Work Besties Who Podcast

Workplace Vibes: Laughing Through the Chaos with Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward⁩

• Work Besties Who Podcast • Season 2 • Episode 55

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Episode 55: Using Humor to Heal Workplace Stress with Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward

In this laugh-filled and insightful episode, Jess & Claude sit down with Marcus — content creator, dad of three, and the viral voice behind Not Your Average Coward. They dive into how Marcus went from catastrophe adjuster to comedy relief for burned-out professionals, all while juggling parenting and content creation.

From memes that hit too close to home to breathing exercises that actually help, Marcus shares how humor, boundaries, and community can transform how we cope with modern work life. Whether you're in a cubicle or on a Zoom call, this episode reminds you that laughter is more than a coping mechanism — it's a leadership tool.

💡 Key Takeaways:

  • Marcus started creating content as a stress relief outlet on Instagram; but really he not so secretly is using this for his auditions for being Survivor!
  • His wife (and real-life MVP) inspired his mindset shift and supports his creative journey.
  • Humor can build connections, drop guards, and open conversations at work.
  • Making fun of stressful situations can be a way to process them.
  • Setting clear boundaries is essential for protecting your peace.
  • Content creation doesn't have to disrupt family life — it can blend in.
  • Walking meetings and breathing techniques help reduce stress.
  • Humor isn’t just funny — it’s healing.

Follow Marcus on social:
 📸 Instagram | 🎵 TikTok | 📘 Facebook | 🔗 YouTube
@NotYourAverageCoward

And don’t forget to rate, follow, and share if this episode made you laugh, breathe deeper, or finally set that out-of-office!

#WorkBesties #NotYourAverageCoward #WorkplaceWellness #ContentCreatorLife #WorkHumor #SetBoundaries #DadLife #HumorHeals #WorkStress

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Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband

Jess:

Ever find yourself scrolling through Instagram at work, laughing at memes uncontrollably that feel like they were meant specifically for you? Today we have Marcus, who is the mastermind behind those viral memes that turn work stress into moments of joy. But how did he get from not your average coward to building a thriving community that laughs and follow along with him? Let's hear directly from Marcus on how can you use humor in your own life to tackle workplace burnout and stress.

Claude:

Hi, I'm Claude and I'm Jess. We are corporate employees by day, entrepreneurs by night and work besties for life.

Jess:

Join us as we explore how work besties lift each other up, laugh through the chaos and thrive together in every industry. Work besties.

Claude:

Hey Marcus, hi Marcus.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Welcome to Work.

Jess:

Besties. How are you doing today? Thanks?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

for having me. I'm doing great, I love. He called me a mastermind. That's really sweet. What? I'm going to put that in my email signature. Now. That's your mastermind. Mastermind. That's really sweet. I'm going to put that in my email signature.

Jess:

now, that's your new title Mind of Mind. Yeah, just.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Mastermind, that is perfect.

Jess:

Marcus, we're so excited to have you today. One of the things that I think intrigued us most about you and your content is how it really makes us laugh but at the same time, think, because you're providing a real life example of some of the moments that we go through and work. It goes right there. Can you provide a little bit of the background on how you got to that place?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I really credit this all to my wife. My wife is a really good support so she lets me do these silly things throughout the evening and like on the weekends. But one of my good friends, she was like you should go on Instagram because I actually never went on social media and she's like you should be on social media. And I was like, well, here's the deal, you can come up with a clever handle for me, I'll start going on social media. So she sent me a couple of names and then she sent me Not your Average Coward, and that's pretty much the reason why I started getting on Instagram. And it expanded into me dabbling into some parent content and then millennial and now work content, which has really taken off for me. But really the the hidden truth of why I'm starting to make content so much more now, which is kind of funny is I'm a huge super fan of Survivor and I did it to also stalk the Survivor casting reps, so I didn't get their attention and now it's become that.

Jess:

It's so funny you bring that up because that's literally my second question to you is going to be, like I've seen you've applied to Survivor a few times, so what's the story there, and are you still trying to get on there?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I am still trying to get on. I'm going to apply again for this next couple of rounds of seasons. I really started doing this Instagram and my handle for now stress relief. It's been an outlet for me for creative outlet, but also it's just to stalk and annoy all the casting reps for Survivor so that I can get their attention.

Jess:

Are any of them following you thus far? I?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

actually have a handful of Survivor contestants that follow me and I've chatted with them before, okay, but none of the casting directors. I just kind of tag them a bunch and probably annoy them.

Claude:

We make sure we tag them as well. Yes, we'll tag them as well. It's going to be it. You'll get it. After this podcast, you'll be able to make it.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Yeah, I'm just going to keep trying. If he does that we should do the Amazing Race or something. Oh my god that's so funny. Oh my goodness, work besties to Amazing Race.

Claude:

We wouldn't last the first day you will last. You have to do it with your partner. I can't leave you. I know but you would last. I want, that's not how I want to be. Switch you switch one person in the middle. That's the wrong show. That's Survivor. I can't just leave you.

Jess:

My lord, what is happening here? So you're going to be on Survivor.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

That's how I started developing the handle and I just started experimenting. I started making like really cheesy like parent content where I would like dress myself up as a toddler. So if you scroll like really deep into all my videos, you'll start finding some of it. And then I got into the work content and then the community and the work content niche. They're just like super, super awesome, even the parent one. So I just started talking with them more and then it just started taking off. So I just kept doing it and I kind of make fun of the same things I run into life and in the corporate world. So I've done. I've done marketing real, and now I currently work in the insurance industry as a catastrophe adjuster or in the catastrophe department. So I deal with chaos literally every single day. The only way to get through most of it is just kind of making fun of all the situations you run into.

Claude:

And do some. Sometimes some of your co-workers see one of the memes like that was an example of that day, etc. Do they can? Do they relate really or for real?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

uh, there's been a few. So if you notice my content, now I do not use any names like now. I'll use a name like your co-worker, the lantern, who always has to be carried because they're not bright, like I start using like terms like that because I accidentally use a generic name and I wasn't thinking and it was one of my coworkers name and I actually got pulled into HR because I thought I was making videos about my coworkers. My company does know I make videos. They're very good about it. I follow all our social media guidelines, but now they think it's funny and they kind of send me ideas now and they can kind of relate. I can totally feel that situation and even like, if I do work trips, I'll like delay when I send them, so I'll wait like two or three weeks before I post a video got it.

Jess:

Yeah, that makes sense. Don't do it real time, just in case they know now, and maybe you do a month now.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Maybe you need to do a month now. Yeah, just postpone this for a month.

Jess:

Got a couple trips going on. So, Marcus, you do. Then you're saying, have a full-time job in top of being a content creator.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

My background. For the past almost 10 years now I've been in catastrophe for property commercials. So wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, all that I help assist with those. I do a lot of training now but boots on the ground so we're sometimes out there 21 days at a time trying to get people back in order. I end up doing that and then filming all this stuff. In between. Whenever I get an idea, I get inspiration from other content creators and then I'll adapt it to what's kind of going on, even in my industry or my life. I have so many little notes my draft list is ridiculous. My phone pops up and says memory is full because I have so many random drafts that I film and I'm like maybe, maybe not yet I'll wait because this one might get me in trouble. Which is why I started a TikTok, because I film and I'm like maybe, maybe not, yet I'll wait because this one might get me in trouble. Which is why I started a TikTok, because I feel like I can put my more riskier stuff on there interesting.

Jess:

Nice little uh tip there for those that are fans of you to make sure to get on TikTok to have the more underground one. That's funny. We talk about that too, how each of the different social medians can have places for it where you do want a little bit more. I feel like youtube tends to have more of those tips on tiktok.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

You can kind of let it fly where it's a little bit more air funny yeah, I feel like you can like push the edge a little bit, and that's when I feel like I can post real-time situations, like if I get off a meeting and I'm like getting off the meeting, I'm literally thinking this couldn't have been an email. Or there is the one video I made where I sent an email out and right after I sent it we got a meeting request for the whole team and I knew it was my fault because I'm the one who asked the question and I was like all you need to do is respond back to me. We didn't have to make this an hour long meeting.

Jess:

So meanwhile you make a meme about it, but your whole team is like but you're the problem.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Yeah, usually I'm the problem.

Jess:

Big segue into the power of humor in the workplace. I feel like, based off of your content, humor has kind of a unique way for you anyway to make a situation less stressful. How do you think that your work memes help other people? Or do you think there's ways you can leverage things like work memes for stress reduction, for thinking about how to be less burnt out, that type of thing?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I feel when you start making fun of a situation, it kind of drops everyone's guard a little bit and then they feel like it's like I've had co workers that like when they find me, they can approach me and they go. Yeah, that reminds me of this one meeting. Or even when looking in the office and you're joking with your work bestie or you're kind of like in a meeting and you can kind of tell like everything is just too serious. I feel like once you make that wise comment or you kind of make fun of a situation, it almost helps you build, especially during work trauma.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

When they always talk about trauma buddies, yeah, I feel like my, my trauma work bestie usually comes because I made fun of a situation at work. And they're like, yes, I feel the same way. And then I'm like, oh, you like that humor too. Well, then I got another one for you. And then you get that five to ten minutes. Especially if you're in the office or if you work from home and you call your coworker after a stressful meeting, you can just remove yourself from the situation for five minutes or, depending on the work bestie, it might be 30 minutes to an hour, but you get that time to decompress and then be like, okay, I can deal with this next task or customer or this one-on-one meeting I have with my manager, cause you kind of just get that stress off of you for a little while.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

And I feel like that's how the humor helps, because if we start to take ourselves way too seriously, which I used to do early on in my career, I started to burn out so much I felt. Making fun of situations made me aware of boundaries I need to make for myself and my family, even when I train it's funny in a training class I will tell them I'll go through the whole topic of situation. I'll say hey, if you ever need any help, please hesitate to call. It makes them laugh and I'm always there to help them out. But it like deep compresses. But I'm starting to let them know that I do set boundaries and I even tell my coworkers I actually end my day. I'm lucky enough to end my day at 3.30. If you try to call me at 3.31, you are not going to get me.

Jess:

Maybe not even at 3.29.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Mentally at 2.30,. I'm already done.

Claude:

Talking. You've been saying several times about work bestie. Do you have a work bestie and what does it give you in your work?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I have work besties that currently work at the company. I have a few that left that I still chat to One of my work besties. I think we chat almost every day or every other day, and it usually starts off early in the morning and it goes and I'm like let it out and then we just start going for it. But lately we've been about stress at work. We also started to talk a lot about boundaries, because I feel like with every corporation I feel boundaries are starting to get pushed personal boundaries and what's what's good for you, what's good for the company, but also how to stay healthy, because once you start getting too stressed out, your health really starts going down. We always talk about what's the best way to set boundaries at work.

Jess:

That's a really good one to have as a key focus. In fact, that's our focus for this season is wellness, and how can you take those couple moments of pause to really reflect on the importance of you and not feeling guilty about it?

Claude:

And I think that is something also that when we had a Gen X mom, she actually said that the Gen Z they know the boundary, we don't, you know. So I think that learning from them is so important.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

It's so true because I feel like mentally I had it in my mind, I want to do that, but I don't know if I'm allowed to. And then I see some of the Gen Z's and they just do it. I'm like I'm just doing it, it too, and then I'll just go ahead and take my I'm like vibe is off, I'm gonna go get a coffee. I'll see you later. So here's a question to put you on the spot what kind of boundaries have you set for yourself at work?

Claude:

get back to you because I'm not there yet. Walk the talk or whatever it is.

Jess:

What about you? I think that's a good question. I think there's always more boundaries I can drop, but I think I've been much better about establishing what really can get done in a work week versus not, because there's a lot of times you get thrown a million things and you have to turn around and be like okay, so that means something else on our plates off, at least for this week. So I've been much better pushing back on that and then holding my team accountable, because workloads need to be balanced.

Jess:

I've been very crystal clear on establishing that amongst on Monday morning, we all talk about what else is on our plate and we reestablish workload. I appreciate my coworkers and my teammates who shut down at five six o'clock, Cause I feel you have to have a life If you don't your work. Your work suffers too.

Claude:

I do kind of Okay, so have me prioritize. It's more or less showing, you know, look, that's all that. I cannot do everything, but I'm a work in progress.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I have to say we're all work in progress.

Jess:

Everyone is yeah, let's do it though.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I'm going to use a perfect term to circle back on your question. One thing I do with boundaries, which is kind of funny, which like lightens the load when I'm confronting someone in management, when they're trying to give me too much, because some people do know I joke around, so I'll literally tell them, if they give me too much, I'm like, okay, so do you want me to do this task, or do you want me to go ahead and cut the tree down, build the house, make the paper, build the computer? Or you want me to handle this one project? And I say it jokingly and then they catch that they've given me a little too much and they'll go oh, they'll laugh at it.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

And different managers I have they'll laugh at it and be like, oh, I guess what? I have given you a lot. So just focus on this, let's prioritize this project and we'll just kind of let some of this go. So humor has been my way to like scapegoat. How I'm truly feeling about, like a situation, so I can make it more lighthearted, which I have other co-workers like one of my work besties, is straightforward. Like they can just go and be like no, this is not right, this is how it is you can't do this to me, where I tend to kind of like do a little like dance and like make you laugh and smile, and then be like can we change this up?

Jess:

and then they're like yeah, that's fine you're both doing it in your own authentic way. I like your way. Well, neither way is right or wrong. It's just what you feel more authentic doing, I know, but I don't like I I feel like it fits my personality a little bit more.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I feel like anytime I come off stern, people are like yeah, I feel like you came in hard and you were like what do you?

Claude:

want me to take off? Okay, is he?

Jess:

quitting is Is he leaving? Maybe I do use humor slightly differently than you in that Because, like, when my team come to me, here's the 20 things you've just assigned me, and you said they're all due by Friday, but the reality is I can only get two. Which two are more important? I usually make a joke to give them a moment of pause, to be like, okay, nothing's that bad, let's take a step back. We're not solving cancer. So, like, let's think realistically. So I do think humor helps in both ways. Right, even the person that is straightforward, it can help them kind of. Okay, yeah, I'm with you. Now I get why you asked me to do these things, and I do have autonomy to make the right call, which is more important.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Well, that's so true. So that's a perfect example of what happened today. So I also trained and had someone reach out and they're off today and they're trying to finish this assignment and I'm telling them this is not life or death, it's going to be okay, it can wait till Monday. You don't have to take a day off to finish work. I feel that is like the most upmost waste of time of your PTO. When I tell anyone I train, I'm like if you take your time and take your time, don't do work. Close that computer, turn off the work phone, stuff it in a drawer, put it in the trunk. Whatever you need to do, do not answer it.

Jess:

Right, no, I think that's smart, because if you don't take your work like you're a downtime for just you, then there is no boundaries, everybody's just feeling like they can come to you at any point, and especially now with all those remote.

Claude:

right, there's no boundary. There's like, even like snow days. Right, Snow days is over. We are the last generation that knew about what's, or maybe the millennial what snow days were when you couldn't work.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

What are snow days? You didn't have a computer.

Claude:

You couldn't play with your kids in this, you know, and whatever. Yeah, it's a very hard. I think you need a lot of discipline to you know, a lot of people say you need a lot of discipline to be able to work at home or whatever. I think it's at least for me, you need sometimes you need a lot of discipline not to work all the time, right.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Totally. I'm lucky enough to work from home so I do get to work remotely. Early in my career, the first two years were like the biggest learning curve, because it didn't help that I didn't have a designated space that I actually made like where I work. It was just like on the kitchen table. So I worked nonstop. It would be after dinner, late in the evening I would be like, oh, I forgot I had to do this, and then I would go back and open the computer. It took me a few years. But now literally I was saying before as soon as it hits 3.30, I am already walking out of where my computer is. It's getting thrown in the truck or like in a book bag and I'm not looking at it until the next.

Jess:

Okay, that's so smart. I think it's great. That's a great tip. So, speaking of tips, do you have any other tips that help with de-stressing?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

That's besides laughing, which is always key. So I'm very lucky. My wife works in corporate wellness. She has a company called Yoga Nut Yoga Nut Wellness and then she does videos on demand. So it's like Yoga Nut on demand. So there's two different accounts. So there's some good resources on there.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

But the ones I use, especially in my line of work, because I'm just dealing with chaos all the time and stressful situations I do a breath work that I like to use and it's all through the nose, so it's inhale and exhale alpha nose. It takes one to two minutes. It's an instant calm kind of thing. So when you do it, you inhale and you inhale space and then you exhale, and when you exhale it's to release and let go. So it's space release, let go, and you do that for like a minute or two straight.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

And I do that quite a bit just to kind of relax or before I go on a podcast or a meeting, like I'll do that to calm myself down. Um, and then the favorite one I like to do, especially when, like I'm training, I make all my trainees do this when we go up the home office. It's like a like just shake it out, like just kind of like shake your body, or kind of like tap yourself and just when you feel stressed, you just kind of shake your body out, um it works, it does so I do that and then a lot of walking meetings.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I'll just walk outside, so, um, but the first two are my favorite you know, during covid I did a lot of walking meetings.

Jess:

I haven't done anything. I started walking again on the treadmill right, but I think he's saying like during the day, like to help with the alleviation of stress, walking while you're in a meeting. That should be brought back.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Those were great yeah and it's funny too because, like my, I'll be walking. So I live in the mountains, so I have a lot of nature around me. So every time I'm on a meeting they're like, okay, that must be marcus in the background, because you'll hear the birds like tweeting and going crazy. You can also hear me out of breath, just kind of like I'm de-stressing during that meeting Cause I might be frustrated. The funniest one was I was doing a walking meeting and in Western North Carolina we had black bears. They're not dangerous, you just kind of like shoo them along. I was like talking and I was like, well, I'm going to have to go. And they're like, why are you going to go? And I was like, well, there's a black bear. And they thought I was just joking. I was like, no, seriously, I'm going to have to get off because there's a black bear.

Claude:

Oh my God, oh my God, for us it would be. I have to go. There's they're like a cockroach the size of a black bear. Wow, yeah, that's very different than our experience.

Jess:

Yeah, that's, that's a great way of doing your your meeting there, you see one of the one of the calls that I was on um recently with somebody. They were riding a city bike and they got hit by a car, like somebody knocked the taxi door and you could hear them go whoa, they're fine. Nothing happened to them, they were totally fine.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I think the bike got destroyed now I'm starting to think can I recreate that into a video now, when you're late to work?

Jess:

because they were answering a question and they were like and then you go like, and you could hear them like coughing. I was like, are you on a city bike? And they were like yes, and then you just heard whoa, yeah. I was like, are you on a city bike?

Claude:

And they were like yes, and then you just heard whoa.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Yeah, I feel like my next video is going to be that. And then they get up and do like an instant calm breath and we're like let it go.

Jess:

And then take the call and finish answering. Yeah, then take the call.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

With you guys cameo in it.

Jess:

Yeah, let's bring it back so. So a lot of this is dealing with stress or stressful situations, but one of the things you also highlighted is work-life balance, because you have a full-time job and you're a content creator. How do you manage it all?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Yeah, I'm still working on trying to manage it all. So I have three kids as well. I mean, I have three kids all the age of 10. We're still in the swing with our youngest because he's he's two and a half, so we're still struggling to sleep through the night. We're almost there.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

So it got to a point where like that's where some of my jokes come from is really setting those boundaries, because I started to realize, especially with, like helping for work, like trying to be present for a family, I'm one of those people where I work to just pay for the things I want to do. Work is not my life, um, so I try to find ways to kind of squeeze it in. So, with content creation, if it's during my lunch break or a quick breather, I'll actually start filming something on the go, or even driving to pick up the kids. If I have an idea, I'll just start snapping b footage and film myself. So that way I'm kind of condensing content creation and work almost at the same time.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

So that way when I shut off, I can try to be present at home, because one of my biggest release to besides making people laugh or thinking I make people laugh is cooking. So I like to cook dinner me and my kids will cook together and then just trying to be present for those moments. Because I'm starting to realize I only have those moments for a short time, especially my oldest, who is 10, like he's 10 now all of a sudden. And I'm like whoa, when did this happen? And it wasn't until recently. I started realizing that I can't do everything perfect and some things are going to have to fail.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

If I'm going to choose yes, and it's definitely okay. And that's where anyone listening, if anyone's saying they're doing it all and it's perfect, it's not. Some things you just have to compromise and let go. So it changes per day, per hour where I just realized that, no matter what I'm doing, if it's the podcast, my family knows like I'm going to be present for this right now, but then once I'm off, I might just be present. Dinner time is present, or bath time or game time or when I'm at work. I got to finish this like this is what I got to be present for. It's always a work in progress, but it's always just trying to find compromise where you can and just try to be present as much as you can be in the moment.

Jess:

Yeah, I think this is where it goes back to your comment of you've got to give yourself respect to do that too. There are times where you have to retrain your brain right, because even when you're with your kids, you're sometimes still thinking about work, or you're thinking of an idea, oh this would be a great. This would be another great content creation.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

You have to constantly give yourself the pause. It's okay to wander, but bring yourself back, yes, and it's okay just to not do it. Yeah, sometimes I would just call into work and be like I just can't today, and I'll even tell my kids sometimes like I'll get overstimulated, which, like which parent doesn't get overstimulated, but I'll get overstimulated. Like daddy needs like five minutes yeah, oh, oh, yes, oh yeah.

Claude:

I do that a lot. That was when it was like my bedroom. That is my time, like at night you know when it's like I'm like that's it no more. Nobody comes to In there. It's my time.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

My favorite videos that I make is the me time that you have. Then the next morning you just complain that you're tired and I feel like as parents, or even like working visuals. But even with parents, like once everyone's in bed, I'll grab my glass of wine or my snack and like doom scroll or watch my show or read.

Jess:

Mine is watching endless Netflix shows. I don't know why.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I will do it all the time, I will complain about it and then I will make another video about it.

Jess:

Yes, that is true. The next morning you go, man, I'm so tired, and people are like, should you work less? No, no, not at all.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I know there's that funny video where it was like you're tired, You've been stressed out and you're not getting enough sleep. Did you think about just going to bed early? No, no, that's my time which I did go to bed early one time, and then I was like, oh, it does help.

Jess:

Wow, that's what I look like without bags under my eyes.

Claude:

Thanks, Speaking about kids. What is very sad is that my time was going to the supermarket.

Jess:

Oh, the relax just getting out of the house.

Claude:

Yeah, getting out of the house and like especially when they are young, or whatever. That was going to Target or supermarket. That was my time.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I just picture you like driving really slow and being like sorry, they were just stalking I was just waiting for them to put it on the shelf.

Claude:

There was so much traffic.

Jess:

Wait, were you the one that hit my coworker? Is that the reason?

Claude:

I'm going to say one thing, though I used to go. Sometimes we were going out for work or whatever, and when my it sounds terrible. But when my son was maybe three, two or three and he had like really a bad time right. I used to live across the street from a park, so when it was 8.30, I knew that it would be the time to get ready to go to bed. I didn't want to do it because I had just come from a nice dinner. So I was waiting in the park oh, for someone else to put your kid to bed, for my husband to put the kid to bed. So I was waiting about 20 minutes Just sitting in the park. So I was waiting about 20 minutes just sitting in the park, because I'm like in the night every single day. So once I'm going out I'm going to wait that's a good one for you.

Jess:

That's the person who sits? In the car outside the house.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

That's the same example of the meme yeah, you see the kids like looking to the blinds. I see her.

Jess:

I see her on the park bench. The kids like looking through the blinds. Is that like I see her? I see her on the park the kids hand just reaching through so work-life balance is always a work in progress.

Jess:

One of the things that I think does help us is bringing it back to your work. Memes is some of the stuff that you provide, the content you put out. There. We talk about how, on the wellness side, you don't have to run for a half an hour. Take your walk for half an hour. Sometimes it is just laughing two or three minutes of looking at memes and laughing.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Yeah. And I feel like I'm just being present in that moment to like take that breather and then, even if it's just like a quick breath, a quick walk, a quick stretch, like just taking that time, truly helps for you to start decompressing and take a step back, so that way you're not feeling that overwhelm of the job just sitting on your shoulder and pressing you down.

Claude:

And also sending each other right. How many memes did we of your memes have?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

we sent each other back and forth.

Claude:

This is me, this is what happened, this today, et cetera. You know, and and it's nice, it becomes also that community we are all in the same, we all have the same issue, we have, you know, all the same problem relatable.

Jess:

It's so relatable from your perspective because your stuff does hold true across so many different industries. How do you see your content evolving?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I am going to start branching out. I want to try a few different styles because I always get jealous like looking at other content creators and just like trying to expand. I definitely want to include more millennial and parent kind of like humor stuff.

Jess:

Okay.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

But I also want to kind of like branch into, like into this breaking the fourth wall kind of style, where it's more so like we're talking, like this, like I'm talking to my viewers, to my followers. I want to try to experiment with that. I'm starting to take it a little bit more serious. I think with some content creators I'm lucky enough that I've started to get a couple of deals. So then I was like, well, wait a minute, this could actually be something. So now structuring, in my mind this could be something that could lead an open doors to something else. Taking it slightly more serious, since I've started to get some more opportunities lately, and for anyone making content, it really doesn't matter the size. If you could resonate with someone Like I remember when I only had like 300 and something followers, I would just like throw and stuff out there.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

But what was kind of cool is I was getting messages, even like from the same one or two people, or my mom, just being like, oh, I totally get it. It made me feel better. But I actually ended up getting one of my first deals when I had just a few hundred followers and I was like, oh, this is cool, but then it just kind of slowly, hundred followers and I was like, oh, this is cool. But then it just kind of slowly picked up and I was like, well, maybe, and it took until, like I think, a year. Now, a year later, where I'm like, well, maybe maybe I should start making this a little bit more serious. So I started looking into like changing the production style, a little bit, kind of playing around with some other footage. So there's more to come yay, I can't wait.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

We're excited to see it and some collaborations are to come, so, um, I'm going to be working with some other content creators, which I'm really excited about fantastic, that's awesome very exciting and around when.

Claude:

In how many months would that come?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

I would say you might see some, some new stuff in the next few weeks. So I've already started kind of like filming some stuff. This is like a little teaser, and watch out that I do this. I'm actually trying to make, like you know, there's like medical prescription infomercials. I'm going to make one that's kind of like similar to that. So we'll see how that works out.

Jess:

I can't wait. So, mark, this has been so lovely. We so appreciate you being here. I did want to ask because we brought it up in the very beginning. We wanted you to answer for our audience. How do you feel you can use humor to help tackle workplace burnout and stress?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

a humorous person, or if you have that co-worker that is a funny person, or even if it's sharing memes back and forth, you can almost use that as an avenue of that laughter release to kind of relax and get that out there.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

But I think it's a good way to like start exposing things that might be happening even in your own corporation, and that's why I like some of these memes that everyone make and you start to see the overlapping themes.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

But I feel like if you kind of bring that up in a meeting or with coworkers and it starts to get known like, look at this, I feel like it can kind of shine a light on the issues that are even happening at your current workplace.

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

And it's a light way before change can happen, because I've made plenty of jokes even in my current company and then, like, some changes started to happen. So I think by using that humor you can start to bridge gaps, to make new work besties oh no, there it is to make new work besties but then also just kind of expose what's going on and be able to laugh, talk and that talking about just laughing about the situation, you can actually start thinking about results. We've had memes that we sent before and be like, oh, doesn't this remind you about so-and-so or that situation? And they're like, wouldn't it be great if they would have done X Y Z? And then you're like, wait a minute, you could do X Y Z and that would fix the problem. So I feel like sometimes the humor can help bring along some solutions.

Jess:

Marcus, thank you so much. Before we close out, we did want to ask how can people follow you? Where should they be looking?

Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward:

Yeah, so I'm mostly on Instagram at not your average coward. You can use the same handle on TikTok and YouTube. I'm starting to try to put some of this stuff on there so you can find me on those three platforms. And Facebook still all the same handle. I was able to lock them all down, so just find me on any of those and hopefully I'll make you laugh.

Claude:

Yeah, definitely so to all our work besties. If you're ready to lighten up and really want to laugh about work, about life, please make sure to follow Marcus for more laughs. And in the meantime, don't forget to listen, like and subscribe.

Jess:

Thank you all, Bye next time, remember whether you're swapping snacks in the break room, rescuing each other from endless meetings, or just sending that perfectly timed meme. Having a work bestie is like having your own personal hype squad.

Claude:

So keep lifting each other, laughing through the chaos and, of course, thriving. Until next time, stay positive, stay productive and don't forget to keep supporting each other. Work besties.

People on this episode

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Claude F

Co-host
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Jess K

Co-host
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Marcus Coward

Guest