Shekerah Primus 0:05
This is the journey! Welcome back to We Love Science Podcast. This is the journey episode. Here. Our guest star shares more about their discovery of science, and how mentors and experiences shaped who they are today. To hear more about the work associated with this journey, please check out the previous episode.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 0:30
So thank you, Cari for joining us to discuss your journey where we learn about how you got to where we are, what you're doing right now and where you're going next. So to start What was you know, like your science spark or science wow moment, what was kind of like the one thing that really just pulled you into what you're doing now?
Cari Skrdla 0:56
Wow, I, I've thought about this question so much. And I think it comes down to my curiosity always wanting to understand, cause and effect like what did that or why is that happening? And that started as early I would say as maybe the fifth grade. And, you know, you're introduced in elementary to, you know, biology, things like that. And so I was just extremely fascinated. And there was no area that this fascination didn't touch trees, people, you know, I did a lot of farming with my grandparents. Why is it that it's growing? I always just wanted to know what caused certain things.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 1:53
Yeah.
Shekerah Primus 1:53
Very cool.
Cari Skrdla 1:54
Yeah, that was the spark.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 1:56
Yeah, kind of like this endless curiosity, right. Like you're always trying to find out why is it you know, what is it, how is it yeah, I like that. I like that.
Cari Skrdla 2:05
And never satisfied. Yeah
Fatu Badiane-Markey 2:07
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I think that's something that children have innately but sometimes that's lost, you know, like as we grow older, so I think that's something you know, really important, you know, that you were able to kind of like hold on to as you were progressing in your career journey as well. So that's, like, really cool to share. How did your career plans evolve during your journey? So you know, like, what did you start out wanting to be when you were like maybe in middle school or high school, and then undergrad, grad school, like how did all of that change?
Cari Skrdla 2:41
Well, my intrigue with human beings and psychology started in middle school, and you know, I mean, that was the 70s. I remember checking out this book. Again, it was it was fascination about things and there was a young man that I was extremely curious about his behavior. And I checked out a book on psychology and it was Sigmund Freud. And you know, today, he's reviewed more as what not to do. And back then. He was the thought leader of the day, and just some of the things that he was suggesting. I can't say that it made me want to take on this path, but it opened up something for future events. By the time I reached high school, I had set all of that aside and it was really folk focus on being a part of the drama club. Oh, I was acting and I just loved it. Eventually, when I hit college, I could see where they were kind of like different sides of the same coin. What I liked a lot about theater was that a human being could be so inspired in a part that they're willing to become a different character. Yeah. And so there was the curiosity again, how are we able to do that? why? You see what I'm saying? It's like to be Anne Boleyn one day and then the next day, you know, I'm maybe doing a completely different part. And I'm a character from The Color Purple, you know, something like that. And I began to see how malleable a human being really is. So why do we live life? Life with these fixed ways of being called me? Right and who are really
Shekerah Primus 4:55
Yeah, wow, that is deep. Yeah. Who are we really and how did we choose the me that we are?
Cari Skrdla 5:02
Who Are we really? Yeah. So that's where they start to merge together. And I chose in undergrad to get a psych degree, but I didn't want to be a therapist. I used it for human resources, and my role was in employee relations management. And my daughter would say it this way, that gave me lots of options for my petri dish, as I continued on the academic track, right? Like why are the employees so unhappy? Why, why? Why are they upset? All the time? You know, that sort of thing and just watching the way people would destroy their opportunities. So you came to work and you thought you would steal you know it it didn't put them in the characterization of a thief, the way everyone else determined. I was more concerned about the thoughts that led them to steal. Or the instinct I mean, the impulse right right. So that kind of guided the next steps in my career, and then eventually it went all the way into choosing neuroscience, because I'm the kind of person that a telephone, I want to take it apart. I want to see why it rings I want to understand why it's wired the way that it is. And, and my, the, the most fascinating thing is being able to look inside of the human being.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 6:48
Yeah, yeah, I like that I really like that really beautifully said. So what was your first research experience? Experience? Yeah. So you know, you started off in psych, but you wanted more neuroscience? Is that what I'm hearing correctly?
Cari Skrdla 7:03
Exactly? Yes. So it holds the position as the most fascinating thing and discovery. I was a part of a research team. And it was a professor that I just like, oh my gosh, he's amazing, you know, a mentor, and we were monitoring track runners at the university. And, and so it's funny because whenever we would show up anywhere, whether it was like, you know, with around the athletes or what they're like here come the Geek Squad, you know, so that was hilarious to me. And we were videotaping them. And we went back and we're just watching them now, what we were looking to discover. Watching them was what are they accessing? For the speed? You know, that sort of thing. Just we're just in a discovery to see we had no end result in mind. So in watching it what we noticed was that when a gun fires, right, it looks like when you if you're ever watching a race, it looks like okay, they just took off in your running running. But looking at it frame by frame, what we saw is that when the gun fired, there was a, just a few, not even a few seconds like just a second of hesitation and the eyes were accessing memory. We did see the eyes went like left. They went up and then they would go. So it was like That's interesting. What does that delay about? and can we eliminate the delay? So we approached them and said, we'd like to because light is faster than sound. Can we replace the gun with a flashing light? So they agreed, and were annoyed but they did it. And what we saw was the delay, increased.
Shekerah Primus 9:24
Interesting. wow
Cari Skrdla 9:25
It was interesting. It was interesting. So now we start to get into the auditory area. of the brain. Why is that triggering men memory and to to really narrow it down, like bring it home here? What they were it well, let me say it this way. So right now if one of you Okay, so Shekerah is like, I'm hungry. That's the thought.
Shekerah Primus 9:59
Yeah, Probably.
Cari Skrdla 10:00
And, and then Fatu if you were, I have to go to the bathroom. You're gonna sit there you're having those thoughts. And by the time you move in correspondence to what you're thinking, whether you realize it or not, you're actually moving in compliance with the past.
Shekerah Primus 10:22
How do you mean?
Cari Skrdla 10:26
That's what the runners were doing? So when you're hungry, your mind goes, Okay, there's this in the kitchen. I'm going to go and get it out and happen so fast. I'm going to go and get it out. I'm going to put it in the microwave and there's sauce in the cabinet, and you're actually constructing this whole thing in your mind. So your body is moving in compliance with what you've already thought about what you've already done in your mind. By the time we're moving, we've already done it.
Shekerah Primus 11:01
Interesting.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 11:01
And it's happened so quick. Right? Like it's like
Cari Skrdla 11:04
it happened so quick. We think we just get up and go to the bathroom. But no, no, it's way more than that. We've already like okay, I'm gonna put this book down or pause this video. Right and, and now we're moving in compliance with the past. So what the runners were doing, when we spoke with them, they were winning the race in their minds, the ones that were like, seeing themselves I'm going to go through the finish line I'm going to be first guess what? They were. The ones that were entertaining thoughts like am I really going to be able to outrun Joe today? You know what, I really didn't get adequate, whatever they were entertaining in their mind. It happened in the past, and now they're carrying it out in real time.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 11:57
I love that
Cari Skrdla 11:58
right?
Shekerah Primus 11:58
So Cari I have a follow up to that. So yeah, it's really interesting that you said that Once we have a thought to do something, it's like in our minds or bodies are sort of doing it already. Even before we actually physically start doing it. Does that have any relationship to habits and habit forming and why there's so much literature out there about you know, the importance of forming habits. Have you looked at that at all?
Cari Skrdla 12:29
I think if anything habits become programs, that's what they are. Habits are just, you know, like I deal in the hardware of a human and I work with people that deal in the software. So habits are formed by the hardware. There. There is, you know, people talk all the time about the neural pathways and changing the neural pathways, but they don't really understand how it happened. So habits, addiction. They're the same things on the hardware. You've got a neuron A peptide is attached to it, causing you to fire a particular way over and over again, whether you want to or not. Right. So we'll call it good habits, good habits, bad habits, bad habits, addiction, That's a bad habit, this and that. But looking at the hardware of a human being, it is all the same thing. right? So 2 if you want to create new pathways, new habits, then yeah, you would go through that process. of sitting down and using your imagination. Overcoming bad habits is definitely a triumph of imagination. You have to have something bigger that you're seeing as part of it. And then refraining from the actions, the repetitive things in order to relax the peptide enough that it will let go of the neuron. Now you're able to create new habits, right? But it's requiring that same process of visualizing it saying it whatever, whatever it is, right. That's the process. Now, what I learned from that experiment, and what I continue to practice today, is when I go to sleep at night right before I doze off, I will use my imagination to give my subconscious mind an assignment. So I'll implant the thoughts of okay, find a way to to bring $50,000 to us. Right, okay. And then I start imagining the end result just like the one that was imagining crossing the finish line first. So I start looking at okay, so what am I going to do with that I'm going to buy a rental property in Detroit. And I'm gonna do this with it and that. So now when I wake up the next day what I'm used by in my body, it's actually it's almost like, I don't even have to think about it because I've already done it. So now I'm complying with the past. Huh let me call Donna Pencham. And you'll forget that you you're the one that implanted that thought, so I'm on the phone. I'm like, Hey, girl, how you doing? I'm looking for property. And you know, I'm just involved doing it. Right. So that's how that works.
Shekerah Primus 15:50
Interesting. That is so interesting
Cari Skrdla 15:51
Isn't it?
Fatu Badiane-Markey 15:55
All right. So can you also explain to us when and why you decided to become a scientist
Cari Skrdla 16:04
watching humans destroy themselves over and over again. 10 years working in human resources, looking at people in constant conflict and upset and I really felt spiritually guided to go into this area. Because what I do is I help human beings understand how they're manufactured. If people understand how like think about it, all of the institutions that we rely on academic institutions, financial institutions, religious institutions, how many of them are willing to tell you how you're designed, how you're manufactured in such a way that you can use it for your advantage? Right, we're programmed by everything television, literally is telling you it's going to telepathically give you a vision about something. But do you know how to powerfully create your own, pair that with the vibration of the universe, right in such a way that you bring to you the things that you want? Now you've got a lot of people out there that have gotten a hold of that as a principle, but apart from the actual science of it. So it's taught in the world today, by gurus and coaches and other inspired leaders. In personal development or professional and I appreciate them bringing that to the world, and their willingness to do so. But it's, it's still void of this is how it actually works, how you're designed and how you implement it. And, and because it's not coming from the science world per se, it is given to people only in part, so they'll have some successes. And then when when polarity shows up in a particular way, or whatever form it takes on in a person's life. Maybe there's financial losses, relationship losses, then they abandon everything oh it didn't work or they turn on themselves in that way, and you know, I'm no good at this or, you know, some story like that, instead of understanding that that's just the nature of things and what they should be doing at that time, So that when the pendulum swings the other way, right? They're just right There still in the game. And, and that's kind of frustrating for me.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 18:58
Yeah wow, So what, um, influential mentorships did you have along the way, or you know, what people really, I guess, left an impression on you as you were under you know, going through your career journey.
Cari Skrdla 19:12
Dr. David Eagleman, who I stalk on Twitter he was the one that delivered that experiment. And that I've talked about with the track runners and he's just an amazing scientist. brilliant mind. I feel like you have the more commercialized scientists. He's not one of them. So not a lot of people know about his work, but it's brilliant. If anybody can explain the hardware and software of a human being for the betterment of your own life, it's him. I would say he's my greatest influence. Also my father. My father was a philosopher and oh my gosh, my father's practice of introspection, I think influenced me a lot because he studied himself, and he studied others. And he learned from observing himself and others. So that's a lifelong practice of mine. And if any human being would engage in self awareness, through introspection, without judgment of themselves, being patient with themselves and having compassion for themselves, then they could do what's necessary in their course. And I learned that definitely from my dad. Right. So those are think are my two greatest influences.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 20:09
I love that. It's great.
Looking back at your journey, what advice would you give your younger self?
Cari Skrdla 21:02
Keep doing what you're doing. No matter what they're saying to you calling you? Yeah, just keep doing what you're doing. Keep being disruptive. Yeah.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 21:18
So to add on to that, also, looking back, is there anything you would do differently if you could do it all again, you know, what would you change if anything?
Cari Skrdla 21:27
Honestly, I can't really think of anything. It's been a great journey. Yeah. Because if I change if I went back, and I changed anything, then who knows how today would be right? Yeah. So along the same lines of advising my younger self, I would just say, you know, it's all part of the journey and it's gonna be alright. Yeah,
Shekerah Primus 21:54
it's gonna be all right. I love that. Okay, so one more question in this segment. When you visualize your successful self, what does that picture look like?
Cari Skrdla 22:07
At this point in my life, because, you know, I'll be 60 in October. So in that place in my life, where successful Cari. It's more about my legacy. And, and that I look to be fulfilled, Not in my work as much as I do my family, my children, my grandchildren. You know, I tell my husband, after our granddaughter came over for family dinner with her boyfriend, she's 18 now, and I'm like, wow, we could be great parents in the next, you know, within the next five years. So it's really important to me to see that as much as I've desired to impact humanity, that the people i have impacted positively the most would be my children. And that would be my legacy.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 23:09
I Like that. That's really beautiful.
Shekerah Primus 23:11
Yeah, yes. Beautiful answer. Thank you, Cari. Okay, so that was that the last question for our journey segment. I really loved hearing how your journey progressed from very curious, you know, young girl to wondering about people and how do we work and figuring that out? I really loved hearing about how your, how your journey unfolded. So thank you for sharing that with us.
Cari Skrdla 23:39
Thank you
Fatu Badiane-Markey 23:40
Me too.
Shekerah Primus 23:44
So we are going to wrap up with the final segment which is Life lights
Which is our joyous way of ending the interview just to talk about the things in your life that bring you joy when you're not working hard on the grind. you know
Cari Skrdla 24:04
Okay. Okay
Shekerah Primus 24:06
The question is what brings you joy Cari outside of your work and all of the wonderful things that you do? What brings you joy?
Cari Skrdla 24:16
bringing people together? Having people I mean people disconnect from one another because of their assessment about things. Right. And a good example, is my relationship with my husband's ex wife. They have children together. And when Mike and I got married, you know, it's like now I've got these wonderful children in my life and I mean, they are amazing. And to really know and understand them, I can't embrace half of them. I have to embrace also their mother with my stepdaughter, her creative genius, it it's part from her dad, and then her mother is an artist. She's an art major. She paints she sketches and my daughter my, we don't use step a lot. But my stepdaughter has that gift that talent. And the first time I saw anything her mother painted like I was so moved by it. And so I remember the first time I told her that I love her. It was by text, and because my stepdaughter was living with us and so we used to talk a lot and as the kids were getting older, she and I weren't talking as much. So I texted like I miss you and I love you and she said, Did you mean this? You must have meant to send this to someone else? And I said no, I meant to send it to you. And today, her and her husband have joined me and my husband in the real estate game to build one legacy for all of the children. My children love her, you know, and so we created being one family. So that's what gives me joy is breaking out of the norms, showing what, what our potential is our capacity for things. To be stronger to be wiser to be more loving, and kind and these belief systems that people have that constrain them actually rob you of your joy.
Shekerah Primus 26:36
Oh my god! That was .
Fatu Badiane-Markey 26:44
We're just gonna be lying on the floor after this Shekerah just like all the quotes Cari I love it. Oh my godness. Whoo
Shekerah Primus 26:53
That was beautiful. Yeah. that came together just like wonderfully.
Cari Skrdla 26:57
You know you can't express joy when it's all trapped inside. Right? You know, we look for joy to come from out here somewhere. But no, it's inside. And it's unleashed when you don't go around like stuck in a belief system. That just because someone was married to your husband before that you can't love that person. Some people immediately arm themselves, right? So if you're doing that what's going to happen to joy and you can't express joy or love fully anywhere, if it's fractured, because you don't like somebody just because they were married to somebody before. That's nuts. I love hearing about their journey. I love hearing about when they first met. I love those stories. That's my husband's past, right. So yeah, let it out. Let the love out. Let the joy out. Like seriously, that's what gives me joy and inspiring others to do the same.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 26:58
Excellent
Shekerah Primus 27:11
Yeah. You gotta teach on a global scale Cari, because you know, I think relationships and divorces and you know how to handle all of these really, really complex relationships is something that a lot of us struggle with. Right. So I think it would be really helpful to to hear from someone like you a lot more. So thank you for that
Cari Skrdla 28:36
All right. I'll take that on. Absolutely
Fatu Badiane-Markey 28:39
I love that you said that Shekerah.
Cari Skrdla 28:43
I do too
Shekerah Primus 28:45
Relationships are hard. So, we'd love to learn from you.
Cari Skrdla 28:52
Awesome.
Shekerah Primus 28:53
Okay, we are going to wrap up this very, very awesome talk with something that I've been wanting to ask you about for some time and I know it's something that you are proud of. You are a proud graduate of Clown College, class of 1999.
Cari Skrdla 29:11
Yep. That's right I am. Orlando, Florida. Yeah.
Shekerah Primus 29:15
Amazing! Tell us about it? What was that experience like? Why did you decide to do it?
Cari Skrdla 29:26
Sure
Ah, Well, when I resigned from my position at Disney, it was because I, I was having children and I really wanted to be at home with them and I knew I was going to get promoted. And I'm like, I don't want to be a be a vice president that's really going to take me out. So I resigned to come home with my children. And I remember my ex husband said something like, Okay, let's see how long that lasts. I think he knew me better than I did. Right and my sister in law, his sister, she was pregnant. But we had just had had children. We were pregnant at the same time. And she came over one day and she had this flyer, and so she didn't invite me she told me we're going to clown University in Orlando, Florida. And I'm like what, and it was like 10 days, you know, and we had to make all these arrangements for babies and stuff like that. And I looked at it at that time simply as something that I could do on weekends and you know, earn money from it. But man, it was so much more than that. We started with clown history. And then we went from there, into creating like the backstory of our character. They were born in clown land, you come up with a name, you learn the different types of clowns, and so you select the clown, but what I love so much about it and this goes to how much I love connecting with people is in in clowning. There is no race, no ethnicity, there is no gender. Right? You can be a female clown, but it's not like you're assigned to a gender. You can be a male clown, but it's not like you're assigned to gender or any of that. And it was just a clown is a clown. And that was quite liberating for me. And so I formed the clown character patches. I was what's known as an auguste clown. And it was it was really, really great. When I started doing parties, looking at the fascination children have, the parents wanting, you know to see their children's smile. You always have that one kid that wants to step on your shoes and pull your nose, kick you, you know, so you learn in school how not to be a homey the clown, you know. But I was still clowning when I had my last child and so I didn't have to put on the stomach suit or anything like that. And man, I was so grouchy one day, I this one kid, I'm like, step on my foot again.
Right. Get out of my bag. You know things like that. And It's a lot. It takes a lot. A lot goes into being a clown, the heart of a clown, wanting to make people smile. I will say this last thing about it. One of the most amazing times that I had was after I stopped working with children who was working in nursing homes, patients with Alzheimer's, things like that. There was a woman once and I still remember her. She was just sitting in a wheelchair and she was crying. And she was sad. And she was there for memory care. And I made a balloon. And I tied it together. And then I made it a heart and I gave it to her and the look on her face when she took it the way she smiled. I'll never forget that moment. So that shifted things for me. My last work was like in children's hospitals, in nursing homes, things like that. If anybody is ever wanting to experience a human being that is not guarded. Right. Specifically adults, then go ahead and clown up suit up, right. And you will have the most amazing experience because they don't see you as a threatening human being you're a clown with a big heart. And I've seen adults just like cry because I gave them you know, a little poodle balloon, you know, and things like that. So it was it was way more than I ever thought I went into it just to earn extra money. Um, being the kind of person that I am, I had, I only knew how to scale the business. I ended up doing corporate events open house, grand openings, made a lot of money.
Shekerah Primus 34:46
Yeah, that is amazing. Carrie. Oh my gosh, I love that story. So how long did you do clowning for?
Cari Skrdla 34:54
Oh, from 1998 until 2007. Okay. When the economy start to started shift after the correction, in '03, you know, people were on budgets and it's like, let's let's eliminate the clown
Shekerah Primus 35:17
Oh no it's like they eliminated the part that they needed. Right.
Cari Skrdla 35:22
Exactly. They really did you know it would've to me keep people uplifted. I knew how to work with a lot of people in business because of being in human resources. And having vendors approached me and things like that. And yeah, I felt like they should have even more so kept bringing me and for certain things, you know, but if you don't have the budget for it, you don't. And it was time to retire. Give me an opportunity. I did volunteer continue to volunteer for maybe a year at Children's Hospital in the cancer centers. And that was fun times those brave little, little bald heads coming up to you and this and that it was it was a good time and then eventually just other interests. Move me away from that, but it was a really good era.
Shekerah Primus 36:17
Yeah, yeah.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 36:19
Excellent, lovely.
Shekerah Primus 36:20
I love it. I love it. I love it.
Cari Skrdla 36:23
I love you guys.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 36:28
Love all around.
Shekerah Primus 36:29
Love all around. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing with us Cari.
Cari Skrdla 36:34
It was my pleasure,
Shekerah Primus 36:35
Your life, your story, your words of wisdom. You know, all the little nuggets that you gave us is really impactful. And I'm sure our listeners will also appreciate it as well.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 36:47
Agreed. Agreed.
Cari Skrdla 36:49
Thank you for having me. You guys are just excellent. I have to acknowledge you as well. I mean, your listeners are just so fortunate that you have the kind of hearts that you do to bring this conversation to them. And it really was an honor to be here with you thank you.
Shekerah Primus 37:05
Thank you.
Fatu Badiane-Markey 37:06
Thank you. And on that note, we'd like to thank our listeners for supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed this episode. Please subscribe, like and share and you can reach out to us by email. Lovesciencepodcast@gmail.com Until next time. Bye.
Cari Skrdla 37:32
This one kid I'm like step on my foot again.