Animals, Nature, and You
“Animals Nature and You” celebrates the curiosity around the connection we have with the natural world.
In this podcast, we will be looking at the science and the personal experiences of experts, and everyday people. From conservationist and animal care staff to filmmakers and authors. We’ll talk to backyard birders, wildlife experts, naturalist, animal behaviorists, veterinarians and so much more.
Join us on this curious odyssey, let’s explore and reconnect together! It’s all about the connections we feel and the connections we long for.
It’s about Animals, Nature, and You!
Animals, Nature, and You
Can One Person Educate, Entertain, and Empower Others? Stephanie Arne Does It.
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This episode is like sitting down with a coupe of old friends. Join host Rick Schwartz in his thoughtful conversation with Stephanie Arne as they explore the deep connections between humans, animals, and nature. Stephanie shares her journey as an educator and advocate for wildlife, discussing her various roles in conservation and education. They delve into the importance of reconnecting with nature, the impact of personal experiences on their work, and the significance of travel in understanding different cultures and ecosystems. Stephanie also introduces her new travel company and conservation academy, aimed at inspiring others to engage with the natural world.
Animals Nature & You on Instagram: @AnimalsNatureandYou
Connect with Stephanie Arne:
Instagram: @StephanieArne
Facebook: @StephanieArne
TickTok: @Stephanie.Arne
*Bonus link to Stephanie's husband's work - Tim Davison Art: https://www.davisonart.com/
Connect with Rick:
Social media:
Music: Positive Carefree Folk Pop
Artist: Burgberg
Used with Full Music Standard Lic.
So that to me was huge. I was like, whoa, animal, like I thought people knew and understand animals the way that I did. I thought they were nerding out on encyclopedias and everything.
SPEAKER_04And nope. Not everybody's like us.
SPEAKER_01Watching all the animal shows and all that the way that they were and being over dramatic. They just didn't know. And that's when it hit me that I have to be like a communicator. I have to help them see and know and do it in a way that doesn't bring on shame and guilt because that does not work. It never has. And use that magic and that fascination and help people feel safe to learn so that animals aren't dying unnecessarily or being harmed unnecessarily right in front of us or in times where we can't see them.
SPEAKER_04I'm Rick Schwartz, educator, public speaker, and all-around curious guy. Over the years, my curiosity and experiences, along with the many people I've worked with, revealed to me we all have a desire to feel connected to the natural world. You're listening to Animals, Nature, and You, a podcast that explores the connection between animals, nature, and humans. A podcast that celebrates learning more, following our curiosity, and reconnecting with the natural world. That they embody everything that they're doing, whether it's professionally or personally, or everything between their character, their charisma, their energy, it is that. Well, my next guest that we have here on Animals, Nature, and You, she's just that person. Uh I met her eons ago when we were both working at the San Diego Zoo. She had a part-time education job. Maybe she was full-time. I don't have to ask her. She was uh at the San Diego Zoo as an educator. I was a keeper. We crossed paths briefly because I worked in the department that educators worked with as well. And I remember just thinking, I said, well, that there's someone doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing. She left the zoo not too long thereafter and continued pursuing her journey. And instead of me just spilling everything out here, I'm going to read her bio for you real quick and we're going to bring her in. She is an amazing person. Her husband is awesome too, very talented artist. I'll actually, now that I think about it, if if it doesn't come up in the interview, I'm going to go ahead and put his links in in the show notes as well, just so you get an idea. Both of them great people, but enough, enough. All right, here's the bio. Stephanie Arney is an accomplished international wildlife conservationist, expedition guide, TV personality, and a spirited and engaging storyteller. Stephanie is a former host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom and appeared on Animal Planet, The Weather Channel, the Harry Conock Jr. Show, and the Drew Barrymore Show. She's also been a brand ambassador for Scuba Pro and Curiosity Stream. Her insight has earned her a seat on the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Lion Safe Committee, or Save Animals from Extinction, and also the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN's Education and Communications Committee. Today, Stephanie runs eco tours and gives public speeches all over the globe. She was formerly the director of conservation for the Sioux Falls Zoo and Aquarium, and before that, the Director of Education for the Endangered Wolf Center. Now I can say I know there's a lot more to Stephanie than just this bio. And I also know we only have so much time, so we're going to cover lots of different stuff. So, Stephanie, thank you so much for taking the time today to be on Animals, Nature and You. I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01Of course. Thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_04We have we have known each other for a while. In the intro, I kind of broke down all the many different things you've done, sort of your bio, if you will. It seems every time I'm on social media or Facebook, you're you're popping out. You're doing some travel with people. You're leading expeditions or you're doing education for kids and all that stuff. And here we are, and I see all this great stuff you're doing. And of course, the the theme and overarching idea of this podcast, Animals, Nature, and You is really reminding all of us the importance of our connection and our oneness with wildlife, with animals, domestic animals, and also nature. And I'm looking at what you're doing. I'm like, I need to get her on the podcast to find out the details about all this work. So I'll just I'll I'll hand it over to you. Where do you want to start? Like, where did you come up with these ideas that all this work that you're doing now?
SPEAKER_01Well, first of all, I'm an idea lady. And I have always been that person who just sees all the different ideas. It's it's hard to actually follow through and finish all of them and then release them and make sales or to make the connections that you want and reach who you want to reach. But man, I can tell you a million ideas. And then I married an idea guy. So this is a thing. I love to teach people of all ages about animals, about our connection to the natural world. We are made of the same things. We're made of this as stardust, right? So to me, I find it, I find a deep connection almost like a spiritual, spirituality in a way, to me, that I am made of all the things around me. I need all the same things: water, air, soil, sun. I need all the same minerals, vitamins, all of that in order to exist. And I find that incredibly magical. And then to see how other beings exist in this same planet, on this same planet Earth, um, to me is just really fascinating. But I've always been fascinated with behavior. I've always been fascinated with how other people perceive the world around them. And I started that way as a kiddo. And so even as a kid, my mom said I was walking around teaching neighbors and my friends, you know, they would be playing like doctor, or we would play hide and go seek. And then Steph's game was always like, let Stephanie be the animal educator. And then I take him outside and teach him about the frog that I found. And um, for the most part, that worked really well. Um, so that's kind of where it's all starting. I just feel like since I was a child, I've always wanted to teach. And how I taught, how that looked didn't matter to me. I know I want to do all of them all at the same time, but there's only one of me. So as you grow up, you start to find the people that are like-minded and kind of, you know, like you, right? Where we we just see the world in a similar not the same way, of course, because that would be boring. But we're we see the magic of life and the how we're all connected and um how it makes us better when we appreciate and respect it. Even if sometimes it's ugly and messy, sometimes it's it's just how it is. And you start to pull those people into your life, and then you start to decide like, how do I go to school and get a certificate and what type of experience can I get? And you start to be surrounded by more of these great people. And then you learn all these different skills and talents that you have. And some of them don't always seem to make sense, but still are really great tools to get your mission out. And I think that's just how I've been taking steps in my life. And it has looked very different, right? Like I've worked for zoos, ecotourism, aquariums, and I've been able to speak to all age groups all over the world. And then as soon as we had cameras that were digital cameras and social media came out and YouTube came out, and oh my gosh, and I was like, wow, I can reach even more people. How cool is that? Of course, now you have to learn all the software, all of the things, right?
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, but then when Wild Kingdom happened, my mind was blown. I couldn't believe that the steps that I just kept taking. My passion towards just trying to connect more and more with people and with the with nature around me led me to this ability to reach millions of people through that show. Um and now the show's been done since 18 or 19 for me. It's continued on. But now I've been just trying to figure out okay, how do we go back to the drawing board? How do I reconnect with how I started? How do I find that childlike wonder and love and connection and obsession and magic that I had when I was a kid? And um bring in like the bring in the pain, the suffering, the grief that I've been able to gain from being able to be alive. Because that's part of the magic in a weird way. If and if you embrace any of it, it makes things even more sparkly sometimes. Like I've had several near-death experiences because of what I do for a living and what I really spent my 20s doing for sure. And I'm now trying to, in this point in time, trying to gather all of that stuff and say, okay, now how can I live my purpose? How can I use these tools that we have, like this incredible podcast, to connect with people and to educate them and help them see my perspective and inspire and encourage them to learn from these great tools that we have nowadays to get them back out there and to see the magic so that we find this like weird balance between this AI virtual digital world and technology and what Mother Nature has created right outside of our door.
SPEAKER_04I want to ask about the first. Well, I'm gonna go back to something you just said, but I but I'm gonna follow up and wanted to ask about the travel stuff you're leading because we were talking a little bit before we started recording about the importance of in-person and and actually doing and being there. Um, but I want to go back to what you said about uh life experience and grief, because I know your story. We've stayed in touch over the years. I know what what you what your life has been like, and you know mine as well. And I just for reference point for our audience, when we were both in our 20s, we didn't have the experiences that would give us perspective, per se, on working with other people, working in wildlife education, working in the side of television or other aspects of how we can reach a larger audience. We have gone through life with those experiences now, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We've also had personal life experiences as we have gotten to the, you know, dare I say the midlife part of our lives. But but I want to I want to give that reference to the audience because just saying grief, I think there might have been uh it's a little uh maybe obtuse just left it as it was. And so what we were talking about before is that that now we are approaching our passion that we've always had, whether it was you as a kid with the frog and the friends, or you in your 20s traveling around doing things with whale sharks or whatever, or mutual Bamaha, et cetera. We now have all those experiences to go, okay, how can I apply this wisdom to the education outreach and connecting with kids and connecting with adults and getting people back in that connection that our modern world has kind of taken us away from, for better or for worse. I had done a previous interview with somebody talking about how technology does help with wildlife education or can help and how it can be a useful tool. But to the other side of that, we have to be aware of just what you said getting outside. Get outside and see what Mother Nature has done for us and appreciate it and get dirty. So, so with that, uh, I know you are you're you're basically hosting sort of a travel adventure around different parts of the world with Costa Rica, Australia. Break it down for me. What exactly are you doing and what could people expect if they want to look into that?
SPEAKER_01Sure. So I would I worked several jobs my senior year of college and uh applied for uh a loan and a grant and everything to get myself out of uh Iowa, South Dakota, the Midwest, where my whole entire family is from. So I could experience something different. Like I wanted to live the Wild Kingdom life from watching the original Beatle of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. I wanted to be in the National Geographic magazine collection that my grandpa had in the basement. I wanted that so badly. And I had that drive. And I think of this a lot. Like I do now that I have a travel business, find that there are still people that want to go out and see it, but I'm also want us to touch on some people are living it by watching other people's videos and life suffices for them. Like it's enough. Um, so I want to go back to that. But for me, I know that that was a big drive. Like, I've never seen it, never felt it, never did it. And so I traveled in 2005 to West Africa, Ghana, Togo, Banana, Burkina Faso, and it completely changed my life. Not only did I learn about all these other cultures that were felt so different than mine, I learned actually more about my own culture and how Americans um are shown the world, how we're taught about the world, and how we should perceive ourselves as Americans within the world. So I learned that, but it took me leaving. And after I felt all these incredible feelings of, wow, that's that's a fruit, and oh, that's how you guys dance, and whoa, that's how you wear earrings. I came home and I'm like, one day I'm gonna have a travel company because I want people to feel what I feel right now.
SPEAKER_04Nice.
SPEAKER_01And I understand that there's a lot of people that feel afraid to to go through the the the uniqueness and the the the difference. It's scary for a lot of people. My goal was always to be like, let me show you how that's stop wasting your time. Like, come on, it's worth it. So it took a really, really long time. I did travel all throughout my 20s, you know, because I was so addicted to that feeling and um also getting animal experience in in the process. Um, but I always wanted to try to travel start a travel company. And I I could have while I was the host of Wild Kingdom, but it would have been really hard because it was I was doing a ton of promotional visits and stuff. So it's interesting how it took the show to end and the pandemic. And then my husband and I tried to have uh a baby to start a family. We did IBF and surrogacy, and there was a miscarriage. And so that's in a nutshell, my grief that I was referring to.
SPEAKER_03Right, right.
SPEAKER_01All that for me to go, what am I doing? What am I waiting for? It's the perfect, but it's the perfect time now.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so now I'm I have started a travel company where I can of course encourage people through social media to be like, this is why you should travel and this is how we should work on that. And I can use these great tools, but then I need to show them how to do it. And I think some people get frustrated because it's overwhelming to take those huge steps. But I'm fine, I'm fine being the person that holds your hand, right? Like I you don't know how to get a passport, let's walk through it step by step. What about vaccines? What about what you pack? It's not just about when you when you try to get people out in nature to feel those things into a quote unquote foreign environment for them. Cause I want to pull people really far away. You can get out in nature in your own dang backyard in your own state. You don't have to be, you know, wealthy or anything to get outside. But I I do like to have a mix of pulling people away from their comfort zone and their circle of influence. And I think for some people that's scary. But what I really realize is it's not the getting out there to get that feeling that I was just talking about. It's all the steps in between.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01It's like how hard it is to just go to the damn gym. Right. But if you, you know, you lay your clothes out ahead of time and you have an alarm and you've eaten right the night before and all that, like you set yourself up, then you get to have this magical experience. And then once you do, you'll understand why you and I do this and think about this every day. So I help people with their passports and their vaccines and what to pack, why to pack it. Surprisingly, a challenge for people.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Helping them with their flights, helping them with how do you communicate with other people that are in the group you don't know. Now, how do I communicate with the people around me without disrespecting them? Um, so to me, all those little details have always been really fun for me. And I finally just said, let's just do it. So I did it and I partner. Um, I have created my own travel experiences to give people this up these opportunities. But I partner with people as well. So my first trip was to South Africa, where I partnered with a company out of Australia called Global Protagonists. And they helped set up this really incredible opportunity, dehorning rhinos and desnaring animals. So it was really kind of medical vet-focused thing. Um, now I have one that is a trip to Costa Rica working with Ecology Project International, and we're going to be doing sea turtle work, felion, and primate work there. And then my last one is partnering with photographer Jennifer Lee Warner, and she's an incredible storyteller, visual storyteller. And she and I've partnered with our friends at the Australia Zoo, the Irwin family, and um that incredible team over there, to get people over to the Australia Zoo and learn about conservation storytelling and photography. And then after that, I might take people to my old stomping grounds on the Great Barrier Reef on a boat I used to work for to take them under the water, which is a whole other mind-blowing experience that I wish people could have. So I, but when I'm there, I'm just not like I said, it's with the travel business, it's from beginning to end. It's from the moment you say, Hey, do you want to travel? And you get that person going, I've been thinking about this for years, but I'm afraid of lying. Because I know that this long, hard process might be scary, but it is so rewarding in the end. And for me, if I can run a few of those trips a year and do the digital courses where I can use the technology for virtual connection, I think that I've like figured it out for myself and like have that good balance of all the different things.
SPEAKER_04And I like how you're really positioning it too, in the sense that you don't have to be a well-traveled person. You don't have to have gone on safari excursions before. This is actually a really good space for a first-timer that in a few years probably will be that seasoned person who's gonna get bit by that travel bug and be like, oh my God, this is like I mean, like you and I both. We've we've been to other countries and and experience other cultures, get that eye-opening moment, uh how how different our culture here is in the US versus other places and wild spaces in general, and how that touches you and affects you. So yeah, that is so cool. That is so cool. And then you're doing other work too. Uh, there's an academy or something, or yeah, I have a conservation academy.
SPEAKER_01Um I just launched. I really haven't even started marketing it yet, but I'm be running Spoiler alert. No, it's all good. I'm gonna the the digital classes that I'm gonna offer, if you go to my website, stephaniearney.com, I have, of course, you can hire me for traditional speaking engagements. Um, but then I'll have live digital courses that have, let's say, four, seven, eight classes that you're buying in a package. And um, a lot of those are gonna be kids' classes. So again, trying to help them understand how everything is connected, how they can be an advocate using their skill sets and talents, how we can expand their perspective. And of course, and really important right now is understanding uh animals and AI. And how does that affect us and how does that change our perception of the natural world and the animals around us and why it's important to know what's real and what's fake. So those courses are gonna be consistently offered throughout the year. Same with the academy. The conservation academy is more towards like teenagers and up, uh, people that are wanting to go in the conservation field, people that are um just graduating from college or early career people, or people that want to transition within their career. My I feel like a gift I have. And I think because I've been able to do all these different types of jobs around the world, you and I both know there's more than zookeeper and animal vet, right?
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And I think the reason why a lot of us get annoyed, at least I get annoyed with that, is because I think a lot of people go, oh, if I don't have a zoology degree, a marine biology degree, or if I'm not a vet, I can't participate in this field.
SPEAKER_04Well, I mean, there's even people I've spoken to that that have had that, always had that interest of doing something with wildlife or animals or just that natural curiosity about nature. But they're the people around them growing up are like, yeah, but you have to have a real job. And so they're selling insurance or they're doing something that's quote unquote a real job. But as they become adults and they can take a weekend class in something they're interested in and start to realize, no, I can be a naturalist. I can be a guide for the state park, or I can be a part-time ranger, or wildlife photographer, or any of that. And I agree with you completely. I mean, I remember growing up when I said I wanted to work with animals for a living, and I found a college, Moore Park College, that that does that for students. You change you how to do that. My guidance counsel at the high school called my parents and said, You need to talk them out of this. That's not a real job. This isn't going to be a career. You know, and so uh and and and to your point, it for me back then, it was uh up until knowing about Moore Park, it was I knew if I want to work with animals, I gotta be a veterinarian.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04That's all I knew. And then I got to Moore Park and exposed me to so much more. And then even after Moore Park, I learned there's so much more. So this coursework you're doing is brilliant. I think it's so cool because it's an opportunity for people to, even if they're 20 years old, 30 years old, 40 years old, to start exploring if they have always had that inkling or that curiosity to say maybe there is something I can do or transition into. And there are plenty of people who have.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I we've known them. We've seen them, we've been for journeys. Yeah. So I think for me, the goal with the Conservation Academy is I want people, like the very first session that I do is the discovery phase. What are your skills? What are your talents? Because people that work in PR, marketing, development, construction. One of my favorite stories is this man I know named Lincoln, who worked in construction his whole life. His dad ran a construction company. And his dad's like, please just take it. And he's like, Oh, you know, that typical story of I don't want to take the family business, I want to do my own thing. When he found out that he could be a construction management, um, help with design of habitats in a zoological facility, his mind was blown. He did not shut up about it for a month. I'm like, Lincoln, I know you've told me this story a million times, but he was just so proud that the skill set of building and construction management could be used at a zoo or an aquarium or a nature park. And he was like, Wow, I had and I have a kid, so he couldn't really move anywhere. And he was like, wow, this was out in my yard in my city this whole time that I could have been doing. And that was so fun for me to watch him do that. And we've seen that with a lot of people. So my goal is hey, let's look at your skills and your talents. Let's look at all the different types of roles that are out there from early career to working up to like director level, people that are working in an office compared to working out in the field or hybrid. Okay. And let's see where you fit. And there might be a point by session four or five that you're like, wow, wait a second. I could be an entrepreneur. I don't have to be employed with somebody part-time or a contractor. I could be a contractor, I could be an entrepreneur, and I could use my art skills, my graphic design, my promotions, my all these other things that I can do as my own business to contribute to this field. Um, and then along with that, something so important for us is networking. It's huge. I'm very good at networking. You're very good at networking. I am not great at a lot of things, but I'm good at that. We love people. So well, but that's that's just it though. And build your brand and how to connect with people. So it's kind of a really good start to say, hey, you you maybe don't want to go to back to college or to university yet, but you would love some middle thing or this first step to get some direction on where you want to go. And it could even be am I a person that should work with reptiles or birds? Am I somebody that wants to be a ranger that's outside every single day all day? Or do I want to be in an office creating materials that support a campaign for wildlife? So that's what this course is about.
SPEAKER_04Nice. That's cool. I love that because you are right. I do know from spending many years with a very large nonprofit organization that runs two zoos here in San Diego that that um the the interworkings, people are usually surprised. There's architects that work for zoos, there are lawyers that work for zoos. And it's not like they're working, they're a lawyer with their own space and they they have the zoo as a client. They're actually employed by the organization to do these things. Pretty much, I remember doing career talks. It's like anything you can think of that a city would need, a zoo has it internally to some degree, depending upon the size of the zoo. So, you know, from police officers slash security guard to you know your your PR in marketing to communications, all of that. It's really so cool that you're offering this.
SPEAKER_01Fundraising. Oh, yeah, yeah. Fundraising, wastewater management, horticulture. Do you love plants? Oh my gosh. Like you get it at a zoological facility or a nature facility or reserve, you get to work with indigenous plants, native plants, or you could work with exotic plants, depending on the place, right? My parents were were in the horticulture uh plant world. I find them fascinating, but yeah, stuck with the animals. But they're all missing again, like that's what's they all eat. It's part of the food web. It's cascade, it's all the things, right?
SPEAKER_04So it's yeah, I think I want to touch on something since you brought it up. Your family was horticulture plants, and you like, ah, animals. I want I I I like to ask people this, and and sometimes that maybe it comes from the what's your favorite animal, but I the different spin. In all your experience with all the different animals you've come across, be it in the wild, in the zoo setting, whatever it might be. What was the one or moment that was like this fascinating, just aha? Not necessarily your favorite animal, but an animal that you were like, oh my gosh, this is so cool.
SPEAKER_01Okay. I have to, this is it, oh. Um that is such a great question.
SPEAKER_04And there's so it's a hard one to answer because I know you've had a lot of experiences and you've had a lot of really cool experiences.
SPEAKER_01So Okay. I'm gonna share one that I think might be the the the hardest, heaviest, most impactful one. And it it's not, I wouldn't say it's the first time I knew that I I was meant to do this because there was many times when I was a kid that I said things to my mom that she was like, Who are you? Where'd this come from? Um But I was a dance and cheer coach for a summer job for a true leading dance company.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_01Traveled all around the Midwest teaching camps in the summer to high school girls. And I did this one up in Canada, and the gym was open, and it was in this fun like camp place that I would have died to go to, but couldn't afford as a kiddo, like a camp on a wana type of fun. Um so we were there and the doors were open, and I was teaching the the girls some moves, and this baby porcupine walks in. And oh cute. It was like we like moved.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, they made that noise.
SPEAKER_01And just like and it was, it was lost. It got in the gym, and everybody started screaming and running away. And I remember just being completely flabbergasted by that response. Because my instant thing was, oh my god, what are the odds that a cute baby porcupine walks in here, wants to learn the dance? You know, ran and screams. I'm like, what are you doing? Like, this is a major overreaction. And so many of them did it that it was it was just very eye-opening to me. And um, one of the girls ran outside and grabbed one of the groundskeepers, and I was starting to walk towards a porcupine and be like, Oh, hey, buddy, let me help you in. And this guy comes in with this shovel and this big trash bin and was like, you know, can you swivel it in the trash bin and take it out? Because he was a he needed to be brave to all these high school girls, but he was scared of it. He was really, really afraid of this baby porcupine. I mean, maybe this big.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so all the girls were on the opposite side of the gym, again, overreaction. And I'm standing as this guy, I'm like, what are you doing? I'm like, we just need to shoe him out and get him back out. And he's like, No, you girl, you need to stand back. Like really dramatic. And he starts trying to shovel it in and he has gloves on, and he's like watching his face. And I'm like, What are you doing with your face? So he's shoveling it in and he's hurting it. It's like, it's like making these noises, and he takes it outside. And I don't know whatever happened. I don't know if it was injured or what, but I was yelling at him to stop. I was like, please stop. You don't need to be doing this, and crying because it it was so misunderstood. And they were so afraid. And that hit me, right? I really it like hit me like a bus where I went, wow, I get it. They've been watching movies and cartoons where people teach that porcupines shoot out their quills.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like needles shooting out. Why else would anybody, why would else would 35 girls run to the other side of the gym? Why else would the janitor be covering his face? And he would see he saw it as like a predator, like a like he almost treated it like a spitting cobra from a moon fly and jump on you, you know? It's like so that to me was huge. I was like, whoa, animal, like I thought people knew and understand animals the way that I did. I thought they were nerding out on encyclopedias and everything.
SPEAKER_04And nope, not everybody's like us.
SPEAKER_01Watching all the animal shows and and all that. But they weren't, they weren't bad people. They weren't trying to be mean, they weren't trying to be whole like the way that they were and being over dramatic. They just didn't know. And that's when it hit me that I have to be like a communicator. I have to help them see and know and do it in a way that doesn't bring on shame and guilt because that does not work. It never has. Um, and use that magic and that fascination and help people feel safe to learn so that animals aren't dying unnecessarily or being harmed unnecessarily right in front of us, or in times right, we can't see them. And that's what jump started my whole drive, I think. And I know it's not very story, right?
SPEAKER_04Like it's not pretty, but no, but I think I just I it's wonderful. I mean, there I I know you well enough to know you have a full portfolio of great animal stories you could have shared. And that this one I have this is one I actually have not heard before from you. So that I think and I I love it because it actually answers almost or foreshadows the answer to the next question, which is why is this work that you're doing now so important? And you kind of answered that in that educating people to understand wildlife and nature and not be afraid of it and take it from a position that doesn't shame them or guilt them into protecting wildlife. But I will ask it, I will for you now personally, although again that story does kind of give us a foreshadow. The work you're doing now, the choices you have made, you explained, you've you've been through a lot, you've had these different experiences, grand experiences, grand adventures, and you not only have the passion then to do the next steps you're doing, but you're making conscious choices around this is how I'm going to present it. I'm gonna offer opportunities to guide people literally from get your password to get on the airplane, guiding them through these explorations and these experiences, to then also creating areas and spaces for kids to collaborate and get to know each other in these spaces online and possibly even in the future in person. Why is this important? Not not just why are you doing it, but why do you believe this is important for the future of animals and nature and humans?
SPEAKER_01I believe the further we disconnect ourselves from what we're made of, the lonelier, the sadder, the more unhealthy we will be as beings.
SPEAKER_04So there you go. That's perfect.
SPEAKER_01Sometimes it's a 10-minute answer, and sometimes it's 10-second answer.
SPEAKER_04But so but I think you could take what you just said and expand on it definitely and give points of proof and everything else. But I think the way you summed it up, the the way you summed it up was perfect.
SPEAKER_01I I just feel like I'm I'm so glad we have technology and these tools to connect. And I've seen um topics with like women's health being a 43-year-old woman and and going through what I've been through with this me robot that I have. I've seen how podcasts, YouTube, movies, documentaries, um, social media, private Facebook private groups have just blown up topics that were not discussed in the past. Topics that were full of shame and judgment, right? It is an incredible tool. I just I'm a I think my fear, and of course, some of it is coming from ignorance as well. Like there's a version of me that's that groundskeeper that sees the porcupine that sees AI and is nervous and has fear because of ignorance with it. But the the truth is I I'm a little nervous that we start to live a hundred percent virtually and we forget that we are in these bodies made of all these crazy things, stardust, and that that dog and that elephant and that frog and that ocean, the coral, that we're all made of these things and they're all very similar. And I just don't I want, I don't want people to forget that because there's something about remembering that connection and constantly working to uh uh work on that, just I guess work on that connection, however that is, if it's traveling, if it's reading, if it's going out and laying in the grass, making a pollinator garden, volunteering at a dog shelter, whatever it may be. I truly will hope you get away from that deep loneliness, maybe even that deep um fear of not knowing why you're here and what it means to be alive and what it what death means and being afraid of death. Like I just it it's so much deeper. And I think this is the wisdom that that we were talking about. When I was 24 working at the Omaha Zoo, I I I definitely would bring up some of these topics because I was the weirdo kid that was pretty aware. Um, but I was like, let me tell you how fast a cheetah runs and how long an elephant's trunk is. You know, I was sharing fun facts like that. Now I want to talk to people about how me and the elephant trying to survive, finding joy and beauty in the survival and the understanding of the world, finding the magic and purpose of grief when we lose our calf. Um, or how do we better understand ourselves and our connection with our loved ones and our created communities when there's drought? Like that to me is what's magic in life and what gives me purpose and what's helped it helps me make sense of being on like why are we here? What is this? This is so yeah. And then all of a sudden we're gone. And there's all these other ways that we can be gone. And there's a million different ways of when we're gone, of what could happen to us afterwards, whether it's soil and we go back into the earth because you can be human composted now, which oh my gosh, so excited about, by the way.
SPEAKER_04It's about time.
SPEAKER_01Cause that, like that right there, when I found out about human composting, I'm like, here, I'm not robbing the earth of everything it's given to me. Like, I can compost my body. Like, what amazing final act of control and giving to give my uh elements and all this stuff back into the planet that has enriched my life so much and allowed me to have all these memories and these experiences. Like that to me, like makes me less lonely. It makes me feel more purpose, it makes me understand why I'm here and what all of this means to the best ability that I can today. So if it starts off with me um teaching on a podcast, doing a digital course to a nine-year-old, to nine-year-olds online, um, to teaching people out in my yard, my neighbors, how to make a pollinator garden and not to rake up their leaves, or taking people physically to Costa Rica or Australia or Africa so they can see something so completely different, but also humans and animals that are the same, that need the same thing, that need the same things to survive and live and make sense of the world. Then I have fulfilled my purpose and I now know that I can die and be composted and know that it so it's all selfish. Love it really.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's all when it boils down to it, it's just selfish.
SPEAKER_00But in the end, I'm just a very selfish, horrible human being that just means everybody to do this. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Well, well, on that note of sarcastic being selfish, uh, I do want you to self-promote as we wrap up here. Where can people best find you and what you're doing? Whether it's social media, whether it's your website, what would you like? And of course, we'll put everything in the show notes for anyone who's listening and you're driving, you can't write this down right now. It'll be in the show notes of this episode. How to get a hold of you. But please say it out loud too for those who are listening who do want to write it down right now.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm gonna share a couple things because in the end, um, you never know what's gonna happen. Like I think of Meta and Facebook, like if it got stolen or they could decide to close it or change it. Like, right, like so I would really love it if people could go to stephaniearney.com, uh Stephaniear N E.com and sign up for my newsletter, because then you'll get first notice of my digital courses, uh, my live courses, webinars, and travel opportunities that I do both um in the United States and outside of the United States of America. Um, but I also have at Stephanie Arnie A-R-N-E on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram where I'm most active. Um, and yeah, I think that's it. I I think the biggest thing is is probably Meta, TikTok, and my own email. And then you'll be able to follow my journeys and take advantage of my opportunities or tell me I'm crazy porcupine weirdo.
SPEAKER_04Those, but those are my people, so that's okay. That's okay. I should I would like to think people listening to this podcast would be like, I can I can definitely connect with that. And I do want to add this anybody listening who knows somebody who's thought about or has shown concern about international travel into wild spaces, convince them, go with them, sign up, have them talk to whatever. It is life-changing to go travel to other cultures in general and to go out into wild spaces where you get to experience cultures of people, but also then Mother Earth and nature and animals in a way that you don't get to see in your own backyard is so valuable. If you have the means to do it, but you've been hesitant because you didn't know all the proper steps. Stephanie's offering an off opportunity that is rarely an offer. Usually it's you have to have some knowledge, you have you have your password ready, you have to know this stuff. You you pay for it and it might be a package deal. But to have someone like Stephanie as your guide, I can't say enough how important this would be for yourself, for somebody you know who's thought about this but has never done it. So, Stephanie, thank you so much for doing all you have done in the past, all you're doing now in the future, and thank you very much for taking the time to spend some moments here on the podcast with me, to share with everybody what you do.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you for creating this podcast. And um seriously, you you've been a mentor to me and to so many other people in our field. So thank you so much for also sharing your uh success, your joy, your pain, your wisdom with the world. Seriously. It's it's really, really appreciated and needed. We need to get people remembering who we are. We're all human beings and we're all doing the best we can while we're here. And I'm grateful that there's someone like you out there that I know I can always go to and that I can point people to when they need to learn more. Uh, because you are a credible, trusted friend and great conservationist. So thanks.
SPEAKER_04A lot of mutual respect, that's for sure. So thank you. And of course, thank you, dear listeners. I appreciate you tremendously. I'm so glad you're here. Whether you're watching on YouTube or listening on a podcast player, it's because you're here listening to Animals, Nature, and You that I can bring on people like Stephanie to have these great conversations where we all get to learn a little bit more. Speaking of learning more, if you are interested in catching up with Stephanie, all of her social media links are down below that we mentioned in the episode, along with her website and everything else she's got going on. If you're looking to get a hold of me, you can go ahead and head down to those show notes. Also, all of my links are there for you. Last but not least, if you haven't already, please subscribe or follow this podcast. That way you don't miss any of the upcoming episodes, whether it's 10-minute Tuesdays, solo episodes that talk about a hot topic or reflect back to something we talked about with the guests, or every Thursday where we have new guests coming on talking about the awesome work they do, how they got started, how you can get involved, all that great stuff. So with that, I'm gonna wrap it up. Have a good one, everybody.
