Ep. 12: Sisters in Bed with Blazers | Interview with Allie Pinto

Giggling with my sister, Allie Pinto, about being "twins," our complimentary and contrasting personalities, motherhood, creative motivations, career crossovers, and moving with more awareness in our 30s. 

Transcript

unknown 0:04

Freestyle act on it.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Maybe like dating in the dating. I feel like we're gonna drive.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

And then kind of you can be like comfortable. Like I'm gonna like slouch a little. But I don't want to be too slouchy. Okay. You figure it'd be like your middle ground slouch. It should be like this. Is that that's that's like we're at the movie theaters in sixth grade, and I'm like square.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Sixth grade? I was nervous to kiss a boy at like 17.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

So we would go to the movies, movie theaters, and someone would put their hand on my thigh, and I would be it would paralyze me to the point where I was like, I'm never gonna be able to go to the bathroom again. Is a great word. Yeah. Paralysis. Boy paralysis. Um, okay, so do you want to talk about creative directing my podcast? Let's just start there. Okay, I want to welcome everyone to a very special episode, Ad Live with Liv, featuring mi hermana, Ali Pinto. So I told her that we were gonna do uh a little episode today, super cash. We're gonna do it downstairs. Um the downstairs is occupado, so I was like, okay, let's go to our childhood bedroom. And I didn't we didn't talk about outfits or anything. I just said show up, and we were both wearing basically we showed up with no pants and blazers on. Yep. So yes, there's no pants in here. Hey, we did not talk. That's another episode. Um okay, so do you think that we're twins? Because we get asked that every single time we go out. That's the first question.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Uh we're way closer and way more similar than we really are.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah, I'm always the one who's like, actually, I don't know why I do that. I think it's because we look the same, but I know how different we are because I know myself so well and I know my sister so well. And I have to say, the other day we hung out for like the whole day. We had like a Sunday, fun day, sister day. And I was thinking about how we show up in social situations, and I feel like the older we get, the more you are golden retriever energy, and I'm black cat energy. And I've never I never noticed it as much as I did the last like couple weeks of seeing each other after not seeing each other for a few months. And I wanted to know what you thought of that.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

I can absolutely see myself with golden retriever energy.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

I'm very curious about the black cat. Okay, so I think that I used to be really outgoing and really people pleasy, and I wanted to like connect with everybody, and I wanted to um be super social, but it wasn't always authentic. It was kind of like that was almost like a like a default mode of like thinking that that's how you connect and socialize. And the more like settled into who I really am and the more comfortable I am with myself, the more I'm like, I don't need to talk to everybody in the room, I don't need to make those connections. And for better or for worse, that's just like me in this phase of my life right now. And I think you have this genuine desire to connect with people, like it's authentic. Sometimes I'm like, why are you talking to that person? Do you do you even care? What why are you going out of your way? Actually, because I do she does care. This bitch cares.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

I really do. I love that. That's a great way of putting it. Yeah, oh. I mean, I know how different we are, but at the same time, I've always felt this incredible connection and this desire to just be in your presence and be with you and be twins, basically. Like I could, I believe I was the one who was like, we should live together, and you were like, fuck no. And I was like, oh, okay. I hear that, I hear that, but I still like you know, would want to live with you. Yeah. And I probably don't think it would be a good idea. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Are you telling where no? I'm just yeah. Okay, wait, we didn't finish our last my puppy. Yeah, it's okay. The bark is cute. We have a popcorn waiting outside. Her firstborn child, Bernadoodle. He's my firstborn, totally is. The first thing people ask us is, Are you twins? And we're always sometimes we like play about it. We're like, yeah, totally born on the same day, telepathic, whatever. Or we think, and then the other one is like, well, what do you yeah? We give them like a little, give them a moment to be like, oh my god, it's like a cute flirty thing we do, probably annoying. But the second question is when we tell we tell them, no, we're not twins, we're 18 months apart, a year and a half, and then they're like, Oh, cool, like who's older? It's like every single time we've ever left the house together and been in public, people ask us that. And I don't know what's going on with that, but ever for the last 15 years, what do people say? They always think live is older. Yeah, no one has the balls to tell me I have more sun spots.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

That's not it. Um, that's not it. It's so energy.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Maybe because you're gonna retriever and I'm like the black cat who's like it's gonna take a little bit more energy, get something out of me.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

And I'm a little more puppy. Yeah, it's just it's our energy. So it's definitely not have any, it doesn't have anything to do with sunspots, with this.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Yeah. So that's our sister relationship. But no, we really are super connected, and we've had like a really fun journey as sisters because we like she said, we are super similar. I think we I mean we sound the same, we can trick people into thinking we're twins, but more than aesthetics go, we actually have a really similar approach to life. We lead with creativity. As much as I'm a black cat, I'm also super open and I love experiencing the world with like eyes wide open, Allie as well, like willing to do anything. We were raised in a family that puts um adventure first, and we adapt to anything. So we kind of pride ourselves on being able to like jump from like blazers in the bed to a hike earlier today, to being a mom, being a toddler mom and a wifey and an athlete and a businesswoman, like really spanning the whole spectrum. And I am always that's like the biggest thing I admire about my sister.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

And my mom calls it range, our mom calls it range.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Yeah, my my mom.

unknown 6:10

My mom.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

My mommy. Our mommy is full of range. She can be glam in the night and do like you know, a 14er in the in the morning. So she's she can really do that well. We always black cat golden retriever energy, or have you gone through a phase where you felt more like that and I've been a little bit more like loud and outgoing and wanting to be connect? Or do you feel like you've always been kind of the same like girl?

SPEAKER_02 6:36

No, I think you and I have changed so much over the years, especially from being kids. Kids, we were totally different people. I was airhead in the clouds. I don't even know if I knew what was going on, and you were a sassy little bitch. We were very different, and it's wild because when I explain it to people, I tell them that you know, you used to be a little rebel, you were really testy, yeah, and not in a bad way. You were you were just like in high school or no, you were really under 10. Yeah. Under 10. So a rebel without a cause. A rebel without a cause, just mischief. And you're not like that at all anymore. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Not at all. I think that it's like rebellious in the sense that I don't want to do things like everyone else does them.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

We were raised by a mother who is very rebellious. She plays by her own rules, her own game, and we learned that. We're both like that.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

She sees rules as guidelines. So if it's like if there's a rope to tell you not to go over there, she's like, but look, you can duck under it, so it must not be totally off limits. Exactamente.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Yeah. That's her. That's us. I think we got that from her. Okay, but how have you changed? Um, you're not an airhead. No, I'm much more focused. I taught myself how to be focused and I'm much more aware. And I think I use that to be get a lot of shit done and do a lot. Yeah. Yeah. I was really um, I don't know, like uh, what's the word? Autonomous in how I moved through the world. I reacted however I was thinking, and now I think I'm like more impulsive. More impulsive is a good word. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Because you were young. You weren't like frontal lobe, was still like downloading, downloading. And you would just respond to life with like a lot of excitement, a lot of enthusiasm, and maybe things would be get a little messy.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

And now it's all intentional. It's so intentional. And you also have so much responsibility that you've chosen. Like, you're not someone who's just like, I have all this stuff going on, and I'm so busy and I don't know what to do. You're like, I've invited so much into my life, and it's intentional, and it's because I want to take this on, and it is busy, and you do have to balance a lot, but I think you thrive in that space of like diversity, like and not just being day-to-day, nine to five, same thing. You're like, we have a trip trip next week, I want to build a business the next week, I want to change my wardrobe the next week, I want to launch something new the next week, like really um intentionally taking on a lot. And that is a masterful thing to be able to do because I think a lot of people might want to do that, but you kind of rock the boss bitch vibe without really having to try. It's kind of you're in your DNA.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

And I'm like, I don't want to do that. That stresses me out. I want to do less, I want to simplify, I want to do things intentionally, but in a very different route. And I actually really love that we've found our lanes with that, you know? And we kind of I I think we can learn from each other for that reason.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

Oh, I ever balance the place that we find differences. I see growth that we can use from one another. Um yeah, yeah, with everything. Yeah, yeah. I'm always pulling a little bit from you in all of our differences. And you know, I need to do that more, I need to uh add that into my life. I like that energy. I'm definitely respond, I respond well to how you move through the world, and I use that as a positive thing.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

I love that. Me too. Yeah, me, me, me fucking too. And like the best way. I think that's why sisterhood can be confronting because it's like having someone who's so similar to you outside of yourself that like you have to look at that and say, Oh my god, am I doing that? Do I look like that when I do that? Do I sound like that? And sometimes it's confronting because maybe you're like, Whoa, I don't know if I want to sound like that. But then the flip side of that is, oh my god, I might get I might look like that when I do that. I might walk through the world like that. Like that's a mirror that I think only a sister can bring. And so super grateful for that. It's very special.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Yeah. Yeah, we're so lucky to have each other. It makes me, you know, think about Lola and you know, that sister relationship that I don't know if she'll have that necessarily with a real sister. And so I'm trying to have her give her that through your relationship. I feel like that could be fulfilled through you.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

If she doesn't end up having a sibling or a sister, which is so sad.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

But so you have a three-year-old. She's how many? She's like three in like a few months.

SPEAKER_02 11:21

Yeah, she's probably almost three and a half. I don't really keep track, but she's close to it.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

Yeah. Yeah. But like, is she three? This girl seems like she's going on 13, and then other days you're like, oh no, you're you're a toddler. You are still developing. But she's such a girl. She's such a girl. Um, did you always know that you were gonna have kids? Was that like a no-brainer?

SPEAKER_02 11:41

I always thought you and I would be great parents, and it just makes sense. And I knew that it wouldn't be a big deal if we ever had kids. And I thought I thought you could do it. Yeah, I was like, yeah, it'd be cool someday. As life goes on, and you grow up and you have, you know, real things to worry about, like finances and homes, it gets a little daunting of like, fuck shit. Uh, do I really want to do that? Um, that seems really scary when you really wrap your head around it. And I did have moments throughout my 20s where I was like, that doesn't seem like it might be in my journey. I would be okay with not having kids. Our incredible Aunt Joe doesn't have kids and she has a magical life with an incredible partner. And so I I could see different routes. But when I got close with my partner and we started the conversation, it was a no-brainer. Yes. And it's been a no-brainer ever since we made that little moment happened.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Do you want to do you want to talk about that little moment?

SPEAKER_02 12:44

No, but I know the moment.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

So she knows the moment. Um, I love that the other day you were you were even talking about that because we were talking about dating and relationships and and just kind of making that choice of starting a family. And you were like, look, of course, someone who's not in a position to like have a kid right away and is like maybe not with their perfect person, maybe doesn't have the homestead sort of dialed and their career figured out, it might seem like just not the right timing. But I think for this isn't the case for everyone. So many ways to raise a family and start a family, but for you, it was really clear that once you had the other half of your family, you could then start to like think about bringing someone else into the world. Yeah. So like partnership was pretty much the gateway to making starting your family. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

After Raul and I started talking about it, it was like, why wouldn't I want to have a kid with this person?

SPEAKER_01 13:38

That's what they say you feel.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

It was yeah, really special. And we just knew it. And I mean, it was still terrifying up until the moment she came out. Even the few days in the hospital were still a little terrifying. Like, what the fuck did we just do?

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

But it shifts really quickly, yeah, and you just fall into it and it's incredible. Yeah. Even the hard times are all worth it, and they're really fleeting. So you make it through. Yeah. And it's all worth it for this incredible human. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

It's so cool. And it's like seeing you and your partner create something outside of yourself has to be such a trip. I can't even imagine.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

It's really trippy. I was explaining to a girlfriend the other day who has a one-year-old and is now pregnant, and we were just kind of chatting about the realities of having a kid and what that feels like. And even up until like six months to a year, you still are tripping out over the fact that, like, is this human mine? Did I create this? There's this disconnect still that is hard to wrap your head around. It feels very odd. Um, and then and then you're pulled back in and you're like, oh wow, this really is my child, my connection, the thing I created. Um, I don't have it anymore. She's three and a half-ish, and I don't get that feeling anymore. But that's so one, two years old. It's it's a weird connection where you're looking outside of yourself and your kid and looking in, and you're just like, is this real?

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Yeah, because like what does it mean to have a kid? Like, what's that ownership? I think my our mom talks about that. She's like, I never felt like you were mine to like hold on to. She's like, I felt like you came through me and then you were like here to like have your own experience. And I always thought that was a very evolved way to look at things. Because I think a lot of parents have this like holding of their child, like, this is mine, and I need to do everything to like be to like, of course, take care of it and nurture it. But then there's also that release of like, this person has autonomy in the world. This she gets to choose what what path she takes, and and her personality is gonna become nurtured by you guys, but she's her own individual. And I just love like as an auntie, getting to like see how you've brought her up because three years is enough time for you to see your imprint on her.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

But now she's starting to like kind of individuate a tiny bit, and I'm like, okay, she is she has such a perspective at three. She is, she knows how to say no for sure. She's like consent, like you can't just take a photo of her. She's like, no photos. She she's like getting the consent thing down where she lets you know if she's not into something, and that we need more women who use that word no as a full sentence.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

So support her in that. Yeah, she really knows what she wants, she's had confidence since she was born, and I foster that because I think it's super important in this world to know what you want and to be confident in who you are. Yeah. And you know, I hope that she has that forever because I think it's something that I was lucky enough to have since early on. Yeah. I don't know if it's the older sister syndrome or what, even when I wasn't, I still knew who I was, even through years of challenging times where I mean, I still have dreams where I didn't graduate high school or college. I still have dreams where I wake up and like I have no friends, and it's like weird insecurities that pop up that I don't need to hold on to. Um, but we're there, and all through all of that, I still maintained a some sort of perspective of my confidence in who I was in the world.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

Well, that's powerful, Al. Now, when it comes to confidence, because I think women especially, there's so many societal things that keep us from being fully ourselves and fully stepping into what we're supposed to do and who we are, which sometimes is louder than the men in the room. And that's usually not okay. And so, where did you feel like your confidence was nurtured? Because it I think it was maybe a little innate, but when did it is it something that you felt like you had to constantly nurture, or was that reiterated from the people in the in the spaces you spent time in?

SPEAKER_02 18:03

I would say our parents. I think our mom and dad let us be whoever we wanted to be from an early age. We could dress how we wanted, we could express ourselves, we could be loud, we could be adventurous, we could be creative. We every all of those interests were fostered. Um I really truly believe that mom and dad loved us and cared for us no matter what we were doing. And that I felt, I still feel that. That's so powerful. Deep deep down that I'm always accepted and always loved. And I don't know if that is I think that could be rare in this world because I think parents have their own issues, and ours, of course, did. But for some reason, they those two were able to separate from those things and not put them on us through I think really informative years while we were young. Yeah, and it gave us so much strength to be who we were.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

Yeah, I love that. Wow, way to go, mom and dad.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

Because it builded us awesome values too, really good values. Like we knew how we know how to be polite, we know how to write thank you letters, you know, like cotillion. Uh, go to Annie and Dave, you know, school. I mean, our dad was a teacher, our mom was a therapist.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Like in the streets, though. It was like the hard knots. Oh, yeah, cotillion.

SPEAKER_02 19:21

Yeah, don't come home until you know you've played enough in the creek or in the dirt or in the backyard.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Yeah, yeah. We grew up in kind of like the backwoods, to you know, I don't know if that's PC or not, but it really was.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

We grew up acres of open land with chic backing up to our property and a creek running through it and poppies and lilacs.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

And we walked to school there and back, even in the coldest months, but actually did a little mile thing. We walked to school. I don't want to do it. You're gonna be like, well, back in my day. And that was the truth. And we were raised in that space of like, we actually could be really free. And you mentioned this the other day because Boulder is it's a city that's grown, of course, but it's still you have your neighborhoods where you can like take your shoes off and go run down to the neighbor's house and be like, hey, let's go play and like find your own adventure. And I think that's amazing for her. You know, an urban environment wouldn't allow that in the same way. So I love to see her in our hometown growing up in a similar way that we did. Of course, we were in New Hampshire before this, but Boulder was also a really formative time for us. We were here from age I was six, you were seven, until now. Um, in fact, we're sitting in Allie's childhood bedroom and the room that I now come back to when I visit my mom every season. But just a quick little like walk down memory lane. What does this room mean to you? It's very different now.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

It's ready for guests and Airbnb, but it's more my space of creative creativity. I remember there was a few years in middle school where everything I had was bright yellow, yellow Bachman, a yellow big bubble CD player. Um I just had these like themes that I'd go through, and I loved curating my space, and it was my place of creation. Yeah. And I could just feel like I could be whoever I wanted to.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

And it was the biggest room. It was like bigger than it was like almost as big as my parents' bedroom. So you just like really had room to thrive. I'll always be the jealous little sister. I got the bigger bedroom. Oh, but you know what I had? I had the room that with the window that opens up to the roof and had the cherry blossom tree out the window, so you could shimmy right down that window.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

That was the most envious thing that happened during our time in this house. That she got to escape and she did escape. We did escape. And I always came back. But I would escape I would escape. Honestly, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Yeah, you used the roof. And did anyone ever shimmy up these windows? No, you couldn't.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Oh, boys came through you. Window to get to you. Oh yes. Oh yes. Not that we did anything because I was a freaking prude in high school, but it happened. We were virgins. Friends would climb through the windows. Yes. Yeah. Yep. It was a thing.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

We were virgins. We were virgins.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

We're virgins till we were 18. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

I'm proud of it. I'm very proud of the club. I feel like there's a club, and I feel like we're definitely in it. I feel like it's got to be one of these rings means like virgin at 18 club.

SPEAKER_02 22:27

Thomas ring to be prude. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

100%. Not on purpose, guys. Like it was not on purpose. That's what well, it was for me. I like planned losing my virginity. I like had it figured out. I knew exactly when it was gonna happen. I knew how I wanted to feel. It was like I curated my that experience.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

That's amazing. We're very different. I avoided it like the plague and it happened drunk. So I'm glad it happened.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

But I mean, I was oh, yeah, yeah, I know the screen. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Thank goodness, because well, I was definitely not sober. I will say that. Yeah. I mean, it wasn't like blackout. I knew everything that happened. Me too. I remember all the details. Not something that I really wanted to happen. It was something more like get this fuck over with so I can move on.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

It's funny because we Ali was like so confident and was friends with everyone and like did all the sports and you know had the fashion thing really going for her even in high school. Like it was really impressive. But really prude and shy.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

When it came to boys, I don't know where that came from, but I think we just had no idea what I was doing. I didn't want to do it. Yeah, I mean, I believed in Santa till I was 13. I played with Barbies till I was 14. We were maybe late bloomers. Late bloomers. You know what? And I love it. And ignorance is bliss, and we were blissed out. And I think we had a really long, beautiful, drawn-out childhood.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Until that fateful day when we lost it all in one swift night at 18. But when we were fully adults, we weren't even like that close at 18 because I lived in Durango, where I went to college, and she lived here, and so we didn't even know that each other was like going through that those experiences. But again, like we were similar in that way. It's so funny.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

Um high school was the time that we were the furthest apart.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Yes, we were really far apart. We we didn't live in the same house and we didn't have the same friend groups anymore. We I switched high schools, so yeah, it was kind of like we had our own experience from from then on, and I think we have continued to go like this over the years. Oh, yeah. Even though we've been apart, yeah. I've always lived in a different place, yeah. But we we stay connected. Oh connected? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

I'm obsessed with this girl.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

No, we're super connected, and I come home and she's visited me in Costa Rica, Mexico, and I think we'll just continue to keep like meeting up in cool places. That's kind of my thing. I'm like, do you want to meet somewhere cooler than Boulder?

SPEAKER_03 24:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

But I still come back because I actually love this place. The older I get, the more I've reframed this town as being an incredible place, and seeing her raise a family is like, oh, I get it. My parents brought us here for these reasons. The outdoors, the open-mindedness, the there's such driven, amazing people here that they're super tapped into. Like Ali and her partner Raul are such an integrated part of the Boulder community. And I'm like, oh, I guess if you guys think it's cool, it must be cool. You're like the hype beasts of Boulder, Colorado, which is not cool.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

I was like, that's not a compliment, but I'll take it.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

The bars are really low, no offense, y'all. But Boulder is a weird town. For those who know, you know. But you guys bring like a factor of coolness in your industries. And um, yeah, they're working on some cool stuff. So TBD with um the Pinto project. Maybe the next episode will be like a debut of that. I'm kind of sweaty under this.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

We open up the window, yeah. Fresh hern. He's a good boy. He's a good boy.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

Popcorn! Mr. Popcorn in loteway. This is the man himself. Popcorn, look at the camera.

unknown 26:04

Look, woof, look, woof.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

I don't think they can see that. But you're such a cute. I love you. This is Ali's firstborn. Oh, he's such a good boy. He's such a such a puppy. Yes, kiss me. Kiss me.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Being a mom is so important, but the relationships that Lola gets to have with our family members is really important.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Okay, say more.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

I just think that that influence and connection is like mom calls it clay. She needs to feel that at early on. And so I think getting exposed to who you are and is really who she is. Like, yeah, Lola's getting who I am because I'm her mom and I'm guiding her, but like to get your influence, I like I said, I'm obsessed with you. So I want my daughter to be like you or to get all the best things that you have to offer from such a compliment.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Yeah. And we have aunties in our life that we really look up to and have been guides for us and absolute inspiration. And I mean, one of my questions was, is Lola my daughter? Because I, okay, we send each other um Instagram reels all the time of all the aunt memes that go around. It's like the auntie at the sister's house, like with a big bag on her shoulder, like, okay, thank you so much. It was great to see you. And she's like scuttling out the door and she's like, wait, wait, what's in the bag? And it's like a three-year-old child like hidden in her birthday.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

That's so true. And I'm like, if I could, I would. The auntie content is very accurate. And we share it all the time. It's so awesome because it's really real.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Yeah, every time Lola comes over, because I come back home like twice a year, and Lola will get in my empty suitcase in my away bag, shout out away, and she will curl up and be like, Okay, let's go, vamos, vamos, because she's bilingual now, and it's the best thing ever. And I'm like, You have no idea if I would I could. Although I couldn't do what Ali does. I'm just gonna say it right now. I am like, let me be the fun aunt and then like take the baby. Like, I gotta go take a shower and do my nails.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

Thing about being an aunt is that you can do that, and it's awesome. No, it's because it actually makes it better because your relationship with her is so much stronger in those moments because you don't have to deal with all the bullshit, and so you get to be your best self with her, and she gets to be her best self, and she's so safe with you and comfortable, and she really looks up to you. I can see when they send me videos of their sleepovers and cookie dates and you know, all the influence that you do with her and that quality time. I can just tell she's looking at you like, first of all, are you my mom? Because you guys are identical. Yeah, she does like that. She does like a little like Are you my mommy? Are you my mom? And she's like, Who the fuck are you two ladies? Because something's going on. That is, I haven't thought about that much. That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 28:54

She really does have a little bit of a like and the voices too, because like when I call her name, it like probably sounds like her mom's calling her name. She gets a little confused, and I kind of love it. I love that. We could totally really like her. Ooh, that's for future days when she's older. We can mess with that.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

She gets to have these two women in her life who are so similar, and that's magical. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

So excited for her to maybe have a prima o primo al India.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

We see. I can I can see it in the future. I know it's gonna happen, and when it does, it's gonna be fucking awesome.

SPEAKER_01 29:25

I know. Yeah. I thought about it this morning. I was like, I can totally see Lola being like the big cousin. Oh, yeah. And it's kind of like our dynamic, you know, you've always been like the leader and the one who kind of go gets it first. And so if Lola can be that for my future kid, it's so special. I know. Yeah, it's gonna happen. The last thing about Lola, even though we could do a whole tugging conversation about her, um, is that she has helped me recognize my inner child to another level because I'm always thinking about like inner Livy and what she needs and what she's seeking, because I do think that's like one of our biggest guides because that little girl is so authentically herself, so she's not clouded by anybody else's expectations or needs or judgments. So I've done some of that inner child work, but with Lola, it's like I can imagine my little girl sitting across from me. And it's just been such a powerful guide to have. And mostly she's taught me that like humor wins every time. When in doubt, giggle it out. Um, that uh love fucking wins. Like the power of just like being able to love something so unconditionally. I have no conditions with Lola. I'm not like if you do this, I'll love you more. She has my heart, what no matter what she does. And so I've been able to like love myself through her and appreciate the people around me, the relationships I hold. And so I'm just like, thank you for being a child's guide in my life.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

Ugh, it's so beautiful, and it's really true. Kids are, we all know kids are amazing, but they really truly are amazing, and they can support us and guide us just as much as we guide and lead them. It's a mutual relationship, and it's so powerful. And I think that what we can give them now will reflect in what they offer the world later, and that is super important and a little stressful, um, but it's so important. So you have to be your best self for your kid, and it ends up being the best situation for you, for your partner, and for the rest of the world because I've just become a better person through it all. But how did you did you always know that?

SPEAKER_01 31:39

Or is that something that kicked in as motherhood started enrolling?

SPEAKER_02 31:42

I try to think actually, I don't know if there was a moment that it clicked. I just remember struggling at a certain point when she was little in her first year and starting therapy because I was for myself, because I was like, fuck, if I was struggling. Like I was seeing the weight of the world, I was dealing with my own issues with work and insecurities around you know, the leaders in my life, and um, I just felt like I needed to do something about it because I was not happy and I was not being my best self. So I was like, okay, if if I'm not gonna do my own work, I'm gonna do it for Lola. And it eventually led to me realizing that all this work is gonna benefit me and also my child. And it was the best thing I ever done. I did it for a year, which I think you should always do, you know, um, work like that. But for me, it was a limited thing that I just needed at that moment, and I will probably get back into it another moment in my life.

SPEAKER_01 32:43

You had you really devoted yourself to that. Now I think like you've learned a lot and you're applying it. And then you might be like, Oh, I probably need to like work through something else when it comes up. But like it seems like you've applied what you invested in with those therapeutic sessions.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

It was a year that changed everything, it helped so much. I got so much out of it, and uh being a good parent and being a good human was the best thing. Yeah, and it led me to so many other pathways of success. Yeah. In work, in saying what I need and what I want at this point in my life.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

I'm not a mom, so I don't know this, but what I've heard and read is that women can feel less like themselves when they have when they start a family, and they're trying to manage their career and their identity, and sometimes they feel like they're they don't know who they are anymore. And I feel like maybe that you went through that, but then ultimately look where you are now.

SPEAKER_02 33:36

It was a huge identity smack in the face. Who are you? What are you doing? And it was a tough process, it was like six months, which for me is a very long time to go through something challenging. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

And she moves fast, she's like, All right, we're done with this. We're sad, now we're happy to get through it.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

I problem solved fast. Uh huh. It was it was a problem. It was very strange to be in that situation for that amount of time, and it was very difficult. And I knew that I would come out of it, but it took some time. And when I did, it was wild to be like, holy shit. Not only did I figure out who I was, I was just able to, I've always known who I am. It was re-establishing who I am and knowing that I need to listen more to that person. And so that was the most powerful thing of it is I don't need to find out who I am. I don't need to do different things, I need to listen to that true person and come back to her. And that essentially gave me the ability to make the decisions in my life that were truly the path that I needed to go on. And it was not easy, but that's a is easier said than done. But now I feel like every decision I make is so clear. Yeah. I don't know phased by the options ahead of me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

I wonder what that trajectory would have looked like without starting a family the time that you did, meeting the partner that you have at the time that you did. I I think these are just like some of the biggest, like pivotal moments in our lives, and all we can do is be like, wow, that landed kind of when it needed to. It feels like a little bit of divinity there. I know everything.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Totally joke. All the time with some of my friends who have families who are in similar lifestyles as me, that I never thought I'd be the traditional person to get married, have a house, white picket fence, do the thing. And I've done all of it in the traditional way. And I've never thought I was that type of person. So I think that those things all happened divinely. They really fell into place the way that they were supposed to.

SPEAKER_01 35:43

Yeah, and it's like, what is that traditional, what is that word? What is that even, what's that container that we think is like limiting?

SPEAKER_02 35:50

Like, I mean what's that? Knowing our parents and my and mom, our mom, um, this rebellious feeling of kind of doing things differently. DIYing life. DIYing life, nonlinear decisions, getting to the destination really creatively has always been my MO. And so I always thought that would be my trajectory when it came to a partner, children, marriage, house. And so that to me, that was that's tradition, is is those things. And I always thought I'd do them the nonlinear way.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

And for some reason, I did all of those major important things linearly, but like that's life too. Like those things happen so organically. Like you find the partner, you have the babe, you get the house, you have the puppy first. Oh, it all came so naturally, and same with Raul.

SPEAKER_02 36:44

And so it was wild that both of us were doing this thing that it was so that's a it's an interesting way to look at it. Off-brand.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

But do you feel like you're also doing things your own way?

SPEAKER_02 36:55

100% within each one of those things, even just down to like the way we trained our dog. You know, we've done them up glass? Oh, yeah. Um, we've done them all. The way we trained our dog. Seriously, everything we've done has been on our own. You know, we never sent them to puppy school. We were like, I'm gonna train my dog the way that I was raised. Yeah. Discipline, uh, consistency, stick to it and tell them what you want. Like, there's no don't fuck around, you know? And so our dog turned out great.

SPEAKER_01 37:23

Yeah, he's like even Lola's like education. I mean, she's now in a bilingual school because they really want her to be bilingual because they know at this young age her little spongy brain is gonna soak it up so much quicker than at 30. And so the way that you're the way that you got her into this bilingual school and are giving her access to a whole different side of boulder that we didn't have. So I do feel like you guys are absolutely carving your path within these kind of traditional roles. Yep. So I'm here to see what comes next. Um, but let's quickly talk about how our careers have overlapped and how we've kind of drawn inspiration from each other, like guided each other, given each other feedback, and how we now are actually working so much in the same industry and like in tandem at times.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

It is really cool that we get to do what we get to do with each other because it's it's just wild that we've overlapped, and I think it's a little bit of manifesting or getting drawn together from the universe in our work. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

I mean, and we've just like been drawn to similar things, but we I don't think we ever thought that. Like you were always fashion girl in um high school, but then in college. What were you studying? Well, this is how it all started.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

Oh, yeah, which is wild that it happened because you inspired me at a very young age. She's the older sister, really. I remember you were going to Arapahoe Ridge tech program, Boulder Tech, and you were studying these really cool, non-traditional, non-public school academias, like graphic design, my program that I graduated from. Yeah. And I remember living in this house. Uh, you I you were here sometime, so this room was your room next door. And because I remember posters on the wall that you had printed at school, and I was like, they were collaged, they were fashion forward. And I was like, I never really understood what graphic design was. I studied photography and a little bit of art in high school, and I was very creative, but I didn't know these mediums because it was new.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

Graphic design wasn't not everybody had the graphic design tools in our hands the way we have now. Yep. Things, I don't know, when none of that was around. I don't think so.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

And if it was, it was all by beta phases, probably. Um, I know graphic design even came up like in the 80s, really, in the art movements, really started then. And so I think it would be so cool that we were at kind of this forefront of technology.

SPEAKER_01 39:55

And we were the first generation to have the technology in our hands in like a young age.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

In an education setting, in an educational setting school, not just a you know, master's program or a secondary, you know, um kind of you know, we got to like con with the tools as like a form of experimentation, not as a form of like this is our career, we're designing something.

SPEAKER_01 40:17

It was like, what can we do? How can we play with these digital tools?

unknown 40:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

So that's what I was doing at the program.

SPEAKER_02 40:23

And I was blown away by it. I saw these posters and thought it was so cool. I was like, what is that? You explained it to me what it was. And so when I was looking at college and what I wanted to study, I was like, I want to study graphic design. And I knew that with graphic design, I could be an artist, but I could also probably make money from it. And I think that was definitely I definitely thought about those two things from an early age about how can I be successful because I know I knew I'd be a good teacher if I went into teaching just because of our dad and I'm a leader. I thought I'd be good at that. But I was just like, you know, what what could actually be really fun and different and make me money? And graphic design was it. And there was a program for it. And there's a program for it. And so I was I'm still still shit at Photoshop, but I learned all the other things.

SPEAKER_01 41:09

Photoshop is like, oh my god. Pixels. I don't fuck with pixels. I don't fuck with pixels. But Ali really took it. She's the kind of person who, like, if you give her a tool or something to work with, she'll like take it to that next level. So you really turned it into your career and are a professional designer, a creative director, professional photographer. Um, what else? Um, web design.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

Web design. Yeah, anything marketing we can do.

SPEAKER_01 41:37

She's been an editor of a publication. So she also has done like that kind of like editorial direction. Um, and then we started. When did we like actually cross paths? Oh, I know, it was probably publishing. So after, yeah, like maybe even less than two years, I quit that job in corporate and decided to start my own freelance company. And the first job that I got was because of my sister. Because not only is she a designer, but she has like the connector ability. So she connected with this publisher from just what, a friend of a friend. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 42:09

I was working at Todd Reed and they're a luxury jeweler. And I'm pretty sure you forgot about that. Um Todd Reed was I'm I think in Nordstrom or some big department store because of its level. It's a huge deal. Wow. Yeah, it was in something like that, or maybe it did a trunk show at a Nordstrom, something like that. I cannot remember, but in the publisher side. There was a the publisher, no, the shit, it was Renee. Yeah. I think one of the jewelers was like, hey, you should really connect with this woman. She's doing some cool things. And so when I left Todd Reed, I was like, wait, what you're, you know, what's this iconic magazine that you're doing? And so jumped on board and she needed uh editors, and that's right.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

And you were designing for her. But before you even did the design work, I think I was hired to be a writer for her. And so I was building that relationship. And it was the first job I got as a freelancer, which is a huge deal because I had like my connections from the old magazine, but it's a it's a big deal to just go off on your own without like having proved yourself in publishing, and so that like sustained me. We weren't our 20s, young 20s, mid-20s, yeah. 26, I think. Okay, yeah. So like 10 years ago. It's crazy. Um, and then you designed she started going into print. So Ali was doing all the layouts and all the design, and I was doing the content creation, and so we got to really collaborate on that, and we realized wow, we really like fill in where the other person like not leaves off, but we just like together we can do the whole damn picture. Yeah. Content creation, design, publishing, um, social media. So it's kind of like just a we've we kind of check all the boxes when we're put together.

SPEAKER_02 43:52

I kind of realized how all of us together pulled us together, and that was the launch of the next uh five jobs.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

We did together. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We've done a lot. Ali's been such a like one of the best resources in my writing career because I'm I can get the job done, but I'm not like always the connector. And I've been abroad for like six or seven years. So I don't have that like on the ground connection. And so she's just been that person I've leaned on. She's like, hey, like, I know someone who needs what you do. We connect, I get the job. That's happened many times. And the most recent one is kind of exciting.

SPEAKER_02 44:28

Yeah, really cool. Yeah. Ran into a dude at a coffee shop in Laguna Beach, and he was a friend of a friend. But I saw his magazine and I looked at the cover and I was like, that's dope. It was bright pink and had a really simple modern font. And I was like, okay, he's doing something there. Grabbed the magazine, was like, do you need an editor? My sister and I are editors. You know, I had the bikini top on, Surrows jeans, mom jeans, like barefoot from Bolder Twitter Beach Baby. Thank you, Luca. Shout out Luca Luca Adams for that connection. And and he we emailed the next week. And it was two months later.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:11

It's been two months. We both have positions.

SPEAKER_01 45:13

So it's it's dope. It's really dope. And I had a really hard year of not getting work. And I finally just kind of like leveled up into this position. It feels like a big deal to be creative directing and curating and making decisions for a magazine. I haven't always felt the confidence to do that. And as I'm starting this job, my sister is looking at me, my mirror, mi espejo. And she's like, Yeah, are you realizing that you can do that? Are you realizing that you can like literally like be in the call and not think you have a clue of what's going on and actually have a fucking clue and actually have direction? And I was like, Yeah, yeah, I can. And so she's just been that like um example of like sometimes you just have to show up in the space that you might not think you fit into and you might actually be the missing piece that the room actually needed. So that's been such a blessing to have.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 46:06

So cheers to more work together this year. Hell yeah. And wow, just really excited about this next chapter. As sisters, as businesswomen, as travelers, um, as what else are we? Athletes. Okay, we're bikers now.

SPEAKER_02 46:25

We're officially road bikers. Clippin. I'm sold. I'm obsessed. I texted Richard this morning. I sent him all of our photos. And I was like, look at we're bikers now. She fell once.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

And she's a quick, she's a quick study. Do you actually have a brew? Yeah.

unknown 46:42

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 46:43

That's from the pedal. Well, I got one too. Well, from my times, so over the course of three days. Yeah, and you only have one day. So you're one for one. I love talking about how you go out.

unknown 46:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:56

I want to know as a creative what sparks your creativity? Is it time alone? Is it time with people? Are you more of a collaborative creator? What gets you going?

SPEAKER_02 47:08

I would have to say that community. I just am inspired by community. And I want to do everything I do around that concept. And I think that's the most important thing for me. I'm not really interested in creating something that isn't gonna be shared or used by a large group of people. It just doesn't do it for me. I, you know, I don't, I don't, I that's I why I think marketing and branding is so cool to me because it reaches such a big audience and I just love it. I get, I mean, if I come up with a concept for a product or a community event or anything, I could build it in a day and publish it in a day and have people show up the next day, and that's how powerful I think community is. Yeah, that's where it comes from. So good. I knew you were gonna say that.

SPEAKER_01 48:05

I asked that for a reason. So I'm a Labrador. I'm like, exactly. Who's here? Exactly. I want to say hi to everybody. And you actually are actively engaged in community projects. Uh I love that you know what gets what lights you up. And what I love about what you do and who you are is that it's not just about your own excitement and passion. You galvanize the people around you. So you're like really all about the impact. And I just love that because I'm in the dark writing poetry. And I just really love that for us. Love you. Love you. We're going to the pod, coming back to our childhood bedroom. So weird. It's not at all. Thanks for stopping by. See you for the next episode. Besitos. Thanks, Liv. Love you. That was so cute. Thank you so much. You're such a good subject. You did so good. You had good questions. Thanks. Well, it was just like shooting the shit. So thanks for just rolling. I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 49:17

Oh yeah, you look great on camera. Our Mountain Dew blast looks really good.

SPEAKER_02 49:24

I worked out today, I did weights, and so I don't think I have the arm strength to hold it the whole time. Um, this black cherry shit is the only good thing is I wish it had a flavor. Or a smell. It's um, are we gonna be too matching now that I just made my lips black cherry, right? Yeah, it's perfect because our intro question is how we're twins. We didn't plan this. Oh, we have to do this um in Mexico when I come see it. Do we? Yeah! Okay, we should share a podcast in your own space. I want to interview interview you. Oh my god, actually. That's kind of fun, right? Reverse the rules.

SPEAKER_01 50:02

See, you could be my creative director.

SPEAKER_02 50:04

Uh bitch, I am a creative director. Those earrings are a creative director.

unknown 50:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:10

Is it clash with my jewelry?

SPEAKER_01 50:12

I mean, it you have to wear a microphone. I mean, it is pretty black. No, I'm joking. You can definitely see it. You know what we could do. So much silver.

SPEAKER_02 50:21

Which I guess. I guess because it's affordable. No, I literally figured out why. I was like, well, I think gold looks better on my skin tone. I was like, but I can't afford it. I can't fucking afford it. Like, I'm like, I have less and less. These are golds. Yeah, they're part gold. This is what um dad gave Raul to say when that we special. Uh Raul met dad for the first time, and they were sitting in the grandpa chairs, like the you know, their retirement lazy boys. Lazy boys. Like chlassic. Classic. Iconic. Right in front of the TV. Three feet apart.

SPEAKER_00 50:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:51

And I knew, I knew I went on a walk with Jan and I knew. I knew I just knew that he was, I knew that there was something going on. Okay. I didn't know. I don't know anything. I had a feeling.

SPEAKER_03 50:59

You know everything. I know everything.