Episode 2
Finding Your Spark and Embracing Adventure with Heike Yates
Summary:
In this episode of The Random and Wonderful, Grace Simmons chats with Heike Yates, a wellness coach and passionate traveler. Heike shares insights from her journey to "Pursue Your Spark," a movement dedicated to helping women rediscover themselves at every stage of midlife. From managing work-life balance to integrating wellness into everyday life, Heike dives into the importance of self-discovery and staying active. She also shares memorable travel stories, like her “6 for 60” adventure in Hawaii, and offers advice for cultivating a joyful, balanced life.
Guest Bio:
Heike Yates is a Midlife Health and Fitness Expert with over 35 years of experience. She empowers midlife women to break free from limiting beliefs and outdated habits, turning challenges into simple, actionable steps that help them truly thrive. Heike’s approach goes beyond fitness and nutrition; she focuses on helping women get unstuck, build strength, develop a resilient mindset, and boost their energy. As the founder of Pursue Your Spark, Heike also hosts a popular podcast that reflects her mission to inspire real transformation. Outside of coaching, she’s an avid triathlete and adventurer, always embracing new challenges in the great outdoors.
Key Topics Discussed:
- Pursuing Your Spark: How Heike’s journey led her to create a movement focused on igniting and sustaining passion in midlife.
- Defining Midlife and Rediscovering Purpose: Heike’s insights into the changes women experience between 40 and 80, and the importance of self-care and honest reflection.
- Work-Life Boundaries and Self-Care: Heike’s transition from constant work to finding balance, prompted by her husband’s gentle “wake-up call.”
- Incorporating Wellness into Travel: Heike’s approach to active vacations, including hiking, biking, and embracing local culture to stay physically and mentally fit.
- Adventure and Growth Through Travel: Heike’s “6 for 60” Hawaii trip, where she and her husband worked for a week and then took a week of vacation, fully embracing both adventure and relaxation.
Key Quotes:
- "I realized that many women dim their light as they get older. Pursuing your spark is about reigniting that light and finding what truly makes you feel alive."
- "It’s not just about the vacation—it’s about immersing yourself in local culture, discovering the hidden gems, and truly experiencing a place."
- "After three miles of running, all the world’s problems are solved."
Takeaways:
- Find and Pursue Your Spark: Rediscovering purpose in midlife involves honest reflection, whether through journaling, physical activity, or deep conversations.
- Create a Balance Between Work and Life: Setting boundaries is crucial for health and relationships. Heike’s story of balancing work and vacation in Hawaii shows how mindfulness can enhance productivity and personal joy.
- Integrate Wellness Into Everyday Adventures: Whether at home or traveling, wellness can be a natural part of life. Heike encourages staying active by exploring your surroundings and engaging with local communities.
Resources Mentioned:
- Pursue Your Spark (Heike Yates' website)
- REI Trail App (for finding hiking trails across Maryland and beyond)
Transcript
Hello, travelers. My name is Grace
Speaker:Simmons, and this is the Random and
Speaker:Wonderful Podcast. Settle in and listen
Speaker:to stories of wanderlust and
Speaker:transformation as you gain tips to
Speaker:inspire your next travel experience. The
Speaker:Random and Wonderful is brought to you by
Speaker:the Amethyst Palaba Hut, LLC.
Speaker:Hi, everyone from Podcast Movement in
Speaker:DC. I'm your host, Grace Simmons, and
Speaker:welcome to the Random and Wonderful.
Speaker:My guest today is going to be Heike
Speaker:Yates, and we're going to talk about
Speaker:travel, pursuing your spark. It's going
Speaker:to be amazing. So let's get into it.
Speaker:Yeah, let's go. This is awesome. So thank
Speaker:you, first off, so much for joining me
Speaker:today. I'm excited because this is like
Speaker:our first live,
Speaker:like official chat, actually. We've been
Speaker:kind of talking that he's doing the other
Speaker:we met last year. Yes. And so I'm excited
Speaker:to get this started. So please tell me
Speaker:and everyone, how exactly did Pursue
Speaker:Your Spark start?You know,
Speaker:Pursue Your Spark started as a
Speaker:long history of it, going
Speaker:through iterations and how do I
Speaker:want to talk to women?And it's like in
Speaker:my podcast. It's like or trying to figure
Speaker:out the right angle of do I want to talk
Speaker:about menopause?Do I want to talk about
Speaker:other things that are interesting to
Speaker:women in midlife?And what I come across
Speaker:is a lot. Women dim their
Speaker:light when they get older. Yeah. YeahAnd
Speaker:so when you think about dimming your
Speaker:light, what's will be the opposite is
Speaker:igniting your spark. But then you have to
Speaker:also pursue the spark. In
Speaker:order to ignite it, if you're not sure
Speaker:what the spark is for you
Speaker:specifically, you don't know what you're
Speaker:going to ignite. So it's like,
Speaker:OK, let's figure out what it is
Speaker:that we want from midlife.
Speaker:Wherever we are in midlife, and I think
Speaker:we talked about that, it's between 40 and
Speaker:80. So midlife is not just being 50
Speaker:and it's somewhere in the transition
Speaker:from. Perimenopause through menopause and
Speaker:postmenopausal just to give it a more
Speaker:confined idea. And
Speaker:I think that's a really a time every, at
Speaker:least in my opinion, every 10 years I
Speaker:feel, and I'm 63, women
Speaker:go through something else has to
Speaker:change. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's
Speaker:unfortunate. I do like that there's a
Speaker:breakdown, though, in the difference
Speaker:between igniting and pursuing, 'cause
Speaker:like you said, you maybe. understand what
Speaker:that spark is, but it's so important to
Speaker:be able to like continue those steps of
Speaker:pursuing, right?Because if you just see
Speaker:you have that great moment and you don't
Speaker:do anything to follow up, it fizzles and
Speaker:it goes away. Yeah. And then you feel
Speaker:potentially left behind, sad. Yes.
Speaker:And you're unhappy. And a lot of times
Speaker:when we look at these patterns too,
Speaker:divorce happens because somebody in the
Speaker:relationship is not happy. Yeah.
Speaker:And so I I feel it's a good way to really
Speaker:look at yourself and
Speaker:see, what do I need?Where am I in this
Speaker:phase of life?Okay, as someone who then
Speaker:is coaching people on this path,
Speaker:how do you navigate self-doubt
Speaker:or hesitations when it comes to maybe
Speaker:business or personal?How do you lead?
Speaker:I would first say it's to be honest with
Speaker:what you really want. Okay.
Speaker:And that's the biggest hurdle, 'cause a
Speaker:lot of women don't want to really look at
Speaker:what the problem is. And self-doubt
Speaker:creeps in and we just keep thinking about
Speaker:it. It's three o'clock in the morning,
Speaker:yeah and we're not quite sure if we
Speaker:can do things, if we should take action,
Speaker:if what happens, what is the consequence
Speaker:of if I do the things that I want to
Speaker:do. Yeah. And soThe first thing is really
Speaker:be honest with you, and that can go
Speaker:different ways. It can come through a
Speaker:conversation with a friend. It can come
Speaker:through journaling. It can come
Speaker:maybe on a big bike ride where you're
Speaker:riding through the woods and you call.
Speaker:Clarity. Yeah. Clarity. Yes. Yeah.
Speaker:Getting clear on what it is that you
Speaker:want. And instead of focusing on the
Speaker:negative, which is our self-doubt. So
Speaker:quick. Yeah. So quickly to focus on.
Speaker:The things that you maybe need to fix
Speaker:versus how can I use my strengths to
Speaker:better who I am, where I'm trying to go.
Speaker:And it's so beneficial to get that
Speaker:initial understanding. That's wonderful.
Speaker:Yeah. So besides
Speaker:being coaches and podcasters, you and I
Speaker:both share a love of travel. So
Speaker:I am curious, do you have a
Speaker:story or maybe a trip that left like a
Speaker:really heavy impact on you?Oh, I got a
Speaker:whole bunch of stories. My
Speaker:thing is, or has been for many years now,
Speaker:that whenever I have a round birthday,
Speaker:umm I don't remember my 30th birthday
Speaker:because I was in a different relationship
Speaker:about my 40th, my 50th, my 60th birthday.
Speaker:I always did something that was
Speaker:super memorable. So instead of getting
Speaker:gifts or going out to an expensive
Speaker:restaurant, it's about taking a trip.
Speaker:So which one would like to hear about the
Speaker:story about dancing Argentine tango?
Speaker:In Buenos Aires. Or would you like to
Speaker:hear about my 6 for 60 in
Speaker:Hawaii?Oh, 6 for 60. Six for six.
Speaker:Yeah. Excellent. All right, here you go.
Speaker:So my 60th birthday is starting to roll
Speaker:around and my husband and
Speaker:we're talking about maybe going to
Speaker:Hawaii, you know, for a week of
Speaker:vacation. And then we're talking and he
Speaker:says, you know, I found this really cute
Speaker:two-bedroom apartment. It's right on the
Speaker:water. It's right outside of, what's
Speaker:the town of the big island, the big land
Speaker:of Hawaii. And he said,
Speaker:Devil, here's what we're going to do. My
Speaker:gift to you are six for 60. And I
Speaker:was like, What's that supposed to mean?
Speaker:And he says, Six weeks of
Speaker:vacation in Hawaii. Oh
Speaker:my gosh. But the caveat is,
Speaker:we didn't take the whole six weeks as a
Speaker:vacation, so what we did is,We had one
Speaker:week where we worked and then one
Speaker:week where we took vacation. OK, OK, it
Speaker:was fantastic. So we got
Speaker:there. We had this really cute
Speaker:two-bedroom apartment. And
Speaker:one room was set up as his office because
Speaker:my husband had to work too. So he got up
:00 in the morning, the one week we
:worked till noon. I put all my clients on
:Zoom. So I would sit on the floor in the
:living room with my laptop on a chair
:and we would do Pilates or whatever this
:person wanted to do. And the people are
:like, where are you?And I took my laptop
:and I was like, oh, look at the lights.
:There's the beach and like, Oh my
:God. And so it was great
:because we both continued to earn money.
:So it was not no income for either of
:us. Yeah. And six weeks, it's a long
:time. Then we took the second week where
:we, well, let me finish the first story.
:So it's when we got up at 4:00, we both
:worked till noon. And then at noon we're
:like, what do you want to do?Do you want
:to go for a run on?The highway, you know,
:the street right in front of us where
:they do the Ironman or do we want to go
:swim or do we want to go for a bike
:ride?Because we brought our bikes. We're
:triathletes, so we brought our bikes. My
:goodness. And so we biked the
:highway, you know, we're like, OK, So
:what we're going to do?And then we we did
:whatever the work I was, came home, had
:lunch or did the other way around. Then
:it was nap time and then we did whatever
:we wanted to do. Go hiking. We learned
:about the local fish market. We knew
:where the bread place in the hills was,
:that they came a couple times a week
:and brought their fresh baked goods.
:So you always became a local. So the fish
:guy, the fish guy said, here, give
:me your number. I'll text you when we're
:at the shopping center so you know when
:the first fish is here. I'm like, yes,
:that's amazing. And then the
:second week. When we were off, we would
:take our bikes and we go, we sleep in,
:have breakfast, even though I
:intermittent fast, but that was like, I
:don't care about that. We need some
:energy next time, because intermittent
:fasting is not restrictive. So we would
:drive to the other side of the island or
:explore other parts of Hawaii.
:It was the best. And on my actual
:birthday, we had bao bao, two balloons,
:one six, one oh, and we walked down
:with the balloons in hand. Down the
:street to a little beach where we, my
:husband and I did a little photo shoot,
:you know, like, ohh yeah, cute. You
:wouldn't believe the people. They're
:yelling out of their car, happy birthday,
:yay, go party girl. This is
:great. And then we got to the beach and
:we're starting to do our thing. And this
:woman comes up to me and she says, 60.
:Your life is just starting. You're gonna
:have work on after 60. Yeah. So
:that's my 6 for 60 story. I
:that's amazing. Six weeks, first
:off. But I like that there's an
:alternative. Like you have that nice
:stagger, even though it sounds like when
:you were working, that was still super
:fun. Like you weren't ignoring the fact
:that you had, you were in this paradise,
:of course. You got up in the morning and
:then my husband would always say. Oh, I'm
:going to have breakfast on the lanai,
:which is the balcony. But the
:peacefulness and the ocean and
:the environment is so tropical and people
:are super duper friendly and
:you know, and we did the things that we
:physically loved doing and
:we had such a good diversity on it as
:well. So it was not just hanging out in
:the beach. I mean, we went snorkeling
:with the dolphins. It was just
:fantastic. Yeah. I highly recommend it.
:6 for 60. I love it. 3 for
:30. I don't care. Yeah. No, whatever
:it is, it should be multiple weeks of the
:I I think would be ideal. I know. Wow.
:I was going to ask actually, since you
:guys are triathletes, how are you
:incorporating?Like, are you purposeful
:about incorporating Wellness into your
:vacations or is it just a habit?Like
:this is just what you're doing?We are
:trying to incorporate. We are
:not going to the gyms. So we
:are like, no, we're on vacation. We want
:to be outside because oftentimes we're
:either, well, oftentimes we're either on
:the beach or we are in the mountains
:somewhere. So if there's some like
:physical activity included, there's
:always hiking involved. There's
:it's built in. To what the vacation is.
:Does it look different than when normally?
:Yeah. I usually don't plop down and do
:Pilates math work. I'm like, uh, I'm just
:on vacation now. And that's what I
:recommend to everybody. It's like, don't
:worry about it. Just do something. You
:know, if you're in a in a city and you're
:visiting on a city trip, right. You'll
:walk a lot. Yeah. That's exercise too.
:Yeah. And so it's built
:into what we do. And that's when we went
:to Hawaii, we're like, this is.
:The island where they had the Ironman.
:OK. And we just and he my husband took
:the bikes apart, put them in a container,
:put it back together. OK. Because I was
:going to ask you. I was going to ask you
:about those bikes later. Oh wow. So well,
:you can transport them. You just need
:like a big suit. Yes. Where it fits in
:and you take it apart and then you put it
:back together. And he knows, thank God he
:knows how to do that. I couldn't do that,
:but. So yeah, we're we're trying
:out different things when we're on
:vacation. And so the biking was great
:because we could say we biked for all the
:Ironman people were biking. Yeah. I mean,
:we didn't do the whole route, but it was
:just fun to be out there amongst the lava
:fields and biking up the road and
:and just enjoying the life with the
:locals too. So you become less of a
:tourist. Yes. YesAnd like I said, you
:know, the guy texts about the fish. We
:knew on Wednesdays the fresh bread was up
:in the in the hills or up in the hills.
:That's cool. You've gone from a tourist
:to an actual traveler, which is really
:neat. When you are.
:Well, now I've forgotten my question.
:Actually, there's something you just
:said. I forgot. All right.
:What do you hope to get out of
:your trips?I love
:adventures. OK. That's was also
:initially. What brought me to the States?
:I'm originally from Germany. And
:what?I got bored living in Europe. Yeah,
:I know people. You can laugh all you
:want. What?But I was always saying,
:oh, I want to do Europe when I'm old,
:assuming that I would live in Germany,
:but I don't. So I still have a lot to see
:in Europe, but that's fine. But I wanted
:adventure. I wanted something different.
:OK. You know, when you think of Europe.
:For an European, OK, you speak different
:languages in in within 8 hours
:and you eat different foods within a in
:the same 8 hours of traveling by car.
:Here in 8 hours, you're in Virginia from
:DC. Still in the same place.
:Yeah, you know, nothing ever changes as
:far as it's the same. But travel, I
:find it, I find it interesting to learn
:about other people, how they do things.
:What they eat, what they drink,
:how they do life. That's really
:why I love traveling so much is
:and just experiencing. And even if you
:say I go maybe up to Maine, my husband
:hasn't been up in Maine. OK. And I said,
:you will feel it's a little different.
:They eat different foods. They speak a
:little bit different English. Yeah. And
:it's it's a little, it's the ruggedy
:water hills and all that. And so
:that's new and it's different. OK, OK
:I do remember that question, though. I
:was going to ask, when did you notice
:that you were able to find a balance
:between actually fully immersing
:yourself into a vacation and then
:separating the work?Has that always
:been?OK, like a switch. It's like, OK,
:you do this,
:compartmentalize it, right?
:You do this. OK, we're done with this.
:Now we're going to do that. It's no
:turning on a computer. Not looking at
:emails. And you know, I have my out of
:the office on my phone, on my e-mail
:thing. I was like, I'm not looking at
:this. And I told my husband too, no
:Slack. OK. You are not available. This is
:vacation. Yeah. You're not available.
:Unless it's an emergency. But other than
:that, they have to wait. Is this like a
:process that you had to
:enforce or was it something like you've
:always had those good boundaries?Oh, God,
:no. All right.
:Oh my God, no. I love, love, love my
:work as a health fitness coach and my
:podcast and all this. I can work
:all week long. I love what I
:do. And I had to really,
:my husband actually pointed that out. He
:says, you know, it's 7:00 in the evening,
:you're still working. We started at 7,
:you're still at it. Like, oh, let me just
:finish this canva. Let me just get this
:done. And he says. Well, it's 7 o'clock.
:We want to eat. We didn't prepare
:anything. The same with the weekends. And
:I would say Sunday, I was like, oh, I
:just quickly, three hours later. Right.
:Three hours later, I'm still at it. But
:he pointed out and he said, you know,
:your work's taken over our lives.
:I know you love what you do. And so that
:was a wake-up call for me to say, hey, I
:can't neglect my relationship. I can't
:neglect my off time. So
:the dealio is now that we stop
:the latest at six and work on
:the weekends only if it's something that
:has to be done on Monday. OK. I mean,
:other than that, we're not working.
:Wow. I'm glad he called me out on it.
:Yeah. YeahI would have not. I didn't
:think of it as work. Right. Because
:you're enjoying what you do. You're in
:it. I need to end this podcast episode
:really quickly. 4 hours later. Oh,
:OK, cool. OK. Because I'm always, I know
:sometimes, like you're as a coach, right?
:You're able to give some people advice,
:but you yourself can kind of be stuck
:into the process of it. And so I'm always
:curious, like, at what point do you
:realize?I should take my own advice
:and sort of like you said,
:compartmentalize or set those boundaries.
:So, OK, that's really key, definitely.
:And I'm glad that he pointed it out
:because I'm sure I would have burned
:out big time at some point
:and our relationship would have suffered,
:my health would have suffered, but I
:didn't see it. So I'm glad somebody said,
:hey, did you notice?
:And I'm like. No, I'm I'm not doing
:this. But then I had to be honest with
:myself, and I did it. Yeah. So
:it's like, we call out our clients, you
:know?It's It's not calling out, it's sort
:of lovely saying, hey, did you
:notice?It's accountability.
:Yeah. YeahYeah, are you loving yourself?
:Are you doing, you know, paying attention
:to your health?Yeah, exactly.
:How, like what is one of your favorite
:wellness practices?So if you were
:to, yeah, a good way
:for you to like decompress. Okay. What's
:your go-to?It used to be running. Okay.
:So about three years ago, I
:started having severe knee pain. I mean,
:I've been a runner for since, I'd say
:2008, so for a while. And
:I got into running and every now and then
:my knee would hurt and I'm thinking, oh,
:you know, I just ran too much and I did a
:lot of running. You know, I did
:marathons, I did ultra marathons and
:things like that. But my knee is kind of
:getting cranky. But at some point my knee
:was really, really bad. OK,
:so I went to the doctor after all my own,
:like trying to fix my knee things.
:I said, OK, let's see what it's at. And
:so I have severe arthritis in one of my
:knees. OK. And at the point the doctor
:said, oh, you should make an appointment
:now because we have a three month wait
:for a knee replacement. I was in so
:much pain. I was like, Please sign
:me off. My oh my gosh is 30 months.
:And I said, I have three months. I was
:like, No, it's weight. So I went to a
:friend of mine who is chiropractor, but
:he does other techniques too. And so he
:looked at my gait. He looked at what
:exercises we can do. I stopped
:running and he says, Just eliminate
:impacts. Right. Right And
:it's now over two years. over two
:years, that I have not
:gotten a knee replacement. I have managed
:my knee pain with biking and swimming and
:strength training and Pilates and
:stretching. And so far, knock on wood,
:I am not getting a knee replacement,
:but I had to replace my running,
:which was my go-to for de-stressing.
:I missed it so much.
:I said, what am I going to do?I
:identify being a runner. I know people
:identify with something you're part of.
:Like I was part of the Montgomery County
:Roadrunner crew and I was one of their
:coaches. They were, they were my gang,
:they were my people. And suddenly I had
:nobody. It's just me and my lousy knee.
:No, no, like me, you let me down.
:And so, but I know I've heard other
:people feel that way too. You get let
:down by your body. And you don't know
:what to do. Umm So I said, all right, I
:love biking, so I bike more. And I
:started embracing swimming, although I'm
:a really not good strong swimmer. I
:mean, it takes me forever to get from one
:side to the other, but it doesn't matter.
:It helped offset the stress on the knee.
:And so it didn't become my go-to to
:de-stress. My go-to is now hiking.
:And I'm hiking. Really fast. My
:husband's like, you could almost run
:this. But it's it's like, OK, let's go. I
:want to work out. Yeah, I really need
:this. And then has helped me
:transition from
:missing my running and helping me
:decompress. Because as a runner, I always
:say, you put your shoes on, you go out
:the door. After three miles, all the
:world's problems are solved.
:Yeah. For the non-runners,
:I get it, but wow. So whatever it is you
:do, I mean, biking, I always feel, is is
:a little more dangerous when you're right
:on the roads. You have to really pay
:attention. Yeah, and you can't-- And you
:can sometimes space out and go, yeah, I'm
:just going to whatever I'm thinking
:about. But yeah, so that's--
:Wow. When you're hiking, are you, is it
:just local?So in Maryland, or are you
:like going to different locations?Well,
:we have two of our favorite locations.
:One is the Rock Creek Park. I love
:it. We're literally 10 minutes drive
:from there. The park is beautiful. It has
:all kinds of different trails. And
:sometimes we go out to Gaithersburg, who
:also has, it's a hidden
:agenda with that one. It's part of the
:extension of the, I can't think of the
:system, but it's part of the Appalachian
:Trail. Partially, but it's it's
:near Gaithersburg where the Quince
:Orchard High School is for all the people
:that are local. And there's a trail
:that goes in either direction, like all
:over the place. And I can't think of the
:name, right?Muddy Branch Trail.
:And there's a whole trail system out
:there for anybody. Wow, okay. But
:we're combining this and I don't get paid
:for that. There is an Italian
:deli. Near Quince Orchard High School on
:in Dart on Dartstown Rd. Gemelli,
:they have the best Italian
:Subs. The best. I love that
:thing in a Nagento. That's a wonderful
:recommendation for food. Yes. So
:Google Gemelli's and the trail is not far
:from there. You can work off the pasta.
:I like that. And they have really good
:Italian Subs and real Italian food
:and wine and what pizza. They have really
:good pizza. But I was like, my husband
:was just mentioning it the other day and
:he said he didn't say we haven't been to
:the trail in a while. He just said we
:haven't been to Jigmel this in a while
:and we can go to the trail at some point.
:Sure, there are so many unique places. I
:think I've always gotten excited about
:traveling outside of Maryland and just
:checking all these other places. But
:there's so many little hidden spaces in
:Maryland and. I am enjoying
:discovering them. Like, hey, we don't
:necessarily have to leave, right?I can
:spend a weekend and just check out these
:little locations. Even if I'm not hiking,
:they have wonderful trails that you can
:just walk along and just spend some quiet
:time in nature, which is so healing for
:the soul. And we have so many around we
:just don't know about. Yeah. And there's
:on the, I think it's called the REI app.
:Oh, OK. It's a free app where you can
:download it and you can get all the trail
:systems in Maryland. I think even other
:places, but I'm not quite sure where you
:can just say, you know, this is a
:beginner trail, this is a more advanced
:trail or this. I just want to do 3 miles
:walking. I like that. And so it's
:difficulties, which is what I like
:because not everybody wants to go hardcore
:And I was like, yeah, but you want to do
:something good for your art. Do you want
:to?You know, I always say, you know, when
:you walk, you get a little bit of a butt
:lift because you're using your your butt
:ski a little bit more and your legs are
:stronger. Get those calves looking right.
:Heck yeah. That'll look good. Exactly.
:So as we wrap up, we are here at the
:Podcast Movement. Have you heard anything
:that has maybe helped or that you're
:going to take away with you for your
:business?Or maybe something that you
:heard and you've decided to not do
:anymore?That's a good one. Oh,
:there's there's some good Nuggets.
:I think what I
:learned more than anything is that
:there's a big industry that supports us
:podcasters. We don't have to grab
:them all. We don't have to buy all of
:them, but they're there for us at our
:disposal. So we're not alone when it
:comes to difficult technologies. and
:programs or even time constraints. You
:know, it's like you have an a podcast
:episode and you don't have time to
:transcribe things. Right. You know,
:there's help for us there and you just
:have to find connect with the right
:people that generate
:for you what you want the way you want
:it. And the other thing that just came
:out of the keynote speech where
:the speakers were talking about, Is
:podcasting dead?And they said,
:Look at all these news. All these
:executives are saying, yeah, podcasting
:is dead. But they're like, podcasting is
:alive and well. Stay
:consistent with your
:episodes and your production, just like
:you are with your health and wellness.
:You don't get any reward or any
:more people or get healthier if you're
:not consistent with your episode.
:Let your audience know. When you're
:publishing. So if you're publishing
:episodic or you do every week or I do
:every other week on my podcast, they need
:to know so they can wrap their head
:around it and want to have the right
:explicit essence. But stick with it
:and don't give up because somebody said
:podcasting is dead. Yeah, I like that.
:That's pretty good advice. We got went to
:this last year and I think the lesson
:that I learned was having conversations.
:I think I've gotten a little bit more out
:of it. Like you said there, you don't
:know what other people are interested in
:or like what skills they have or maybe
:the tools that they know that you maybe
:never heard of. And so I've been getting
:a lot out of like, OK, what are you doing
:with your podcast and how is that
:contributing to your business?And it's
:been, well, this is only like our second
:day. And I'm like, OK, I'm feeling pretty
:full. I'm loving this. I'm like looking
:at my schedule today. I'm oh, I'm going
:to have this league and talk to someone
:later. I'm going to attend this session.
:Oh, let's see what they're doing. And
:it's it's really fun. It's also,
:I think for us, being
:solopreneurs, it is
:a feeling that we're not allowed. Oh my
:gosh, right. That there are others that
:suffer the same as we. Yesterday I
:went to a roundtable or brain date
:discussion with the leader of them was
:somebody from NPR. And I'm talking about,
:you know, the challenges that I have
:growing my podcast. And then he talks
:about his NPR situation. And I looked
:at him and I said, you're so big, you
:have the same problems we have. And he
:said, just on a larger scale.
:So I was like, I'm not alone. Even the
:big guys have trouble.
:We're all learning. We're all growing.
:That, I think that's absolutely
:incredible. Well, thank you so much for
:waiting here. Before we finalize, do you
:have any questions for me?What made you
:want to start a podcast?I like
:storytelling. And so I
:wanted to make sure that I have a place
:to, like, keep a collection of stories
:and podcasting kind of became that. So
:instead of me just recording little voice
:notes and telling my friends, I was like,
:well, let's just see if somebody else
:wants to hear. And it started with the
:friends that I have and of course, and
:then randomly someone would be like, if I
:was not consistent, Grace, where's your
:next episode?And I was like, oh, oh, OK,
:sorry. I mean, thank you, but sorry, you
:know?And so I think I kind of got into
:that, but it was just that storytelling.
:I've always loved to tell stories. And
:now when I get to do interviews, I get to
:hear other people's stories. And just
:like one of the speakers yesterday was
:talking about how talking to someone and
:like you are learning their story,
:getting to know them, and you kind of
:fall in love with people, like the person
:or the people that they are, the history
:that they bring. I enjoy all of that. So
:podcasting has been like. I don't know,
:it's been a really fun gift. Do you have
:a favorite story that we have time to
:tell?I can tell you about my skydiving
:story. That's it. That
:was actually, so my skydiving, my cousin
:was graduating from law school and
:her gift to herself was she wanted to go
:skydiving. And I was like, sure,
:why not, you know?And we get on this
:plane and I'm just trying to like keep my
:wits together. You know, you're like too
:nervous to realize that you're nervous,
:didn't click. until we got up into the
:sky and we're leaning out and you're like
:tandem, so you're strapped with someone
:else. And they open the door and like you
:know the first people hop off. And I was
:like, oh, sign me up for this. Why am I
:up here?You know But of course, you're
:way too late to back up. So we get on the
:edge and you just fall out of the
:plane. Forward to backwards. And you're
:falling backwards, 'cause you have to do,
:there's like a little banana thing. Yeah,
:I don't. I don't know. I may have blacked
:out. You just just fall forward, right?
:And then I remember just screaming
:for like what felt like 5 minutes
:and I had to take a really deep breath
:and then continue screaming. I was like,
:I think I'm good. I'm why am I still
:screaming?I think we're fine. And I was
:able to like, you know, get the tears out
:of my eyes and just look around at
:everything. And it's just gorgeous
:green, that beautiful blue lakes. You can
:see some farm like we're in Florida. So
:it's just a beautiful blend of like color
:and water and the sky was blue
:and they open up the parachute and now
:we're just gliding. And I remember just
:being like, God, this is so
:nice. I am
:so grateful to be here. I am
:enjoying like it was a wonderful
:conversation, a moment of just being
:like, I'm so happy to be alive and I
:appreciate the life that I have, so.
:Yeah, that's that's like one of my
:favorite stories. I love it. Thank you so
:much. Not that I would jump out of that.
:I'm like, I'm a phobia with height, but.
:Okay. But I admire the the
:bravery of you to to be willing to do
:that. It was incredible. It was
:incredible. Yeah. That's like the
:only word that she and I could come up
:with. Like, we just, it was
:life-changing. See?Absolutely. That's
:what adventures are all about. Yes. Yes
:And travel, right?And travel. Yeah. And
:traveled from high up to down. I
:sure did. Look, kicking and screaming.
:Literally. OK. Well, thank
:you so much, Iggy, for joining me today.
:I am so glad that we're able to have this
:live session and get this chat. like
:finally make our official interview.
:That's exactly right. I mean, we've had
:like our personal interview at bar and at
:whatever else, at the golf course. So I'm
:glad. Super. My pleasure. Thank you so
:much. Thank you.
:Hey there, Grace here. I hope you enjoyed
:today's episode and gained some useful
:takeaways. Thank you so much for
:listening and staying until the end.
:Don't forget to rate the show or share it
:with some friends. Have a wonderful week,
:take care, and remember, be bold, be
:curious, be ready to tell your story. You
:never know who needs it. Bye-bye.
