3rd Podversary Celebration Episode, with Host Julie Berman & Award-Winning Filmmaker and Musician Jillian Speece

It's the 3rd Podversary episode, and Julie is so excited to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of "Women with Cool Jobs"!!  To celebrate this milestone, Julie asked the award-winning filmmaker and musician, Jillian Speece, to cohost this episode with her. ( She also helped Julie co-host her 50th episode.) 

To celebrate this occasion, you can also join Julie for the first in-person, live event on Saturday, October 7th, from 10:30 AM to 12:00 noon in Scottsdale, Arizona. The amazing Dr. Nika Gueci, who is the Executive Director of ASU’s Center for Mindfulness, Compassion & Resilience, is our special guest. You can find the details here:  

• https://womenwithcooljobs.eventbrite.com

Jillian Speece is a woman with heart and vision, and Julie is so glad to call her a friend. Jillian is one part of a duo with partner Nathaniel Paul Hoff  in a band called "The Bergamot." Together, they created an incredible film called “State of the Unity” -- an 8 year journey that meant traveling to all 50 states and inviting thousands of people to write their messages of unity on the Unity car. (Julie met them while they were in Phoenix in 2016, and she got to sign the car.) 

State of the Unity was selected and screened at 36 prestigious film festivals worldwide and garnered 20 awards, including the Grand Jury and Best Documentary Feature awards at the Las Cruces International Film Festival in New Mexico (2023).
 

In this episode, we talk about: 

• what it takes to go from an idea, a whisper, or an inner knowing  to starting a journey where you don't know exactly where the path will take you or how it will look at the end 
• what is needed to get through those in between moments when following your dreams 
• what it's like to be an independent creator and some of the lifestyle implications and sacrifices it takes 
• the unexpected joys and miracles along the way 
• how to approach a moment where you will be reaching new heights and have new experiences; your rocket ship is about to launch 

You can support Jillian by purchasing “State of the Unity” starting October 6th on Apple TV, Amazon prime, and many other video-on-demand services. 


 Contact Info:
Jillian Speece
"State of the Unity" on Apple TV
thebergamot.com
@jillianspeece (Instagram)
@thebergamot (Instagram)

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3

Transcript

Jillian Speece: 0:00

I can tell you that there are so many times that I doubted, especially when we were in the thick of it when we were on the 50 State tour in 2016. We're going to 50 states, we're spreading a message of unity and peace during the 2016 election period, one of the most divisive beginning divisive elections that we've ever seen in American history. And we're filming every day on the road. We're filming. As we tour, we played 264 shows in all 50 states. We're filming people signing their message of unity on the outside of our station wagon. And we're catching just the nuance of the day: the light, where we're at, the city we're in. We're catching all the minutia. And we're doing this with nothing. We had like, I think when we started the tour, oh, man, so we raised money on Kickstarter to do it. And then we bought gear, we bought a camera, we bought a computer. And then after we did all that, I think we maybe had like $1,000 left for like a 50 state tour.

Julie Berman - Host: 1:01

Hey, everybody. I'm Julie and welcome to Women with cool jobs. Each episode will feature women with unique trailblazing and innovative careers. We'll talk about how she got here, what life is like now, and actionable steps that you can take to go on a similar path, or one that's all your own. This podcast is about empowering you. It's about empowering you to dream big and to be inspired. You'll hear from incredible women in a wide variety of fields, and hopefully some that you've never heard of before. Women who build robots and roadways, firefighters, C suite professionals surrounded by men, social media mavens, entrepreneurs, and more. I'm so glad we get to go on this journey together. Hello, everybody, this is Julie Berman and welcome to the third pod Versary episode of women with school jabs. I am so excited to be here celebrating with you the third anniversary of this podcast. And it has been a crazy, awesome journey also like sometimes a really hard challenging one. Because in this podcast journey, like I have done things that I never did before and also that I never expected to do or thought that I would do. And yet it has been like one of the biggest blessings in my life because I have met so many incredible women, and talk to them about what they're doing, how they got there, why they really love doing it. And it's been so special to hear their stories. It's been inspirational for me, because I have been exposed to so many different ideas and so many different ways of doing things that I just I never thought of before and that are really different also from the background that I came from, and anything that I had experienced or heard. So it's just been such an incredible blessing to be able to talk with so many strong, feisty, smart, talented women who are doing big, cool things in the world. And to be able to share space with them has been awesome. It's also been a huge thing in my personal life. And for my career. Because during this podcasting journey, I really figured out what I love to do. And I figured out more of who I am, is allowed me to practice using my voice, and to learn a new skill set that I had never known about before that I had never really done anything with before. And that was really awesome. And also really scary at times, and challenging at times. And also really rewarding at times. Like I've had people connect with me after listening and tell me stories about like, who they listened to, or something that resonated with them or something that was helpful. And I love hearing that. Because sometimes when you're working on something that is creative, right, like you just have this idea in your head of what you want it to be and what you hope it is. And you don't know if anyone's listening. And like if it's helpful. So it's such a it's such like a wonderful thing when I do hear feedback. I love it and it means so much so I appreciate everyone who submitted reviews, and who's gotten you know, back to me and DMS or in other ways saying that you've listened. It's it's been a crazy awesome ride. And I'm just so excited to be here at this point and a little bit of backstory if you are new to listening to this podcast and maybe you've maybe You've been listening for a while. And I so appreciate that. If you haven't heard the beginning of this journey, I started in February of 2020. And of course, we all know that was right before the pandemic. But I had just gotten to this point where I really knew that I wanted to work on something where I wanted to explore what jobs women were doing in the world, like whether they were surrounded by men, whether they were unique, and I hadn't heard them before, whether they were in these executive positions, and these places and spaces that we want to see more women in, we're we want to know, like, what are these women doing? How did they get there? Like, what are the skills that they need? What's the education that they have? And what are their plans for the future? Like, where where do they want to go? Where do they want to take this. And so it's been such a cool thing for me to come from that place of having this reoccurring thought, especially after my first kiddo. And my second kiddo was born. And now my kids are eight, five, and almost one and a half. And so I'd have this thought, like, over and over again, wow, like, I wonder if these women exists and who they are and what they're doing. And then I finally decided in February of 2020, that I was going to go all in, I was going to create something. And at the time, I didn't even know what a podcast was. I had never listened to podcast, I had never even opened up the app on my phone, I didn't even know what it looked like or where it was. And I had someone the previous month in January of 2020, who was someone who's really good at social media, and the interwebs. She was like, in that space already for many years. And she was explaining to me the difference between a YouTube channel and being an influencer on pot on Instagram at the time. And also, you know, like, what it meant to have a blog or a vlog, the difference between that and a podcast. And so I had narrowed down that I wanted to have something where women would be telling their own stories in their own words, using their own voice. And I landed on podcasting for that reason, because I didn't want to write something, even though my background is in communications. And I have a lot of writing experience, I wanted women to tell their own stories, because I think that's so powerful. And I also didn't want to be on camera. So this is ironic that I'm doing this now. And I'm recording this in video and, and you'll be able to hear this audio. So the amazing thing is that when I started this journey, like I just had no idea where it would take me and I had no idea who I would meet and the types of jobs I would learn about. But it was so amazing to be able to expand what I know is possible through this process. And I hope by listening that you've expanded what you believe is possible, not only for women, but in general, like we we have such an expansive time to be exploring in the world today, like the jobs that then there are jobs that don't exist now that may exist in five years. And there are jobs that I've interviewed people about what they're doing now that didn't exist like 10 years ago, or they were just on the verge of being created. And they're also all these split these places and spaces where more women are needed. And I hear that theme time and time again, from women in so many diverse fields, whether that's like a data scientist, to other fields, like plumber, or other areas where women are needed, women's voices are needed, that our opinions are needed. And these these women are doing groundbreaking work in some areas, they're paving the path for other women. They are, like just so innovative, they're thinking in a different way than men do, you and right. Those are our strengths. That's what we bring to the table as women. And I'm just so excited to be able to share with you the stories of these incredible women who are so inspiring to share what they are doing in the hopes that it allows you to think of all the possibilities for you and for the people you know and love that exists in the world today because women are doing it now. And I I just feel so blessed to be here. This episode is so special because I have a special co host named Gillian Spiess. And you may have heard her before in her story. If you were here last year for my second pod Versary and I just enjoyed having her on so much that I brought her back again, and I'm going to read a little bit about her just so you can get an understanding before we launch into the conversation of like who she is. Jillian is an award winning filmmaker and a professional musician. She is Part of the band with her husband, Daniel called the bergamot. And they also have an amazing film called state of the unity. And so this film was selected and screened at 36 prestigious film festivals worldwide. And it's garnered 20 awards, including the grand jury and Best Documentary Feature awards at the Las Cruces International Film Festival in New Mexico. And 2023 was just like, a big, big deal. And they got distribution deal, that they are just literally about to launch their film into the world through Apple TV through Amazon Prime and other video on demand places. And I mean, they they're like, at, they've been working on this film for eight years. And I met them seven years ago. And I got to sign what they call the Unity car. And in in this process of making this film, they went to all 50 states, they were asking people, some really important questions they were asking, What does unity mean to you? And they were asking how can you envision a better future? And what would that look like, and they brought in thought leaders, this is not a political film. It's really a love letter to democracy. And I got to be one of the people who signed the Unity car back in the day, like seven years ago, when they were traveling around to all 50 states. And they came here to Arizona. And I went to this, this little place called the teapot in downtown Phoenix. And it was like one of those days where as a mom, I had a small baby and I just needed, I just needed some time for myself, it was a really hard moment. And I had seen this event on Facebook randomly and I went by myself. And it's like, if you've ever kind of like been in that moment where you're trying to decide if you're gonna go out, or if you're just gonna stay home and you're like, ah, should I go is worth the energy. And especially me, I was going alone. And it's so crazy to think how, seven years ago, I chose to go. And I met them on their journey. And like now I've gotten to see them at various moments in between, and become friends with them. And to be able to witness this, like this process of what started as like a thought What started as like this, this feeling of I need to do this, I need to follow this like intuitive, intuitive notion like this thing that came to me. And then to see it. Basically like being birthed into the world in such a big way, literally starting this Friday, October 6 2023. Like, I am so excited for them. And it's also super inspirational for me because they are visionaries, right like to be able to take something that doesn't exist from a tiny idea. And to be able to walk the walk, and talk the talk and like have the patience, and the vision and the faith to see through is amazing. And they've literally been doing this, you know, the whole life of my oldest child who's eight, it's just like, so incredible to think about. And it's so exciting, from my standpoint, to be able to see this journey that they've been on and then also to see where they are, and to be able to be part of the next things that come their way. And I just know that it will be so many good things that they probably can't even imagine. And Jillian is one of those people who like is so genuine, and so transparent, and also has like these beautiful, like these beautiful ways of showing up in the world. And it's, it's inspirational for me to see people like her, and the other women I have, I have interviewed, and not only how they share, you know, so authentically and vulnerably with me when I'm doing these podcasts, but also it sets an example for me of what it takes to be a little bit more courageous, and to be more visible. And so I can step up and share more women's stories in a bigger way. And so that I can become the person who I want to be because I have these big dreams of like what I want to do and who I want to become and what I want to create through women with cool jobs. And like what does it take for me to get to that next version of myself and like be the best person that I can be not only with this podcast, but career wise and also as a mom of three and As a wife and a family member, you know, it's, it's like figuring out all these different pathways. But also, it's so it's so meaningful to me to be here right now and to acknowledge, looking back how far I've come. And I am so grateful for those of you who've been listening for a really long time. And also, I'm really grateful. If you're here for the first time, or you just started along this journey with me and learning about all the women with cool jobs who exist in the world. I am a strong believer that we all can have a cool job. I'm a strong believer that women can do and can be everything. There are so many possibilities that exists now. And I hope that this podcast allows you to see some of those possibilities and who exists in the world and these incredible women and what they're doing. They are doing wonderful things, and making the way for more women to come. And so it is my honor to have you listened to this special episode of women with cool jobs. And thank you, as always for listening. And please, please, please, if you have not done so yet, it would mean so so much to me, if you would leave a podcast review, you can especially if you're on Apple, you can scroll all the way down. There's a place where you can write a review literally takes like two minutes. And you could also give my podcast five star ratings. If you're loving it, it would mean so much because it just helps share the women who are who are in this world who are doing amazing things. It helps share their stories out with more people and tells the algorithm you love you love it and you want other people to listen. So I appreciate that so much. And without further ado, here is the conversation between me and Chileans peace and joy. All right. Hello, everybody. And welcome to Women with cool jobs. I'm so excited to introduce this special, this special co host that I have who I've only had one other co host and it's been the very same special person. And I'm so excited to have her back. Her name is Jillian Spiess. And she is a filmmaker and professional musician. And so it is such an honor to have you on Julian, thank you for being here.

Jillian Speece: 17:16

Julie. It is an absolute delight and pleasure. I absolutely love co hosting with you especially on this momentous occasion for you. I cannot wait for you to tell us. What is this celebration that we're doing today?

Julie Berman - Host: 17:28

Yes, so I was lucky enough to have you last year on my second pod. Versary. Right, the anniversary of my podcast. And it is the third pod Versary of this podcast WomenwithCoolJobs. And I thought How amazing would it be to have you on again because it was so much fun. It was just like such a joy and you squeeze me into your incredibly busy schedule. So we're gonna get into all the amazing things that like you're up to. I'm just so like, excited for you, and Daniella, like where you're at. So we're gonna get into like all the details. And for people who have listened to maybe last year or if they're brand new to the show, they can understand like, what is it like to be a filmmaker and a musician and like, What things are you working on? And I'm just so excited. So thank you for being here.

Jillian Speece: 18:16

Okay, of course you know, I love you so much and massive congratulations. Three years is a huge milestone. I know you put so much hard work so much effort in this. I love your podcast. I love your guest, and I'm so proud of you. Literally Julie, you have you're showing up every day. And I know it's not easy. You're a mom of three, you have an amazing husband, but you guys are juggling a lot. So in a rift today we're gonna have fun. And to answer your question, it is probably I would have to say that maybe the most wild time in history to be an independent creator. Because on one hand, we have all this access to distribution to the people. And on the other hand, it is the loudest time to break through. So just to give you an idea on Spotify right now, over 120,000 songs are released every day. Wow. That's wild. That is while I did the math like a couple months ago and my mind almost exploded. So because I'm a professional musician, which means I'm a songwriter. I go on tour, I do professional recordings in studios and also in closets, depending on what we're doing. I know what it's like to be in the ring right? To be fighting in the ring to be heard to share this message of positivity, through our music through the vision and through the storytelling that we put out into the world. So I know what it's like to be waking up every day, putting one foot in front of the other and just showing up and working harder than I've ever worked I literally before I got on this podcast, I was doing my makeup and I was like oh my gosh, I have not been getting sleep. I was like I have like a little bag Ah, but it's like that's sometimes what it takes, you know? No, actually, that's what it takes. And so we're I'm juggling being a independent musician, alongside my incredible husband, Nathaniel Paul Hoff, and also a award winning filmmaker, with our brand new film, say the unity. And that has been a journey that I am so deeply humbled by creating this film state of the unity because it took us eight years to make it. Like why it takes eight years other than like, making a child like I friends who have like you, you, even your kids, you can be like, Oh, this year, my child was born. And it's like, almost the same amount of time that it

Unknown: 20:43

took you guys well,

Julie Berman - Host: 20:45

yes. I mean, you guys, I think that is such a crazy point. Because literally, you guys started in 2015, right on this journey of making your film state of the unity. And it is like such a beautiful thing that you guys are created. And literally, I have an eight year old who was born in 2015. So like, it is nuts. That also I mean, I met you at the beginning of your journey of creating this, which is so crazy that I've actually now known you guys for seven years. It's fine. I've chills. Yeah, I mean, it's weird to like, it's like crazy to think about, but I met you guys when my oldest now was tiny. And you were just starting on this beautiful journey. And I think like, that's something I want to talk about. Because I think being someone who is out there in the world, like you and your husband, and you guys had this vision of not only who you guys wanted to be right, like what you wanted to put out into the world, but also what you wanted to share with others and create something from nothing, right. And that is to me the true definition of like visionary. And I told you that, you know, like when we met in person, like people think of Elon Musk, and all these people who create things, right? Yes. And that we use every day, which we need and are valuable. But we don't always think about visionaries in other spaces. And like you guys are visionaries, you created this like, right, this thing that now people are going to get to see in two days, right, they can actually have a wait. And well we'll get we can get to the details. But But I think like you guys created something from nothing from like this place of like heart and feeling like there was a message. And like a piece of you that you wanted to put in the world to do something bigger. And so I just love that you guys are at this point, and we're having this conversation now. Like, it's I mean, I have chills

Jillian Speece: 22:42

too, because I have chills all over my body right now.

Julie Berman - Host: 22:45

It's just so crazy. Like how the world works, right, like, and so I would love that was a very long way to say I would love, love to hear your thoughts on for myself, right. And for people who are listening, like, when you have this, this thing that's like sometimes sometimes we can speak it into words. And sometimes we can't, it's just like a feeling or an intuitive notion, or like a whisper that, like, I am meant to be doing this thing. And like, I don't know, what it's gonna look like when it's done, like my baby is gonna grow and who knows what direction it's gonna want to walk to Yes, and what its gonna look like. But like, I have this thing that I want to create, how do you take those? I guess like those initial steps, and then stay with it, because you guys have been doing it for eight years. Yeah, to see it through to the point to you get to this point, like, and I mean, we'll talk like we can explain a little bit more about you guys are on the precipice of something so incredibly amazing. I'm so excited for you. But how do you do that? I mean, like, can you explain what that is? Like? Because I think that's so brave.

Jillian Speece: 23:55

Okay, first off, thank you, I still have chills. That is they're holding on my leg. So I call those God bumps. I'm grateful for that. And I'm grateful for you, Julie, because I truly feel like you see me as an artist. And that means the absolute world to me. And I don't want to get it. I don't want to cry because I want to answer this question properly. But that's just kind of where my head is right now. So the biggest thing that I would say off the bat, when you're on a journey, right? You don't know the ending, you don't know the outcome. The number one thing that has gotten me through every single day out here is faith. And faith is to believe what it is to believe in what you do not see. And the reward of faith is to see what you believe. So, in order to do this journey, every day I bring faith first. So I personally, we've talked about this before you know that I believe in the Divine. And so I bring the divine into everything that I do, and God shows up big and so when we say hey, I'm gonna meet you where you're We're at God meets us there and things happen that are beyond my wildest dreams. And so the making of the State of the Union ever is like, what that eight years? Why did it take so long, I will tell you why it took so long. When you are independent, and you are working your butt off to make art, okay, we're making art as musicians and this film, all of the monetary finances that came in, we put in poured for eight straight years into making this film. Normally, films have like a $55 million plus budget. Well, our budget was called a micro budget, which means it's under a million dollars. I think that the rough estimate that we did recently, in the last few weeks that it stated the unit cost roughly around $500,000. Now you do the math that was coming in over eight years from us performing live music. And all of the money we made from those shows we took a little bit to live off of and then the rest of it, we poured into making the film. So that's why it took so long, we didn't have a massive budget, we didn't have a massive team going into this. But we had faith, we had faith the size of a mustard seed if what a mustard seed is it's like the tiniest little seed. But a mustard seed grows into this gigantic, beautiful tree, and it and it shades the people and it's strong and it lasts into years and way beyond different eras. So that's the type of faith that started this journey. And I can tell you that there are so many times that I doubted, especially when we were in the thick of it when we were on the 50 state tour in 2016. We're going to 50 states, we're spreading a message of unity and peace during the 2016 election period. One of the most divisive beginning divisive elections that we've ever seen in American history. And we're filming every day on the road we're filming. As we tour we played 264 shows and all 50 states. We're filming people signing their message of unity on the outside of our station wagon. And we're catching just the nuance of the day, the light where we're at the city we're in, we're catching all the minutia. And we're doing this with nothing we had like I think when we started the tour, oh man, so we raised money on Kickstarter to do it. And then we bought gear, we bought camera, we bought a computer. And then after we did all that I think we maybe had like $1,000 left for like a 50 state tour. So if you can imagine, that was not a lot of money. No. So we were just making it by every day, we were sleeping in our car, which I don't recommend it was definitely not safe. And I don't think I'll ever do that again. And we were sacrificing stability, which is what we all want. We want certainty. Like as human beings are built for certainty, we love knowing this is my abode. My beds here, my family safe here, we want safety, security certainty, I know where my next meal is going to come from. We didn't have that we didn't know we were going to do our laundry out, we didn't know we were going to eat out. We didn't know, sometimes, you know, we're booking so tight on the next show. I mean, there's so many shows that you didn't know maybe the next two days where you're gonna perform at you were trying to piece that together while you're also trying to find a place to stay. I mean, it was so stressful. And at one point, I had like an eye twitch that lasted for at least a couple of months straight. And I just was so stressed out. But these are the things that people don't necessarily see because we don't talk about that often. But the thing that got me through was in the middle of the night when I woke up being like in the car being like, Are we safe right now? Like, okay, is there someone coming by? I would just pray. And I was like, Okay, God, you sent us on this journey through a vision, which goes back to the visionary thoughts that you have, Julie. We had a vision from the Divine to bring America together. And we started in 2015. This was right before the election, this is right before everything happened. We had no idea what was about to unfold in American culture that year. Yeah, that was what I consider just the the beginning of how far we are now. And I have to say that eight years later, we're far worse off now than we were even then. And that was scary. So our film, which this is if you're wondering kind of what it looks like, I have this sweet little card. This is the unity car here. And you'd see 1000s of messages of unity and peace written on it. Now, our whole thing on the tour was to cultivate a question and ask Americans What does unity mean to you? This is a simple question. This is not a solution. This isn't, hey, we're gonna fix the world, everybody. This is hey, I'm humbled because I'm humbled in this process. I don't know exactly what Unity is. And I'm, I'm willing in my vulnerability to reach out to other Americans and ask, Hey, do you know what Unity is? And then from that maybe we can come to some sort of consensus of what it is moving forward and we can actually vision board a new way to run this democracy because what's been going on is not working? Yeah. And so in many ways stay the Unity is a love letter to democracy. And it gives people an opportunity to see what it is like to actively be an artist in America right now and living on faith.

Julie Berman - Host: 30:18

Yeah. I mean, I think that's an amazing answer that you gave just like, the faith and, and also being able to hang on through some of those incredibly, I can only imagine very tough, somewhat scary, uncertain moments of like, where's this leading us in? Like, what? Yeah, like, what are you going to even do with all that footage once you get it right? And like, going through those moments? I mean, I think like, to me, just having done what I've done, I've never created a film, but like, just even piecing together a podcast, you know, and thinking certain things through and like, you end up with like, all these thoughts of like, should I put this in? Should I leave that out? And so I can't imagine going through and having all these moments that you've captured through 50 states and then trying to figure out, like, how does that lend itself to a story in a film, and then I love that you guys had because I got to see it. And I went up with my friend to Sedona to see it, which was so special, in a long time. And you, I loved being there, it was so cool. And just like the ability to see it on a big screen and to hear your music going through it. I think that was like such a cool part too. Because you guys, I mean, a lot of times, like you said, you know, when things are created by larger creative entities that have these huge budgets, there's a lot of people also who have their hands in different parts of it in different components. But you guys were like literally doing all the pieces. It's your music in it. It's your like, narrative, it's your story interwoven into the story of America, right. And at that moment in time, and like, what that also can mean for our nation. And in creating this other story, right of like, how can unity, create something bigger than all of us? I love that. And I'm curious for you, like, at the point are actually, let's go to like, what point are you at right now. So you take this whole eight years to create this beautiful thing. And you put it out into the world? Talk a little bit about like, what happened since the first time you put it out into the world because I know you've gotten lots of acknowledgement and many wonderful accolades. And like, What are you on the precipice of now? Like, let's talk about that.

Unknown: 32:37

Let's go, Julie. Okay, so

Jillian Speece: 32:41

when we were making the film, it took two years just to go through the terabytes of terabytes of footage to make a four hour chronological cut of the film. Wow. That was wild. And it was painstaking. And then once we got to that point, I had memorized which hard drive at which point was certain, like, where there were certain people talking that was meaningful. So we were both we had archived in our brains, different hard drives, right? Like, oh, this piece would be great here. And so as that was unfolding, you know, we're making the film. I didn't even know at the end of making this film. If one it was going to be decent, to if anyone would even watch it. In the last year. It has screened at 38 National and international film festivals worldwide. We have won 20 awards, including the prestigious, we actually I have it right there. But it's we won the prestigious Grand Jury Award at the Las Cruces International Film Festival, and the best feature documentary award there. And the reason why that's so special is because a lot of these film festivals get over 1000, maybe 2000 submissions, which is whittled down to maybe 100. And then from that 100, they whittle it down to one which wins the grand jury out of every every single film in the festival, and we took home the grand jury, and my mind that day was literally blown. To give you an idea. We this I'm going to tell you that we haven't told anyone but that weekend when we were there in April, we were just going to the festival to celebrate in New Mexico, which is a place that is in the film. And we're like this is great. We're gonna meet some people can't wait to screen and do the q&a. And we literally had booked a flight out of there on the day of the award ceremony. That's how that's how certain we were that we weren't going to win anything. Wow, we get there. We screened the film to a packed house. And we're like, this is great. And then we're like, Okay, well I check into our flight 24 hours in advance. And we're talking with somebody who worked there. And they were like, Oh, hey, are you coming to the award ceremony? And we're like, Oh, we're so bummed. But like, we're actually on tour. So we were on our music tour. And at the time we were hitting up different festival stops and just flying in and then driving back on the tour to make it across New York. And they're like, Oh, really, they're like you're not going to be here tomorrow for the award ceremony. We're like, No, we're like, it's such a bummer. They're like, they're like, Oh, really, you're not going to make it to the award ceremony? And we're like, yeah, no, we have like a flight. And they're like, Oh, what a bummer that you're not going to be there. award ceremony. And we were like, oh, yeah, that is strange. Yeah, let me let me see if we can move our flyer. And I'm loving, it was like, I still was unsure. I was like, I don't really know what's going on. And then we got there to work. Somebody we like, could not even believe it. So it sounds like that's been happening. And and if you think about it, you're like, Wait, I didn't even know if anyone would have watched this film. And this is Faith, right? This is Faith in motion. This is saying, I see a film in my head. It doesn't exist yet. We're going to work for eight years, make five, you know, six different versions of the film, throw out five and keep the last one. And the last one is the one that's hitting and the American people are voting by coming to these film festivals. And then ultimately, the biggest thing that just happened in our lives is we got a distribution deal.

Julie Berman - Host: 36:04

Which is like, amazing. I mean, you described it to me, like basically, you got Willy Wonka's golden ticket, which is, I mean, it's amazing. It's just Yeah, it's so incredible, I think to think about your journey and the fact that like, I met you seven plus years ago, because I was just having like, for anyone who's a mother, it's like, they know, it's like, some days you're just like, Oh, am chi like, what did I get myself into with this little Cuban? And like, how was it it? You know, I don't even think at the time that he went because he must have been tiny. I don't think he was talking or walking then. And I just was like having a day and I told my husband I'd seen the event with you guys at like this downtown. Really cute place in Phoenix. And it was the tea the tea pot. Yeah. Such a cute little venue. And I was like, I have to get out of the house. And it was like late. And I I thought I was going to walk in there and that you guys weren't going to hopefully notice me because I was late to your show. And of course you like do you guys are so sweet. You like acknowledged me as you're singing in the middle of your set. And I was like, Oh, dang it like, but then you had the Unity car outside, which was like this. I mean, for people who can't see the picture, because they're listening. Can you describe like, what did your unity car look like in the signatures and things that were on there?

Jillian Speece: 37:19

Yes. So the Unity car is the third. And I would argue the most important character of our film, the Unity car is this, this 2002 hatchback station wagon. So it's like a light blue, almost silver looking color. And it has, it's completely covered in Sharpie messages of unity and peace and of what people wish the world our American culture and our democracy could look like so we're, it's ultimately a vision board, a moving art piece that went from city to city town to town state to state all 50 states spreading a message of unity and inspiring people along the way. One thing that always got me on the tour was we would be at like a stoplight. And like people would people would pull up next to us, you know, and like when I'm living from the Unity car. So it's just like normal for me. And I forgot so off so often that like, this is not a normal car, like when you when you encounter the car, you are in awe of the car. It's beautiful. And there's pictures and messages and everything. So cars would pull up and they'd be like, Oh my gosh, and then they'd rolled on their window and they say Roll down your window. And they'd be like, Hey, what's up? They're like, what is this car? What are these messages? What are these inspiring messages and I'm like, oh, it's the Unity car. And then the light would go to green. And I'd be like, go to the gas station, go to the gas station. And so we all huddle at the gas station, we'd say we had like hundreds of Sharpies, we'd hand them a Sharpie. And we'd say write your message of unity on the car, and it'll go forward to the next state. So it was this really beautiful, collaborative art piece that brought so much joy. And when we started this out, when we started the tour out on January 2 of 2016. We had no idea what this was going to be like we didn't know if it was going to be hard to get people to sign the car or easy or, you know, we had some resistance. Some people saw the car and they're like, oh, you know, I don't want to be a part of this hippie dippie thing. And they walk away. You know yet some people. I actually remember one woman so we took the car to the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention. We did this intentionally because this is about unity. This isn't about a side. So we took the car to both and we offered the opportunity for all the different people to sign their own message of unity. I remember there was this one woman at the RNC so the Republican National Convention, and it was so I'll never forget this was so profound she wrote on the car. This land was made for you and me Oh, wow. And I have chills saying that because the truth is, we, as people are getting so far away from looking in someone's eyes, and having empathy and holding space and having compassion and love for that person, even when they are voting a different way than us, even when they have a different skin color than this, even when they are, they're a different religion, or maybe they're atheists, we have to get back to being compassionate and loving and kind people, because this is actually what the true essence of our American democracy was founded on, was founded on Okay, well, we got these people who think this way, we got these people who think this way, every four years, you're gonna get your way. And then the next four years, you're not. And so ultimately, our film is not about politics, it's about the human heart. It's about reaching out to people that think differently, that vote differently, that look differently that are that have a different religion than us and saying, Hey, I see you, and I love you, and I'm gonna hold space for you, even though I disagree with you. And that's okay, we can do that peacefully. And our film is a stepping stone for that.

Julie Berman - Host: 41:12

Yeah. And I love that, especially at this moment. It's like, yeah, I don't know, it was so funny. Like I you know, sometimes you don't think about the little things in your life that then create ripple effects going outward, or like how one thing could necessarily lead to another but I, I love that. I got to see some part of your journey, and creating this, like, vision and then creating this, this outward thing that people can actually watch and make some think about how can we live in a better world? Like, how can we actually create a better community in my community, and I love like, I got to sign the Unity car, which was so fun when I met you guys initially, you know, and here we are having this conversation on the eve of this distribution deal. And people being able to watch it on Apple and all these incredible things, your video on demand. And I just think it's incredible, right? That like the journey that that you guys will took the journey that you went on, is ultimately going to create, hopefully a different narrative for people to think about when it comes to making decisions, right? Like whether it's for our ourselves, or our family, or our community or our country, like, how can we think of things in a different way. And like I know, even since I've seen your film, like, oh, like it does make me think think of things differently, because you put in some really great in thought leaders in there who talk about these different subject matters. And they actually have very different thoughts on things than I think I would have guessed from the outset, which was pretty rad actually. And so I don't want to like ruin any of the main things, but I just really want to encourage people listening, like, I think you guys did such an incredible job. And I can see how this is what the sixth iteration of this film, and the fact that you guys had so much footage, and you work so hard to create something that wasn't political, that wasn't on one side or another, that really was purposeful and intentional. In saying like, as, as a nation, right? These are the things that we can be thinking about. These are, these are the things that like we all we have so many things that are common, right, like, to your point, this idea of security, security and safety and freedom. And like the idea of if you have family and loved ones, like you want them to be able to live their best lives, like whatever that looks like, in whatever way works for that human being right, like, whatever. So I I just like love what you guys have created so much.

Unknown: 44:17

And thank you.

Jillian Speece: 44:19

I mean, literally been so No, it means so much. Like even having you there at the actual screening in Sedona, because we're doing a theatrical run across America in different phases. So we just wrapped up in Los Angeles, we did our world premiere there and we sold it out. Every seat was sold out, which was wild. And then we did a seven day run there. And then Okay, so this is bridging into what's next because your question was twofold. Like, Well, how did you essentially get here and what's next? So we are Um, okay, let's see that when does this come out?

Julie Berman - Host: 44:53

It comes out tomorrow. We're cutting it very close. I don't know if you can say it yet. It will come out on the fourth

Jillian Speece: 45:00

Okay, I'm going to share one part of it. And then we'll have to do this again. So yeah, there we go. But so this Friday, October 6, state of the Unity will be out on Amazon Prime on Apple TV, it will be out on ATT Uverse DISH TV and many other avenues. Okay, so this is like the most exciting and slightly nerve wracking point of my life because like, I'm sure you so like, I'm not a mother yet. And if I am, maybe one day I will be. But you being a mother, when you were having your baby, your first baby boy, right? You know how many how long that takes to get to that point, how much effort and you're carrying this baby, and then you go into labor. And then that's a whole nother thing. And then you you bring this baby push this baby into the world. And so in some ways, it's like this has been an eight year journey. And we're brought, we're like birthing this message, this vision into the world. And this is just the beginning. So as crazy as that sounds maybe like that it you could spend eight years on something and that this is actually just the beginning. That's, that kind of terrifies me a little bit. But it also it excites me more than it terrifies me. And I think that the coolest things that are happening right now are now that I am a award winning director, which is wild to say that that I'm trying to get used to saying out loud, and filmmaker. This is the beginning. So there will be another film, Something's coming. And we're going to be exploring this even more because state of the unity tees it up and ask the question, what does unity mean to you and we give a vision of what's possible, but it's not the solution. So there's something coming that we're going to be exploring how we got here, and giving some solutions within that some more actionable news for people. So that's happening. And then there's something that's literally dropping tomorrow in coincides to this. And I'm gonna announce it here first, because people will be able to hear this tomorrow. So the two weeks ago, we got an email from the askers. So the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and they said they actually wrote Dear Mr. Hoff, so my husband, I don't think has ever been called Mr. Hall. And we're like, okay, at first we read this, like, is this fake? Is this like a fake email? And they're like, No way. It's like, is it you know, you you're questioning? Yeah, Dear Mr. Ha, it would be an absolute honor to have the transcript of state of the unity in our core library, the in Beverly Hills for the Oscars for the Academy library. How's there for the rest of your life? So we submitted it, it's officially in the library forever. Wow. Which is a huge honor. Because we were like, wait, the academy knows who we are. Yes. That's amazing. Congratulations. Thank you so much. So now state of the unity is in it's housed in the Core Collection. This is next to Alfred Hitchcock. This is next to the Wizard of Oz, the screenwriters, the directors. It's one of the most prestigious it is the most prestigious filmmaker and directorial library in the world. So that was a huge honor. And we took photos or it will be dropping this tomorrow. And of course, now that this is happening, we are gearing up for something else. And I can't share that yet. But when you stay tuned on our social media on the bergamot Facebook on Instagram, you will see what's happening next from this.

Julie Berman - Host: 48:39

Oh my gosh, and it's super

Jillian Speece: 48:41

exciting.

Julie Berman - Host: 48:43

I am so excited. Well, I'm going to stay tuned. So I will no i Yeah. Oh my gosh, I was just so excited for you guys. Like I think that's one of the most amazing things is that you put this yeah, like I just sometimes out of words, because you put this most beautiful mission and vision into the world. You created something from it. And then you're getting like all this love and like wonderful things back. But I I feel like waiting for the journey and you are like you are also at the birth of something like I mean, that was a long gestation period, eight years. I mean, they could not take that long to be a mom.

Jillian Speece: 49:27

But then but you have the baby then on the back end for a long time. So it's like

Julie Berman - Host: 49:33

I know. So it's like, but it's it's amazing. It's you know, and so I just am so excited to see not only where this leads you but I I feel like to your point, that kind of that we were talking to at the beginning, it's like you can't quite always see where you're going. And I want to ask you about that because I think that that is such a scary thing. Like for me personally where I am at now. Oh, it's I'm not I'm getting better at being like, a bit more transparent about where I'm at. But it's taken, right, like three plus years. But I think for me where I'm at is like, I see this huge vision for women with coal jobs, and I want to have a community. You know, I'm doing my first community event this weekend, actually. And I'm like, as you said, I'm like, more excited than nervous. But I'm still a lot of both. Yeah, I caught like, nerve nerve sighted or nervous. I don't know, whatever, your I like that.

Jillian Speece: 50:30

Yeah, that's where I'm at for this Friday. So we're feeling it together, right?

Julie Berman - Host: 50:33

Yeah, like, so it's just like this crazy point. But it's also something that I feel like I've wanted to do something like this for so long. But it wasn't the right timing, right. I had, like, you know, it's like pandemic, and then I was pregnant. And then I had a tiny human and all this stuff. And it's still never ideal timing, but it's like the most best timing that I'm gonna get, like, the best test says my kids might say. But, like, so But I'm wondering for you, because I have these use visions of like, what I want women with cool jobs to be like, I want to have this huge, amazing to get a tissue in the middle of this a huge, amazing, like, conference one day with, that all these women can attend and see like women like you and all the guests who have had and talk to people who could be like your neighbor, your sister, your best friend, all these people are like, Oh, actually, I love what you're doing. And like, I can hear some of what you're saying. Understand, maybe that's like a bit of who I am, you know, and hear some of your story and identify with that and be like, I am not that far from that. Like, it's actually more achievable and more doable. And like, I can tap into her vision too. So for people who are kind of like, in this position, like I am, where I have this vision, but like, I have no clue how I'm gonna get there, right? I don't know how long it's gonna take. It might take eight years. I don't you know, like, you know,

Jillian Speece: 51:58

you know, you never know, the accelerate. I've seen this is a time of great acceleration. So

Julie Berman - Host: 52:03

yes, yeah, like, hopefully, you'll go a bit faster. But you know, with that said, like, there's this idea of sometimes like, wanting to make things happen faster. And like, for me, I am a planner, and having the pandemic thrown into our mix of our world and then having children right in that mix. It's like, I I've tried to give up some of that. laning because it doesn't work that well.

Jillian Speece: 52:28

Yeah. I feel you on that. So hard. So you're so your question specifically is like, how do you get from here to that vision? Right?

Julie Berman - Host: 52:39

Yeah. Okay. And how do you like, when you really don't know? The how, right like, I think for those of us who are planners and detail oriented and over analyzers, which I'm speaking to myself here, right, like, but I know, a lot of my friends happen to be similar personalities. Yeah, a lot of I'm sure the people who are listening like they're researchers, and they love to know, I love

Jillian Speece: 53:01

researching IR. So I feel like we're similar in this. I do like to sometimes over plan over things. And I go over research.

Julie Berman - Host: 53:08

Yeah. So how do you get from that, like, that place of starting in knowing where you want to go? And maybe not what it's going to look like you have this this vision? How do you get there and do the in between part.

Jillian Speece: 53:23

So I actually would start by saying that we live in a culture of immediacy. And now like, oh, I have this idea. I want to do it next week. I want to do it right now. Oh, hey, you know, I want to lose 50 pounds, I want to lose, I want to lose him yesterday, whatever, whatever it is. And we live in a culture of immediacy. And that's just a way that they can control and manipulate and sell us stuff. Okay. The way of art, the way of visioning because what you're doing right now you're creating art, right? So this podcast is art. This conversation is art. It's something that didn't exist, and you're pulling in and constructing and curating questions, and we're telling stories, we're having intimate moments with each other. And it's ultimately inspirational. It's art filled moments that'll move someone's heart to do something else. So to get from here to there, is I would consider a multi tiered process. One, you have to be so clear on your why, like, why do you want to do this? Because if you don't know your why, then you could be stuck in a phase of, yeah, I just want to do this. And that's it. And the issue is, is that when you don't know your why, then it's really hard to plan which I do believe planning is important because planning is visioning. And that's dreaming. And that's, then that's making actionable from that. So you want to get clear on like, who am I and why am I doing this like, and then once you get clear on the why, then you're like, oh, I want to be of service of For women who have dreams that are uncertain how to reach them, and then you're like, Oh, well, the conference would be like this and this and maybe I start by doing a smaller like limited seating conference. Maybe it's not my dream. Maybe it's not my 1000 seater. Maybe I start by doing a conference for 50 women. That seems a lot more attainable than doing a conference for 400 or 4000, or four or 5000. Yeah, but it always starts small. And it always starts with baby steps and visioning. So when the idea of state of the unity came, my husband, Daniel, and I, we were very well versed in adaptability, and in being water, not what I did. So because we had up into that point, been a full time professional musician, songwriters, and recording artists, we with the bergamot, we were able to understand how to how to move with what's happening with what's coming in. You don't ever want to get so hard, like wood, where you're just you're unmovable and you're always stuck. You want to learn how to say, Okay, well, I've got these things happening in my life that I know are secure. But I really want to be playing at this festival or I really want to be recording in London, or I really want to be doing this. And you say well, what's my why? Why I want to do this because I want to bring uplifting, positive hope filled music to the world. Well, okay, how are we going to do this? It starts by saying, Well, I want to reach fans who are interested in this music and they happen to like Dave Matthews Band or they happen to like Ed Sheeran or, okay, and then you start reaching out, then you start saying, Hey, I made this song, take a listen. And it starts with one fan. Just one we had when we started the bergamot, we only had one fan. And then that one fan told their friend and then we had two fans, and that person told their friend and then they all came to the show. And then there are more people there. And then we had 10 fans, and then we had 100. And then we had 1000. And then we had 10 that, you know, it all starts with these little steps. But our culture tells us that we need to have everything now we need to do the 1000 cedar conference right now. And if we're not doing that we're a failure. And that's baloney. And I'm here to tell you that making a film that took eight years, the amount of vision that went into that was astronomical. The moment that the idea was gifted from the divine in my husband was on the eve of his grandfather's passing away. And we had driven from Brooklyn, New York, where we're living to South Bend, Indiana, our hometown, set our final goodbyes to his grandfather, who we loved his grandfather had 10 kids. And his grandfather was married to grandma, Joan, grandma, Joan was Democrat, he was a Republican, they had an amazing family, they had a super inclusive household. They showed us how it was done. That started this idea of going out into America and spreading a message of unity, it was on the eve of his death. And my husband looked at me when this idea came through to him. He's like, Hey, I feel like the Divine is calling us to go out into America and bring people together. That was the initial idea that that sentence, there was the initial idea. That was eight years ago. Now we have a feature length documentary that just got submitted into the Academy of Arts and Science motion pictures for the Oscars, and it will live there well beyond our lives, this film will live on well beyond our lives. So but every stepping stone along the way, was saying okay, so the initial idea was let's let's go on a tour and bring people together. That was step one, then I was like, well, if we're going to do this, we should just document it. So we have something to show. Maybe we could put a documentary on YouTube. That was that was where this started. It started very small. And then we're like, Okay, well, we're not filmmakers. We didn't go to film school, we're gonna have to teach ourselves how to do this while we're actually doing it in real time and failing forward. And I think we have to teach ourselves to be okay, with failing forward, the more I fail, I actually see those as wins. The more that I fail, I'm like, wow, this is actually getting me closer to that end goal. That end vision. So I talked about earlier, we had six versions of state of the unity and five we completely threw out. I, a lot of people be like, Wow, you wasted all that time. How stupid No, those five failed versions led us to the sixth version that's winning awards all over the world that got the distribution deal. That's, that's getting us into people's homes, millions and millions and millions of Americans homes on Friday. Yeah, like what in the world and this all started with, with a sentence. Hey, hey, Jillian. I think we need to go out into the world and bring people together. That was a ye. That was that's where it that was that first part. So I would tell people out there who have a dream, let's say you're a dream, your dream is to be a potter. Okay. And you know, maybe you've never even thrown something on the wheel. So your first step in this dream would be to go sign up for a class and get yourself on a wheel and start throwing some clay. And then maybe after six months or a year in that class, maybe you start getting really good at making beautiful pieces of art. And you, you say, Hey, I'm going to do a street sale or I'm going to go to this local cafe for one Sunday, and I'm going to sell my artwork. Maybe that's literally where it starts. But maybe your dream is to sell 10,000 pieces a week on whatever, then what that might be the dream, but that that that could be happening a long time from now. So you just have to get comfortable in being uncomfortable. And we say, if you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space. So you better be good. You better get good at being water. And I would you know,

Julie Berman - Host: 1:00:35

I love that I have never heard the water versus wood analogy. But yeah, I mean, I think that's such an amazing perspective that you shared to like, where you're, yeah, where your journey started. And the fact that it started on the day that it did. I mean, it's also pretty amazing. I feel like you guys did him so proud. Like he would be so epically proud of you guys. And yeah, and they set a good example, right? Like he like the example that they set. Like, you know, Nathaniel's grandparents really showed what democracy can look like, oh, they weren't a living example, which is pretty powerful. That he grew up with that and then you got to be part of that too. And I just want to, I guess, like, ask on top of this what for you guys because you are at this moment, you know, where there are all these things? I feel like wonderful things awaiting you guys. How are you? Because you like I want to preface this with I guess like you guys are musician. So you have been performing you've been performers and doing this for a long time. So I think like from that two years. Wow. 13 years.

Jillian Speece: 1:01:49

Yeah. Professionally and 20 with our high school years where we throw shows and stuff. I love Yeah.

Julie Berman - Host: 1:01:58

Makes me Miss thinking like when I was in Yeah. Get back into wire. I know. I would love to one day in my spare time. I will. Yeah. No. Right.

Jillian Speece: 1:02:08

For now the shower will do. Exactly. Yes.

Julie Berman - Host: 1:02:11

That and twinkle twinkle in between my twinkle twinkles? Yes. So okay, what was I saying? So. So for you guys like prefacing with that you have been performing all over the world, and you guys are in the spotlight, but you are like in this new place for both of you that you haven't been and it's like, different, right? Like it's even if you've been performing, it would be very different like because now you're being acknowledged, in a way that is acknowledging like your your skill in filmmaking and storytelling. So I'm wondering, like, how are you approaching this moment? Or like, you know, your husband like, how are you guys kind of coming to it, because I think like it for me, and I'm speaking for myself, and I am not someone who's naturally like comfortable in a spotlight. But I feel very passionately about the fact that I want to get better about it. And I want to get better at storytelling and using my voice because I want to help share other women's stories, and share other women's voices who may not normally be heard. Right. And and so that's truly important to me. So I'm trying to get better at it for this reason, but it is very uncomfortable. And so I'm, I'm wondering like, even though I know you guys are much more comfortable being a spotlight, you haven't done this before, right? And you have been present in this way before. So how are you going about this time? And approach? Yes.

Jillian Speece: 1:03:43

So the first word that came up was vulnerability. It's, it's very uncomfortable. And I'm saying things in interviews and in q&a. And I'm like, Oh, wow. I don't know if I would have ever said that before. But the whole point of connecting and creating and cultivating a peaceful community is for me, it's being vulnerable and sharing my own personal stories that have gotten me to this point. And so I remember even just a couple of days ago, so right now we're going live every single day. And this is something we did 100 days straight in 2020 starting, like the day that COVID hit, and we went live from the happy house. And that was a very beautiful and humbling experience because we wanted to hold space for our community, and also give the gift of our music to everyone every single day. So we performed for an hour every day and did conversations. And so we're bringing that back, because it's such a beautiful community builder because some people you know, we're trying to meet them where they're at, if they're if you're home after a long day of work and they're on their phone, we want to meet them there if they're getting ready to pick up a kid at school, you know, from the school and we want to meet them where they're at. So, so we're telling vulnerable stories and it's so important because the more vulnerable vulnerable I get, the more people under stand where I've been, and then where I'm ultimately going. And it's allowing me to leave essences of me behind, right? So in my stories, it's maybe this one particular way I tell it is going to help inspire this person who really needed to hear that today. So I think that it's nerve wracking, being vulnerable. And I've had to get comfortable expressing myself and even letting myself cry on camera or on stage, if I moved, which I've, I've been doing and it's very uncomfortable at first, and then you just kind of realize you're like, you know what this is, this is where we're at. People want authenticity, they want to hear the truth. And if the truth entails me telling them, really what happened to make this film going into astronomical credit card debt to make anything we had, like, as an artist, we don't normally run on debt, because you are constantly trying to book your next show. And then you make that money, and it helps you survive, you know, and thrive. But I think we went into almost $50,000 with a debt off the bat, trying to make this film and with the car breaking down on the tour, and with paying for bills and unexpected things came up, and we were sleeping in the car, but we weren't quite making enough money to buy a hotel room. And so these are really this is like, right, it's uncomfortable. Everyone wants to be seen as like,

Unknown: 1:06:21

Oh, I'm doing so well. I'm so wealthy, and I'm living in a lush castle. But the

Jillian Speece: 1:06:28

truth is, it's like when you're an artist, we're approved proof that we're willing to do whatever it takes, even if that means that we're sacrificing eight years of dual income, which would set people in a much better position than we are necessarily in right now. You know, and we're in a different setup, right? Because we have this amazing film, and it's a dream come true. And we won all these awards, and we got distribution deal, and it's going out to the public. And we don't know what's gonna happen next. So we know we're gonna keep making films, but we don't have the stability of say somebody who's been working for the last eight years on dual income. We don't have a house. Well, I don't have a bed. I don't own a kitchen cabinet. Actually, my dream is a spice like fresh spices from penzeys spices, like a whole cabinet full of those so I can just cook like I have simple. It seems crazy, but like it to me, it's like my my dreams are actually like to have stability. What a lot of other people have sometimes like when I feel really doubt and I'm like I'm, I'm living this artist life. I look at someone who has like a nine to five. I'm like, Gosh, darn it, they're so lucky. But like people who have a nine to five, they look at me like, Ah, look how free she is like she's, she's in a different country. She's performing for all these people, these festivals, it's, and when I'm in like the darkest hour or when I'm doubting I'm like, Wouldn't it be just nice to just, you know, you clock in and nine you leave at five you leave all your troubles at work, and then you hit you.

Julie Berman - Host: 1:07:53

Yeah, I mean, I think but it goes to show, right. There's there's things that we sacrifice for what brings us joy, and we choose our sacrifices.

Jillian Speece: 1:08:06

Amen to that. Yeah. Yeah. And I know you sacrifice a lot to to do this.

Julie Berman - Host: 1:08:11

Yeah, I it brings me joy. Yeah. It's like, how could I not keep going and doing it, you know, and seeing where it leads to? So it's, I mean, yeah, so I know, we need to wrap up, even though we could talk for so I know, the times on forever alone by but you have all these important things to get to.

Jillian Speece: 1:08:31

So important, though, to be with you. So I'm so grateful that you have me on your show. I just love you, Julie.

Julie Berman - Host: 1:08:36

I love you too. I mean, it's such an honor to like, be in this moment with you. And I'm just so excited. So do us a favor, tell us officially like where can we find the state of the unity? Where can we find you on all the interwebs if people want to watch if they want to listen to your beautiful music contest.

Jillian Speece: 1:08:58

I've got you. So right off the bat. We'll start with the state with state of the unity so state of the unity.com we're updating that that is our website. But if you want like every day information about what's happening, we recommend that you go on Facebook and Instagram. So we have our Facebook page, the bergamot and that's B E R gamot. And then Instagram the th e b e r g A M O T on Instagram, we're posting in the store posting all the most important information about say the unity in the main area. And then we also have stayed to the unity on Instagram as well. Plus, if you really want to get serious with us, you can go onto our website, the bergamot.com and you can join our newsletter and you will get information way before it hits the public. Like really exciting news that we find out about and we want to share with you whether it's about you can now preorder or see to the unity on Apple TV and that we're going to be sending out another email lasts about that soon. So there's a lot of different ways you can find us. You can also find me personally on wild, wonderous. women.com. So I also do a women's retreat every year. I already have it booked for June of 2024. You can find more info on my website about that. And wild wonders women on Instagram so there's a lot of fun places and then if you just want to connect with me personally, Jillian Spiess, SPE C E on Instagram send me a DM there.

Julie Berman - Host: 1:10:31

Awesome. Well, so many ways, so many ways to get connected. And I'm just such a huge fan and I've never asked this before but I'm going to ask you and I didn't ask you before but could you instead of normally I asked people a question about like at the end of every episode, like what verbiage and and I call it like the ABCs of jargon kind of things to people using the industry but for you because you're a singer would you mind singing us out of this episode like a little bit of a song but if it comes to you in the moment and we will be we'll leave it there.

Unknown: 1:11:01

I would love to do that. Okay, so

Jillian Speece: 1:11:05

here we go. This is actually a brand new song called roll it up which just dropped on our Spotify, which you can find our music on Spotify and Apple under the bergamot so here we go.

Unknown: 1:11:16

Son is shot then on the sea. Roll it up like oh wave now falling spin and it is such a lovely sunny shot on the sea. rolling it up like Oh, wave now falling spinning around. It is such a love. Nice.

Julie Berman - Host: 1:11:42

Thank you that was awesome. Especially because I didn't even warn you about that

Jillian Speece: 1:11:50

will keep shining on and congratulations on three years. I am so proud of you, Julie. And I can't wait to do this on your 10 year anniversary.

Julie Berman - Host: 1:11:58

Oh, thank you. That's so sweet. I so appreciate you being here. It was such an honor. And thank you for being my amazing co host

Jillian Speece: 1:12:05

again, my honor and keep shining on love.

Julie Berman - Host: 1:12:09

Thank you. Hey, everybody. Thank you so much for listening to women with cool jobs. I'll be releasing a new episode every two weeks. So make sure you hit that subscribe button. And if you loved the show, please give me a five star rating. Also, it would mean so much if you share this episode with someone you think would love it or would find it inspirational. And lastly, do you have ideas for future shows? Or do you know any Rockstar women with cool jobs? I would love to hear from you. You can email me at Julie at women with cool jobs.com Or you can find me on Instagram at women who will jobs again that women will jobs. Thank you so much for listening and have an incredible day