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00:00:01
Liam Carnahan
66 Plays5 days ago
Thanks for listening to our episode with Liam Carnahan.
To keep up with or connect with Liam:
✨ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamcarnahan/
✨Inkwell Content: https://inkwellcontent.com/
✨Website: https://liamcarnahan.com/
✨Freelance Success: https://freelancesuccess.com/ ,
To stay in touch with Meredith and Medbury:
Follow Meredith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredith-farley/
Follow Medbury on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/medbury_agency/
Subscribe to the Medbury newsletter: https://meredithfarley.substack.com/
Email Meredith: Meredith@MedburyAgency.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:01
Speaker
hi this is our third Content People episode together. Yes. And it'll be our most relaxed yet. Okay, so for folks who don't know you, again, let's just say who you are and what you do. Then we'll talk about tarot cards. Then we're going to talk about the time you house sat for me for 11 days. Thank you. And then i want to talk all about you and check in on all the writing projects you've got going. When we talked last, you were writing your memoir, still freelancing, and working on a few other cool projects.
Meet Liam Carnahan
00:00:36
Speaker
I am Liam Carnahan.
00:00:38
Speaker
I have a freelance business that actually a community for freelancers called Freelance Success. Yeah, that's new. And I am an SEO and content marketing specialist and have been for...
00:00:52
Speaker
Oh, goodness. 15 years, I think, maybe. And I have a third business as well. I'm a fiction editor and I'm a writer. So I'm working on a memoir. I'm working on essays. All of it is wrapped around my passion for writing and words.
00:01:07
Speaker
Would you ever call yourself memoirist? When it's published, I'll start calling myself a memoirist. When it's finally done, it's not done yet. Let's start there. And for anyone who hasn't listened to the episode with Liam that we did, i think it was last Yeah, last summer. That was a cool one. We went into your office that you've made into this like very cool cocoon room to make it more comfortable for doing your work as a freelancer and also to support your creativity as a writer. And we talked a lot about some kind of, even if in practice in your life, things didn't feel that different mentally, you made an important commitment where you decided my creativity is the most important thing and I'm going to prioritize it
00:01:50
Speaker
So I feel like you've done a lot in the last year. Yeah. It paid off with my creative writing, having that mindset and It unfolded from there.
Writing Journey and Memoir Progress
00:02:01
Speaker
I made a lot of new contacts. I had already started to take some classes and stuff, but I really leaned into the idea of doing a self-directed MFA. I've been traveling. So I i took the first...
00:02:14
Speaker
Three months of this year, i had some money saved up for my freelancing work and I just went on, yeah, I went on to the jungle basically. i went to Costa Rica for two months and worked on my memoir there.
00:02:26
Speaker
And then in Savannah, Georgia for another month, and worked on my memoir, two writing retreats as well. And as a result of all of that time and focus and just making that a priority, I'm now, I would say 90% done with this memoir and getting to the point where I'm querying agents and publishers and seeing if I can get it out there.
00:02:46
Speaker
Okay. What's that process like
Publishing Challenges and Portfolio Building
00:02:49
Speaker
for you? Like where are you, how are you approaching that? Yeah, so I took a lot of classes. I took a really good class about mapping the memoir with the publishers and writers magazine and a few other classes. And I have a mentor as well who's been training me on how to do this stuff.
00:03:06
Speaker
What I realized is that in order to make it easier, I had some essays published. And so I got one published and then I got another one that won an award with Writers' Digest. Okay.
00:03:18
Speaker
And that really helps because now when I apply to things or when I write to a publisher or a agent, I can prove I won this at award. Right. sa And I just look like a more real writer, which I am.
00:03:31
Speaker
I did not realize that the process of querying a book is a huge it's like a whole thing in itself. It's like a 90 page document. that has ah letter and a summary and samples of your work and all of these.
00:03:44
Speaker
You have to come up with book titles that are similar to your book that perform well. It's a huge marketing exercise. And actually having worked in marketing for so long was a huge advantage because i have a brain that can say, OK, this is how you sell a book.
00:03:58
Speaker
I think a lot of writers probably don't realize selling your book is a even if you get an agent, even if you get a publishing deal, a huge amount of the sales are still on you. So it's been not my favorite process, but it's pretty exciting to think, okay, this actually could happen at some point.
Freelance Success Coaching Business
00:04:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's very cool. It's been cool to watch you over a couple years step through being like, I think I might want to write a book too. I'm writing a memoir and now too.
00:04:26
Speaker
I've basically finished my memoir and I'm now in this whole new process of figuring out how to get it get published and out into the world. That's very cool. I was thinking about how when I started this process, one of my teachers told me, it usually takes five to eight years from then to get a book finished and published.
00:04:44
Speaker
And I was like, not me. Certainly that won't be. But I'm like three years in now and I'm like, oh, I can see how it could be five years or longer. It's getting your PhD or something.
00:04:55
Speaker
What's your talk about your freelance coaching business? I think was coaching the right way to describe it or am I using the wrong words? When last talked, it was probably the right way and there's still a lot of that involved, but.
00:05:07
Speaker
I think when I last talked to you i was having this kind of conflict. And I think a lot of businesses go through this, are especially freelancers. I had two big audiences and they were really different from each other. One is B2B, people who need help showing up in search, being visible online.
00:05:23
Speaker
And the other is freelancers who want to do what I do, work for themselves, travel, whatever it is, just be independent. Yeah. And I was trying to speak from both audiences under my Inkwell brand.
00:05:34
Speaker
And then I met this woman named Julie Sturgeon, and she is the host of a community called Freelance Success. It's actually been around like since the late 1990s. It's like one of the oldest freelancing communities ever.
00:05:49
Speaker
out there and she suggested that I come on in a bit more of a full-time way because I was looking for a place where I could put all my freelance advice and coaching and mentoring that was separate from my brand. And she was looking for someone who could come in and bring some fresh perspective and voice.
00:06:04
Speaker
yeah What I like most about it is it's a social network in that when you sign in, it is a feed and there's a chat rooms and stuff, but it's completely private. So the only people who are gonna see your posts are other freelancers.
00:06:19
Speaker
And I think you can't ask the questions you really want to ask about freelancing on LinkedIn because that's where your clients are and they're probably watching you. So this is, it reminds me of what social media used to be, like a place where it's really community heavy.
00:06:33
Speaker
And then we do mentorship and coaching. So that's my new project. And i have to say, I'm so happy. You are. I love it. I love to see people quit their jobs and flourish independently and find a path that brings them joy.
00:06:48
Speaker
And I think for not everyone, but for a lot of people, freelancing is that. And I love seeing, but it's so lonely. And so for so many years, there haven't really been a lot of resources.
00:06:59
Speaker
And I'm glad that is changing and that I can help more people do what I do, which is have a lot of fun while you're working.
00:07:09
Speaker
Do you feel like there's one piece of advice that you keep giving to new freelancers or something like, yeah, what is the thing you find yourself like repeating over and over again in different ways to people? i don't think you can be a freelancer today and not be a brand.
00:07:24
Speaker
People need to treat freelancing seriously. And I think a lot of people think of freelancing as, I'll grab a job here. I'll grab a job there. I'll get paid here and there.
00:07:35
Speaker
And those are the people who do it for a year and then quit and say it didn't work for me. The people who last more than a year are the people who are like, I'm going to make this a business that I'm going to watch my revenue.
00:07:49
Speaker
I'm going to have the right tools. I'm going to have a brand. I'm going to have a voice. I'm going to put time into marketing. I'm going to sit down every day. That's what makes it different. Yeah. And that's what freelance success does is it gives people a lot of that.
00:08:02
Speaker
stuff already done for them so that they can follow. Like an example would be like, i just for so long did not try to forecast my income. And then I would be surprised when my income went out and I'd be like, ah, no, I don't have any money.
00:08:16
Speaker
But being able to think more than three months in advance allows you to think about when do you need to ramp up your marketing? So I have the template that I use to start tracking that 15 years ago is now one of the top resources because it's just a simple spreadsheet, but people don't realize they need it until it's pointed out to them.
00:08:34
Speaker
Helping people, like your biggest bit of advice is you need to operationalize. You need to have systems, processes, and a structure for yourself.
00:08:45
Speaker
If you want consistent income, if you want it to be your full-time thing, you got to treat it like a full-time job. I like that. Let's move on to
House-Sitting Experience
00:08:54
Speaker
tarot cards. yeah right You're telling me about this.
00:08:56
Speaker
So when you were house sitting for us, which was very nice of you, you took care our sweet little kitty cat Paco and his little thyroid medication. So when Matt and I were in Scotland, you were here for 11 days. It was really funny to think of you like,
00:09:11
Speaker
lived I don't know. It's funny to be like, what would Liam's day be like in this place? It was interesting. I often felt like a widow wandering around the house by myself with this cat in tow, but it's a beautiful house and the neighborhood is so good. So many coffee shops and places to go.
00:09:28
Speaker
The place is set up to work from home really well. It is. Matt and I both have a little office. It was just me and Paco basically sitting and chilling until was time for me to go eat something. Did you feel like there were any vibes or energy around it?
00:09:41
Speaker
um Paco himself is a vibe. He is. And that is a chill vibe. I didn't send the tarot stuff. This house is chock full of tarot cards and books about tarot. And there was even a few moments where you had a deck sitting out downstairs. Yeah.
00:10:00
Speaker
And I don't know if maybe the cleaning lady came and moved them or if I didn't notice the card that was on top. But at like halfway through, i was like the card temperance was on. What?
00:10:13
Speaker
That wasn't me, dog. And it was like a day that i had was hung over. was like temperate. But then it was also a day of balance and a day of trying to sort things out. And I just thought it was funny. I was like, that that was interesting. So maybe there was a little energy.
00:10:28
Speaker
All right. Interesting. Okay. So also for listeners, we've got two candles going. Black candle, get rid of the bad vibes. Pink candle, bring in the good. Okay. Can you talk about that tarot writing exercise you were just telling me about and what you're doing?
Inspiration from Tarot Cards
00:10:42
Speaker
Yeah, this is an exercise my mentor recommended to me as a way to help with essay writing. Like I'm writing literary essays and you have to connect ideas that seemingly are disconnected.
00:10:54
Speaker
That's what an essay is, right? It's taking one or two or more ideas and drawing a through line through them in an unexpected way. This teacher recommended doing this exercise where I journal every day. Part of my journaling ritual now is I draw a tarot card and I don't look up the meaning of the card.
00:11:11
Speaker
I just draw, write down a description of the card in my journal and I don't speculate about what it might mean. Until the following day. And then the following day, I look up the meaning and then I reverse engineer meaning of like, why did I choose that card for yesterday? What happened yesterday that relates to that card?
00:11:32
Speaker
And sometimes it's been very weird where you you find like that temperance card, right? I was like, not really sure what I was going to do on this trip. And I was a little bit anxious about it. And Didn't have my itinerary planned out. And then i drew you a card that morning and it was the fool, which it's about going on adventures. It's about being minded and optimistic and open to new opportunities. Yeah. So that's the exercise.
00:11:54
Speaker
I like that. i' like I feel like I could try it. I do feel like i have a deep knowledge of the cards would be hard for me to do whether I'm not. Maybe if you could get a non-traditional deck or a different type of... Yeah, that's a great idea. like that idea. But it's also a great way to learn tarot because you spend a day with each card.
00:12:13
Speaker
I love tarot. I think of them as archetypal images. i don't think you have to come at them from the perspective of they tell you what's going to happen. I think you can definitely just dig in and be like, what do these archetypal images bring up for me in relation to this question? And it can really help reveal what consciously or unconsciously you're feeling about something.
00:12:33
Speaker
Yeah. I see them as it's a method of thinking through a problem. Yeah. And giving yourself prompts to think through a problem. I don't know that there's anything mystical or magical about it. The human mind makes connections and looks for meaning. And and I think tarot just taps into that.
00:12:51
Speaker
And then the artwork is just cool. I love it. There was something I read the other day and it pointed out that some tarot cards, like for example, I think it's the 10 of wands is this guy carrying like a giant bundle of sticks.
00:13:04
Speaker
And it's usually wands are work. So it's like, he's got this big burden and he's feeling like, i'm the only one carrying this but you can see there's like home a bit in the distance so it's also like it's a temporary burden like you will be able to put this down but where you are right now is carrying this and there's an i've known this card for like forever But I just read the other day, someone pointed out that on the Rider Waite tarot deck, which is the one I like, it's like the classic.
00:13:36
Speaker
A lot of the cards, including that one, it's almost like there's a foreground and then it's like the background is like a stage curtain. And it's another way to indicate that like, it's a very temporary situation.
00:13:49
Speaker
Like this is almost a player on a stage carrying a bundle of sticks. And even the concept of the burden is just like, a moment in a play. It's like further emphasizing that sometimes we just step into these archetypal roles, truly roles for a moment.
00:14:07
Speaker
I sent you that essay by Alexander Chee about tarot. I read the first half. I loved it Yeah. And he talks a lot about how he was a tarot reader for a long time in New York City. And he talks about how the cards can be interpreted.
00:14:21
Speaker
And he also talks about how the cards that are quote unquote bad cards are really not that bad once you know the full meaning of them. And it can mean struggle and challenge. but They usually have a flip side that's positive.
00:14:34
Speaker
Perspective. Yeah, the tower is like, well, I drew the tower. So I remember when I drew the tower. And I remember reading it and being like, goodness, that's bad. But I had this little book that was defining it. And the last line of that little book was, sometimes towers deserve to be toppled.
00:14:50
Speaker
And I was like, that's an interesting way to think of. If you don't know what the tower is, it's an image usually of a tower that's collapsing or having the top knocked off of it. falling out People are falling out. It's scary looking card.
00:15:01
Speaker
But the idea that I believe this, that there are sometimes things in life. that are so hard and challenging that they actually need to just be completely knocked out of the way.
00:15:12
Speaker
Should we pull a card right now? Yes, let's. All right, and just so I understand, so for your exercise, the one you're describing, you take you take one, you do it, you review it, write about it.
00:15:23
Speaker
Next day you look up the description and think, how did that card relate to my day? Exactly. And then you don't put it back in the deck. So you do the exercise until you've done all the cards I don't think there's rules about it, but that's how I'm doing it. I'm like, but what are the rules and how does one complete the process? <unk> to do I have eight cards left, so I'm going to finish them before this month is over.
00:15:43
Speaker
I wonder what your last eight cards will be. I was waiting for the Fool. It's my favorite card, and I was just like waiting and waiting. And today, what did I draw this morning? i drew... the knight of cups oh don't tell me okay no spoiler who so spoilers but that was the card i drew this one it's funny that the fool is your favorite i have a complicated relationship with the fool and i think i'm sure it says more about me i know traditionally it's like a feminine card it's like a card where it's like a woman off on her journey and i think that
00:16:18
Speaker
Sometimes when I get that card, I'm like, enough. I've been the beginner long enough. but if I would prefer to be the empress. I see what you mean. And it is sometimes discouraging when you're like, now I'm doing well. I'm already like on this path. Am I still on card zero? need to be I think for me, the reason I like Fool, I mean, it's one of those.
00:16:37
Speaker
There it is. And I was just about to say, it shows up for me all the time. Like in all my readings, the Fool happens to show up. or it's one of those things where once you look for it there it is but i think what i like about it is i am prone to anxiety i am a forward thinker i'm always like planning planning it as far ahead as i can the fool is i think my reminder to empty the brain yeah like just be a dummy and walk off the cliff go with the flow and that is a very good reminder for me because my brain is not in full mode ever it's helpful to be in full mode i think
00:17:12
Speaker
Okay.
Tarot Card Reading: Queen of Swords
00:17:13
Speaker
All right. Here, let me cut it three times more. One, two, three.
00:17:18
Speaker
Blank. And then don't you grab just whichever one you'd like. Okay, i got the queen of swords. Oh, love that for you. Yeah, and she's seated on a throne with her sword erect in the air.
00:17:34
Speaker
A big, beautiful silver throne, clouds behind her, gazing, i would say, resolutely into whatever is in front of her.
00:17:45
Speaker
And a blue sky with a single bird. One thing I, so she is, and her cape is clouds because swords are an air sign where they're thought it's, it's not, it's a, and swords are intellect.
00:18:03
Speaker
So I shouldn't say swords are an air sign, but I think swords relate to intellect. And one thing I think interesting about this one, so she's the queen of swords, but you see her right side because it's like the masculine side of the feminine aspect. oh Okay. i always dig that.
00:18:23
Speaker
And so to me, swords was about just incisive, empowered, clear thinking and decision-making. She looks decisive, doesn't she?
00:18:34
Speaker
and know She has her left hand going up to the sky. And then she's got a little red shoe, which doesn't the fool also have a red shoe? Maybe. That could be, let me look, that could be hearkening back. That could be like part of the end of the fool's like a major icon. A lot of these guys. And she's got butterflies all over her. That's a cool one. Does it resonate with you right now? Well, I don't know the full meaning of the queen of swords.
00:19:00
Speaker
I just told Yeah. So, well, resolute and she is masculine and feminine always speaks to me. And I'm reading a book about that right now, actually, about the sensibility of blending both masculine and feminine parts of yourself.
00:19:17
Speaker
I would, and this to me may be a card that is more
00:19:22
Speaker
about where I need to be. I don't feel as decisive as I could be these days. There's a lot of uncertainty in my industry and in the world right now and feeling confident and decisive is a challenge. So perhaps this is a reminder for me that I am able to control and see my own future if am confident about it.
00:19:50
Speaker
Interesting. Faith.
00:19:53
Speaker
Yeah, I think she she she does what needs to be done. She doesn't overthink it. That's a good one. I have to learn how to do that. OK, your turn. Want me to shuffle? All right, I'll just do this one. Jumped out at you. OK. So the son is Leo, which my husband's Leo. So am I. So I always think You are too. Yeah, that's right. Wait, maybe we pulled each other.
00:20:13
Speaker
ah that would be interesting. I'm the queen of swords. I love the sun too. You do. um So we got some Leos. Also, we've got Paco, some good cat energy right here. I think that the little boy who's on the horse, it really reminds me of the child who's also in the world.
00:20:29
Speaker
So I feel like the divine child is at play. What is that? Like a scarf that or a banner? Yeah, like an orange banner. Giant orange banner. I never really noticed that before. And sunflowers. so Yeah, the sunflowers are gorgeous.
00:20:43
Speaker
The white horse. It's like innocence, happiness. I like this because I feel like in obvious ways, it's the opposite of the moon card. And I feel like the moon for me is it comes up a lot.
00:20:55
Speaker
And It's the moon is like a card of intuition, but it's also a bit of a card of there are things in the unconscious that are coming out, but the things coming out are like lobsters and like sea creatures. And it's not always it's like an important card of what is coming out of the unconscious that needs to come out. And or are there things that need to be drawn out?
00:21:19
Speaker
How does that speak to you? To me, i'm ah I think that I feel like I've always felt attached to the moon. pay attention to what the moon phase is at. Like I wear this moon necklace every day and I feel like the cycles are very comforting and helpful to be mindful of but i also think that sometimes the work of your unconscious and sometimes it just gets really heavy too and so i think sometimes i have a tendency to be too much in the moon and not enough in the sun so i really like getting the sun card because to me it's a very healing cheerful card that's hey like
00:22:00
Speaker
Things are good, things are bright, things are exactly as you think they are. You don't have to be like consciously dealing with the unconscious all the time. Yeah, another good reminder.
00:22:12
Speaker
Yeah. Does that relate? Do you feel that is relates to the fool in that way of removing that anxiety? To me, the moon's not anxiety. It's just, it's the necessary, but sometimes harder work of progress.
00:22:31
Speaker
And it's like dealing with the unconscious, being like, what's here? What do I need to pay attention to, even if I don't feel like it? And the sun is just like the sun. It's just bright and shining. It's we're out, we're failing. Okay. Yeah.
00:22:42
Speaker
I like this. And then what I would do is I would tuck that in my journal in between the pages and I would allow it to sit there. One of the things that you run a risk with tarot is it can then influence you. Like that fool card, for example.
00:22:59
Speaker
i had it in my mind every time I was making a decision on my trip because I knew the meaning of the card. yeah I do think this exercise is a little risky if it can steer you if you've got the card in mind and you know what it's meant to mean.
00:23:14
Speaker
You can try to force your day to make meaning. doesn't work as well. Yeah, that is interesting. And also too, I feel it sounds like the exercises in part, like but you if I understood it right, there's an element of like you picking up patterns.
00:23:30
Speaker
And I do feel like one can go too far down that road, which I feel like is actually my tendency. I think I'm good at pattern recognition, and then I think sometimes I take it too far. yeah So it's funny because in some ways, the full energy is the opposite of the pattern recognition. Yeah, just go.
00:23:46
Speaker
But in the midst of that, it was the card that you were like bringing your intention back to over time of being like, what's the thread here? Yeah. yeah And what I just did is a weird example of exactly what I'm talking about.
00:24:01
Speaker
I'm just thinking about thread actually that I don't know why, but this word that I was writing about morning rituals recently and how what they
Morning Ritual: Cross-Stitching and Journaling
00:24:10
Speaker
are. And this is all part of my morning ritual. But the other thing that I've been doing a lot is cross stitching is like my new. Oh, yeah. And every morning I just do about 45 minutes of cross stitching after I do my journal entry.
00:24:22
Speaker
I'm going to write an essay about it, I think. I've just been thinking about how that process itself, to me, is such, it's so indicative of something larger, the idea that every day I take this one thread and I weave it in this specific way. Yeah. And then when I step back, it doesn't look like I've done much, but when I look back at the whole thing, the picture starts to emerge. Yeah.
00:24:49
Speaker
And I've just been thinking about how that, to me, is representative of so every day of life. You wake up in the morning and you do your day and maybe you don't realize an email that you sent or a thing that you said to somebody had any impact.
00:25:04
Speaker
But then a year later, you step back and you realize that all of those days together Make a bigger image of a bigger pattern. I don't know. Maybe I'm just rambling, but no that was what I thought. of And that's often what I meditate on when I'm putting the work in.
00:25:20
Speaker
I think I understand what you're saying. You're talking about how there's something small and consistent you do every day. when you step back over time, you can see like the picture that you've created. Exactly. Because I don't know if you zoom in on a cross stitch, it doesn't look like anything. It just looks like little X's.
00:25:36
Speaker
But then when you pull back, it's this like complicated kind of beautiful picture. with flaws and everything. To me, it's just the process and the idea that like each day could be a string and each string is a different color and each string is woven in a different way.
00:25:53
Speaker
And I think with my career too, these little things that I did like with freelance success, for example, I met that woman one day, we had a conversation. I had no idea that conversation that one day was then going to turn into my new career path and my new project.
00:26:08
Speaker
Yeah. Each day is... an opportunity to try. ah Each day is an opportunity to weave something new into the bigger picture. And that's why I like putting a tarot card in each day too. Because it's like, what is this day going to, in what way is this day going to move me towards my different goals and my different opportunities?
00:26:25
Speaker
Yeah. Have you had an experience where you pulled a card and you're like, I think this is a bad one. And then later you were like, here are all the ways that yesterday was hard. There have been days where I have pulled, I wouldn't know the cards well enough to know right off the bat that it was a problem, but I do. What if you got the one with all the swords? Right, with the swords at the back, right. That one I did know well enough to know that was a problematic card.
00:26:55
Speaker
I don't remember where I was on that day. The other thing is I also am doing it reversed as well. So that's the thing in tarot as where if it's upside down, it like flips the meaning. Not everyone uses that, but I do use it if it cards upside down when I pull it and look at it reversed.
00:27:10
Speaker
And there have been several times where I'm like, man, the reverse one really does fit. And that's annoying because usually that's the one that's you need to be more mindful of this or you need to do this differently. Yeah, there have been ones like that. Interesting.
00:27:21
Speaker
So fun. All right, cool. Thank you for doing this. This is fun. Remind folks where if they want to follow you, find out more about the work you're doing, where they can go. Yeah. So you can always follow me on LinkedIn, Liam Carnahan. I think I'm the only one.
00:27:35
Speaker
If you want to learn more about freelance success, it's joinfreelancesuccess.com. And there's tons of information on there. We have a newsletter. And if you sign up a newsletter, you get like a free month subscription. So you should do that.
00:27:47
Speaker
If you want to learn about my ah SEO and content marketing business, that's inkwellcontent.com. I think LinkedIn is probably the easiest way to get in touch with me. Oh, and then my author stuff is on liamcarnahan.com.
00:28:00
Speaker
So they're all over there. You should consult the cards. Yeah. and yeah got All right, Lily. Thank you for having me.