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PART ONE: Talking $%#! w/ Paula Sima (Talk Sh*t with P) - Positive Vibes & Good Energy!
14 Plays2 years ago
After experiencing depression in 2016, Paula leaned into her healing journey and her relationship with God. That's when she started creating mental health awareness with her movement- "Lifewithpaula." The turning point for Paula came during the COVID pandemic- she decided to start her podcast "Talk Shit with P." Like myself, she gives gratitude to the pandemic for pushing her to launch her show and make a change. We get to know each other and bond over our shared connections including meeting at PodFest! Are you attending in 2024? Thank you for joining me! 💜 Use my special link (https://zen.ai/YvuDrvZZjTkG6VQpW0ytf30aCSlyWsqpDIWk6XU6euE ) to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan. SHARE YOUR COMMUNITY STORIEZ!: https://forms.gle/dAaithxuJeVtr2Qe8 (You may get a shoutout!) Listen to more interviews and subscribe to "Feel Your FeelingZ" here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Follow Paula on her socials: IG: https://www.instagram.com/talkshitwithp/ Press: https://www.flowcode.com/page/talkshitwithp YouTube: @talkshitwithp Subscribe above and follow me here to stay plugged in: https://fyfz.univer.se/ https://twitter.com/fyfzpod https://www.facebook.com/thefyfzpodcast https://www.instagram.com/feelyourfee... Email: Serious/Business inquiries only. thefyfzpodcast@outlook.com 😁 #Host2Hostseries is a series of interviews with people in the podcasting space! You'll see conversations with people whose podcasts I listen to and learn from. Have any suggestions for who you'd like to see me talk with? Send me an email!
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Transcript
Connecting Over Social Media
00:00:07
Speaker
That you're stronger than you think you
00:00:35
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And she is joining me today from Atlanta.
00:00:37
Speaker
Paula, how are you feeling today?
00:00:40
Speaker
I am good.
00:00:41
Speaker
Thank you for having me.
00:00:43
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I'm ready to feel all my feelings today, right now.
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Let's get into it.
00:00:49
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I'm ready.
00:00:50
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My feelings are ready to be felt.
00:00:52
Speaker
I love the energy.
00:00:54
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I love the energy.
00:00:54
Speaker
I'm so glad we made this happen.
00:00:56
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Like, it's been a while.
00:00:57
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I've been following you for a minute.
00:00:59
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We support each other online on social media.
00:01:01
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And I just love her energy, you guys.
00:01:03
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So yeah, let's definitely dive into this.
00:01:07
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And it's funny.
00:01:08
Speaker
One minute.
00:01:08
Speaker
Sorry for cutting your part.
Enhancing Connections with Voice Notes
00:01:10
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I do believe we kind of met through PortPest, right?
00:01:14
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The online one when they were having it, right?
00:01:17
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This year in May.
00:01:18
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I think so.
00:01:18
Speaker
Wait.
00:01:19
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Yeah, I think so.
00:01:20
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I saw your name because your last name was like, this is such an African last name.
00:01:26
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yes and then i followed you on instagram and since then we've just been supporting each other so thank you for supporting me as well you have literally you sent me like a voice message and i was like oh my gosh that is so sweet literally like i was like who is this lady like i liked your energy and everything like where where are you originally from again from
00:01:49
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I'm from Tanzania in East Africa.
Birth of 'Talk Shit with P'
00:01:51
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And the thing with the voice notes, right?
00:01:53
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It's funny because I never used to do that.
00:01:56
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But shout out to Adam Shibley, the owner of Podcasting Business School.
00:02:02
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He's lucky my mentor without him knowing he's my mentor, but I learn a lot from him.
00:02:07
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And he does amazing stuff.
00:02:09
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So he's the one who taught me that every week he would go through his new followers list, reach out to them with a personal note, like a voice note, compared to a message because people have those scheduled and shit.
00:02:22
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But when it's a voice note, you can hear the person, you know, it's real, you know, it's right there.
00:02:28
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Yeah.
00:02:30
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And I started doing that whether it's somebody I follow or they follow me.
00:02:35
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I always end up and I would always ask them, how did you find me or something?
00:02:39
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Which is funny because my episode that's airing right now, the guy followed me and I reached out to him to thank him for following me and ask him how he found me and to share with me.
00:02:49
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And he literally found me because of an hashtag.
00:02:52
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Because he searches people by hashtag and he came across my profile and was like, I want to talk shit with her.
00:02:58
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And he followed me.
00:03:00
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But that also comes into when you get followers or you're following somebody, send them a voice note because you never know what that might lead out to or what you might find about yourself or about that person.
00:03:13
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Absolutely.
00:03:14
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That is, I've gotten people that have sent me voice notes and I'm like holding this in case the volume is my volume.
00:03:19
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Okay.
00:03:20
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If it's not, but I have, I've had people send me voice notes, including yourself.
00:03:26
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And it's just been like really like good getting to like hear their tone behind their words and their message.
00:03:31
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Like, yeah.
00:03:32
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And we're still, I'm still trying to set up some more, you know, episodes with them.
00:03:36
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So, you know, we're going to make it happen
Favorite Podcast Episodes
00:03:38
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in the future.
00:03:38
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But I'm really curious to know where did the name talk shit with P come from?
00:03:45
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That's funny because when my podcast was coming into life, back in the days, I used to talk a lot of shit on Twitter before.
00:03:56
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before Elon took over Twitter, before Twitter became ex, before any of that.
00:04:01
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The old days, literally, even before the cancel culture, you know, right now you tweet a little shit, you're canceled.
00:04:08
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Oh, and these days I'm very careful because I'm a blowout.
00:04:13
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I'm going to be a big person.
00:04:14
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I don't want people going to searching my old tweets.
00:04:17
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Right, right, right.
00:04:19
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Careful.
00:04:22
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So I'm very careful these days about what I tweet and I put out there compared to Mac in the days when I didn't have a podcast or I was just comfortable with my life and knowing that I don't want to be famous.
00:04:33
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I just want to be rich.
00:04:34
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Who's going to give a fuck about me?
00:04:35
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So I used to tweet a lot.
00:04:36
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Plus, I used to be such a Lil Wayne fan.
00:04:40
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So if you know Lil Wayne music, you know his realics are not very...
00:04:45
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friendly, child friendly.
00:04:48
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So sometimes I'll tweet things from Israelites and people think I'm the one doing that.
00:04:52
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And I'm like, no, it's really.
00:04:54
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So because of how much shit I used to talk.
00:04:57
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And when I had, when I was dealing with my breakup during COVID, I went on Twitter and I was tweeting about the shit I was doing.
00:05:11
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mentally processing and somebody was like you should start a podcast and I was like what would we call it I was like well you like to talk shit so why not talk shit with me and it kind of just I was like you know what that kind of sounds good because I don't like to talk shit and and it's been doing amazing so far because anybody who hears talk shit oh my god I want to talk shit with you oh my god like it's such a
00:05:33
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easier way for making people come and talk about things without them feeling, because the name is Talk Shit.
00:05:40
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We'd be like, okay, let's talk some shit.
00:05:42
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Yeah.
00:05:43
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So what's been your favorite episode so far on your show?
00:05:48
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Oh my God.
00:05:51
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So mind you, I have almost a hundred and I think at this point, 60 episodes.
00:05:56
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So that's very hard because every one of them,
00:06:02
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Thank you so much.
00:06:03
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It's different, but I feel like my first episode, which I don't listen to as much, I don't think I ever listened to it, but I feel like because it was
Exploring Deep Conversations
00:06:14
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really the root of where I was and what I wanted my podcast to be, so it holds a special place in my heart.
00:06:22
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But then also...
00:06:23
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I've had my dad on my podcast and it took a lot to convince that man to come on my podcast.
00:06:29
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Not that he's not supportive, but he really is.
00:06:32
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But it was just having him there.
00:06:34
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But we really talked about him raising me because my dad raised me and it was the time when Kobe just passed away and the hashtag girl dad was the... So I had him talking about raising me.
00:06:46
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I've had my mom and my bonus mom because my dad is remarried for my Mother's Day episode.
00:06:52
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I've had my sister, who's the bougiest of all of us, come in and talk about the experience with a pregnancy, which was doing COVID, and she had postpartum, and people don't talk about that.
00:07:05
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People just talk about having a baby.
00:07:08
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The good part's about being a mother and shit, but they don't talk about the mental struggles women go through when giving birth and all that.
00:07:17
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I also had my brother, who's a...
00:07:21
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a recovering addict 11 years strong next year, who overdosed and almost died.
00:07:28
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And because I hated him for so long, because of what he put me and my dad and my mom through.
00:07:36
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But then, you know, when you hate somebody and you haven't given them the chance to
00:07:40
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to to hear them it's sad but when he came on my podcast because we had to get raw and deep and to actually hear where he's coming from and he's also struggles with mental health during that time and everything that was eye open i mean i still hate him right now but just for different reasons you know sibling things you know but but there was that and um i had
00:08:05
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couple they have a podcast called accidental swingers and their couple have been married and after 40 years they opened their marriage and now they are like swingers and to hear their journey and there's like you know that's the thing about podcast because there's so many yeah you you're like and like but then it it it's weird how
00:08:31
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so different, yet somehow our journeys end up similar without being similar.
00:08:38
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That's why I love having these conversations because at one point you're like, oh my god, I get where you're coming from from there, and then at the same time you're like,
00:08:49
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You need what?
00:08:52
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Like, yeah, you don't.
00:08:54
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It's like you don't know people as much as you think you do.
00:08:57
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Like social media only portrays a little bit, even if it's the people close to you, like your siblings, your parents, you know, your family members, you get to learn so much about them.
00:09:05
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And I feel like that's kind of the scary side of podcasting is like.
00:09:10
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You're a little bit too.
00:09:12
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Yeah.
00:09:12
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And the thing is, I feel like also because either it's my name or, and somebody today told me because yesterday I randomly late night jumped into a live with my friend and we ended up talking about
00:09:25
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masturbation and all these conversations and work husbands and stuff like it.
00:09:29
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It really just went.
00:09:31
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And one of my friends reached out to me and was like, yo, I really enjoyed the live yesterday.
00:09:36
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I'm such a private person.
00:09:38
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I wish I could have shared more.
00:09:40
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And she started talking to me and sharing things.
00:09:43
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And this person, we have been following each other for almost a year.
00:09:47
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or two years and we'll talk but we have never had that deep and she's like nobody actually knows this but for some reason you feel safe and that's why i am sharing and i'm like oh my god i like hearing that because that's what i want i want when people come talk to me they feel safe and a lot of people have been on my podcast will say
00:10:07
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I can't believe I'm actually talking about this here.
00:10:10
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Oh, I can't believe I shared that.
00:10:11
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Oh, I can't believe... Because I like making people uncomfortable.
00:10:16
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Because once you make people uncomfortable, they get comfortable.
00:10:20
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Because... And that's why I don't like having...
00:10:25
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I like going straight to deep conversation and just jumping in.
00:10:29
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So I'll make you uncomfortable for you to get comfortable and you'll be like, damn, did she just go there?
Hosting Styles: Introverts vs Extroverts
00:10:34
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But then you'll also open up and we'll go into a place where we really have that deep conversation where it's like, man, even if I don't agree with you or I might not choose that route, but I understand why you had to go through that or why you did what you did.
00:10:52
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So I always like having that like,
00:10:55
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we don't have to, it's okay to agree to disagree.
00:10:58
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Like we don't have to agree with each other, but I hope that I learned something or you learned something from me through that conversation.
00:11:07
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I like hearing about different approaches that podcasters use with their guests.
00:11:12
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And,
00:11:13
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Like it's so it's so fascinating to me.
00:11:15
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Like you said, you like making people feel uncomfortable.
00:11:17
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Like for me, I like to find like something that we can connect with, like as a basis.
00:11:24
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Like if if I'm interviewing someone, like even to have them on my show, we have to like connect on some sort of level or have some some something that we have in common.
00:11:33
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If we don't have anything in common, like it's going to be really hard for me to start a conversation with someone.
00:11:39
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but with you, you're also a podcaster, right?
00:11:41
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You're also an African woman.
00:11:43
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Like there's just, I feel like there's things that we can connect on a basic level.
00:11:48
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But-
00:11:50
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But for you, which I get, because you are an introvert.
00:11:53
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So most introverts need to find that connection.
00:11:58
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And as far as me, I'm
Southern Social Dynamics
00:12:00
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an extrovert.
00:12:01
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I am still okay with going straight to people and just starting a conversation.
00:12:06
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But then if you put me on the stage and people are looking at me, that's when I get shy and trouble.
00:12:10
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But walking into people in a group of people or just talking, that I can do.
00:12:15
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And then wait until I have to present or something.
00:12:18
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I'm up on the stage and I'm like,
00:12:22
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oh my god oh my god oh my god but uh so so that's why you need to find that connection well to me it's like i'll just walk up and no offense i'm cute and tiny so i always have this like you're not gonna see me but you're definitely gonna hear me so i'ma be loud and shit and i'm just gonna walk up and be like so i heard you're a bitch why are you a bitch wait wait what what
00:12:46
Speaker
That's bold.
00:12:47
Speaker
That is so bold.
00:12:48
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That's something I do in my head.
00:12:50
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In my head, like if someone makes me mad, I'll be like, man, if I had to told them, but in real life, I'm not going to do anything.
00:12:55
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Like,
00:12:56
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I do that.
00:12:56
Speaker
And that's how I made all my friends in school.
00:13:00
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Because either that or... And this is something most women don't do, which annoys me.
00:13:05
Speaker
But lately, we have become very good at that.
00:13:08
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And it's bad in Atlanta because I used to work in retail at HomeGoods, right?
00:13:13
Speaker
And sometimes I'd see a girl and I'd walk to her and I'd be like, oh my God, you have such a nice ass.
00:13:19
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Oh, your boobs are cute.
00:13:20
Speaker
You know, because I don't have boobs.
00:13:22
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And I like an ass because...
00:13:24
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To have a good ass, you really have to work out.
00:13:27
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You know, you do those quests.
00:13:29
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Those quests are not easy.
00:13:30
Speaker
So to compliment somebody that... And it's different when a compliment comes from a guy who's complimenting your ass because you're like, you just want to tap that.
00:13:39
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But when it's a woman, you're like, oh, my God.
00:13:41
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You see?
00:13:42
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Because we were...
00:13:43
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Yeah.
00:13:44
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But then in Atlanta, it's like, because there's also so many lesbians in bar.
00:13:49
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So I always be like, I don't mean no offense.
00:13:53
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Like, I'm not trying to hit on you, but you really have a good... And most of them, after they get the shock of it, she's like, oh my God, thank you, thank you.
00:14:01
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So you see, I make them uncomfortable, but then they get into that, oh my God, I like you.
00:14:08
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Like, damn, thanks.
00:14:10
Speaker
And they feel good.
00:14:11
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So if it's not a compliment,
00:14:13
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I'll straight up come with something I've had.
00:14:15
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If I really had you a bitch, I would come up and be like, I had you a bitch.
00:14:19
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Why are you a bitch?
00:14:20
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To the extent that my friends are like, Paula, you're too sarcastic.
00:14:26
Speaker
I'm also very sarcastic.
00:14:27
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So sometimes they're like, you know, you don't have to say everything that you're feeling.
00:14:31
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I'm like, but why not?
00:14:33
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I think what also connected me to you is that you're from the South too.
00:14:38
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You're in Atlanta.
00:14:39
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I'm in Texas and Dallas.
00:14:41
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And there's kind of this misconception about Southern women that we're kind of two-faced because on the surface- Bless your heart.
00:14:49
Speaker
An underhanded compliment, like bless your heart.
00:14:51
Speaker
Me and my sister were talking about this the other day.
00:14:53
Speaker
And like-
00:14:55
Speaker
Meanwhile, you actually mean something completely different.
00:14:58
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So for you to be straightforward and tell people like, hey, this is how I feel about you.
00:15:02
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I like what you're wearing.
00:15:03
Speaker
Like some people could take that as being like, is she being real?
00:15:05
Speaker
Or is this like, like most people aren't used to having someone who is real with them to their face straight up, you know, when they first meet them, it can be kind of underhanded.
00:15:16
Speaker
Hi there.
00:15:17
Speaker
How are you feeling?
00:15:18
Speaker
It's me, Victoria, host of the podcast.
00:15:20
Speaker
And when I first started podcasting, I was super scared and nervous about the way I sounded, the way I looked, the way people would receive me.
00:15:29
Speaker
But using Zencaster has been a really helpful way for me to become more confident and express myself as a creator.
00:15:36
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:15:44
Speaker
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00:15:51
Speaker
Go to Zencaster.com slash pricing and use my code Victoria15 and you'll get 30% off your first month of any Zencaster paid plan.
00:16:00
Speaker
I want you to have the same easy experiences that I do for my podcasting and content needs.
00:16:05
Speaker
It's time to share your story.
00:16:06
Speaker
You feel me?
00:16:07
Speaker
And I won't say all Southerners are like that.
00:16:09
Speaker
There are very nice
00:16:11
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amazing people here in Dallas, like strangers that have complimented me.
00:16:15
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So not everyone is like a blessing.
00:16:17
Speaker
Yeah, but that's the South.
00:16:19
Speaker
Like they're genuinely nice people, but then also they're, I don't know if y'all have watched Heart of Nixie or any of those shows.
00:16:27
Speaker
Like you can literally see like, yeah, you're nice, but that tone is
PodFest Experiences
00:16:35
Speaker
I feel it.
00:16:36
Speaker
And then there's that, oh, you are really nice.
00:16:38
Speaker
I think I'm definitely guilty of doing that.
00:16:42
Speaker
Not the bless your heart part, but just like the like, if someone is like, hey, you want to hang out sometime?
00:16:48
Speaker
I'm like, oh, okay.
00:16:49
Speaker
Like, yeah, maybe we'll see.
00:16:51
Speaker
No, I don't want to hang out.
00:16:54
Speaker
That tone you had is like, no, I don't want to hang out with you, but I'm just going to be nice right now.
00:17:03
Speaker
Right, right.
00:17:05
Speaker
Anyway, so PodFest, tell me about it.
00:17:08
Speaker
Like you've gone before.
00:17:09
Speaker
Have you have you gotten overwhelmed?
00:17:12
Speaker
Because I went to the virtual PodFest where we met each other initially, and it was very overwhelming.
00:17:18
Speaker
There was back to back virtual Zooms, a lot of webinar speakers, a lot of breakout sessions.
00:17:24
Speaker
I took a lot of notes, but it just was like a lot for me.
00:17:28
Speaker
So like, can you like tell me about your experience and are you going to go next year?
00:17:33
Speaker
Yes.
00:17:33
Speaker
So the thing is, I've been attending PortFest since 2020.
00:17:38
Speaker
Shout out to Buzzsprout because they gave me my first free ticket.
00:17:41
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Shout out.
00:17:43
Speaker
And I've been presenting like on the online.
00:17:47
Speaker
I do case studies and stuff.
00:17:49
Speaker
And then last year was the first time to actually go in person.
00:17:53
Speaker
And when I tell you I was overwhelmed last year, I was...
00:17:58
Speaker
It was a lot of tracks, a lot of things at the same time.
00:18:01
Speaker
And because I had never been to a podcasting conference.
00:18:04
Speaker
Where was it hosted last year?
00:18:06
Speaker
It's always in Orlando.
00:18:07
Speaker
In Orlando.
00:18:08
Speaker
Okay.
00:18:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:10
Speaker
So to me, it was new.
00:18:13
Speaker
I did not know what to expect.
00:18:14
Speaker
I really wasn't prepared.
00:18:18
Speaker
But the good thing is I stayed at the hotel.
00:18:20
Speaker
So sometimes, to be honest, I would go up.
00:18:24
Speaker
put on my swimsuit and I would go to the pool and just relax for an hour, two hours, because I'm a water person.
00:18:31
Speaker
I'm a cancer.
00:18:32
Speaker
I would drive in water.
00:18:35
Speaker
Anytime I try to take a nap, it always takes me like, calm down, meet me at the bar.
00:18:42
Speaker
So who's going to say no to free drinks, right?
00:18:44
Speaker
But...
00:18:46
Speaker
But it also taught me a lot.
00:18:48
Speaker
So when I came back, like when I went this year, because first of all, the best way to enjoy a podfest is having a VIP ticket.
00:18:57
Speaker
So because this year when I went, I was a presenter.
00:19:00
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I had a mentor.
00:19:00
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I was in a panel.
00:19:01
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So I had the creator first.
00:19:03
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But I did.
00:19:04
Speaker
Like right now, I know they're doing a meme competition.
00:19:07
Speaker
So some people, the ones who win get upgraded to VIP tickets.
00:19:12
Speaker
I was participating in that, but then they said you had to buy tickets in order to like participate in it or something like that.
00:19:19
Speaker
You had to be going and I don't, I don't have tickets.
00:19:22
Speaker
So.
00:19:24
Speaker
I got you.
00:19:25
Speaker
I have, I have two free tickets to give out.
00:19:29
Speaker
So if you want a ticket, I got you.
00:19:33
Speaker
I got you.
00:19:34
Speaker
I do.
00:19:35
Speaker
I do.
00:19:35
Speaker
Okay.
00:19:35
Speaker
I'll say, okay.
00:19:36
Speaker
I'll say, okay.
00:19:37
Speaker
I'll say, okay.
00:19:38
Speaker
Say this.
00:19:38
Speaker
We're going to, we're going to talk about that later.
00:19:41
Speaker
But, um, so.
00:19:50
Speaker
I did a real competition and I won an upgrade to a VIP because when you get a VIP, you get the recordings, which helped that.
00:19:59
Speaker
So when I went, I was like,
00:20:01
Speaker
I don't want to go to every talk.
00:20:06
Speaker
To be honest, the way PortFest works is doing the hallways and the meetups, the panels, the
00:20:18
Speaker
If you can buy the recordings, buy them.
00:20:21
Speaker
That's what I like next year.
00:20:24
Speaker
They really did want new people, fresh faces.
00:20:27
Speaker
Some of the presentations, I'd already had them.
00:20:30
Speaker
People didn't change much.
00:20:31
Speaker
They just used the same.
00:20:34
Speaker
It wasn't something new for me to want.
00:20:36
Speaker
I only went to...
00:20:39
Speaker
presentations that I either wanted to meet the speaker or it was something new and I really wanted to attend.
00:20:46
Speaker
But everything else, I was waiting for the recordings.
00:20:50
Speaker
I was mostly on the hallways and on the meetups.
00:20:54
Speaker
Like, yeah, there's the Black and Asian meetup.
00:20:57
Speaker
There's this meetup.
00:20:59
Speaker
I sit there and mingle with people.
00:21:01
Speaker
But also, this year I was also volunteering.
00:21:04
Speaker
So,
00:21:06
Speaker
In the mornings I was volunteering and the front desk, which I loved because it got me to meet people who I probably wouldn't because it's a lot of people.
00:21:15
Speaker
By the time you come back, you're like, oh my God, you had a lot of people.
00:21:17
Speaker
So
00:21:25
Speaker
volunteering helped me to be in rooms I wouldn't have been and meet people who I normally wouldn't because I'm at the registration box.
00:21:32
Speaker
I'm literally checking you in and showing you around and walking.
00:21:37
Speaker
And actually I found out last week, uh,
00:21:42
Speaker
next year for Podfest, I am an ambassador.
00:21:49
Speaker
And I'm also presenting.
00:21:50
Speaker
But what I love about next year is my presentation is on Thursday, the first day, which this year, it was on Saturday.
00:22:01
Speaker
I mean, no, it was on
00:22:03
Speaker
Yeah, on Saturday and on Friday there's normally an after party.
00:22:07
Speaker
Shout out to the MoPod.
00:22:08
Speaker
They do an amazing after party.
00:22:10
Speaker
So imagine going out and turning up in a karaoke bar with the entire podcast.
00:22:15
Speaker
They buy out the entire bar, the entire Howl of the Moon.
00:22:20
Speaker
They had your picture in the newsletter and I sent it to you.
00:22:24
Speaker
I was like, that's you right there.
00:22:25
Speaker
Oh yeah.
00:22:27
Speaker
And imagine partying with them until 2am, 3am and then 10 o'clock I had to be
00:22:34
Speaker
there to present my panel.
00:22:35
Speaker
I had a hangover.
00:22:36
Speaker
I did not want to wake up my idea.
00:22:38
Speaker
I wake up at nine and study my panel before I go.
00:22:42
Speaker
I literally walked into my panel five minutes before my panel started and I didn't even know how I was going to start.
00:22:47
Speaker
But somehow it worked out.
00:22:48
Speaker
I work well under pressure.
00:22:51
Speaker
But this year I'm going to, and I went to Afros and Algeo and it was the first time for me to moderate a panel.
00:22:58
Speaker
which I enjoyed.
00:23:00
Speaker
I was nervous.
00:23:01
Speaker
I was scared, but I'm a fun believer in betting on myself and putting myself out there.
00:23:06
Speaker
Like I know I can never get better if I'm not constantly setting myself up in certain opportunities.
00:23:13
Speaker
So with, and when I, when I did that, um, I got a lot of feedback that I did good.
00:23:20
Speaker
And most people like, Oh my God, you're funny.
00:23:22
Speaker
Now I want to do comedy because, but, um,
00:23:26
Speaker
Because of that, I also say...
00:23:29
Speaker
If enough people told me I was funny, I would do comedy.
00:23:34
Speaker
I had said that I want to moderate more panels.
00:23:38
Speaker
I want that opportunity.
00:23:39
Speaker
And because I got to be an ambassador, it gives you, if you want to host an entire track, if you want to moderate panels, you get fascinated.
00:23:47
Speaker
So I was like, put me in.
00:23:49
Speaker
I want to host tracks and panels.
00:23:51
Speaker
So I'm excited.
00:23:53
Speaker
But podcast is a vibe.
00:23:55
Speaker
You learn, you get to network.
00:23:57
Speaker
And this year I'm more excited.
00:23:59
Speaker
Next year I'm more excited because my book should be done.
00:24:02
Speaker
We are, we are working on that rough draft.
00:24:05
Speaker
Okay.
00:24:05
Speaker
My book should be done and there's always publishing companies there.
00:24:09
Speaker
So I'm hoping to go get a publishing sponsorship or a publisher who can work with me because publishing a book is expensive.
00:24:17
Speaker
Y'all.
00:24:19
Speaker
Well, uh, which is funny because this morning podcast is also, um,
00:24:24
Speaker
doing interviews for the speakers and I had my slot this morning and when Tom asked me what I'm hoping to get out of Port First 2024 and I talked about it, he was like, oh my god, I have a podcast about authors and stuff so when your book is ready,
Tips for Introverts at PodFest
00:24:38
Speaker
let's talk.
00:24:39
Speaker
I'm like, look at that.
00:24:41
Speaker
You have to speak it out and let people know what you really want out of it in order for
00:24:48
Speaker
for it to be workable because half of the time we hide what we really want and then we expect somebody to help us.
00:24:54
Speaker
But how is somebody going to help you when they don't know where exactly you need help?
00:24:59
Speaker
So, but for me, Podfest is really like going home for Thanksgiving where your uncles, your aunties, your grandma, like people of all ages.
00:25:10
Speaker
This year we had kids who came from UK.
00:25:12
Speaker
They are four podcasters and they are 13 and 14 and they traveled all the way from UK to come to Podfest.
00:25:18
Speaker
We had a one month old baby.
00:25:21
Speaker
We had, you know, a baby.
00:25:22
Speaker
the guy from Dubai, he calls himself yoga with a Lamborghini or something.
00:25:27
Speaker
He came with an entire entourage.
00:25:29
Speaker
We had Wale, the ping pong.
00:25:31
Speaker
You never know who you're going to meet at Port Fest and what opportunities are going to come.
00:25:35
Speaker
And the thing is, they're very big people and very little people, but we are all, like everybody treats each other like we are on the same level, no matter how many years you have been in the industry, whether you're a beginner, whether you're not.
00:25:48
Speaker
And you might think like, oh my God,
00:25:51
Speaker
I'm going to be alone or feel alone.
00:25:53
Speaker
I don't know anybody, but trust me.
00:25:56
Speaker
At one point you'll be like, I need to go hide because anytime you are just standing alone, everybody walks up to you and be like, why are you sitting alone?
00:26:07
Speaker
Let's go.
00:26:07
Speaker
You need company.
00:26:08
Speaker
Like constantly people are always smiley and jolly and helpful.
00:26:13
Speaker
Like it's really such an amazing feeling.
00:26:15
Speaker
That's me.
00:26:16
Speaker
Like I would love to go first and foremost, Orlando, Florida is my dream location because I've always wanted to go to Disney World since I was a little kid.
00:26:23
Speaker
I've always wanted to go to Disney World.
00:26:25
Speaker
I know it's not Disney World, but it's like the Disney World for podcasters.
00:26:29
Speaker
So what would you recommend to someone who would get really overwhelmed with that, like an introvert?
00:26:35
Speaker
Do you recommend they go with somebody?
00:26:38
Speaker
Or how should they structure their time while they're there?
00:26:41
Speaker
All right.
00:26:42
Speaker
And first of all, a lot of people do come to PodFest and either one day skip and go to Disney or whatever.
00:26:51
Speaker
So it does happen.
00:26:52
Speaker
And on the move up, you'll see like, who wants to go to Disney on Saturday or Sunday?
00:26:58
Speaker
So they are, trust me, people do that a lot.
Creating Meetups with Woova
00:27:02
Speaker
And so one thing I would suggest, plan your schedule.
00:27:08
Speaker
Like the schedule is always at the move up.
00:27:11
Speaker
Plan on the talks you really want to go to.
00:27:14
Speaker
And then allow yourself to take breaks to disappear.
00:27:18
Speaker
So if you are staying at the hotel,
00:27:21
Speaker
take take a break like go to the pool go to the bar go to the to to take a nap and um hide out whatever is your hideout and whether you bring up you come by yourself or you bring a friend trust me but first you always have a friend but just like you like you already know me so there's already Paula is there and that's the good thing about um
00:27:45
Speaker
social media and a podfest group where people are constantly in each other and normally what podfest does and i know in january they're going to start doing that because last year as well they would do once a week or is it yeah once a week they would have like a speed date and speed networking where uh
00:28:08
Speaker
they'll do their 15, 20 minutes of talking about PortFest and everything.
00:28:12
Speaker
And then the last 20 minutes, they shuffle people into different rooms.
00:28:16
Speaker
So at least you can get to know certain people.
00:28:19
Speaker
That way, when you go to PortFest, you don't feel like I'm new.
00:28:24
Speaker
I don't know anybody.
00:28:25
Speaker
And it's amazing because last year when I was attending the Speed Networks, and it wasn't even my first time going to PortFest, but I was like, you never know you got me.
00:28:33
Speaker
And two of the guys who I ended up in those networking rooms
00:28:38
Speaker
Up to today, they are one of my favorite people.
00:28:43
Speaker
Like one of the guys didn't come to PodFest this year, but he came to Atlanta and we hanged out.
00:28:48
Speaker
He sent me his T-shirt, his match, and I sent him mine.
00:28:53
Speaker
And all because we met on the speed dating at PodFest and doing PodFest.
00:28:58
Speaker
The entire time from the first night to the last night, I literally hanged out with him and he introduced me to PodFest.
00:29:05
Speaker
to the more pod guys because they're all into karaoke and now they've become my bestest friends like literally joe
00:29:13
Speaker
Joe Rubin just emailed me a few days ago and was like, I hope I'm seeing you at PodFest in general.
00:29:18
Speaker
He was like, oh, my God, yes, because we get to hang out and stuff.
00:29:22
Speaker
So you never feel alone.
00:29:25
Speaker
Just join the podcasting community, whether it's the Facebook page or and just interact with people.
00:29:31
Speaker
So even if you come there and you feel like, oh, my God, I don't know anybody, it's not true.
00:29:36
Speaker
Plus, look for me.
00:29:37
Speaker
I'm always happy to mingle and hang and I'm good at connecting people.
00:29:43
Speaker
So if I know you're an introvert or you're into this, I'll find a fellow introvert who won't drag you like I would.
00:29:50
Speaker
Do they have anything for like Gen Z, like a Gen Z meetup or like a, you know, young adult type of webinar or seminar, I mean?
00:30:03
Speaker
So they normally do have for the beginner's track, but also the good thing about the Woova app, it's anybody puts up the meetup.
00:30:12
Speaker
So you yourself can go in the Woova app and create Gen Z's less meetup or introverts less meetup.
00:30:17
Speaker
There are people who meet up early in the morning to do yoga by the pool.
00:30:20
Speaker
Every day at this time, meet me at the pool, we can do yoga.
00:30:23
Speaker
There's Lee, I love her.
00:30:27
Speaker
She's always looking for people to take walks with because she likes going for evening walks.
00:30:31
Speaker
So every day she has meets up for, I always do meets up for anybody in Atlanta, Atlanta podcasters, let's meet up.
00:30:40
Speaker
That way we know each other.
00:30:41
Speaker
That way when we come back to Atlanta, we hang out.
00:30:45
Speaker
So that's the thing about Uber app.
00:30:47
Speaker
Even if there's no that meetup, you can create, and you can create as many meetups.
00:30:52
Speaker
If you're into books, you want to see your fellow authors.
00:30:55
Speaker
If you are a specific podcaster and you want the people to collaborate in that, if you are into swimming, into going to karaoke, literally there's always a meetup for any and everything, and that's the good part.
00:31:09
Speaker
Just do that.
00:31:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's super exciting.
00:31:15
Speaker
And I'm going to check it out and look into it and kind of like test the waters and see if that about... But I am going to hit you up about those free tickets.
00:31:23
Speaker
I told you, I got your ticket.
00:31:24
Speaker
Don't worry, I got your ticket.
00:31:26
Speaker
So Paula, tell me, can you tell me about your motto for your show, which is positive vibes and good energy?
00:31:37
Speaker
Oh my God.
00:31:37
Speaker
So when you say my modem of my show...
00:31:42
Speaker
your motto, like where did it come from?