Episode 3 - Grace Vlcek

Episode 3 of Curiosity, Unpacked, welcomes Grace Vlcek.

Grace is a social media content creator who has built a following based off her passion for all things beauty, hair and fashion. From creating content in Melbourne during COVID, to working with major Australian and International Brands, to now working in events as a marketing professional, she has built a career off taking a chance one day in lockdown. 

A very special episode with my favourite person in the world. 

https://www.instagram.com/gracemarievlcek?igsh=ZjhyNWFrdjkxbHZh

https://www.tiktok.com/@gracevlcek?_r=1&_t=ZS-96SnaIBns3N

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Curiosity Unpacked Conversations Beyond the Surface Exploring the Moments, Decisions and Experces that shape who we are, not just what we do. Honest stories, deeper questions, and the journeys behind it all. Episode three welcomes Grace Fleck to the podcast. Grace is a social media content creator who has built a following based off her passion for all things beauty, hair, and fashion. From creating content in Melbourne during COVID to working with major Australian and international brands to now working in events as a marketing professional. She has built a career off taking a chance one day in lockdown. Welcome, Grace. Thank you so much for being here.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Thank you for having me. It's an honor.

SPEAKER_05 0:52

This one's obviously a little bit different, a little bit exciting. Um, for those that didn't uh, I guess pick up in my little pre-roll or in the title of the episode, Grace is my wife. Um, same last name. So I'm sure a few would have picked that up, and a few people listening probably already knew that anyway. Um, but this is obviously an exciting one for me. Um for those that listened to the first episode with Evie, she was Grace was actually meant to be the first episode, um, but we couldn't make it work, so um, Evie stepped in and was the first one. So um always knew pretty early on that Grace was gonna be one of the first ones. Obviously, we live together, so it makes it a little bit easier for you to come on as a guest. Um but I'm really excited. It's it's it's really cool. I think um obviously a lot of what we speak about here I'll already know about um because we've been together for over 10 years now. But um I think it's yeah, you've got a really cool story, and I'm really proud of um one, the person you've become, obviously, but what you've been able to turn your career into. Um so I'm really excited to talk about it. I think it'll be a really interesting episode.

SPEAKER_04 1:55

So um yeah, are you excited?

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Yeah, I'm nervous, but thanks for having me. Um big fan since day one, obviously, and excited that it's my turn to kind of give the down low. Like you said, you pretty much know everything, but I think it'll be interesting to chat it through.

SPEAKER_05 2:13

Yeah, yeah, I think it's probably we don't talk to each other like this, right? Like always do. We have deep conversations with each other just from being husband and wife, but not really in a I don't interview you on a daily basis. Well, sometimes, but not in this case. So um, but yeah, I think it'll be really good. We'll see how long we can uh jab around for. I'm sure we do enough talking to each other anyway. So this may or may not be a little bit long, but we'll see. Um but yeah, I guess I did do a little pre-roll, as I mentioned at the start of the episode, about who you are and what you've done. Um, but I guess that's sort of where I wanted to start. You've um yeah, I guess for a little bit more context too to everyone, you've um created your own social media account, and that's where a lot of where this has come from, and you've been able to turn that into a professional career now. Um but I guess I wanted to go sort of all the way back to the beginning and where this all came from. Um for a little bit of context for everyone as well. We got together in 2016, which was probably right when I guess social media was starting to become a thing that you know, you know, brands and companies and stuff were starting to introduce social media as um something they were starting to use to promote their brand a little bit more. But I just guess you want to take me back to the beginning, probably around where we probably got together and where this you know social media journey sort of started for you in general.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Yeah, I mean, I guess I've always been interested in taking photos and that kind of thing. I remember always like taking pictures on my DS or on like my webcam on my computer and all of that in class and everything. So definitely was always taking photos as much as I could. Um, but I guess my kind of content journey kind of begun. I was in like a bit of a a dull period of life, I guess. Like we had just finished high school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do, um, was kind of a little bit lost. Um, and so when we moved to Canberra together, obviously, we I didn't really know what I was gonna do. I was gonna study teaching, but I wasn't super passionate about that. I was really just doing that because it seemed like the right thing to do. Um and so I guess during that period I was working at a cafe, and the opportunity came about to run their social media, and I was didn't really know what I was doing, but I was like, yep, I'll do that, I'll have fun with that, and that was really fun. Taking photos obviously of food, um, posting on their social media to their followers, and I really enjoyed that. And then around the same time, I was studying to be a beauty therapist because I've always had a passion for beauty, makeup, skincare, everything that has to do with it. So that was one of my passions was beauty and studying, and I was kind of juggling the both at once. Um, and through my studies, we I created a account where I'd post what I was learning because I was becoming a beauty therapist. Um, and then obviously life got really busy, so I stopped that pretty shortly after. Um, and then life came about, and then we moved um to Melbourne, and then during COVID, I guess, is where everything like picked up properly and started. So we're obviously in Melbourne during COVID, it was a terrible time, would not recommend. Um, I had been working as a beauty therapist for a couple of years, I guess, and couldn't work because of the restrictions that were on. So I was at home for a long period of time. I think I stopped working for like months at a time actually. And I didn't have anywhere to like go, nothing to do really. So I was just at home on Instagram, on TikTok, and I was like seeing these people post about like what makeup they use and what skincare they use.

SPEAKER_03 6:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

And I don't even know if you remember, but I think you were like, just do it, like just post it.

SPEAKER_05 6:21

Yeah, I think um I think it must have been maybe June, I think, when you started doing it. So right when I guess March is when COVID had kicked off pretty much around the world, and then that's when TikTok had started, I guess, and that's when people were there was nothing else to do, right? Pretty much everywhere around the world. Like you mentioned, Melbourne was probably the worst, but um it was bad everywhere, especially internationally. So I think that was probably when we'd had maybe a couple of months under our belts of TikTok dances and you know that sort of social media kind of kicking off a little bit. It all happened pretty quick because as I said, no one had really had anything else to do other than to go on their phone or you know, whatever. So um, yeah, I would say it was probably around start of June, I would say. Yeah, um, yeah, and it was just like, well, there was nothing else, so like why not do it? Like, what's what's the harm? What's what's the hurt in starting it? Sort of thing.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Yeah, and I remember like my very first photo that I ever posted was like this flat lay of products, yeah. And it it's so bad, but it was just like I was so nervous to post that, and it wasn't even my face or anything like that. Yeah, it was literally just yeah, a flat lay of my skincare routine, yeah. Taken on like I think the bed or something like that, yeah, like as the background. Yeah. But yeah, that's kind of where it all started was during COVID just turning passion into something to you know motivate me and get me out of bed every day, which sounds a little bit depressing, but no, that's right.

SPEAKER_05 7:50

I think um, yeah, like I said on the second episode um with Mitch Ryder, was um I had started a podcast for the first time then as well, so that's where I guess a lot of this has come from, is yeah, I've done it a little bit before, but um yeah, it really just came out of nothing, probably for both of us of not really thinking that either of those things would happen. It was just trying to search for something to give you the purpose.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:14

Um, and then yeah, for me, obviously the podcast has fallen away over the last couple of years and up until now, but for you, you've been able to continue doing it that entire time. So just that pivotal moment of turning something horrible. Like it was, you know, I no no talking about COVID's not something that it's the first thing that's ever happened before. But um, for us in particular, like being in Melbourne, it was it was horrendous, and we both lost our jobs. Well, you didn't lose your job, but you were very much um everything was shut down off and on pretty early on. So yeah, it wasn't as if we'd really hung on for a long period of time and it was yeah, months into COVID, it was pretty much end of March, I think for both of us. We had stopped working, so it was um a lot of nothing, and could only go outside for an hour a day, and we would had to alternate who could go because there's only one person from the household that could go.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

So um yeah, a little bit time restrictions as well.

SPEAKER_05 9:08

Um so yeah, there was as I said, like there was literally nothing else to do, really. So it made it a lot easier just to be able to invest that time into it. Um, and I think it all happened relatively quick, right? Like, I think um remember your first collaboration because I actually remember it, but do you remember the first like free products that you got sent from a a business?

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah, I do, I do. Uh so it was Lifesaving Australia, yeah. It was like their sunscreens, and I remember like when I got that message or like email or something that came through. I think it was an Instagram DM.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Actually, yeah, they DM'd me and I was like, oh my god, because like that was never the purpose of it. No, obviously I knew that came with it, and people could get free things online, but that was never the purpose of it for me or the goal. Um, it was really just like something to do, somewhere to express myself, and you know, because I had all this knowledge about skincare and makeup and all this stuff, but I had nowhere to put it. And I mean, there's only so many things I can talk to you about makeup and skincare without you wanting to blow your brains out. So I think it was healthy for me to have like this outlet to put all of that energy and put all of that knowledge, yeah. Um, but yeah, I being able to get sent products from brands that I was already using or was wanting to use was so amazing. Yeah. And yeah, that's I guess now like it's such a privilege, obviously, to receive products from brands, but it definitely does not go unnoticed or taken for granted at all. I think every time, still when I get a PR box, obviously I'm giving you a haul and like showing you everything, and I'm just like, you can't wipe the smile off my face the whole time.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Um, but yeah, everything kind of happened. I wouldn't say overnight, definitely not, but it was definitely like I think because during COVID, so many brands weren't doing activations, they weren't doing pop-ups, so they had all of this time and effort to spend more on I guess micro influencers back then, or like micro content creators. Um, so we're talking like less than 2,000 followers back then.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Um, so I did a bunch of like online Zooms with brands, product launches, um, I did a bunch of like content creation for some smaller brands, which was really exciting. So I remember when I got um I worked with this brand and I got to take some photos and they use them on their website. Yeah, that was super exciting. Um, so yeah, and then when obviously we moved up to Brisbane, that opened a whole new world of going to PR events, going to activations, and yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:09

Yeah, nice. Um, I guess I want to go back a little bit, like knowing you obviously a little bit more intimately than what a lot of other people would. You're a very introverted person, but I know that this journey has pushed you out of your comfort zone a lot more, which is really exciting. But um, could you ever really imagine that you were gonna be the person filming yourself in your bedroom with lights and and making it about you and sort of putting yourself out there, like growing up that you know, maybe have been that person that was a little bit more introverted, kept themselves a little bit more, that you had to sort of be this um, I guess, more extroverted person, or did that sort of come naturally as you went through the journey?

SPEAKER_01 12:47

I wouldn't say it came naturally. I definitely think I do have days still where I'm like, no, I cannot be in front of the camera. Yeah. Um, because I get quite anxious. And I very early on, especially, I would film a video and progressively you could just see how red my face would get during the video. Yeah. Um, so I was definitely very nervous to do that.

SPEAKER_05 13:09

It's a pretty vulnerable thing too, right? Yeah. Like I think, you know, I don't want to speak for you, but pretty early on you probably had that perception of I need to look a certain type of way, I need to be fully presentable, like there's you know, potentially there could be an unknown amount of people that could see this, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Yeah, 100%. And I think back then I was early 20s, uh very insecure, very not sure of who I even was as a person.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

And here I was putting myself online for all of these people to see. Um, even if it was like two people or two hundred people, like that's still a very scary thought, and I think that was very um very big issue for me back then.

SPEAKER_03 13:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Um, whereas now I think with time I've just gotten better at it and I can articulate myself a little bit better and I know what I'm doing, so I'm more like pre-plan, pre-planning, sorry, what I'm doing. Whereas back then I would just like point and shoot and hope for the best. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Um but yeah, I definitely I don't think it came naturally, I think it was just practice. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:13

Do you think that there was yeah, going back to the 2020 part? I think there was probably a lot of people that used social media and used the content creation to I guess become something, or you know, maybe it wasn't their personality necessarily coming out, it was, oh well, this is a trend or this is what I've seen work, so I'm gonna go be that. Do you think that there was a conscious effort from you from yeah, posting on socials heavily was probably not something you were super used to, but was there a conscious effort to still sort of stick to what you were passionate about and what you wanted to post I guess on your socials as opposed to what you felt like you had to post at that time?

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Yeah, I think like the ebbs and flows. I think during certain periods of like just whatever I was going through in life or whatever, um sometimes I would be more like, oh, I need to post this because X, Y, and Z posted this. I need to keep up with the trends, or um, I need to be receiving this PR from this brand because everyone else is receiving this PR, which if you do it that way, you're just gonna get so burnt out and just then it becomes more like a job and not a hobby, yeah, and not something you're passionate about, which for me it's always been just something I'm passionate about. But I would be wrong to say that I never felt like I was like behind if I didn't receive certain PR or behind if I didn't post a certain trend or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 15:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

But I think like you have to just be authentic, otherwise the the audience can tell, you know, brands can tell. It just isn't genuine.

SPEAKER_05 15:56

Yeah. Yeah. I think for me too, like um, especially back then I was on social media, but I'm not, you know, like I'm not really someone who posts a lot on social media. I don't post my personal page outside of you know anniversary posts between between you and me or stories or whatever. But um, so I'm not really from that space either, especially back then, like definitely wasn't from that space. And yeah, I'd started my own podcast was posting more purely on that page, but that was probably something I was a little bit worried about seeing some of these people grow a little bit more or post, you know, sort of fake personalities or whatever. I was probably a little bit worried about you becoming that just because you didn't know otherwise, right? Um, you know, that's what you've seen p happen to people, so I was a little bit worried that that's what would happen to you, sort of thing. But that's probably one of the things I've been most proud of is that you've just stuck true to the person that you are and you've almost used it to grow as well.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 16:51

Like you can see, I think if people follow your social media, they can see the growth of you over that time. And you look back to 2020, Grace, and the uh quality of the content you're posting, the type of stuff you are posting, um, it's completely different to now, right? Which that's just life, that's natural, but I think that's a really good thing too. And I think, in a way, for you being the type of person that you are, as you mentioned, taking photos a lot growing up and that sort of stuff, this is a way for you to document that journey that a lot of people probably don't have. And I think that's nice for me to be able to have. Like I mentioned to Mitch on the last episode too, like I don't really take photos necessarily, but you do that. So I know that no matter what, I'm not gonna miss out on keeping a memory for something because I've got you. And that probably helps even more because you do social media now more. So you're thinking, I would take this photo for for Instagram, but I'm also gonna take it to better follow that journey too. So um I think that that's nice for you to be able to wherever this journey ends up, and even if it stops tomorrow, you've been able to sort of see that progress as well from all the way back then to now, too.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Yeah, definitely. I think like um you definitely have to I I think you definitely can see like my confidence growing throughout the years as well, and I think that's the biggest thing that I've kind of like accomplished, I guess. Not that it it's done, but like I think my growth in my um confidence is the biggest thing that's come out of this for sure. Just as who I am as a person as well. Like I've got not that I didn't before, but I was quite lost, didn't really know like who I was, what I was interested in, anything, whereas now I feel like I know myself a lot better, I know what I like, what I don't like, and I'm able to like express that online as well and in person.

SPEAKER_05 18:47

Do you think that um you know, like you said, you probably didn't really have a plan necessarily for what you thought your life was going to be? Um, I'm sure getting with someone at 17 and spending the rest of your life with them probably wasn't really on the agenda too, which is what's happened for us. But um, do you think that yes, that was probably difficult in those early stages of maybe feeling a little bit lost and not knowing what was next or what your future was going to be? But do you think when this opportunity came up, do you think the fact that you didn't have necessarily this preconceived notion of what your life needed to be actually helped you go, right, well, why don't I just go for it? Because why not? What do I have to lose?

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Yeah, like what's the worst that could happen? Yeah, yeah, definitely. I think I guess I've always kind of been someone who doesn't really plan things. I kind of just go with the flow.

SPEAKER_03 19:36

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

I've got I've got the mindset that like surely it'll work out. Yeah. Like it has to.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Which hinders but also helps.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Um, and I think that was kind of like my mindset with this as well. Obviously, I was nervous in the beginning because I was like, it's a big thing to do to start posting yourself online, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 19:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

But I'm so glad that I did, and I think yeah, I never could have expected what my life is like now, even back then, especially. Um, but I think yeah, because I didn't really have a clear idea of what I wanted to do, I was happy just to, you know, take it and run, pretty much.

SPEAKER_05 20:18

Yeah, yeah. When um, like you said, that there was the page had sort of formed out of your, you know, being a beauty therapist and that deciding what you wanted to do from that perspective, and that was easy because you had that knowledge, that was the thing you could connect to, right? Like if I create product reviews, which was one of the first things that you started off with, because you had that knowledge, you probably felt like, oh well, because that's my professional career, they're gonna believe me a little bit more, and and that's gonna be a connection point sort of thing. Do you think that um COVID and the fact that you couldn't really work in the industry anymore helped to sort of switch that perspective for you of okay, well, maybe I'm not gonna be a beauty therapist, I need to go find something else? So obviously, once we moved back up here, you did come back and work as a beauty therapist for a little bit longer, but that sort of it was only really a couple of months, I want to believe. I think it was mid-21, I think you stopped being a beauty therapist. But do you think maybe not necessarily related to the social media stuff, but just that seismic shift of being in COVID sort of had that switch for you again of okay, well, what else am I gonna go do with my life? Because maybe this isn't what I want necessarily.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Yeah, I definitely think so. I think I definitely enjoyed being a beauty therapist, but it did come to a point where it was so draining emotionally and physically on my body. Um, because I was working like six or seven days a week, pretty much. Um, quite long days as well. And yeah, COVID kind of had that switch for me because I didn't have to do that anymore. And I was able to spend time on something that I was passionate about, and uh it kind of was like with. A lot of people I think during COVID it made them realize like you don't have to do a job just because it's a job. You can have a job that you enjoy as well.

SPEAKER_03 22:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

And I think from being a beauty therapist beauty therapist for a couple of years, I fell out of love with it because it was so tiring.

SPEAKER_03 22:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

So then I was looking for something that I was passionate about to spend my time. Um and obviously doing my page and content. I loved that, but I wasn't at a place to do that full-time, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 22:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

And I didn't really want to do it full-time, I don't think, in the back of my mind.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

Um, so I think that kind of gave me the go ahead to be like, yeah, I can leave being a beauty therapist, and I won't feel bad about leaving.

SPEAKER_05 22:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Because ultimately I have to do what I'm passionate about.

SPEAKER_05 22:50

Yeah. And I think um, I don't want to speak for you, but I think having that side gig, I guess you'd call it, or something else that you could have focus on being a page, maybe took that pressure off a little bit of going, all right, well, whatever my next job is after being a beauty therapist, it doesn't have to be my lifelong career. It doesn't have to be this or that, or what people might think is a career in in air quotations, because I've got something else that I'm working on and I'm passionate about. And there's no real, I guess, um ceiling on that because that could become anything to do with would you agree with that? That it sort of made that, I guess, a little bit easier and took that pressure off that sort of life decision.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Yeah, well, yeah, it definitely made it less scary of a decision to make, and kind of I guess my ultimate goal was to try and do content full-time, like years and years down the track.

SPEAKER_03 23:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Um, so I guess that was always like in the back of my mind as well. And you know, being someone that obviously doesn't plan things, I was kind of just taking each day by day and you know, just trying to make make life fun.

SPEAKER_05 23:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 23:58

Yeah, nice. I think you've sort of been, I guess, a little bit lucky in in some of those transitions to not that immediate job, but the one after they spent a long time with, um, working with Evie, who was obviously on episode one, that you've been able to sort of keep your finger on the pulse with their social media stuff a little bit. That um, you know, we'll talk about it a little bit, sort of some of those um tough parts about trying to move into it, but you've been able to keep some of that passion in the social media part of your job, which I think was really, really good too. Um, but what I wanted to talk about was how you've sort of been able to juggle um working a career to the side and been able to keep your own personal social media going because I think it becomes a little bit easier when that's your full-time job, depending on obviously the level of work and the volume of work you've got. But um as we all know, a lot of people start passion projects or start hobbies and they'll just fall apart because it's harder to be able to focus on them when you've got something else you're doing for 40, 50, 60 hours a week. How have you sort of juggled that of being able to put time into you know your passion project or your side gig, but also understanding that there's a lot of other things that have to just be a part of life as well, including a you know full-time job?

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Yeah, I think what I made myself very conscious of was not being burnt out, which I think I've had a couple of times be the case where I got super burnt out and just did not want to do it anymore and thought about quitting.

SPEAKER_03 25:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Um, but I think steps that I've taken to kind of be able to juggle juggle everything is like not niching down as much.

SPEAKER_03 25:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

So I think back especially when I first started in the first couple of years, I guess, um, it was just beauty by grace. So everything on my page was beauty focused. Um around that time I started TikTok as well. So TikTok and Instagram fully beauty focused, um, working solely just with beauty brands, and I think that kind of got a bit exhausting after a while, especially when I was working with Evie full-time um in like a beauty and hair industry as well. So I was doing beauty and hair all day, then coming home and doing beauty content. Yeah, it got super exhausting. So I think once I kind of like removed myself from that niche and opened it up a little bit more, was able to work with like um bigger brands, different brands, like got to work with like Elodie, got to work with um fashion brands as well. That kind of like opened more opportunities for me, but also made it easier to juggle because it didn't feel like I was doing it like 24-7 because it was a bit more separated from my regular job, which was nice.

SPEAKER_03 26:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

Um, but also like you're my um agent, obviously. And so we only accept stuff that I know I can take on. Yeah. Like I'm never overloading myself.

SPEAKER_05 27:04

Yeah. Not that I'm getting a lot of jobs, but no, we've always but we get you're right, we have done a pretty good job of realizing that um at the end of the day, you've got to understand where you're at, too. Like, you know, we can kind of get into too, but you know, you're not getting a huge amount of inquiry necessarily, but you are getting enough that if you took on everything, it would be too much. Yeah. Because the reality is that, yeah, you're it's just the truth, and nowhere near a spot where you could go, all right, I'm gonna quit my job and do this full-time and and haven't been, obviously, along the journey. Um, and whether that happens is future down the track or whatever. But um, I think the big thing is like, you know, you can't take on everything because you've got other stuff in your life.

SPEAKER_02 27:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:48

So yes, this is a priority, and you prioritize what's important and you want to be able to grow it. So I think if people potentially get a little bit stuck on, well, if I take everything, that'll just mean the more that I do, the more that I'll grow. And that's just not the truth generally for a lot of people. So you've you've got to either put it in the bucket of, all right, well, financially, is this viable and then there's a big benefit there, but you've got to have that connection to it. Otherwise, to your point, you're just gonna be doing it for the sake of doing it, and that's just gonna get you to the situation where you're just gonna get burnt out. Yeah, exactly. And I think it's it's gotta have value one way or the other. And we're probably when you first started getting paid collaborations, which is obviously very exciting and helps us both as a relationship, but it also you know pushes you to show that you you're what you're doing has real value to a brand because they're willing to part with their money for your content, which is obviously very exciting, but um you like you just you can't take on everything, and you if you took on every single paid collab, everything would start to slip. So it's probably just building that understanding of what you can and can't do and what's actually going to have real value. Um, because even to the point of across the years, we would have turned down paid collaborations for non-paid collaborations because that was true to the person that you were, or the type of content you wanted to create, or a product that you really wanted to use, that you've probably missed out on other opportunities because of that, that you've had to prioritize that too. Yeah. Understanding that you know it was never going to be a situation where I think the big thing for me is sort of the person from the outside looking in was I know how passionate you are about this and I knew how much you enjoyed it. Irrelevant to whether you work with a hundred brands or you earn a million dollars, you enjoy doing it. That I never wanted you to get into a situation where you took on too much that you hated it, you had to stop it purely because you were taking on too much, because then you lose that, and it's you can never get it back from that perspective.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Yeah, and I think like for my pro professional career as well, like um, I didn't ever want it to interfere with that.

SPEAKER_03 29:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

And so I was always cautious of, you know, do I actually have the time to take on all of this extra hobby kind of work or is it going to impact my actual professional career?

SPEAKER_03 30:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

So that was always something that I was cautious of as well, which I think you'd be silly not to think about because obviously we weren't was in no position to focus solely on content creation.

SPEAKER_05 30:13

And that's the thing, like if you were to prioritize your personal content too much, where you know, God forbid something happens where you lose your job because you're not prioritizing that part, suddenly you're in a situation where you hate what you're doing then because that's what the re the result of it was, sort of thing. So it's a balancing game, and it it does mean that you have to take on more. And I don't think that that surprises anyone that if you've got something that you're working on on the side or you're something else you're trying to pursue or a passion project that like it is gonna be a lot to juggle it because you can't be in a situation where one of them falls over. Yeah, so it is it is a lot, and at times it is a lot, but then there's ebbs and flows just the same with everything, it's the same as if you're just working a normal job that that's your only purpose. There's times where it's gonna be really busy and really difficult, and there's times where it's gonna be a little bit more relaxed. It's it's the same as everything, right? But I guess back to the point that I said before is that like you prioritize what's important, and you've always done a really good job of doing that, even just in our relationship together, right? You prioritize when things are important and you go, okay, well, this needs more time than what it did before because it's important right now. So um you've always done a really good job of that. And um, I guess the pessimist in me probably thought at the beginning, oh, this will just fall apart, like just like what things have happened for me before, right? Like my podcast first fall apart because thanks, babe. Um when things are difficult, it's just easier to go. That's just human nature to go, uh yeah, let's just stop doing this. But that's probably the biggest thing that I've admired about you is that you're like, no, I'm I'm not gonna give up because even if nothing comes out of this, I enjoy it. So I'm just gonna keep busting my ass to be able to do it no matter what.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Yeah, and I think it's always been just something that I enjoy, and I know, you know, if I don't need to post, I don't post like I can take breaks. It's not like because I don't have that mentality of like I need to make this my full-time job now.

SPEAKER_05 32:03

Yeah. Um it's just like if you put too much pressure on it, that I've always just had like I think I've really grown the perspective that if yeah, things will happen if they're meant to happen. If they don't, they don't. You can't put too much pressure on anything in your life. And it's again human nature that it's just gonna happen. But if you put an end result on what this needs to be, generally it's it's not gonna happen. Yeah, because if you just focus on each step along the way, you're putting yourself in a situation where it can happen one way or the other.

SPEAKER_02 32:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:34

Um, and not having those expectations of exactly what that needed to be. I think, especially in social media, like it is a lot easier to compare yourself to people and go, well, they've got this or they've got that. At the end of the day, having anything come in is better than nothing, and then you just take it from there, right?

SPEAKER_01 32:50

Yeah, and not that it's even about that, it's just about you know, having a space or my little corner of the internet that you know I've made friends from. Um, like in real life friends as well. Got a couple of great friends that I've met through posting up my content online, yeah. Um, and so many great opportunities, career-wise and life-wise, that have come from it.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

So, you know, you'd be silly to to um let anything affect that, I guess.

SPEAKER_05 33:19

Yeah. To your point, you've built a really good community. Like there's a lot of people that you interact with um constantly that you've never met and may never meet, right? But it's yeah, um, for something that we all know, social media can be very toxic, can be very negative, um, and can be really detrimental on people's mental health, you've been able to build something that is 90% positive. Yeah, and definitely a lot of people don't have that in their life at all, right? So I think to my point, is that probably makes it a little bit easier to do it when it gets hard because you know how much of a positive effect it can have on you as well.

SPEAKER_01 33:55

Yeah, I mean, like even if I'm feeling like I've had a terrible day at work, you know, I feel comfortable going online and talking to my friends about makeup or like skincare or my new outfit that I'm wearing, like that sometimes is a highlight of my day.

SPEAKER_02 34:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

So it's never like it's never been something where I'm like, oh, I have to post on Instagram again. Like it's always been, oh, I want to post on Instagram, I want to share this with everyone.

SPEAKER_05 34:22

Yeah, yeah. It's just really positive, and I think that's just you as a person, like that positive outlook, that ability to go, well, things will be okay. Um is something that you've always had, one of your best qualities, and I think you've just been able to apply that really well to any part of your life or any part of your career, which I think is really good too. Um the next part I wanted to sort of transition into it was deciding that this is something you wanted to pursue a little bit more professionally, like what we mentioned. Um, working with Eevee, you were doing a fair amount of social media stuff, but it wasn't more than 50% of what your job was. So there was obviously that little bit of a mindset switch that this is something that you want to do full-time and be able to explore a little bit more. Um, I guess, yeah, talk to how I guess that switch happened and how potentially difficult it was, you know, moving into that space.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Yeah, I think that was going back like a year and a half ago, I guess. Um, that was a really hard decision to make to leave my job where I was so comfortable, I had so many friends, I loved what I did, I loved who I worked with. Um, super, super comfortable, super, super comfortable. Um, but I knew that I wanted more for myself, and that decision was not easy to make. I think even when I told my boss that I was leaving, I was pulling my eyes out. Yeah, um, I loved to cry, but that was like extra hard. Because, you know, when you work with someone for a couple of years and you're so passionate about what you're already doing, um, to make that decision to leave, not because anything bad happened, not because you know You felt like you needed to go. You felt like you needed to go. It was just like, no, I just want to go and I want more for myself, and definitely that was like the biggest step out of my comfort zone that I've taken in a while, was to leave and pursue working in social media full-time. Um, and that was really fun because like it was a scary decision to make, but it was a really fun one, and I think like I don't regret it at all. Um, so yeah, I think when I made that decision to leave, I I used to be really narrow-minded about what kind of industry I wanted to work in. Um, obviously, being a beauty therapist, passion is makeup, skincare, fashion, like that kind of niche. Um, I was super closed-minded and only wanted to work in those industries, but obviously, no um degree in marketing or social media or anything like that, no degree at all, actually, just my beauty therapist diploma. Yeah. Um that's all I had was my diploma in a dream. Um, and so I had to, you know, kind of get my foot in the door, which obviously my experience doing content creation for myself was major, and that really helped me get to where the job that I'm in now.

SPEAKER_04 37:28

But probably not as much as you think, right?

SPEAKER_01 37:31

You would think that it would be easier, but it wasn't.

SPEAKER_05 37:34

Yeah, I think that's a big thing, is like it's not a huge surprise to anyone, but having that piece of paper in one form or the other doesn't even need to be a bachelor's degree in what you're doing necessarily, it automatically holds people to a higher regard.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

100%.

SPEAKER_05 37:49

I've done one, so I understand like it yeah, there's a certain level of hard work that goes into it juggling your personal life and if you're working full-time or part-time or whatever, like it's not easy to pass a three or four-year degree, yeah. But I've seen plenty of people that have that degree and and not use it. So it doesn't necessarily mean that just because you've got that degree, you can do no job in that industry no matter what.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 38:13

But I still think that that's a stigma that's held even now with a position like social media, that 15 years ago there wouldn't have been social media specific people. So we're in a modern sort of industry, in a modern sort of position, but we're still in a situation where if you don't have a marketing degree or you don't have a PR degree or a communications degree, you can't do the job. Yeah, obviously not everyone feels that way, but a lot of places feel that way, right? As soon as they see education, oh, you've only got year 12, or you've only got a certificate in something else, that would just automatically shutting you down. And you've got years of relevant experience. Yes, I understand. You know, it's for yourself, it's not for multiple companies necessarily, but to be honest, you did have a little bit of part-time, I guess you could call it experience in your full-time jobs doing social media stuff. But you know, I think that I sort of went into it probably thinking that you weren't gonna have as much trouble as you did.

SPEAKER_03 39:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:04

Um, because you've got that real world experience, and that's probably just a perspective that I think you and I both share that that real world experience actually doing the job in a lot of ways should count for a lot more, but unfortunately just doesn't for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 39:19

Yeah. And I think like the role that I'm in now, like I'd never worked in an office before. I'd only ever worked in either like hospitality or retail or like the service industry. So moving into a role where I worked in was working in an office, that was a big step for myself, but also for a company to trust that this is the right person who has no degree, yeah, no like relevant, I guess, experience.

SPEAKER_03 39:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

Um so yeah, that was a big step. But now I work in an industry that has nothing to do with beauty, yeah. It's completely different.

SPEAKER_03 39:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:59

Um, and I love it because then I can still come home and I can still put my passion into this side project, which is my pages.

SPEAKER_05 40:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:07

And I don't feel exhausted.

SPEAKER_05 40:09

Yeah. And in reflection, it's probably worked out better having this, I guess, first full-time experience, you could call it, than if you were to get, you know, a job working for a beauty company or a fashion company that who knows where that may have left you in terms of your personal page, right? That and I don't think you're closed off that if this personal social media stuff goes away because you've been really successful in your professional career, you know, if that's okay, well then that's okay, right? It's not like it's a prerequisite for the rest of your life that you have to have this personal stuff go the way that it goes, but that's what you're coming into a job with already because you've had it for the last few years. So you're conscious of not losing that, where it's probably worked out perfect now that yes, you're very busy, so you're probably busier, or not probably definitely busier than you've ever been before, but you've still got the opportunity to be able to juggle both because you're passionate about both. Yeah, just like I said, you prioritize what's important, but um, it's been able to have that yin and yang that you're still fulfilling both parts of your life, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_05 41:12

Yeah, yeah, and um yeah, as you said, you've been able to create some really exciting opportunities. Um, last year went down to Sydney to uh work with Sephora. So like things that you know for people who have that little bit more niche beauty fashion industry, like Pepper Mayo, like as you said, Aldi, like there's some massive, massive brands that you've been able to work with that you go in the moment, oh that's really cool. But if you take a step back from you know, I think anyone else's perspective, like it's incredible what you've been able to achieve just from someone who decided to start taking photos of products you were already using, right?

SPEAKER_01 41:53

Yeah, 100%. And I think if you even take like a step back further, like obviously we're both from the same hometown, but like to be able to be s working with these brands that we didn't even have a Sephora or a Mecca in our hometown. No, like didn't even know about it. No, yeah, three hours away, yeah, didn't even know about those brands until like started working in the industry, yeah. Um, so like yeah, being able to work with some amazing brands that I had only ever dreamed of owning, let alone working with is insane, and I definitely pinch myself all the time because it's crazy. Yeah, um and I definitely had like massive imposter syndrome in Sydney being like, Why the heck am I here? Yeah, all of my favorite influences are here. Like I was just fangling the whole time, it was insane.

SPEAKER_05 42:44

And that's the thing, like there are still plenty of people that do what you do, right? So like for them to choose you is a massive honour in its own right because there's still plenty of other people they could have chosen, right? Yeah, um, I think it's whilst it's still a tough industry, and yes, there's you know not a lot of money getting thrown around and you've got to spread it, you know, a little bit amount of money across you know a lot of micro influences. I guess you would use that saving saying, but like you know, across your Instagram and TikTok, you've got less than 8,000 combined. That'd be about right, right? Yeah. That um that's certainly not a knock on you. The fact you've got that's fantastic as well, but it goes to show that you don't have to have 10 million followers to be able to carve out a niche. And I would say for me, a little bit biased, of course, but the fact that you are so genuine and so real and and you are who you are, you've probably been able to overperform your position in the industry with that amount of following because you can connect a little bit more with your audience and you know, with what you're trying to portray on your social media.

SPEAKER_01 43:50

Yeah, and I think like if you think about it logistically as well, like the communities that you have with the smaller micro influences away. More engaging than the bigger communities online. And I think brands are definitely seeing that now more than ever. So they're investing more in microinfluencers like across the board. Um, which I think is amazing because obviously, you know, the goal is to sell their product, and what's going to do that? A huge influencer that reads like an ad or someone that actually genuinely uses the products that they're promoting and is sharing it in a more genuine way, which I think is awesome.

SPEAKER_05 44:29

And you want to be for everyone, right? Like you don't want to close yourself off because there are a lot of other competitions, especially in the beauty fashion. Like there's a lot of different brands you can go to, and there's more and more probably every day that come out that um you want to be able to show you're for everyone, otherwise you're just gonna get trampled by the next person who is actually committed to showing that they're for everyone. And as I said, like it is still tough, and it will probably continue to be tough as you know, sort of money is harder and harder to come by. But um, as you said, I think it makes a big difference because that was never the focus of what you wanted it to be. If that's what came out of all of this, then fantastic. But if it just meant you could, you know, fulfill that creative outlet and do something you're passionate about, then that was good enough for you, and everything else that comes along with it is just gravy, right? Exactly. Yeah, um, which I think is really good too. So um, yeah, well, that's I think a pretty good little summation of your journey. Um, as I said, like dribble on a little bit here, but I'm very proud of the person that you've become and what you've been able to achieve. And um personally, I do get some nice little benefits from the fact that you get invited to events and stuff like that. I get to tag on as the plus one, which is always exciting.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

And you're my forever plus one.

SPEAKER_05 45:41

It's still a space that is a little bit foreign to me. Um, I'm in the content from time to time, and that's probably increased more over the last year than what it has the four years before that.

SPEAKER_03 45:54

Reluctantly.

SPEAKER_05 45:55

That uh, yeah, I think I actually one of my sort of favorite parts, and it's not even a deliberate thing, but it's become a little bit of a thing on your social media, is people spotting me in the background of your videos, um, sort of make it about me a little bit. But yeah, um, yeah, I think that's become a thing where it's not just like one person commenting, it's like a little crew of your people that um yeah, it's playing Spot Josh in the background when I'm not trying to be a part of the content, I'm not even looking at the camera, I'm just in the background doing something else, and I just happen to be there. So um, but yeah, I mean I'd be silly not to sort of take advantage of some of those things as well as your plus one. So thanks for that. But um, yeah, as I said, I'm just really proud of what you've been able to achieve, and I think it's a really cool um journey. And um, I think both of us over the last couple of years have probably become a little bit more retrospective of things and trying to appreciate all the little things that come along with life. And like I mentioned in episode two as well, trying to find more things that you get enjoyment out of. I think for me, I've probably struggled with that a little bit more than what you have. Um complete opposite to you, probably the person that had this big dream and this big focus on what I thought my life was gonna be, and it hasn't necessarily become that, that I've been able sort of forced into, which is a good thing, having that switch of going, okay, well, I'm just gonna try and find enjoyment out of every day. And like I said, episode two as well. I think if you can just be happy with what your life is, that's a massive, massive achievement. It doesn't have to have this grandioso thing that's attached to the end of it.

SPEAKER_03 47:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 47:25

Um, and I've been able to sort of live vicariously through you with that of seeing how much enjoyment, like you said, every time you get a package, it's exciting to receive new products from someone that didn't have to send it to you, but they do. And I think that's you know, uh that's really inspiring to me too, is seeing that through you.

SPEAKER_01 47:42

Yeah, I think I saw a quote on TikTok actually, and it was like, what if my purpose in life is literally just living?

SPEAKER_03 47:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:50

That's so true. Like you don't have to be like, oh, what is my purpose? What am I gonna what should I do? Like, what's next? Yeah, just live.

SPEAKER_05 47:58

Yeah, we get so caught up on the next big thing that comes along, right? And I think more so than anything when you're trying to grow something that's uh of your own, like what you have, it's you know, all right, well, this is what I'm gonna pay for this one, all right, let's go the next one, or like this is the event that I went to, when's gonna be the next one? And you sort of keep chasing that sugar hit. But that's probably something that I think you've kept yourself grounded on really well of going, now this is just really exciting, hopefully it comes around again.

SPEAKER_01 48:21

Yeah, and I mean it's definitely not easy to have that mindset, like especially when social media is such a highlight reel. So you're seeing everyone around you, you know, personal lives getting engaged, having babies, like buying a house, and then on like my content creation page, having this PR um event that they're attending, yeah, this brand reaching out to them, this collab, like seeing that everywhere is definitely hard. But like going back to what I've said the whole time, you have to just you know be passionate about it and things will come to you if you remain true to yourself.

SPEAKER_05 49:00

Yeah, love it.

SPEAKER_01 49:01

Love it.

SPEAKER_05 49:01

Awesome. All right, so um I'm actually not sure whether you've listened to the first two episodes or not. So I don't know if you know these questions, but I've partially listened to that's okay. Um but I want to make it a thing where at the end of each episode I ask the three the same three questions to every person, and it's just a chance to sort of relax after some more hard-hitting journalism, if we're gonna call it that, in the rest of the episode.

SPEAKER_01 49:26

But bits on the ground.

SPEAKER_05 49:28

Um but just three sort of really relaxed questions, but that you don't know uh what they are, you probably do because obviously you've probably heard me speak about it, or at least one or two of them, but um the purpose is for each guest to not know, and just whatever comes to mind is whatever we speak about, and it's just a chance to sort of relax as we end off the episode. So the first one um is what makes you happy.

SPEAKER_00 49:50

That's a hard one. I mean you obviously.

SPEAKER_01 49:56

Um I think like ultimately just romanticising the little things. Yeah. Like buying my coffee, getting a little sweet treat, finishing work early. Not that that really happens, but when it does, um going for a little walk, seeing a dog, yeah, like romanticising the little things, I think that makes me happy.

SPEAKER_05 50:17

Yeah, nice. I love that because it's said things that you might find a lot of enjoyment in, other people might not. But that's okay too, right? Like it's it's enjoying those little moments of and just living in what that is, like if you can get a really happy moment out of seeing a dog, like something so little like that, and then just go on with the rest of your day, like that's okay. Yeah, like and that's nice about have those moments, and ultimately I think it's just about stacking up as many of those moments as you can get, right? Yeah, if you're focusing on one big thing to happen in your day that's good, I don't think it's ever gonna happen, right? So um, I really like that mindset. Um, the second one is what's the best advice you've ever received or or read or heard?

SPEAKER_01 50:57

I think the best advice I've ever received was one of my one from my past boss. Um she said, act confident and no one will question you. And I think that is so true in every aspect of life, not just career focused, in every aspect. If you act confident, no one's gonna question you. Yeah, and I think that and also fake it till you make it.

SPEAKER_05 51:22

Yeah. Two, they probably very much come from you being naturally more introverted, right? That you've had to try to get yourself in situations where you've needed to be more extroverted. As long as you f you feel a certain type of way about what you're saying or what you're presenting or where you're at, then Yeah, and I think like from my experience, a lot of the time I've either been the smallest in the room or the youngest in the room. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:46

But I'm in the room, so like that's a big thing. So 100%.

SPEAKER_05 51:50

Yeah. Uh and the last one is probably a really tough one for you considering what a lot of our relationship is built off. But um what would be uh what would be your death row meal?

SPEAKER_01 52:02

Yeah, so I knew this one was coming, so I tried to think.

SPEAKER_05 52:05

Yeah, this is the only one I think that probably requires a little bit more thought, um, especially for us as you know, people that don't know, like we uh 90% of the foundation of our relationship, I think, is eating and trying new things.

SPEAKER_01 52:16

So yeah. Um I think we can talk about this like on a weekly basis as well. Yeah, it's like my go-to thing, I think. But I don't know. Uh okay.

SPEAKER_05 52:27

Because this is the thing, like, sorry, I'll just paint a bit of a picture because it's and this is what I said I've said in the last couple episodes too, is it doesn't matter because at the end of the day, like there's no afterwards, right? So I think one of the big things is especially as you get a little bit older, not the way that old, but you know, you can't eat as much as what you're used to. You know, your stomachs can end up a bit messed up if you're eating too much cheese or milk or too much fat or whatever it might be, but you're you're dying afterwards. Yeah, so like it's your last meal, so like you can there's no restriction on it, but you know, you can't go, oh I'm not gonna have that today because what happens tomorrow. Exactly. That's the best best thing, but I think that's the hard part where you go, oh what there's so many possibilities I can't live on anything.

SPEAKER_01 53:06

Yeah, okay. Well, I'm gonna do like a pretty big meal then.

SPEAKER_03 53:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:11

So this one will come as no shock to you. Garlic bread.

SPEAKER_03 53:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:16

Of V. Yeah. Get that literally everywhere we go. I'm like, okay, garlic bread, obviously.

SPEAKER_05 53:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:21

Um garlic bread.

SPEAKER_05 53:22

Just normal garlic bread or like cheesy garlic bread? Just baking garlic bread.

SPEAKER_01 53:26

Just normal garlic bread. You know, like the ones that you just get from like a classic pub?

SPEAKER_05 53:30

Like the shit, right. Yeah, not not a uh just a random loaf one from like Domino's. It's the sort of flat.

SPEAKER_01 53:38

Yeah, no, yeah, yeah. Garlic bread. Then I'm gonna do a Reese's, which is like chocolate and peanut butter thick shake.

SPEAKER_03 53:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:50

Then we're gonna do a big fat burger with a mac and cheese patty on it as well. Bacon, lettuce, onion, beef burger. Beef burger. Yeah. Like the full shebang.

SPEAKER_03 54:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:05

Um, chips, just French fries from McDonald's, that kind of style.

SPEAKER_05 54:10

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:10

Um from McDonald's or yeah, no, let's go from McDonald's. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 54:15

That's very specific. I didn't expect that specificity, but I like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:19

They're just good to eat. Like I love a McDonald's chip.

SPEAKER_05 54:22

It's probably not what it's not about me. Sorry, you go.

SPEAKER_01 54:25

Yeah, this is my death email.

SPEAKER_04 54:27

No one's asked me yet, but it's fine. I'm not sad about it.

SPEAKER_01 54:30

Um you can wait your turn. And then I'm trying to think. Yeah. Garlic bread, burger, chips, thick shake, dessert, chicken nuggets.

SPEAKER_04 54:42

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 54:43

And then for dessert. Dessert would be a creme brulee and uh also waffles with ice cream.

SPEAKER_04 54:52

Waffles with ice cream. Yeah. That's not what I expected you would have said.

SPEAKER_01 54:56

What did you think I would say?

SPEAKER_04 54:57

Uh I thought maybe a brownie might have been up there.

SPEAKER_01 55:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 55:00

Yeah, okay. So you've you've obviously just cracked another pressure up there. So as soon as we start recording this, that answer's gonna be completely different because you forgot.

SPEAKER_01 55:08

Actually, no cheesecake as well. So my death row meal is no way just a um buffet.

SPEAKER_04 55:15

There's no way you'd better eat all of this though.

SPEAKER_01 55:17

I'm dying.

SPEAKER_04 55:18

But yeah, I guess a bit of everything sort of makes you.

SPEAKER_01 55:20

Yeah. It's just smoggus board. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 55:22

Oh nice, okay.

SPEAKER_01 55:23

What's your death row?

SPEAKER_04 55:24

No, I don't want to answer. Just because I've brought it up, that's why you asked. Um, no, I'll hold off on that. Um, it's not about me, it's about speaking to other people.

SPEAKER_00 55:34

So um I already know it anyway.

SPEAKER_05 55:37

Um cool. All right. Well, let's see, this wasn't as bad as what you thought it was gonna be. It's good.

SPEAKER_01 55:42

No, it's weird, but it's okay.

SPEAKER_05 55:45

It's probably the last time they have to do it.

SPEAKER_01 55:47

So yeah, thank god.

SPEAKER_05 55:48

Uh you know, unfortunately, you're probably gonna be in the situation where if I get to a week where I don't have a guest, it's gonna be up again. I'm not sure we'll talk about necessarily.

SPEAKER_01 55:57

Yeah, yeah. I've really drawn the short straw in this scenario then.

SPEAKER_05 56:01

It's not too bad. Could be worse.

SPEAKER_01 56:04

I guess, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 56:06

But yeah, thank you so much for being here. And um, yeah, a lot of what I do is extremely supportive by you. You've I always like to describe it as you just blindly support me.

SPEAKER_00 56:18

Um Well, I'm your biggest fan.

SPEAKER_05 56:20

Yeah, I know, but I probably would like a little bit more of like, no, you can't do this when I go off my tangents. But um, yeah, I mean, anytime I bring up anything I want to do, you straight away you barely let it get out of my mouth before you go, just do it. Um, like you said, that's maybe how what my personality was right when you first started your page, and you've just had that all the way through. So um, yeah, you've always been super supportive of this journey. So um yeah, I appreciate you coming on and doing an episode with me and chatting with me. Um Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 56:52

It's been fun. And just a little self plug if you want to follow me on Instagram, it's Grace Marie Vlack or TikTok is GraceVlack.

SPEAKER_05 57:01

Love it. Awesome. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 57:03

Bye.