I'm really glad that it did this.
00:48:06
Stephanie Jay
Mm hmm.
00:48:07
Karen, Steph, & Manni
and We always talk about in work or like with my six year old son, like filling your bucket, the things that give you energy versus the things that take.
00:48:14
Stephanie Jay
Mm.
00:48:17
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And this is definitely an energy giving thing.
00:48:20
Manni
Hmm.
00:48:20
Karen, Steph, & Manni
So it's very balancing for me in that respect.
00:48:24
Manni
Yeah.
00:48:25
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I will say the one big surprise I had before we move on a is like how, how many people have given us the feedback that it, it feels like they're part of the conversation with us, which I love, even people who aren't part of our circle.
00:48:38
Manni
Hmm.
00:48:39
Stephanie Jay
Mm. Mm.
00:48:43
Manni
Yeah.
00:48:43
Karen, Steph, & Manni
um you know who don't know us all personally and I think that's just really neat that you know people listen along I have a woman um that I work with who told me she was like listening with a glass of wine and like snapping along when she agreed with things and like commenting to herself and I'm like yes I love that that's what you want you know when people are listening along to just um be engaged and feel like they're part of the dialogue, which is super cool.
00:49:12
Karen, Steph, & Manni
So that's been a fun piece of feedback we've heard a few times.
00:49:15
Manni
Yeah, I know.
00:49:17
Stephanie Jay
That's the dream right there.
00:49:17
Manni
I love that.
00:49:19
Karen, Steph, & Manni
and
00:49:19
Karen, Steph, & Manni
yeah
00:49:20
Stephanie Jay
see
00:49:21
Stephanie Jay
um So um a feature or a staple in each of our episodes is the who you call in Karen stories. So I wanted to know what your favorites were.
00:49:35
Stephanie Jay
I'm going to start, my favorite who you call in Karen story was when Karen was telling the story of the guy at the beach um with the
00:49:45
Manni
Mm-hmm, the Chad.
00:49:47
Stephanie Jay
um what yes because we didn't we were trying to figure out what to even call him and I think like do we call him Chad or like um and I just felt like that was like a moment when I don't know if that was when Manny was like wait we don't have to reserve
00:49:49
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Chad.
00:50:05
Stephanie Jay
Karen for women um and could be Cares too and um and I also like loved that story because at the end it ended up not being the deal he made it out to me like when he walked it up like there were like nobody there and it's just like I just felt like it was quintessential and it reminded us that we don't uh Karen's um knows no gender even Karen knows no gender
00:50:07
Karen, Steph, & Manni
a
00:50:19
Karen, Steph, & Manni
yeah
00:50:20
Manni
right
00:50:35
Stephanie Jay
But what are your favorite Karen stories?
00:50:40
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Oh my god, I have a gajillion.
00:50:44
Manni
I
00:50:47
Manni
The one from the friendship episode where Karen was asking about whether or not to get involved in Maxwell's education.
00:51:03
Manni
or first grade like classroom with regards to his best friend being in the room with him. And I feel like Stephanie, you do this a lot.
00:51:15
Manni
And I think this is what attracts me to you guys as friends is in that moment, Karen opened it up of like, I don't know how to
00:51:27
Stephanie Jay
Hmm.
00:51:29
Manni
move and navigate and Steph you did this one time too with like am I the Karen or are they the Karen you know and I think that's why those are those would be that one in particular would be because there was this moment of i I genuinely don't know what to do and I don't want to cause any more harm and I don't want to
00:51:30
Stephanie Jay
Hmm.
00:51:33
Stephanie Jay
Hmm.
00:51:51
Manni
um invade in anybody's like space but I also want to protect my son so you know and I and I think that that is why I love the uh that part of our show is because I always now not I always but now I have this Karen button installed in my uh consciousness and uh my husband and I were out a couple weeks ago at something and someone did something like an asshole and he was like you need to write that down for like your Karen of the week you know like yeah it's like it just
00:52:26
Karen, Steph, & Manni
ah
00:52:27
Manni
i like I like that it has instilled in me this awareness and this critical lens um about how I, going back to your words, Steph, observe life.
00:52:40
Karen, Steph, & Manni
That's great. here And going back to yours, Manny, early on, like leading with curiosity. So rather than just jumping on your immediate gut reaction, like taking a moment to contemplate your situation and your you're in instinctual reaction and whether that's the right thing.
00:52:50
Stephanie Jay
Hmm.
00:53:04
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Um, but yeah, I love, I loved that conversation about Maxwell specifically. And, um, as a little update, he and his bestie were actually put into separate classrooms and like, there's only two classrooms.
00:53:13
Manni
Oh, yeah.
00:53:20
Karen, Steph, & Manni
So two first grade classrooms. So. ah Manny, to your point of like, the teachers will discuss, you know, and they're gonna try to figure out ah the best setup. I have a hunch that...
00:53:37
Karen, Steph, & Manni
that his kindergarten teacher ah had something to do with those decisions.
00:53:42
Manni
Yeah.
00:53:42
Karen, Steph, & Manni
But um it was really helpful to hear both perspectives and then be able to make a decision that felt ah authentic to me before, you know, like a brash reaction.
00:53:57
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And it worked out.
00:53:58
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And he's doing great.
00:53:59
Manni
Yeah, yay Maxwell.
00:54:01
Stephanie Jay
Yay!
00:54:03
Karen, Steph, & Manni
So in a less heartfelt way, my favorite Karen story ah is Cancun Karen.
00:54:11
Stephanie Jay
and That's my favorite, I should have said that.
00:54:11
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Because we were all there to witness Karen in all of her glory. She couldn't have been more Karen if she tried.
00:54:19
Stephanie Jay
Mm.
00:54:20
Karen, Steph, & Manni
She had the haircut. She had the whole vibe. She was incredibly ah intrusive and she didn't give a shit about it.
00:54:27
Stephanie Jay
Mm. Mm.
00:54:30
Karen, Steph, & Manni
She walked away feeling like she nailed it.
00:54:35
Karen, Steph, & Manni
She is the Karen of the year, in my opinion.
00:54:40
Manni
And the MVP goes to the MVK.
00:54:41
Stephanie Jay
and that's
00:54:47
Manni
Cancun.
00:54:48
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Cancun, Karen!
00:54:50
Manni
da da
00:54:51
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Pew pew pew pew!
00:54:57
Stephanie Jay
That bitch.
00:55:02
Karen, Steph, & Manni
oh
00:55:02
Stephanie Jay
um So I have one more question for you.
00:55:07
Stephanie Jay
And it is, well, I guess i i'll take my question is, what do you hope
00:55:09
Manni
I'm on the edge of my seat.
00:55:20
Manni
i hope that our listeners light subscribe
00:55:32
Stephanie Jay
Yes.
00:55:35
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Oh my gosh.
00:55:37
Stephanie Jay
yes
00:55:38
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Just, the we are laughing so hard because like in every group text that we are in, someone will say like, oh, guys, I liked the pod this week or whatever.
00:55:38
Stephanie Jay
Yes.
00:55:47
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And Manny's like, like, subscribe and follow.
00:55:50
Stephanie Jay
ah apartment
00:55:51
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Just shameless, shameless.
00:55:53
Manni
Yes, well, I do have to say within the spirit of being a Karen, I think that we have um I think that sometimes we don't leave reviews because Karen's generally leave negative reviews and it's ingrained in our mindset not to do that. But what we are learning as new podcasters is that actually reviews, comments, likes, shares really help to get our message out there. So it it's
00:56:23
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Only if they're positive.
00:56:26
Manni
Yeah, don't do that shit on YouTube. We will go way down in a naggle algorithm. Unless you hate us, which please don't.
00:56:33
Stephanie Jay
and
00:56:33
Karen, Steph, & Manni
ah Yeah, and then we might get some love.
00:56:38
Manni
But I guess i I say that because it's very nice to get that in a group text. But please also make sure to share it publicly on the platform.
00:56:45
Karen, Steph, & Manni
yeah
00:56:47
Manni
Embrace your inner Karen and share ah some words so that we could potentially, yeah, continue to do this and and spread our message to um other listeners who are interested stay in podcasts that have to do with building connection, calling people Karen, labeling stereotype and all that stuff.
00:56:54
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Continue to do this.
00:57:08
Manni
So that really is my hope. I was not, I'm laughing, but I'm not joking.
00:57:11
Stephanie Jay
the Not kidding.
00:57:14
Manni
yeah Remember that I'm kind of crazy. No.
00:57:16
Karen, Steph, & Manni
yeah um Building on that a little bit, my hope is that our listeners are so in love with our Karen stories that they submit their own who you call in Karen stories.
00:57:31
Manni
Yes.
00:57:32
Karen, Steph, & Manni
We want to hear from you listeners because um people are probably tired of hearing from us.
00:57:39
Manni
No, they're not.
00:57:39
Karen, Steph, & Manni
So my hope is next season we get some little voice messages from some of our listeners of your Karen stories, and we can play them on season two.
00:57:50
Manni
Yes.
00:57:50
Karen, Steph, & Manni
And you can submit that at our email, which we will put in the show notes. And Steph, you probably know it off the top of your head.
00:57:58
Manni
Podcast that you can call me Karen calm.
00:58:01
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Oh, very original.
00:58:02
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm.
00:58:03
Stephanie Jay
Mm-hmm.
00:58:04
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Podcast at YouCanCallMeKaren.com.
00:58:05
Manni
And add a cute little, you know, make sure that you give them the proper link label. Cancun Caren, Airport Caren, Airplane Caren, Central Park Caren, Central Office Caren, yeah.
00:58:12
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Yeah.
00:58:16
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Park, Karen.
00:58:20
Manni
Drag me again.
00:58:20
Karen, Steph, & Manni
Bonus points for the most creative Karen labels. Let's hear what you've got people.
00:58:25
Manni
And a spot to be our next guest. No, I'm just kidding.
00:58:31
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I was listening to Handsome and they were doing something along this line and May Martin was like, I'll fly to your house if you win or whatever.
00:58:40
Stephanie Jay
keep you drinking
00:58:40
Manni
yeah
00:58:40
Karen, Steph, & Manni
and um I'll fly to your house. I won't, but you know. And you don't want me anyways.
00:58:47
Manni
Steph, what's your hope?
00:58:51
Stephanie Jay
um You know what I hope is, I hope that because we are thoughtful and reflective women, um And that we make adjustments when needed. I hope that as we reflect and prepare for season two, um that we don't lose what's magic about what were're what we're doing, especially with positive feedback. We've heard about the conversation and the flow and just how natural we sound together i hope that we don't overthink it and like lose some of the like um genuine things that are happening because i mean the laughs the um genuine reactions to our stories and all that kind of stuff is so is real and i just hope we just keep that going because um i think that's the part that fills my cup the most with um what we're doing and so i just hope we keep that
00:59:46
Stephanie Jay
jos
00:59:49
Karen, Steph, & Manni
ah judge
00:59:49
Manni
overthinking not sure i can subscribe to
00:59:54
Stephanie Jay
And you can subscribe to not overthinking.
00:59:57
Manni
Yeah, I cannot.
00:59:57
Stephanie Jay
as that I'm an under thinker, so I can help us out with that.
00:59:58
Manni
I don't know.
01:00:00
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I love that though.
01:00:00
Manni
No, no.
01:00:04
Manni
It's all about the bad ones.
01:00:09
Karen, Steph, & Manni
I think you're right. More magical.
01:00:13
Stephanie Jay
that was awesome. Thank you, ladies, for your insights, Karens that are listening. We love you for listening. If you could please follow us on Instagram, like and subscribe to our channel on Spotify, and YouTube.
01:00:30
Stephanie Jay
um And until next season, thank you.
01:00:35
Manni
Oh, that's my confessional.
01:00:36
Stephanie Jay
oh
01:00:38
Manni
I'm sad.
01:00:39
Stephanie Jay
Oh, shit.
01:00:40
Manni
and so But we'll see you soon, bitches!