Empowerment Through Creativity: A Woman's Story of Change

In a world where the 9-to-5 grind feels like a never-ending loop, Anna found her escape through creativity. Join us as she shares her inspiring journey from corporate life to becoming a content creator queen. Discover how a single TikTok video sparked a revolution in her life, leading to empowerment and change. 

This episode is a must-listen for anyone ready to break free and embrace their creative potential. Hit play and get inspired to write your own story of change!

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:18

I want to tell all of our listeners who is joining us today on our podcast called Squirrel and what your creative soul looks like.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Hello. Hi.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Yes. Hi Anna.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Hello. I'm good and new.

SPEAKER_03 0:32

I'm great. Can you tell us a little bit more about who you are and what you're doing in your life currently?

SPEAKER_00 0:39

How much time do we have?

SPEAKER_03 0:40

We have as many much time as you need.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

As an introvert, I don't talk at I don't talk a lot always, but sometimes I um I'm Anna. I'm a 37-year-old single introvert girly. I am currently in an in-between phase of life. I'm on a sabbatical. I designed my corporate job at the end of last year and finished at the end of Feb. And I am heading into starting my own accounting firm. But I'm just taking a bit of a break before I get deep into business. And um, so I'm currently spending my time reading, sleeping, and making silly little videos for Instagram and TikTok.

SPEAKER_03 1:27

Amazing, absolutely so creative and so pretty. And I just absolutely love watching it, and you jump so well on that bandwagon on creating content. Really well done. Yes. So why did you get into creating little videos? What made you want to do that?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Um, that's actually a dream that started like 10 years ago. In I think it was 2015. I found bloggers on YouTube, and I didn't realize that you could do something like that, and this world opened to me. And as someone who's always loved reality and shows, I was like, how cool is it that like regular people can just put their lives on the internet? And for like the last 10 years, I've really wanted to do it, like either on YouTube over the years. Obviously, Instagram went from only having photos to stories and doing videos, and um, it was just something I was I wanted to do so badly, but I was too scared to do it. So I would take my phone, take like a little flip, and be like, not putting myself on the internet, honestly caring way too much about what people would think about me putting my life on the internet. And then last year I went through a bit of a journey of self-discovery and working on my self-confidence. And just on a random Tuesday, I was sitting at work and I was like, I'm gonna film a video, I'm going to do it now. And I filmed this like horrible little video, which took me like hours to edit. It was only like four clips, and um, and I had to do the voice in the beginning. I didn't realize that you can do a voiceover like section by section, but I did like memorize the whole minute and a half of wording, and that that video is no longer on the internet, so it's so horrible, but it just when I started doing it, I was like, I love this, and then in July, I was like, I'm gonna challenge myself to make a video a day, and then I it was a challenge for myself. I was, you know, trying to do something to challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone, and it was like living out a dream. It was like after 10 years, and I completely fell in love with it. Um, I loved the whole process of filming and editing and even doing the voiceover. It's also just such an incredibly fun, creative outlet.

SPEAKER_03 4:07

And now you're going to start doing no now.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

I'm just continuing to do that.

SPEAKER_03 4:12

Okay, amazing. And how many how like long does it take you to edit a video?

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Um, I would say on average half an hour. I do I normally edit throughout the days of like record and then I'll go to the bathroom or I will speak with you like just do the voice open. But if I have to sit down and do one day, it's probably like half an hour max, or I down to the science.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

Okay, well then yeah, we learn as we go, um, as we evolve. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:49

Okay, that's amazing. So we're both in South Africa. Well, both we're both South Africans. Um, I'm based in the middle at the moment. But my question to you is in South Africa, um, we are raised to value job security um above almost everything. Like it's very scary that got fired or retrenched um in a lot of cases. But what was the specific moment, like the little glitch in this matrix world we live in, um, where you realized Corporate Safety Net was actually a cage?

SPEAKER_00 5:23

That's a very good question. It actually took me this maybe a weird thing, but this is just the reality. I developed eczema on my face for the first time ever. I had a therapist, I had a therapist appointment, and she was like, What's going on with your face? And I'm like, don't know. And she was like, and I this is not okay. Like, and I just had this moment of realization of like my health was really declining, I was I wasn't sleeping, I everything was just really bad. And I got I just had this moment of realization in that therapy session that like this is all related to work, it's all related to the company I was at and the environment I was working in. And I was like, I'm my late 30s, I have no life, money can't be can't be more health and my lobbying. And that was basically the moment I made the decision to think I resigned two days later. Wow, hey, how did you feel? It increased relief, like it felt like uh like a weight was lifted off my shoulder. I and then the panic kicked in because the reality was I didn't have something lined up lined up, but the uh I just knew I needed a change. I knew I I wasn't going to survive continuing as as I did. And that that was the strongest motivating factor for for me making the decision, and it's it's the best decision I've made in my own dire life. There's nothing in me that could create it. I just tell everyone everyone complains about like life or work. I'm like resign. It's yeah, best decision.

SPEAKER_03 7:21

It is such an amazing decision. One of my friends, she's really struggling with her work, you know. She's crying every Sunday before Monday. It's it's really tough, you know. And like I like I said, you know, South Africa has this value of job security. So like you're very scared, but also I think like it's really important to have a bit more of an overview of your finances as well. Because obviously your worry is like who's gonna pay the rent or the bills the next month after the last pay in the next two, three, four months, you know. So also to like have a little bit of money management. I think it can be quite overwhelming to do what you did, but like once you just do it, you let that weight go, then it's like weight is gone. Now you get to actually focus on yourself. What do I want? Maybe you take the first two weeks where you sleep in and you Instagram, you um read, you sleep, you catch up on some series where you just think and you become yourself and you're like, okay, what am I gonna do? Yeah, sometimes you just have to, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Yeah, and you know, this might sound very corny, but I truly believe that like things happen in life like they should, but also but also if you actually allow yourself to make difficult and scary decisions, you are way more capable of handling the consequences or you know what happened to me. We are so resilient, um, especially as like women. Um the finances was obviously like in South Africa, most people live you know, paycheck to paycheck, you know, we don't have financial education. So it is scary, and also finding finding jobs is extremely difficult. Not just like a situation of I'll get another job. The reality is that I can take six months to a year and get the proper job. So it's yeah, it is scary in in a situation like South Africa to just say, no, I'm not doing this job anymore. Honestly, we our mental health, our physical health, our well-being are so much more important. And I know that's that's actually coming from a very privileged position to be able to you know put your well-being ahead or finance this because not I don't think many people can do that. So I'm extremely grateful that I'm in a position to do that, and I'm trying my best not to take that for for granted, but it's so scary.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

Yeah, super scary. Like, but I saw this video on Instagram where this person said you're you are wealthy if you have choices.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Very true. I like that.

SPEAKER_03 10:11

Like, wow, that's very true. Yeah, yeah, so I think like if you cannot do what you have been able to do, like let's say from a financial perspective, or let's say you can do it for maybe three months from a financial perspective, but then you need to have a plan when the fourth month kicks in, right? Like, do you think it's important to have a vision board?

SPEAKER_00 10:36

Yes, okay. I I love a vision board and just a vision and the plan in general. Exactly. It's fun in games to make big decisions and to make them quickly, uh, but the reality is that we that we do need to have a bit of a plan in action. Like a vision board to me, just personally, like I love creating a typical vision board and creative that it makes you think, and you actually get time to go like okay, what is it like I want? Yeah, being intentional about it. I just want in the beginning of the year, but do you update your vision board quite often? I I normally do it once a year, so I do one at the beginning of the year, and then I try to I generally don't do it super specific. More like general what is what do I want to feel? Where do I want to go? It saves applicable during the year, but this year I've I've made the big change, even though I was already designed in January.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

I think it's time for an update.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

So um a question have you registered a business?

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Um, not not yet. That's that's a technicality though. Okay. I am I'm going to trade in my personal capacity as a sole proprietor for the next year before I register uh like a legal entity.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

So I haven't literally registered a business, but I am in the process. I've I've everything is set up. So all my registrations for SARS and everything that needs to be done. So in that sense, the business is up in, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:27

Okay. And um a question as a woman, because I think that it's woman's turn to be very loud because I mean, I don't want to be biased towards men, but like it's they're not doing a good job, you know. And I'm not sure, like we are obviously, I think, like in the historical days, led the tribes, you know, it was the elf, it was the elder woman that was in charge of the communities and the tribes, you know. Um, this is now like Homo sapien days, like in the cavemen days. And men would go away and hunt, you know, and we would want to see them. They come back, we needed them to procreate and then go away again. And I'm not sure what happened in history there, the Big Bang, where they became the hierarchy and the dominance and the leaders. Um, I'm still trying to figure that out, and I'm hoping that there is someone that can help me figure that out that's willing to go on this figuring out journey with. I think that we were too kind to them and was like trusting, you know, and be like, please be my prince on a white horse. And now today, none of them can even ride horses. So as a woman moving into this creative technology space, did you find that you had to overprove your technical skills compared to like the male content creators? Um, yeah, that's my to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

I purposely position myself in extremely female environments.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Amazing.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

I don't think I don't think that I've had to prove myself or anything to a man because I specifically stay outside of those arenas. Um I it's not even something that I necessarily consciously did, it's just who I am to be like female. Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Really love that.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

I would like to talk to you about a project after this episode if you're assuming easy woman power.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

I will. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:50

So how is it like when you were in the corporate world? Because you said you're 37 now. So I'm assuming that you have like, I don't know, 16, 17 years of where you've been working in, you know, and uh amongst men. Have you felt um quite a sexist experience from titles, comfort, opinions on what you look like, who you are, how you say things, and how you show up in the working environment?

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Yeah, that unfortunately that's a very real reality that I have basically encountered in every job I've been. I have worked with wonderful men, but I've definitely been experienced lower salaries, lower titles, being looked down on, my voice being silenced, and my you know my opinion not being taken into consideration because I'm a female, and my opinions also I don't I work in finance, and many people in finance are very thinking the same way, and I'm kind of like I don't fit the mold, or unfortunately that is being unfortunate like you were saying at the end that you've had the fortunate opportunity to work with some really nice people, but um you've also had the unfortunate opportunity to meet the discomforts of the hierarchy.

SPEAKER_03 16:17

And have you ever been in a situation where um one of your woman colleagues need to be stood up for, but it's just such a discomfort because it's a male that's um doing the honors of disciplining, or um what is like uh confrontating?

SPEAKER_00 16:37

I've I've never been involved in a specific event with like a specific person. It's mostly been like an overall like this company doesn't value women. The thing that the thing that gets me the most is that it's it's subtle. That it's not always one loud male saying women can't do this, it's just subtle, like in flight, but I always have access to what everyone earns, so I always know that the men are earning more than the ladies. So it's I I don't think I'm trying to predict like really bad situations, but the pay gap. Yeah, yeah, that's yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:20

Yeah. I heard last year that once we kicked into December that it was officially where women were working for free because that was the whole that was how big the pay gap was, an average pay within a month's pay. It's I'm just like really happy that we at least have stats like that coming out now, you know. So like I think the more that we get to speak about it and the opener it is, eventually we will come to a space where we can do something about it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Yeah. But I think I think it's so important for it's very sad, but I I think that we as women, especially in South Africa, especially in like more conservative white environments or like culture, we really have been taught to just keep quiet. You don't say anything and just taught to accept this, just don't drop the boat. So it's important for women to stand up for for themselves and for each other. Yeah. If I mean we're we're half the population, if half of us go, we're not doing this job for this money, or we're not doing this job because our voices aren't being heard, they have to listen because we're half of the people, you know. But it's it starts with us, you know, having to learn to stand up for ourselves.

SPEAKER_03 18:45

I think that's a movement that I definitely want to create, and I think that we need to show that women have power and a voice and that we're smart and we're super capable. I mean, we are so cool that we create human beings inside of us.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

But you cannot tell me that completely that should be the coolest thing on earth. Why is that not like a thing? Why is that not cool?

SPEAKER_03 19:23

And we make it seem like it's child care would be free, they would have like years of like maternity leave, paid maternity leave.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

I was about to say the exact same thing, like they would be all for two years, they would be like living different lives.

SPEAKER_03 19:46

It's so scary to be a woman today, it's like as dangerous as being like a killer whale where they'll catch you, or like a dolphin in Japan where they slaughter you, you know. Like it's quite terrifying, you know. And this new trend that's going around that would you rather be caught in a forest with a man or a bear, you know, and people are answering a bear, it's kind of like, guys, you hear like how scary this is.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

Yeah, I I saw a video earlier this week. It was a I think it's a median suit the audience, and you basically ask the guy, What is the thing that you most scared about when you go on a first date? And his answer was like, 'Cause you won't like me. And then women are like, Yeah, we're we're afraid of being murdered and raped.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Sorry, not quite the same. Do you like me? Yeah, I'm I'm afraid of getting raped.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

Okay, yeah, you drive my my alcohol drink, you know. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Have to walk around like this in public spaces.

SPEAKER_03 20:56

They've even created like little cups, things that you can put over your cups instead of solving problems.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:04

Insane. It's absolutely insane. Like women are creating necklaces that push like panic buttons so that you can get vacancy. Um, women are now putting body glitter on so that if they do die, you can at least find the glitter stuck to the murderer because glitter just sticks everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

I haven't heard of that.

SPEAKER_03 21:22

I saw that like two or three weeks ago. Um, there's a girl um in South Africa. Um, it's a pity I don't have her Instagram handle, but um she uh she reports on the news, just basically from her bedroom. And yeah, I I saw that and I was quite shocked, you know. And she said, Why are we living in a world where women have to wear glitter as evidence now for you to find my killer? It is sad, and it's not meant for like this podcast to like voice pivot to stuff like that, but this is a woman led podcast, and I definitely do think that uh I mean, there's beautiful things about being a woman 100% like a list. Thousands of reasons, but like it's currently a trend of our safety and concern, you know, especially with World War III coming around the corner. It's a little bit like exactly. I mean, and it's just a bunch of men controlling all of this orchestra, you know? So let's on a note of South Africa. Um, we're dealing obviously with load shedding. I hear currently that water crisis is also quite high there at the moment, that there's no water in a lot of spaces. And then, like, obviously, with the expensive data and the unique like social climate that we have, how has the South African struggle actually made you smarter or more resilient from a creative perspective in this first little country and a business perspective?

SPEAKER_00 22:48

That's a good question. Let me just think about it. Yeah, of course. I'm going to answer this question a bit differently. I am coming to realize my own privilege in terms of being able to live a life of not necessarily being horribly influenced by stuff like that. Obviously, when there's when there's drought, there's and we don't have water, that that affects me. When there's load shedding, that affects me. But the reality is that the worst effect of load shedding on me is I can't have my aircon on and I get hot. Okay. You know, so I I truly do it's it's something that I've like over the last year, as I've gone through like a journey of self-discovery and like you know, finding who I am and who I want to be in this world, I really try to focus on gratitude and focus rather than what I have and what I rather than what I don't have. So stuff like being affected, even now with the war and everything, or potential war world war three that's going on, I'm not even that terrible to say. I'm not even that much in the loop. I'm not affected by that. I am I am affected by it. I should stay in Dubai, and they are literally sleeping in garages underneath the ground because these winters are falling. Um but the point of the matter is I do understand that I have a point of privilege where I'm not always affected by everything that's going on in South Africa. So it's difficult for me to say I'm not always affected.

SPEAKER_03 24:41

Yes, exactly. I understand. Yeah, it's like this book that I just finished reading. It's literally called Why I Will Not Speak to White People About Black People Problems, because it's very difficult to put yourself in someone else's shoes.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:57

And I can very much understand that. Like for me, the biggest thing is the woman that's all suffering around the world. There's many bad stories, but like I can go about my day. I can read about it, I can speak about it, and but then I can go about my day. And that's quite sad, you know, because if 100,000 of us didn't just go about our day and we did something with that, we could make a change. But I think like with the fast-paced life that we live in and the constant like change of news and news and news that comes in, like how do you focus on this one thing and make that change? Because there's just so many volumes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

And and sometimes to be honest, it's overwhelming if you've if you really focus on everything that's going on, yeah. And everyone that's struggling, and every war that's going on, and every country that is messed up. I I don't think we were we were made to take in so much information. And we're living in this, you know, social media life where we scroll for our hours, and I just don't think we were made to handle so much information at the same time. It's very easy then to just you know do the ostrich thing and your head in the ground. But I I was actually thinking about it today. Something about it is the idea of if each of us does positively impact one other person's life, you don't need to change the world, you don't need to change you know the the value of impacting one person's life positively in whatever way that might be to help them financially, emotionally, you know, to be a support. Someone that you have something that someone else needs in you. Everyone just did that for one person, everybody, everybody would be okay. Okay, that's great. That's that triple effect. Um I think sometimes we think like, oh, I can't do anything because I don't have a big platform or I don't have lots of money to, you know, feed thousands of people, but maybe feeding four people, a family of four for one meal, that's changing four people's lives. Four people don't have to go to bed hungry, you know, set up a charity that saves the world. Yeah. So it's uh you know, we we can all of us can actually do something. Yes. Deciding, you know, I want to make a make a change.

SPEAKER_03 27:31

Yes, like Michael Jackson said, you know, that song um Man in the Mirror, he says there's lyric, like take a look at yourself and then make the change. So you making that change to that one person yeah, that's really nicely put Anna. Thank you. Um another question when you left this very scary corporate world, I find it very interesting because it's just it's too aggressive, and I feel like they've lost a lot of their human experience, the human touch, the purpose of human. You know, we're we're kind of going backwards into slave labor, you know, where you're just the number, your employer number, you know, then they're not referring to you as your name, Candace or Anna. Um you lost this job title that we still hold on to for some very crazy reason. I think it's a lot of brainwashing, but that's a topic for another day. When you go to a South African bride, or I see that you go to church on Sundays or family gathering, friends, or whatever, you know, like your social vibes. Um, I know that like it's very trendy for people to ask, like if they know your situation. So what are you actually doing now? You know, like especially like I don't want to be biased, but I am being biased. Like it's a lot to do with the older generation from a not older, I'm also 31, but 40 year olds, or those that are really stuck in like the traditional mindset, or you need a job and a job title. And if you say you're a content creator, like how is that a job, you know, or like they don't understand it. So, what do you say to those people? Like, how is the interaction there?

SPEAKER_00 29:08

So currently I found myself in this position now about four times in the last two weeks where I've met new people and people are like, and I love the shock factor of like, oh, I'm unemployed. Yes, exactly. It's such a scary word. I mean, people are people are really uncomfortable with that. Yeah, but I'm just like, yeah, I'm I'm I'm unemployed, I'm just enjoying just enjoying my life, yes, doing my thing. But to be honest, I think that's partially also for me to reframe my brain and a way for me to kind of take away. So when you say you're unemployed, you're immediately negative, you know. That there's nothing positive about that. I'm trying to take away even if it's only in my own circles, take away the perception of like being unemployed. I also like to say, oh, this doesn't sound bad. I call myself fat, and people are always like, No, no, you're not fat, you're beautiful. And I'm like, I'm like I wasn't beautiful, yeah. But I'm like, I'm saying I'm fat, I'm I'm not degrading myself. Um physically, I am of a larger size, I'm in a plus size curvy body. And people are always like, Can't call yourself fat. I'm like, if I tell you you have beautiful brown eyes, you're not gonna go, no, they're not brown, not beautiful, they're not beautiful, you know. So the same, the same with this, like saying it's not a taboo thing, and of course, I chose it. Um, it's it's also to reframe my own brain because to be honest, I was extremely caught on like what my title was. Like I have had to fight for my titles and in very scrappy situations. To be honest, a lot of my identity for most of my growing-up life was linked to what I did as a as a job, yeah, and you know how quickly I climbed the corporate ladder. So for me, it's I'm learning, you know, how to it was fun saying like I'm a very senior financial manager and now I'm like, oh I'm unemployed. It's a change which I'm still learning, and but I've even noticed in the month that I've you know can't say what my title is anymore, that I'm just realizing how stupid it is that that was even so important, how important to me. I'm like, it doesn't take away any of my value as a human. I am the same honor I am today than I was a month ago when I had the title. In fact, after resigning, I think I'm a better person.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

So it's really about changing perspective, and then obviously the bit of a shock factor when you just tell people.

SPEAKER_03 32:19

I'm unemployed. Exactly. I like that you pinpointed the shock factor, because the shock factor I think was created in a form of um biasm and category creating. Because, like now, what um I've been reading up upon, especially with this Epstein files situation, men were the ones is the ones that created body types. So, like, that's why the word fat and the body type fat is such a shock factor. Like, look at Kelly Osborne. Like, the way that they are judging the way that she's now shown up on stage, the woman's father just died. Like he's gone now, he's not in her life, like she's she's dealing with grief. And a lot of people deal with grief with losing weight, and a lot of people deal with grief by any weight. And we just don't understand why we're in this world of destroying the internet because of what she looks like at the moment, you know. So I definitely want to create a new culture amongst the woman first about not judging from a body perspective. Like I think that's honestly a bandwagon that us as women need to get on, because even though the men created that factor, there are unfortunately a lot of women, especially the baby boomer moms, that would judge their children, their daughters on their weights, you know, like a 12-year-old, 13, 14-year-old girl, like you are always being told if you're a bit on the weight side, you know, like this thing about which is just big, like why are we judging a 13-year-old? You know, it's a child, we're judging it based on its weight. Uh and then that's just you might be 13, and then you reach the age of 40, and they're still doing that to your person. And I just I just I think that we really need to implement that change on not judging, but it's so deeply ingrained in this like root that it's like this tiny little root so deep down in the sand that you really have to stick your shovel in there and make that root out, and that's gonna take many generations.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

And it it has to start with each of us making a decision and being intentional about it. I had a I had a mom who told we put me on a diet when I was 11. So I understand that very well. Um, so even in in myself, I find that I sometimes think things and I'm like, oh no, you literally live in a bigger body. Shut up. So it it it takes a look at at ourselves to realize us we might be part of the problem, not on purpose, not because of what's evil or mean, but because of what you're saying, the roots are so deep, and we've literally been taught that since we were baby girls. Yeah, and then you see people. I mean, poor Kelly Osborne, she was really cute when she was a bit bigger. Now she's skinny, now everyone, you know, like make up your mind. What do you want us? What do you want us to be? And that's the other thing. We there will always be with every each and every one of us, there will always be people that don't like us, there will always be people that don't have an opinion on us, but there will be will be with negative opinions and positive opinions, and we get to choose what we take in. Yeah, making me sad thinking about all of you. I'm sorry, I don't want to make you sad. It's more like uh sad that's getting me like worked up in a in a positive way. Like, I the question that's going through my mind is like, am I using my platform, even though my platform aren't very big, but am I using my platform for the right things? You know, can I be using my platform for more female empowerment?

SPEAKER_03 36:14

Yes, exactly. So that's a thought that you just got provoked, was just provoked. Okay, okay, nice. That's why I think that's um another amazing thing about women is the fact that we talk so much. Because it's therapy, it helps us, you know, it's a soundboard. You think about things and like what just happened to you, you just had like a aha moment, like, oh, I've got a platform. Like, what am I what am I doing on my platform? You know, make sure you have that quick thing. So that's amazing, Anna. So for us to just quickly um like move away from all of our very serious, very serious um topics of conversation. I'm going to do a quick squirrel um speed round. So overthink this one. I know it's very difficult for us as women of the invitation to overthink. Would you uh prefer a Mac or a PC from a laptop perspective? A PC. Okay. One app that literally saves your life every day.

SPEAKER_00 37:12

Instagram.

SPEAKER_03 37:13

Okay, the best corporate buzzword, you're happy you never get to hear again.

SPEAKER_00 37:19

Let's go back to that. It's not a word, it's a phrase.

SPEAKER_03 37:25

The same thing, yes. Okay. So is your new best friend or the beginning of the robot uprising AI? Like, are you utilizing are you utilizing AI from a therapy perspective or or like um a brainstorming perspective? How are you?

SPEAKER_00 37:45

Well, the only AI I'm using is ChatGPT. Okay, but I'm using it more and more every day. Okay. I'm I've used it for figuring out my own mental health, for business planning. Yeah, it's amazing. It's involved in my life.

SPEAKER_03 38:04

Yes, amazing. I also love using it from that perspective. I have every single morning put in my calendar to open my therapy AI agent and then just like debrief in the morning because I realize that's when I'm like really anxious and I think the world is ending, and then once I've chatted to the AI and it tells me the world is ending. Coffee or robots to get you through the day.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

Coffee without a doubt.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

You're having your coffee.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

Sorry.

SPEAKER_03 38:35

How are you having your coffee? What type of coffee do you like?

SPEAKER_00 38:38

I have iced white mochas from Plato.

SPEAKER_03 38:42

Nice. I did see you post them on Instagram.

SPEAKER_00 38:45

Yo, that's it's the only it's uh I'm an extreme coffee snob, and currently that's the only coffee I drink.

SPEAKER_03 38:53

Amazing. They should start giving you some promo coffee. I think you need to send them a message. Yeah, I love that. So thank you, Anna. This was absolutely amazing. And you've like our first guest, and I really love chatting to you and getting to know you. I think you're doing amazing, and I need you to keep doing what you're doing because we need more females like you.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

Thanks, Gandhi. It was such a privilege to be your guest.