EPISODE 74: BEHIND THE SCENES WITH MY WILD HEARTED WORDS TEAM!

MEET: MY TEAM!

As the founder of Wild Hearted Words, Judy specializes in bridging left-brained smart thinking with epic creativity. With over 20 years of experience in advertising, publishing, and wellness, she delivers a unique offering that changes people’s lives.

Jenn comes from a multi-faceted career background. She’s held a wide variety of titles (Massage Therapist, Executive Assistant, Demand Gen Lead, Data Analyst, and the list goes on…) and brings her myriad skills gained in those positions together to solve problems, drive solutions and keep clear, friendly communication going throughout the whole process. She’s fastidious, action oriented, and always ready for a new challenge as Wild Hearted Word’s account manager!

As project manager for Wild Hearted Words, Meghan supports internal processes and management. They bring over five years of project and program management from the nonprofit sector, working in health equity and financial inclusion. Meghan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Modern History and International Relations from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. 

Hana, one of our three word stylists, is a passionate, creative, and collaborative soul who thrives in challenging environments. Her personal and professional experiences have shaped her into the positive individual she is today and she strives to always bring out the best in the people around her.

Krista, one of our three word stylists, is grateful for the amazing community of friends and family in her life. They continuously encourage and challenge her to grow in her empathy, tenacity, and sense of adventure. Krista loves learning about the world and the people in it (most recently, that meant learning to find the perfect papaya in a Kenyan marketplace).

Jazabelle Cunanan is a freelance copywriter, and one of our three word stylists, who’s passionate about seeing heart-driven businesses succeed. Her specialty lies in content marketing with a writing focus on wellness, beauty, spirituality, and personal development.

Website:

https://www.wildheartedwords.com 

Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/wildheartedwords/ 

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/wildheartedwords 

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/wildheartedwords/ 

SHOW NOTES

This might be the most excited I’ve been for a podcast episode because today, my very own team is here in the studio to share a bit about their stories and how we all ended up here, together, working on some incredible projects.

For those who don’t know, I also run a branding and content marketing agency called Wild Hearted Words in addition to this podcast. My remarkable team helps me with both businesses, and I’m thrilled to highlight the talented people working diligently behind the scenes to produce the kind of content we believe the world needs more of.

I like to think of my team like any other team out there. (Not biased at all.) We all champion mental and emotional health, yet we each have extraordinary talents and gifts that we bring to the table to help businesses grow their communities, engage their audiences, and get their unique purpose out there in the world.

My hope for this episode is to show you that there are so many paths to get to where you want to go in the world, as long as you believe in your own power.

 So, without further ado, please say hello to my Wild Hearted Words Team!

We also explore:

• Wild Hearted Words

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Judy Tsuei  00:00

Hello, and welcome back, we are towards the end of season two of the f*ck saving face podcast. And if you've been listening throughout the season, you know that the structure has changed a little bit since season one where I brought in a lot more diverse voices, and just featured incredible interviews because I had an opportunity to connect with so many remarkable individuals. I also didn't want to leave you hanging because I've been looking at the stats from the podcast, and I've noticed how high the downloads for the mindfulness practices are. So I wanted to make sure that we got one of those in there before the end of the year, especially because this tends to be a stressful time. And I wanted to offer a bit of support, as you're navigating different family dynamics and relationships, or just the stress of 2021 and even 2020. And as you'll hear in today's episode, whatever 2022 brings, which hopefully will not be 2021, part B.

Judy Tsuei  00:56

For today's episode, I wanted to introduce you to my incredible team. So for those of you who don't know, I own a branding and content marketing agency called Wild hearted words, you may have heard us allude to it over the last few episodes. And this team of people not only helps me run that company, but also helps me with so many things for f*ck saving face. We are individuals who champion mental and emotional health that's at the core of what we're doing. And so we're taking that and taking our special gifts and building community, growing platforms, really engaging audiences and being able to get your unique purpose out there in the world.

Judy Tsuei  01:35

The clients that I've been attracting have come to me and, you know, come to me very quickly. So I built this team in a very short amount of time over the last few months. And some of them are with people that I know who our paths have crossed in myriad ways. And some of them are with people who are just simply posted job opportunities. And these are the people who came into my world, I could not be more grateful for them. They're each uniquely remarkable and inspiring, and on their own paths. And so we are here together today to share with you a bit about each of my team member stories, how we got here, and hopefully offering an opportunity for you to be able to see that there are so many paths to get to where you want to go. If you will give yourself the space and grace to be patient to explore, to ask questions to put yourself out there and take risks, then the rewards are truly remarkable. They might not be what you initially thought, but they will definitely grow you as a person.

Judy Tsuei  02:32

I also want to share a little bit that for a very, very long time, you know, I've been doing advertising and marketing and content creation for 20 years or longer. Since I was 17, in college, getting my first internships. And for a very, very long time, people have asked me why I didn't start my own agency. And I'll tell you that a lot of it probably stemmed from the fact that I'm the eldest of four in my family of origin. And I really helped to raise my three younger siblings in that I had a lot of parental responsibilities. 

Judy Tsuei  03:06

So from making their lunches and helping them to bath time, to just kind of navigating the world as the eldest with immigrant parents, trying to figure out how to do college applications, how to translate things from English into Mandarin for them how to, you know, also manage their marriage a lot of the time, and we had a very chaotic and often dysfunctional upbringing. And so just the burden of responsibility was too much for me to handle at that young age. But then I continue to handle it. And so it got to a point where as I grew up into adulthood, it's not something that I wanted to do, I never wanted to help manage anyone else. 

Judy Tsuei  03:42

I actually, you know, a lot of this work that I'm doing with a podcast is to encourage each and every person to find that state of empowerment in your own healing and your own growth, so that you can be a fully responsible individual in the world contributing towards betterment, rather to its harm. And so that was a lot of the reasons why I didn't want to do it, I also lacked that confidence. You know, people would often tell me that not only was my work of the top most caliber that they'd ever seen, because I worked in a silo, as a freelancer, as a consultant. I never compared myself to anyone else. But I constantly get that feedback from clients of you are remarkable at your job, you've done better than anyone else that I've ever worked with. 

Judy Tsuei  04:21

And a lot of these things, you know, I don't know about you, but learning how to take compliments and really believing in them rather than feeling that people were just giving me lip service was something that I also had to do. So then here I was, even recently with one of my newest clients, I lead them in a premium intensive and these are people who were VPs and executives of very prominent companies, you know, running brands that you would definitely know the names of. And so after I delivered my brand direct to them, really helping to create this North Star for the brand that they were looking to build and grow. They took a moment at the start of our call just to say we just need to let you know that you are the

Judy Tsuei  04:59

The best that we've ever seen at this, we've hired extremely expensive, huge companies who weren't able to deliver the caliber of work that you were able to do, you were able to take what we were trying to say. And then we didn't have the words and then totally finesse it into a fully fledged brand that people could understand and comprehend and get excited about and drive conversion with. So they said, you know, like, we worked with executives in rooms for weeks, if not months at a time trying to get what you were able to turn around in a day. 

Judy Tsuei  05:30

And so starting to really let that feedback in and being invited to be a mentor with the founder Institute, where as I worked with entrepreneur, after entrepreneur, I really got to see what a beneficial impact my insights, even my intuition, but especially my expertise over the last couple of decades was able to lend to them and how when I spoke with the directors of founder Institute, that they were telling me that they had one on one calls with the entrepreneurs that I had mentored and spoken with, and how much of a pivotal impact I made on the direction of their messaging, their marketing, their brand, and how my insights and my input truly helped them get to the next level. 

Judy Tsuei  06:15

So as I started to have that feedback, and then as I started to hire a team, I realized that one of my favorite things has always been teaching, I loved it when I was a yoga teacher. I loved it in any sort of medium where I get to share knowledge that I've acquired, to hopefully help someone else and then also symbiotically learn from them. That's why I love hearing other people's stories so so so much, and that's why this podcast exists, especially this last season, where I've just spent so much time interviewing individuals about their unique experiences and stories. And so all of that put together has helped me build this remarkable team and the culture that I've helped set forth. And just the camaraderie and the drive that we each have to support one another in our greatest

Judy Tsuei  07:04

expression of self and our greatest expression of potential has been so fulfilling. And so I wanted to bring this team of people to you so you could hear firsthand individuals just like you and me, who are living their days, growing their dreams, building it with their families and the people that they love. And also continually figuring it out knowing that this is an iterative process, and that we will continue to refine and, you know, ebb and shift as we go. So without further ado, I will introduce you to my team and if there is an opportunity that you want to connect with us and see if there's a way that we can work together if what we're saying and sharing speaks to you then please do visit us at Wildheartedworld.com you can contact us my incredible account manager and project manager will help navigate that process to see if we are a good fit

Judy Tsuei  08:07

WELCOME TO THE F*CK saving face podcast. I'm your host, Judy Tsuei. And together we'll explore mental and emotional health for Asian Americans and beyond all by breaking through taboo topics, like may not always be pretty, but it is indeed beautiful. Let's make your story beautiful today.

Judy Tsuei  08:28

Okay, so we have a very special episode at f*ck saving face. I'm going to introduce you to my team. So this is my team of incredible humans who are not just helping me at f*ck saving face but also helping me with my strategic content marketing agency wild hearted words. And we've grown exponentially in a very short amount of time. We've continually signed on path clients that we're super passionate about people in the mental emotional wellness space and innovators in whatever field that they're in. It's been super exciting. 

Judy Tsuei  08:57

We've had a lot of growing opportunities along the way. But I brought on an amazing team of writers and project account managers. So I wanted to introduce you all to my team because we have such a different idea. I think all of us as humanity of what makes us happy. I think the challenge is is that we are often told what should make us happy and it usually looks like the money and the possessions. And so what I love about what Hannah Brannigan is doing so one of my favorite team members, I'm gonna say that about everyone like they're all my favorites

Judy Tsuei  09:28

is that she is a digital nomad. And so, I'd love to turn it over to Hannah to explain a bit about, you know, her journey. She just moved back when I first started working with Hannah, she was in Costa Rica, and then in the middle of a very intense project. She's flying back to the US and so she continued to show up for me it was absolutely incredible. Hannah's also part Asian American Well, I guess you are the blend of Asian and American

Judy Tsuei  09:55

Irish, so she is Asian and half Irish. And so we want to

Judy Tsuei  09:59

Talk a bit about that as well. So I'll turn it over you, henna to make an introduction.

10:05

Okay, hi everyone. It's so surreal being on the podcast now since I've been working on all the marketing aspects for F*ck saving face for maybe like a month or maybe even a little bit longer now. So it's really surreal getting to be among so many amazing guests that have already been on the podcast so far. But I'm really excited to be here and to be also the one who's getting me to do reels. So if you've been Instagram at f*ck saving face that stuck with you, you can see me doing reels, which I'm going to say in the beginning, she had to show me on a screen recording of how to press the buttons, know what to do, and to add the audio. 

10:49

And then I realized that it was a wonderful opportunity to channel you know, my elementary school theatrical self where I get to just play and pretend that I'm acting. So it's super fun. But back to you. Yeah, I know, you've been doing such a wonderful job with it too. And you caught on, like really quickly. So it's been really fun seeing you, like have fun with it. Because I think that's like so I guess another reason why I'm in this kind of like freelancing spaces because I find it a little bit more fun, because I feel like people who are freelancers kind of already have an open mind, because they're kind of pursuing, like this more unconventional lifestyle, which means, usually you like you have a little bit more of an open mind to different ways of living. And so yeah, like, just to tie that into the marketing aspect for like saving face, it's been really fun to see you, like play around with it, and like have a little bit of fun.

11:46

And yeah, so I as I said, I'm a freelancer, I wasn't always a freelancer, I had an office job for about two and a half years, or maybe two years, I don't really remember. Um, and it was a great environment, it was kind of like a startup feel. But my, my heart just wasn't in the right space. And I was kind of motivated at first because it was my first like, actual, quote, unquote, career job. But just something about being an office and like not having a lot of autonomy. And I guess, and not being able to, like, really fully express my

12:25

thoughts and feelings. I mean, it was a really nurturing environment, I think. But there were still some limitations. And just something was missing from it. I just didn't find like my heart in the right spot. So I decided, why not while I'm still young, and I don't really have any commitments, why not just do something that I really love, which is traveling and writing. And so my boyfriend and I decided to take a chance. And we're like, let's just try this out for a year and see how it goes. And we can always come back and get like an office job if this freelancing thing doesn't work out. But here we are, like two and a half years later, it's still working out.

13:06

Which is amazing. Yeah, and, yeah, I just always love traveling. And so this is like a really great mix between getting to choose who I get to work with and whose missions I really align with, so that I feel motivated to work every single day. And it doesn't feel like work either. It feels like it feels really nice to be a part of like such a really great mission. And then I get to experience cultures as well and meet other people and learn Spanish, which has been really exciting. So yeah, that's, that's just a little bit about me. So in your two and a half years, where all the places that you've been.

13:45

So 2020 didn't really count. Yeah, that's true. That's,

13:50

I guess, if you if you don't have that, I guess it's been like a year and a half or something. But we've been to Mexico City, pile that vitamin the loom.

Judy Tsuei  14:00

We went to this really amazing island called a slum here. This is this really, really small island off of Cancun, and it's a really beautiful place. A lot of locals, a lot of fun people over there. Um, we've also been to Colombia, and then we were in Peru for nine months because of COVID. So that was really interesting. And then Costa Rica. That's amazing. Those are such wonderful travels. I think that there's also this idea that, you know, obviously, it's way easier when you're younger and you have no commitments like exactly, house, no family, no dependents, like all of that. And at the same time, I want to encourage people that you can still create the life that you want to have so I was just on a call with my business mentor. And you know, for me, and we'll touch upon the Asian elements soon, but

Judy Tsuei  14:55

I have been asking myself at what point will I feel like there's I've made it or the

Judy Tsuei  15:00

There's some marker for success. Because my business mentor, you know, saying from the outside looking in, and he's not the first person to say this, I'm gonna say you're really successful, you've created the life that you want, you know, you're available for your daughter whenever you want. And also, my daughter is about to turn seven. And you know, she's lived in Taiwan, the Philippines, Austin, Hawaii, camper, van, all of that. And so, I think that, even if you do have dependents or responsibilities, I think we get into a routine very easily. And Familiarity is such a strong pole. 

Judy Tsuei  15:36

This is part of why in self healing work in all the types of different personal development journeys, you'll find that people say, as you start to elevate and shift and change, the pull of what you know, is so strong, that if you're not filling up the space that you're making, by releasing the old and welcoming the new, or, you know, creating that opportunity for yourself that it's so easy to, to just go back to what you know, and our brains a pattern for that. So, I think that, you know, for anybody who's listening and curious, I always encourage the understanding that you can create your reality. 

Judy Tsuei  16:13

And I have to say that, you know, from the traditional Asian parents that I grew up with, to where we are now, my parents have come very far away, like very far along to understand, okay, you know, also, dude, there's four of us four kids in my family. And, you know, we're now in our 40s, and 30. So, but I just, we just had Thanksgiving, and we're at my aunt uncle's house, and my cousins are about a decade plus younger than me, and to be able to see them also become who they are. And we sat at the table with the youngest of four from their family. 

Judy Tsuei  16:45

And my cousin Paul had, you know, long hair and tattoos and his girlfriend was also like, they live in downtown, it was just such a wonderful feeling to see that your personal expression can be embraced. And I'm pretty sure that for many of you who are listening, you probably that was not what you grew up. Those weren't the expectations that were placed on you. One more thing that I'll say is I was riding the peloton, recently, and Robin had said, in like, you know, motivating you at 530 in the morning, she said, What is something that you used to pray for, or ask for or really, really want that you didn't think that you would ever get, and now it's in your life. And when you reflect upon that, it's, you're instantly put in gratitude. 

Judy Tsuei  17:29

And I thought it was such a great way to remember that there are so many things we probably thought we could never do. But now here we are living them in the moment. And yet, we keep moving the goalposts. So it's very rare that we stop and pause and look at how far we've come. But I liked that understanding, because definitely there are things in my life that I never thought, you know, would be here now. And Hannah and I, before we jumped on this recording, we're talking about the business, and talking about milestones for q1 of 2022, and how you know, these big ideas or big numbers or whatever, actually,

Judy Tsuei  18:04

in my heart, and in my core, I'm like, I know, we're gonna hit it, and then there's gonna just be a new normal, and then we'll hit the next thing, it'll be a new expansion. So excuse me. So, you know, going back to all this, I would love to just kind of hear about your journey being, you know, half Asian and Irish. And if there were the same expectations that were placed on you, or, you know, how, what you feel about your identity.

18:31

Yeah, um, so, I guess it's really interesting, because I am first generation here in America, but my, I feel like my mom kind of raised me almost like a second generation, if that makes sense. Because, you know, she grew up with Tiger parents. And so she kind of like, had the same parenting styles on me, but because she grew up here in America.

19:00

I think she moved here when she was like, in third grade, she had like this.

19:06

I guess she grew up, you know, with that really traditional Asian culture. But then also, she had the American culture infused into her because she was pretty young, like when she grew up. So it was a really interesting way of growing up, because I feel like I never really directly heard, you know, like, messaging that I think other.

19:26

Other like Tiger parents may have said more bluntly, I feel like it was a little bit more. Um, it was like, underlying messages like reading between the lines and reading through actions and stuff. She's, she's always been so so supportive. And same with my family, like, they're so supportive of me. But you know, like, obviously, when you have an only child, you want the best for them. And when you grow up with this certain way of thinking about success and like life, you obviously want that same thing for your child because you grew up thinking that that was the definition of success and

20:00

I think it was your, your recent podcast well, because I'm, you know, I'm listening to all your podcasts before they actually get released. But I guess by this time, like when this is published, then your interview with Zion Kim will be released. But he was saying

20:15

that his mom viewed success as like financial success. And you kind of have to realize that messaging that you grew up with and recognize where it came from, and challenge that if maybe that's not your version of success, and try and explain that to your family. And so I think going through this whole, like digital nomad thing has really

20:41

put that conversation on the forefront with my mom, because she again, like I said, she's so supportive, but obviously, it's a little bit terrifying, because it's not like the traditional way of going about things. Um, and with my dad, it's interesting, because he's a little bit more like, relaxed, but he's worked really hard to build this life for myself, and my parents are divorced now. But you know, when I was younger, he was building a life for all of us as well, he moved here when he was 19, to find better opportunities. Because back in Ireland, there just weren't that many opportunities. 

21:16

And his mom was a single mom and taking care of like six kids or something. So yeah, it was a pretty tough life for him as well. So he came over here to try and find like better opportunities. And so He's also worked really hard. But he, I think, is like a little bit more passive, or he's just like, I support you, like, I'm worried about you. But it's a little bit more like easygoing. It took my mom a little bit more convincing to let me go out and just try this and see how it works.

21:48

And then obviously, growing up like American as well. It's just like all these like infusions of like, different messaging, and it's like, let me live my life. And also you want to, like respect your parents? Of course. Yeah. And so far, I think I've convinced her a little bit that I can actually do this. I think it'll take maybe another year or so. of convincing but you know, she's, she's always very supportive. Like, I can't dismiss that about her. Like, I feel very fortunate that she would even let me go out and like, try this and let alone with a boyfriend.

22:25

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, um, my mom was saying how she wasn't even allowed to date until she was in college or something. And, and she wasn't allowed to move in with my dad until they were married. And like, he would have to pick her up from from my grandma's house. And, you know, like, follow all these rules and stuff. And she's like, Do you know how much I had to go through? Like, you're like, I'm being very generous.

22:52

Wonderful. And what is your mom? My mom is feeding me.

Judy Tsuei  22:58

Yeah, so my whole family actually lives here in California. Oh, that's wonderful. Yeah. And so I wanted to ask, you know, you took this adventure, which I think over the last few years, we've also seen a greater influx influx of people being able to have that location, independence and freedom. And being a digital nomad became much more normalized over time. But I would love to know, what's one of the things that was unexpected that you learned about yourself, or that you found that you've totally fallen in love with? Or even was one of the challenges that you feel like, you didn't know that you were gonna experience whether personally or just, you know, going out and about and experiencing the world?

23:42

Yeah, oh, such a good question. And I feel like there's so much to unpack there. And I guess I'll start out with the positives, which is, I really realize that it's so important for me to live my life that way that aligns with my morals and values and passions. Um, I don't know where that came from, really. But like, if I'm not doing something I don't believe in or that I don't have a passion for. I just cannot bring myself to get involved in it. And honestly, I don't know how I survived those, like, very short couple of years in that office job. Um, because even though I love the staff over there, it's just like, the job was so draining. 

24:30

Actually, you know what, now that I think about it, I I was having anxiety attacks, like every day when I was working in the office job and so I guess that kind of shows like I maybe yeah, I wasn't really coping with it the best way. Um, but yeah, it just like for me to feel actually very fulfilled in my life and like, feel comfortable with myself. I guess I have to work in something that I'm very passionate about. And like, live in a way that's very true to me. I don't always

25:00

I like being told what to do. And so I think

25:05

this freedom kind of gives me the opportunity to really explore the things that I love. And like, I guess, like we only for what we know, we probably only live this one life. And so I guess it feels like time is already moving so quickly and I'm still in my late, or like my 20s. So I'm still young, but like, it still feels like everything is going so quickly. So I'm like, I need to, like make the most of every single moment that I have on this earth while I can. And also you never know what's going to come in the future. So I guess like, I don't know, I just want to like soak up everything and like learn everything about the world and about people who live in it. So that's been like a huge positive is that I've, I feel like I've just really grown into myself. 

25:50

And I realized, like, kind of what I want in life, at least for this chapter right now, who knows what's gonna come in the future. But for now, I feel very, like confident in that. But, you know, it took a while to get here and a lot of mental health work and a lot of hours and therapy stuff. Um, but yeah, I feel like, maybe that's also a reason why is because I feel like I suffered so long with mental health issues, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders that I feel like it would do myself. Like, I would do myself a huge disservice if I wasn't actually living the life that I at one point didn't think I would live.

26:28

So I think that's another reason why I just, I can't go back to pretending everything's okay without being genuine to myself.

26:36

And some challenges, I would say it can get lonely abroad.

26:41

Even though you're meeting a lot of different people, I still have like my closest friends here in California. And so you kind of have to find ways to enjoy your own company, and to reach out to the people who you care about most. And rekindle those friendships and keep those friendships like well maintained, so that you don't really feel too lonely and isolated, because it can get a little bit lonely, even if, even when you're traveling with a partner.

27:13

And I would say as well, like just on

27:17

a job perspective, at the beginning, it was really challenging to keep going because at the beginning, it's really hard to find clients and to find work because you're still kind of in that exploration phase, and you're like, oh, who do I want to work for? What mission do I want to follow.

27:38

And so I think at the beginning, it can be really discouraging, because you feel like you're getting nowhere. Um, but I'm really glad that I stuck with it. And I just kept going.

Judy Tsuei  27:50

Because eventually, I found you. And I found this other client that I also work with, who I just absolutely adore. And I feel so fulfilled now. And so all that, like, you know, that process is really worth it, even though at the beginning, it didn't seem like it was gonna go anywhere. Processes still iterating I think because, you know, yeah, I recently have been working together on a project that was super intense. And it was like, you know, trial by fire. But along the way, we learned so much about what it is that we don't do want and what it is that we don't. 

Judy Tsuei  29:48

One of the things that I keep journaling about every morning is just I'm so thankful for the team that we have, it feels so wonderful. And it's also a team of women, and a team of people from all different, you know, cultural backgrounds, or whatever our preferences are. And I think that for two, we really value and honor one another, which I think is so great.

30:24

Yeah, I completely agree. Like, when I first joined the team, I just felt like automatically, I could be my authentic self,

Judy Tsuei  30:33

which has been so great, which really, you know, speaks to the type of team that you've also built? Um, I think, yeah, like, we just all work so harmoniously together. So you've really like a team of people who haven't, like, met each other. I mean, I like some of the team members, but actually in person. Not yet. It's our goal in 2022. To create ever Yeah, we will be doing that what one of the writers that we work with, like, we have a history together like jazz, and I know each other from our past, but like, I've never talked to anyone else like besides on Slack, but I already feel like, you know, we have this weird connection. Yeah, it's so lovely. I love it. Well, we, you're gonna hear from the rest of the team members throughout this episode. 

Judy Tsuei  31:24

But also, you know, I hope that you walk away from every individual just hearing their stories. And if you know me, then you know that I love stories. And so I think we learn best from hearing from people's experiences of what they've gone through, and what they, you know, their struggles and their challenges and their triumphs, the whole gamut. And so I hope that you walk away taking something that can be inspiring or knowing that you're not alone, and what it is that you're going through, and that, you know, especially with the mental and emotional health challenges that you were talking about, I it reminded me of yet another thing that I'm grateful for now that I didn't think whatever happened when I was in the middle of my eating disorder, I never would have imagined that my life would be where it is now, like, could not in a million years have imagined it. And so the fact that I'm here now

Judy Tsuei  32:10

is remarkable. And then I have a little girl. And so I think with all of that insight and knowledge, I do my best to encourage her to love her body and her being and you know, really feel that sense of worth just for being present just for being alive, and just to have that self respect. So what I also love about this team of humans is that I get to be around people who are younger than me, who are older than my daughter, but then I get to kind of almost see into the future a little bit and see like, who she could grow up to become, which is so exciting. Um, so if anybody wants to learn more about what our agency is doing, you can go to wild heart awards calm, and you'll see that we have a glow up coming in 2022. So I'm really excited about that.

Judy Tsuei  32:55

Um, but beyond that, you know, thank you so much for listening to the podcast and prepare to meet more of my team.

33:03

Yay.

Judy Tsuei  33:18

I am so excited to introduce me to my next team member because she's one of my favorite people on the planet. So Megan, is someone that I met in Austin, when I did this really quick speaking thing. And then she came up to me afterwards and was like, Hi, I'd like to get to know you, my company could benefit from like you speaking with us. And since then we formed just a wonderful friendship. We both moved a lot. The times that we met in Austin, and Megan is now back at home. And I will let her speak to that in a moment. But um, one of the things that everybody loves about Megan, at least everybody that I know who knows her as her energy. So she's so.

Judy Tsuei  34:02

just full of light, like joy and love and warmth. And so every time I'm around, Megan, I just feel so happy inside from my core onward. And, you know, she's seen me through different iterations of me building the content marketing agency and her knowledge and her prowess are, you know, unparalleled. So she is now our product manager. So she takes care of all the things back in for our business. And I'm so honored and grateful that she joined us because, you know, she has been a valuable asset to so many different companies. 

Judy Tsuei  34:36

And I'm just so happy she said yes to us. So, we are going to talk about things like the nonprofit sector, which is something that she's worked in, in quite some time, or for quite some time, and then mental health and then just where she is now and how she's defining success for herself. So I'm going to turn it over to Megan so that you can introduce yourself and tell yourself, talk a little bit about yourself to everyone. Thank you so much, Judy. I am so sorry.

35:00

Good to be here and to be working with wild hearted words again. Yeah, we met five years ago, which is, feels like a fever dream, to be honest with you. So I'm really excited. I'm really excited to be here. Yeah, at the time, when we met, I was working for a CDFI Certified development, financial institution, so nonprofit, but make it finance. So it was really great to meet with entrepreneurs at that time and connect with small business owners. 

35:27

And from there, I kind of built a passion for, you know, working with smaller businesses and seeing what the logistics and back end operationally like what does it take to make a successful business? So through the years, I kind of built upon that and go into those events were always great, because I got to meet fabulous people like, Judy, thank you so much for your kind words, saying that I'm warm and kind because, you know, I feel sometimes like a goblin most of the time. So I love that people think of me as light and warm because I feel like a goblin. So that is a great, that's great to hear.

36:02

I worked for over about just about 10 years, in the nonprofit sector, I got my first job right when I was 18, I worked for a variety of grassroots organizations to bigger statewide ones did everything from marketing, to fundraising, to program management to customer service within nonprofits. So throughout that time, I learned a lot about the different little tics that happened within the nonprofit industry. And, you know, after after about 10 years and six years in Austin, I decided to move to Colorado to be closer to family just a couple of months ago. So it's been a huge transition moving from Texas to Colorado. And despite it being December already, there has not been any snow. So I'm a little disappointed. Hello, climate change.

Judy Tsuei  36:55

Well, and the other thing that I forgot to mention is that this whole podcast is here because of Megan, she was the Kickstart to everything, help me figure out where to host it helped me put everything together did the editing in the beginning. And so you know, we wouldn't be here without her. So yay. And thank you.

Judy Tsuei  37:14

And I wanted to ask you, because you know, everyone that we've talked to you on the team so far, myself included, were such huge proponents of mental and emotional health. And I would love to hear your take on that, given your work experience, and also just your personal life experience. You know, I know that when you and I, we I distinctly remember this walk, we were walking to a cafe in Austin, and we're just walking and talking. And we were just talking about how little mentorship there is for millennials and just helping to just try to find a navigate that path forward in life. And, you know, I think that having a mentor is a very understated, amazing gift. So I'd love for you to speak about any and all of that.

38:03

Absolutely. Yeah, I feel that space has always been really hard to I did feel at the beginning of my career I had let me back up.

38:17

When I get into a workplace, I tend to make it my entire identity. And I had noticed that kind of creeping in as a toxic behavior. You know, when I was working 5060 hour weeks for nonprofit pay, which created its own issues for me. So as I was getting older, it was kind of looking around and seeing the mentors that I did have, or the people who I thought would be mentors, were not actually teaching or promoting healthy.

38:47

You know, they weren't promoting kind of like healthy methodologies to how you want to build your career. And I had to take along, it took a long time for me to take stock and be like, Oh, is that how I want to turn out? Or is that actually it's not actually what I want or that I do I want to go somewhere else. And I did find it really difficult to kind of navigate one I didn't know what I really wanted to do in life. So actually finding a mentor in general was really difficult.

39:15

And then be

39:17

even trying to find people it was hard for me to articulate it be vulnerable with what it is that I wanted from a hurt because I also feel for a lot of a lot of my own experiences with mentors, there is a give and take components there obviously not your therapists, you shouldn't treat them as such. But I also didn't know like what what were we be professional? Were we not being professional? So those boundaries had been really difficult in the beginning in the early stage of my career because where I went to college we they didn't really like set us up for career anything so I didn't actually know how know how to navigate those other than how do you show up in a personal relationship and obviously personal professional relationships are important.

Judy Tsuei 40:00

W difference. Hmm. Well, and that's what's interesting that you say that is because oftentimes, by the way, for all the listeners, I'm sending text messages, Slack messages, and emails to my team to tell them how much I love them. So

Judy Tsuei 40:14

it's the kind of team that I built.

Judy Tsuei 40:19

While also, I feel like maintaining healthy boundaries, where I'm respecting, like when Megan says, I'm not going to be working during these times, this isn't like, you know, the right thing that I want to be doing. I'm like, Great, thank you so much for letting me know. Or you know, when one of my team members says, I need more lead time for projects, and you know, my MO is to be like, go go go all the time. And so that's, it's really important for me to honor that. And so I love when people are setting up those healthy boundaries and being able to have those conversations for you. Because we are talking about success on your own terms. What do you feel like is success? Now?

40:55

That's a great question.

40:57

I think success for me is true flexibility. In my workday, I learned pretty quickly on nine to five, not for me, I'm more of like a 10 to one, and then a nine to 11:30pm kind of person, being able to really create the schedule and the day that I I want that's not totally structured, and you're, you know, stuck at your desk and doing things and creating that was the other component that I think I learned a lot when I was like, you know, working like full time traditional jobs was that

41:35

oftentimes, I found you had a lot to do. But sometimes I felt like people started creating work for themselves, because they felt like they needed to be doing something. So it just became the self fulfilling prophecy, and then creating burnout because of so yeah, for me, it's definitely flexibility. And now that I'm back home, it's also reconnecting with my family over the pandemic, is the first time in years I didn't, I didn't see them for 18 months. So that was really difficult.

42:03

So being able to move back in and actually getting to know my family, as adults has been a really interesting, interesting transition. And just kind of like a fun way to reconnect with family and myself and my own sense of identity, that I didn't really have the opportunity to do because I was, you know, working, working so hard for minimal pay, and then really being like, what am I actually what am I actually doing, and it might actually contributing to something that I think is making a difference or not, because in nonprofits sometimes.

42:40

Okay, scratch that. I'm not gonna go there. I was gonna, I was about to just

42:46

like, maybe I shouldn't

Judy Tsuei 42:49

know, that's okay. I mean, I love Can I ask you to, because I know that one of the things that I loved meeting, when I met you was hearing about your non traditional family dynamic growing up, in which your dad was the primary caregiver at home, while your mom was the primary earner, you know, and so, I loved hearing that. And I loved just knowing that you had that upbringing, because I think that it just speaks to, you can make your own life however you want it to look, as long as people are on the same page, and it works for everybody.

43:23

So if there's anything that you want to share about that, you know, I mean, just because we're trying to really embrace non traditional options. Yeah. Yeah, no, totally like growing up. I thought, everybody, well, everybody's mom was the main working parent. Like I was confused when I only saw moms dropping kids off and it wasn't their dad, like, because my dad also volunteered at the school, he drove me to softball practice, homework. It was crazy, cuz I was like, Oh, this is not everybody's

43:58

expert. I was like, if I get a spouse, like I'm the one that's supposed to be working. I mean, this is also I think, when I thought I was totally straight. So like, whenever my spouse is, you know, male or female, I still expect it to be the breadwinner. But no, it was such a it was such a fun dynamic growing up too, because I feel like we just we're able to connect in a different way cuz my mom also was from a remote worker for her entire career. Wow. So you know, 90s, early 2000s. That was pretty, like unheard of. And she worked primarily with international companies. So her office was like, the no go zone.

44:36

allowed to go dear, because she'd also have meetings with like, the British Library at like, 11pm at night, you know, and it's just like really was crazy. It's crazy to think about my mom's career now too, because I grew up in Idaho. So, you know, Idaho back in the 90s, early 2000s different place. So it was no it was I think it actually made a huge it made a huge impact.

45:00

done me growing up, because I was always supported in going a different pathway and being like, what do you want to do? Just go for it. And I distinctly remember my mom telling me to take a gap year in between high school and college. And me going like, no,

45:18

I need to be a perfectionist. And I need to do it immediate, because that's what everybody else is doing. Looking back now, definitely. And for any listeners out there that are considering doing a gap year do it, and maybe don't even go to college. Yeah, think about something, that's not worth it.

Judy Tsuei 45:36

And the other thing that I love about Megan is, I feel like I'm always learning when I'm around you, and I am just continually exposed to new things. You're so passionate about so many different things, you bring people into the fold, and it helps me, I was joking with one of our clients. Because they're, you know, probably older than me, I'm just gonna guess. Um, but you know, I was saying how our team is like, younger and just like all the things that like, help us to keep us spry.

Judy Tsuei 46:08

Keep us like, woke No,

46:12

God.

Judy Tsuei 46:14

But um, but I love you know, I mean, even today, like when we were on a call, you helped correct me about pronouns, which I so appreciated. And, you know, it wasn't in like an offensive kind of way. It was like, Oh, just so you know. And it's just so great to have that to have people who are so diverse in their interests. And

Judy Tsuei 46:36

just to keep learning, I feel like that's the other thing that's a common thread in Everybody on this team is that we're constantly learning, and we all have like a desire to grow, which is amazing. And I spoke to this before, but like we're all remote. So a lot of us have not met in person yet.

Judy Tsuei 46:52

But it's a wonderful like to just feel that close to someone. I said this to my partner, or I was like, Oh my gosh, yeah, I have these friends who I met when I was living in Austin, and they live all around the world. And like, we're so close, and he's so sorry, you never met them in real life.

Judy Tsuei 47:07

Yeah, but we're so close.

47:10

I mean, that's why I always like when people sometimes ask me, like, what are you most like, thankful for? Or what do you like really grateful for I often say, you know, in a weird way I do. I do really appreciate video technology, don't love the social media aspect of it. But being able to connect with people, despite, you know, especially during the pandemic, and being able to maintain friendships, and relationships long distance via video has been incredible.

47:37

Like one of my best friends that I met, we met a couple months before the pandemic happened. And then our entire friendship developed over over video chat. And like, we didn't go out for an in person happy hour, until like, maybe a couple months ago. Like, you know what I mean? Or like a little like earlier in the summer, which was like, so crazy to me to think and we always joke like, you know, we were forged in fire, like we're not going anywhere. Because that's the nice thing about technology and building remote teams like this to in the culture building, that you've been able to build wildcard adverts, which I also just want to say thank you for being self safe container for that for both mental health and expression, because that's not always the case.

Judy Tsuei 48:22

Well, it's funny, because I was asked to potentially mentor this session for the founder Institute about hiring. And I'm like, Well, you know, I mean, I just recently like, built my team. So I'm not really sure like if I'm qualified to speak to that, but when I hear about you, and Hannah, and jazz, and you know, Kristen, and Jen, like just your feedback to me has been so rewarding to be like, Well, I have been around the block Bo worked for, I don't even know, I one day, I should tell you how many companies that I've worked with.

Judy Tsuei 48:50

And so, you know, it's been really nice to be able to create that. And I feel in my heart that as we're building this company,

Judy Tsuei 48:57

we're just at the start. And I'm just so excited for what's to come. Because I feel like in a very short amount of time, all of us are gonna turn around and look back and be like, Whoa, look at what we did, and look at what we created. And remember when, remember when we started, like, you know, here because my goal is in 2022, y'all that we're gonna have a retreat in San Diego or Mexico and I'm gonna bring my whole team out. And it's going to be so amazing and wonderful. And Megan and I were just celebrating before we got on this recording of the new clients that have signed on in a short amount of time, like the momentum. And you know, we're continually elevating and continually learning pushing our growing edge and it's just been such a wonderful experience. So as we're closing this snippet, I guess

Judy Tsuei 49:43

what is something that you would like to share?

49:48

Oh, anything?

49:50

Yeah, anything.

49:53

I guess I would just share that as we are, are encouraged maybe listeners is

50:00

We're kind of closing out this year and not everybody celebrates, like December is the new year, right? New Year's happen for different people across the world at different times in the year but really thinking about this winter season, and reflecting upon 2021, which I have, maybe not lovingly but the grudgingly called 2022. As we are probably entering 2023 2022

50:27

is both like reflection and seeing like where everybody's growing edges into pursue curiosity. I think curiosity is the bet one of the best traits that somebody can have and to create space for you to be playfully curious, and whatever, wherever you want that to be. And incorporating that into your daily life because life is so much more than work. It's so much more than just relationships. It's multi dimensional. So everyone's or pursue whatever it is that they're interested in learning more about, because what is life but learning? Can I share about your tarot readings? Sure, yes.

Judy Tsuei 51:10

So for anybody who's listening and wants to reach out to Megan, Megan at Wild her words,

Judy Tsuei 51:15

me G H. N. She does tarot readings, and they've been so phenomenal. And I think that that's the other thing that I love about our team is we're all a little Woo. Oh, yeah, in our own ways, some, you know, very overtly Woo, some, like, you know, just ingrained in our own lifestyles. But definitely, I texted Megan throughout our friendship and be like, Could you pull some cards for me? I remember being in Mexico and doing that texting you while you were in like Austin, I think still and like, you know, other places. And it's just a nice little check in for whatever it is that's going on in your life. My neighbor also is super into astrology. So she's often like letting me know about like, what's happening. And so I feel like again, in that sense of playfulness, do whatever is right for you. And, you know, allow yourself to pursue that because, as you said, What is life but all this learning?

52:08

Exactly, yes. And I would be remiss not to shout out my Tarot mentor Carly Fisher's outside terror Tarot. You can check her out online. I learned how to read tarot from her and Tarot is a great tool to hold as a mirror to yourself. It's not necessarily predictions, but a way to have a conversation with yourself. That's not as scary as standing in front of a mirror and being like, what is Shadow Work? I can't do. So Tara. Was that a really useful tool for me? So if anyone's been struggling with Shadow Work, know, y'all to check out taro as a way to do that. I love it so much. Well, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. And let's see what 2022 Slash 2023

52:53

Yes, thank you so much, Judy.

Judy Tsuei 53:08

Okay, I'm super excited to introduce you to my next team member who you heard Hannah allude to, in the last interview, where jazz is how I found Hannah, actually, they were friends before. And jazz is my very first hire. And to that I will be forever grateful to the universe because she has absolutely been a godsend, and just transformed what I thought was possible with the agency. So jazz is an incredible writer and a strategic thinker, and a mom, among other things, also Asian American. And so I wanted to have her on because we talked before we jumped on this recording a little bit about human design, which if you want to scroll back through some old episodes, we did a human design episode, which was so fascinating.

Judy Tsuei 53:55

And I absolutely loved diving deeper into that, because I think anytime that you start to be able to understand how you operate from a bigger, broader perspective, it not only removes a lot of the guilt and shame of why don't I fit in with certain modes that society operates in, it feels like it gives you a lot of permission to just really shine the way that you want to shine and the way that you're built to. And so along the lines of this human design idea is if you actually if we all every single individual on this planet live to our human design, we would all function so much more seamlessly together because there are people built for certain positions in the world.

Judy Tsuei 54:34

And they're people built like by your core DNA slash, you know, Soul nature, you're meant to do certain types of work, but a lot of times we do things that we think we're supposed to do. And I'm not saying to issue responsibility, I think we should all be responsible, respectful humans and citizens of the world. But we were just jumping on this before this to talk about how Jas realize that she's a projector and projectors are very different than generators, which is

Judy Tsuei 54:59

But I am. So you can imagine the word generators like go go go, you know, doo doo doo. And a projector is more of the type where you have the bigger broader vision to things. And I think that this also lends into why jazz is so great about thinking strategically as much as creatively. This is also why I love each of my team members, I feel like we were all built to be very symbiotic with each other. And then there's a lot of resonance along the things that we're passionate about in the ways that we show up in the world. So without further ado, I'm going to turn it over to jazz to just share a little bit about yourself and you know about your life and your work. Well, thank you for that intro.

55:39

Very well put, my name is jazz Bell, I also go by jazz. And I'm a copywriter for wild hearted words, I do also a little bit for FSF.

55:52

But a little bit about myself, I guess, I, I went to school for English, I've always been a huge nerd when it comes to language writing and communication expression. And then when I was when I was going to school at UCI, and that's when I realized my passion for for marketing and for business and entrepreneurship.

56:18

I had always wanted to become a freelance writer, but I never really had

56:25

any examples, anyone to look up to, I didn't know how to get my foot into the door.

56:31

And then, during college, I started coming across, you know, all of the self help all of the personal development, Marie Forleo videos are really huge for me. And I started learning more about business. And

56:46

fast forward a few years later, copywriting kind of melds both of those passions together. So it's like really the perfect niche. And it kind of happened organically for me. I started copywriting during the pandemics professionally, at least, because I had all of this family at home all of a sudden,

57:07

I had, she's too now. So she was she was one at the time when the pandemic started. But all of a sudden,

57:17

I had all of these family members at home, everyone was home, they weren't working at all. So I was like, You know what, I should take advantage. And I should start my career, which what I've been thinking, you know, for how many years I wanted to start this.

57:31

So yeah, it all happened kind of organically. And then I found

57:35

Judy on Instagram, actually there were a hashtag. Oh, hi,

57:41

Max.

Judy Tsuei 57:45

Yeah, that's where I am now. And I've loved. So this was surprising to me as well, I have a business mentor. And when he had asked, you know, like, why don't you start hiring people. And people had asked me this way back when, and I never really thought about it, I think partly because I'm the eldest of four and I had to take care of my three younger siblings growing up. So anytime additional responsibility, like the idea of taking care of other people, I'm like, No, I just don't think that's what I want to do. But come to find out, it's one of my favorite things to watch someone else flourish and grow, which is something that I always have been passionate about since I became a yoga teacher and all these other things.

Judy Tsuei 58:19

But being able to see it in business has been wonderful. And then becoming a mentor with the founder Institute and really being able to offer my expertise to these different entrepreneurs as they're building their companies that are from seed in ideation, to you know, they're seeking series, a funding or whatever it is, it's been wonderful to see how, you know, I think we often underestimate how qualified we are, and how many skills we have that someone else would benefit from most often. Because it seems like it comes so naturally to us. Why would everybody else not already understand that. But the surprising thing is, is that there's things that we just take for granted, someone else really values and wants to benefit from or engage with.

Judy Tsuei 59:03

So I think that for anybody listening to remember, you have skills that right now in your capacity that you can start to hone in or harness and it could be something like you and Hannah both express that, you know, this was something that you both were passionate about, but you weren't really sure how to do it. And I think it starts by just starting to do it. As you said, you know, like just taking the first step to search what's out there, what's available, and then allowing yourself to give yourself a chance, I think, and this is something that I think we are all doing within this company and I'm doing especially is okay, well, you know, whether the experience turns out to be what you want or what you don't. One of the things that I've tried to teach my daughter is this idea about pivoting. And that even in the moment if it's not exactly the way that you want it, is there a way that you can pivot so I was thinking about that. Just yesterday when I picked her up from a playdate I picked her up from school

1:00:00

Cool Wednesday's are the days when she's with her dad for the week that I pick her up from school and we have a playdate and I drop her off at her dad's house. Well, her dad had moved much farther south than he was living before. And so the drive becomes longer. And while initially it was not my preferred, you know, arrangement,

1:00:19

I pivoted, and I was like, Okay, well, this is an area of San Diego that I wouldn't normally explore. And there's so much down here that so that's incredibly wonderful, and engaging and exciting. And my daughter's built like me, where we love adventures. And so we love seeing new things. We're sensory seekers.

1:00:35

And so it's given us an opportunity to really explore new territory. So I had been thinking about that yesterday when I picked her up, and we had a playdate with her godmother. And then, as we're driving to drop her off at her dad's house, she talked about pivoting. So it was wonderful to hear that she remembered that. And so then her godmother asked, like, What do you mean by pivot, which is like, well, you know, when you see it from a different view, and you it might not be what you want to at first, but then when you see it differently, it could be you know, if you can make it into something like that. So my daughter is almost seven. And so it was a wonderful to be able to see that, you know, and I feel like this is so much of what we learn and grow the resiliency that you build by putting yourself out there. And then if it doesn't work out, can you pivot. And you know, one of my favorite quotes is,

1:01:27

if something doesn't work the way that you want yell, plot, twist, and then

1:01:31

keep going. Change direction, you know, let it be something exciting in your story. So you know, from you, you were talking to me, before we jumped on this recording about being a projector and how that plays into freelancing. So well, in managing your energy. Can you talk a bit more about that? Yeah, so as a projector, just a little bit of background, you touched on it a little bit, but um, basically, I, I'm not someone who can go go go, I need a lot of space to kind of think and process, I'm all about finding new strategies and kind of looking at the big picture of things.

1:02:11

And my brain just like, works a lot. I'm always thinking, and I'm always, you know, finding new structures and everything like that.

1:02:20

And because of that, I'm someone who needs a lot of space to kind of step back and analyze a lot of things. So for example, if I'm writing an article, I'm not someone who can just dive in and start writing immediately, I am like, all about structure, like, if it doesn't make any sense to me, flow wise, then I can't write it.

1:02:46

So when it comes to working, I really need that space to kind of process and chew things over. And with freelancing, it's great, because I can kind of toggle on that switch, often on and

1:03:04

kind of, what's the word, just figure out the flow of things coming to me and coming work.

1:03:13

And it's great, because I get to do that with freelancing. And I was saying earlier, if I was working, you know, in a big company, and there were like, so many moving parts, and so many projects coming in, I don't think that I would have that space that, you know, timewise and also mentally, to process things and find the best creative solution for them.

1:03:36

And that's something I also learned about myself during school is

1:03:41

the workload for that, that were coming from professors, I couldn't really handle it at times. And that's kind of to touch on the point that you made earlier is everything is an opportunity to pivot and to learn about yourself.

1:03:56

So with freelancing, it's really great because it's an opportunity for me to learn about myself and to kind of perfect my workflow and perfect my systems, which are super, super important. I think, whether you're you're a projector or not.

1:04:12

So yeah, I think that's my biggest thing that I love about freelancing. Also the fact that I can, you know, spend more time with my daughter than I think I would be able to. Mm hmm. I was gonna ask you, the next question is about your daughter, how are you balancing and being, you know, a young new mom, your daughter's two, which, you know, I suffered from severe postpartum depression that I didn't realize was like, ramping up until she was two and then it became very, very severe and very acute, but even before that, because I was sick, the entire pregnancy and like projectile vomiting everywhere and like 24/7 just round the clock sick for pretty much the entire pregnancy. Later, a therapist told me like I probably had Peri partum depression, which of course I didn't also I didn't know that was a thing. And so

1:05:00

I think that, you know, now, on the other side of it, that whole era where she was like, from birth to two, and maybe a little bit after that, it just feels so fuzzy to me because it was such a, I was in such a deep haze. And so I'm curious as to your experience, you know, and you're balancing work, you know, definitely, I think, I wish that our society were designed differently, that it was more like Asian culture where there's intergenerational living, but I actually just met a woman recently who designed this

1:05:32

boutique hotel in Encinitas. And it's above LEED certified. So it's incredibly clean energy and everything. And she was saying like, that was her dream, but it's exorbitantly expensive. And so the next project that she's trying to work on is

1:05:46

creating intergenerational housing. But again, in North County, San Diego, that's also very expensive. And so how do we kind of create those communities that we need, given the limitations that we have? So you are, you know, working and raising a child? And how is that all going?

1:06:04

learning process?

1:06:06

And I know that's so like cliche to say, but it really, really is, it's the biggest learning process that I've ever experienced in my life.

1:06:14

But like you, I've, I dealt with a lot of mental health issues.

1:06:20

So for me, I think the biggest thing was pregnancy. Well, obviously, being a mother is hard.

1:06:27

Yeah, I dealt with a dealing with an eating disorder when I was in college. So dealing with a body changes, super, super rough on me, I actually stopped working like really early, really early on in my pregnancy. And this was before I discovered human design. So I was so hard on myself, I was like, you know, why am I like, Am I just lazy?

1:06:56

Stop working, I don't know, maybe three months into my pregnancy, because my, my morning sickness is so bad. Um, but that was kind of like a little primer for the huge ride that I would be on is just, you know, really stepping back and taking care of my energy and my mental health.

1:07:21

And then now self esteem, too.

1:07:25

And I just started working. So it's like this new adventure, where I'm trying to learn how to balance everything, and then also how to, you know, care for my relationship with my partner at the same time.

1:07:38

But it's nice, I feel like, I feel like

1:07:43

having a daughter really forces you to grow up. So you mentioned how I'm a young mom, I feel like celsion really forced me to grow up.

1:07:55

And if it weren't for her, then I don't know what I would be doing. And, you know, before when, before I became a mom, I used to

1:08:04

ice to hear other moms, you know, on social media, or whatever, say, Oh, my daughter helped me find my purpose, or, you know, my, my child helped me find my purpose in life. And I'd be like, really.

1:08:17

Like, you're gonna put that on your kid, like, you kind of figure that on yourself. And now I see it. I'm like, Oh, it wasn't really about becoming a mother. It was really about your own purpose, and kind of jolting you into kind of, into finding it for yourself. So now I understand it.

1:08:37

Well, I mean, for anybody who's not a parent, I think that one of the things that happens when you do become a parent is your mortality becomes so much at the forefront of your awareness, because then you realize you have a dependent, and what happens if something happens to you. And it's not even just their basic survival needs, it's just like, even the detriment that it would cause them from like, a mental emotional perspective or whatever, you just all of a sudden have a different lens around your mortality.

1:09:04

And I think that because of that, it really does kickstart a lot of things, but at the same time, and I want to put this caveat out there, you know, a lot of people said, after you became apparent, they were like, fiercely over protective like that tiger, or like that, you know, like just, they just elevated to a different degree. And I still had to work through so many things about people pleasing, and about, like, you know, my own self worth and whatever. So it wasn't like an instant switch that, you know, for some people, I think that does happen, like you just something kicks in, and for other people, maybe not so much. But I do think that, you know, you're evaluating it.

Judy Tsuei 1:09:42

I've said this to other people before that the best way that I've heard parenting described to me is that it's like discovering a room in your house that you never knew existed. So it's not completely foreign. You're still in your house. But then all of a sudden, you're like, what, how did this room get here? What where's this been all along?

Judy Tsuei 1:10:00

and your awareness and your brain completely shifts, I think and, you know, I would never have been able to comprehend before becoming a parent, all of the things that my brain understands now, or just all of the, and also just the love that you have, or like the care that you can have and the responsibility that you have, but I just feel like a whole aspect of my brain open up and my consciousness and my Well, yeah, for sure my heart.

Judy Tsuei 1:10:32

So, when it comes to being a mom, it's quite a wake up call. And it's, I know, it's the best adventure that I've ever said yes to. So I think it's very admirable, that you are also a mom, and you're also working and learning and growing and taking time to do your personal development work, too. I don't think we give ourselves enough credit, or NFL have an opportunity to honor our energy. And I love that you brought that up, and how important that is. And, you know, one of the other things that I think is super consistent with all of our team members is we really value mental emotional health. And that's a wonderful

Judy Tsuei 1:11:11

thing that I think is the most important. And we've started saying no to clients who are not the right fit for us. We've started saying that, yeah, clients who are, you know, not resonant without like, honoring the whole human and the different obligations that we have, I have often said to you, in our Slack messages,

Judy Tsuei 1:11:32

that it's not brain surgery. So it's not going to be like life or death. And, you know, it can be substantial and important, but it's not any of that stuff. So, um, and I admire anybody in the medical profession, so good for you. Any person who's like out there saving lives, I really honor you. Is there anything else that you want to add for anybody who is, you know, looking to find their way or maybe wanting to pursue a different path, and we didn't really touch upon the fact that you are Asian American, and if any of those things that you learned in your upbringing, you know, kind of impacted or

Judy Tsuei 1:12:09

developed you in any way that you either had to work through or that really helped you?

1:12:15

I think well I my experience as

1:12:21

as Filipino American is very similar to I think a lot of other Asian Americans upbringing so I've dealt with a lot of the same a lot of the same challenges that you know, everyone else has dealt with. So you know, your grandparents wanting you to become a doctor or

1:12:41

you know, having to get straight A's all the time, just all the usual stuff. And

1:12:47

I think I think the biggest thing

1:12:53

to deal with that and to kind of find your own way while also hearing

1:12:58

like the constant chatter of

1:13:03

relatives is to

1:13:06

kind of take it with a grain of salt honestly, there were so many times when I have wanted to fight and get really aggressive especially with my you know, especially during the pandemic in the beginning at least I was with my grandparents were all living under the same roof. And it was such a wake up call because there were so many times when I wanted to

1:13:31

put my values on them and kind of throw them at him and you know, me with my books learning about conscious parenting

1:13:40

all of that stuff and you know, I'm getting so woke right now.

1:13:46

And I just wanted to school my grandparents and

1:13:52

and I really learned how to kind of handle their traditions with Grace while also honoring and respecting my own.

1:14:05

And it's, it's a delicate balance, it's definitely a dance that you have to learn on your own. But it is possible I think,

1:14:15

and every family is going to be different you know, every every one's limits are different. So I really learned how to communicate with my grandmother I learned that she's a little bit more open to hearing new ways then you know, my grandfather but then my grandfather will be a little bit more lenient with other things. So I think take it step by step with your families.

1:14:40

Now, being a parent also will help you push those boundaries a bit because I don't want to tell you how to raise your kid

1:14:49

so I think the same you know with when it comes to parenting when it comes to find your your own way in your career.

1:14:56

Really take it with a grain of salt take everything that other people

1:15:00

We'll say with a grain of salt and

1:15:03

tested out waters, it's all gonna be a dance. I love that. And I love that you're sharing that it's important to value and honor their experience too. Because, you know, sometimes in those moments of calm, I'm able to take myself out of my experience and put myself in theirs and just look at what they grew up with and what they had to experience. And so having that, as my neighbor would say, space, and grace and compassion is really important. So I love you being able to balance that I think it definitely takes a level of maturity to be able to do that.

1:15:35

And one of the best things that I heard this last Thanksgiving, when I was hanging out with my aunt uncle who I don't ever see, I mean, like, I don't think I saw their kids, they also have four kids who are now in their 20s and 30s. But I don't think I saw some of them for like a decade or something, it's been like quite some time. And so my aunt, we ended up sitting next to each other at the Thanksgiving table, and she was just, we had so many conversations, and then at some point, she looked at me, and she's like, you've just matured so much.

1:16:00

And it was just such a huge compliment. Because, you know, growing up, I was always the black sheep, then I got like shit on a lot. Like it just, you're not falling in line, you're too loud, you're not, you know, respectful enough and like etc, etc. So it was nice to hear that me showing up just as my authentic self caused her to feel, you know, comfortable that she gave me that compliment. So never know what's gonna happen with your family. Just never know. Well, thank you so much.

1:16:28

I'm so grateful that you're a part of our team. And for the rest of the podcast, you'll be hearing from our other team members. And I'm just so excited for what 2022 is going to bring for us. And each of us individually, us as a business and hopefully for the whole world. I'm really hoping that like, we all rise up better than we expected.

1:16:50

Thank you.

1:16:52

Thank you, God, thank you so much.

Judy Tsuei 1:17:08

Already, I'm really excited for you to meet Jen Crawford. She's our new account manager or by this time, by the time you hear this episode won't be so new.

Judy Tsuei 1:17:17

I wanted to share because Jen and I actually met when we were both living in Hawaii. So I believe you were our first Airbnb or second Airbnb guest you were pretty early on and joining us. We had this historic home, my ex husband and I and I had given birth. And so Jen was there while we had an infant and ended up staying on island after being an Airbnb guest. So then we had this kind of like shed in the back though it turned into.

Judy Tsuei 1:17:49

But it was such a good time. And you know, we've kept in touch over that time. And we've both moved around a lot. And so I wanted to bring in Jen on because

Judy Tsuei 1:18:00

I've been very inspired by all the things that you've done since we met on Koi, I've loved you know, the hobbies that you've taken on and just the different kinds of paths that you've been able to pursue. So want you to share a little bit about your story, if you don't mind.

1:18:17

Yeah, of course, I'm so excited to be here with you. And yeah, do you mean I like she said a very long time ago now. It's got to be Wow, there's almost seven so, so seven. Yeah. Yeah.

1:18:34

And that was kind of like the beginning of I guess is like the adult career. Well, it was like a transition. So I moved out to Hawaii after having been living in San Francisco. And I had traveled a bunch before that. And then I was like, I you know, I grew up a little bit.

1:18:52

I was in my like, transitioning into my, like, mid 20s At that point, I guess, and was feeling like I should stop traveling around, I should get a great job. So I got an executive assistant job in San Francisco and hated it. I mean, it was a great learning experience. But I just worked all the time. It was super high stress. The city wasn't like the right match for me. And I did that for like a year and then when Judy and I met was actually when I was like I can't handle this anymore. I need to change I'm gonna fly out to Hawaii for a couple weeks. And then like decide what I want to do from there and yeah, as I said, rented a room from them, and then was just like, Yeah, I think I'm gonna stay it's really nice.

1:19:37

So I ended up doing some very part time very, very part time nanny for Judy.

1:19:45

And ended up staying out in quiet for about a year before I was like, Okay, this has been like really fun, but like, what's next quiet is paradise, but it's a really hard place to find like a path I'd say

1:20:00

Anyone who spent any time on the islands knows like, it's a really intense energy. And if you want some really amplified personal growth, I think it's a great place to go for that. I also just want to interject, I think that people have a false assumption about Hawaii, I think that they think all you're just going to go to Paradise, and life is going to be so easy. And I have to say, I don't know if it's ever been harder for me to live in a place. And a lot of it is because of that amplify personal growth, there are no distractions, and you're basically left with yourself all of the time. And you know, you can't just go shopping or go to the mall, or whatever it is that you give and go to the bars, it just doesn't really work like that.

1:20:42

And also just that Hawaiian energy in and of itself, you are going to be forced to look at the things that you need to reckon with to grow. And, you know, for people who don't know, it hosts the wettest place on the planet mount while they are there. And so you would think obviously, it's an island. So it's going to be ruled by the element of water. But each of the Hawaiian Islands is ruled by a different element and quite itself is very much water because it hosts that space. And so whatever you need to have come up and cleanse through you is going to happen again and again and again. And I actually asked her, like, lived, born and raised there.

1:21:17

And I said, is it just because we're foreigners? And like we've come and lived here? Is that why? And she's like, Oh, no, this is for everybody who's here. So I would just like to dispel the myth that if you think you're gonna go there, you know, and the other thing that people say about Hawaii all the time, and you'll hear it all over the place is if the island wants you there, she'll bring you there. And if she doesn't want you there, she'll kick you off. And so we saw in hosting the Airbnb, just the different experiences people had and coming to the island and the people that the island was welcoming, wholeheartedly open arms, and then the people who are like, No, you're not quite the right fit, it's time to go. I mean, we had guests, like change their tickets to leave and like all the things, so

1:21:56

I just wanted to like, you know, honor the land, and just really have anybody who's going to Hawaii, it seems like it's so accessible, because everybody goes to Hawaii. But when you look at a map, it's just this tiny cluster of islands in the middle of blue. It's the most remote inhabited place in the world. And so if you're going to go there, please, you know, honor the land, see how you can give back be respectful, the islands offer so much, but I think that just people come and take and take and take so whatever you can do to give back is huge. So that's my little PSA for islands.

1:22:32

Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you're not ready to do some emotional groundwork, I'd say probably don't move to why.

1:22:41

But yeah, so those those awesome experience got to know, Judy pretty well, it was, I'd say, an intense time in both of our lives on an emotional level. And so I did a lot of that work there. And then I was ready. But career wise, you know, there's, it's a weird place because there's a lot of money there. But like a lot of those people aren't there most of the year. And it's just

1:23:06

cool to build community, because everybody expects you to leave because it's such a transitory place.

1:23:13

And yeah, and just career wise, you know, if you're not in the service industry or real estate, like it's a difficult place to grow a career, I would say. So I left Hawaii and ended up in Santa Cruz actually pursuing massage therapy. I wanted to be somewhere a little bit less remote. I was super interested in bodywork, I still wanted to be near the ocean, but I wanted to have the things that quiet didn't have, which I felt like was access to like a city and a thriving, you know, like just business industries. Like obviously, in this area. It's like the tech scene.

1:23:46

And Santa Cruz just seemed like a really good balance. I was like, it's got access to a bigger city, and all that stuff that I might potentially want in the near term future in terms of career growth, but then also, it's still the hippie dippie like fun nature thing. Yeah, and so I did the massage stuff for a little while. And honestly, it didn't really stick like it was I love bodywork, and I'm super fascinated by all that stuff. Um, but just didn't like turning it into a job. Because everything's a job to some extent, you know. And so like, once you take something you're really personally passionate about, and make it something you have to do for money.

1:24:22

And in some ways, it was really fulfilling, but in some ways, I felt like I kind of disconnected from the parts that that I really loved in order to hustle and might get new clients and be able to, you know, maybe do it for more than like my body actually wanted to because I was focused on the money aspect of it. So after that I just, I did that for like a year and a half year I think and had kind of started to build community. Santa Cruz has a really funny little startup scene because it's so close to Silicon Valley. So it's not too much of a challenge for startups here to get investment from angel investors either here or

1:25:00

Over the hill, and then also once they're ready for, like real rounds of funding, they are close enough to those those companies and VCs and all that stuff. So I ended up working as an EA in Santa Cruz for a little while. But very much was like, I don't want to be an executive assistant. Like, it's basically being a CEO, except you don't take on the financial responsibility. So there's obviously that benefit, but you take on all the stress,

1:25:27

and a lot of the responsibility with very little of the reward. And so it's just a really intense, like, executive assistants are amazing, like, they are taking on so much stressful energy from usually very, you know, type a intense people, those people who start companies, and yeah, just taking on that much energy from someone like that, and spending all your time with that is, is really hard work. So you know, more power to you. And then I, when I was really close with the woman I was doing for I made my expectations around not wanting to stay in that role for a long time with a really clear, they were growing pretty fast.

1:26:04

And so once we had gotten a certain amount of investment, I moved into marketing for them. And I mostly switched into marketing, because I was I love traveling, I love being flexible. And I was like man, you know, like running ad campaigns. And doing that if I like got into the digital marketing aspect of this, I could really set up my life so that I could work remotely, I could some aspect or to some extent, set my own hours and not necessarily have to work like the nine to five grind.

1:26:34

And yeah, and did that. And then like over the past few years have kind of, I mean, startups, right, I don't know, if you've ever you've worked at startups, for sure.

1:26:44

Most startups fail, you know, and like, even the ones that don't feel, they go through a lot of financial phases, where they're gonna, you know, they're gonna close that deal. And we're gonna have so much money and so many resources, and then actually, it's getting pushed back. And so we haven't been able to, and there's just a lot of that. And then, you know, in the end, most of them do fail. I've been lucky enough that all startups I've worked for, haven't completely failed. They haven't just like disappeared and gone out of business. But they have mostly had like the soft acquisitions, so they're not really utilized. Nobody's like making a bunch of money. You're mostly getting enough money to cover like acquiring the team and taking over the technology.

1:27:26

And so in a lot of those phases, I've like shifted out to different teams and different startups. And then, yeah, so that's enabled me to really be able to take a lot of vacations, quote, unquote, because you know, when you work remotely, like you can go somewhere else, but you're still working,

1:27:43

which I think is a really interesting, dynamic for a lot of people who are like new to the working remote thing like it. It's cool, it's great. I love it, I wouldn't want it any other way. But at the same time, I don't think there's quite as much freedom as people assume there is, yeah, um, you're still tied to your computer, you know, you still need to be available, even when you're not

1:28:07

totally needed during the middle of day, you can't like go somewhere where you're out of service, and nobody could get hold of you. And yeah, so it's, it's been an interesting balance of that. And then at the beginning of COVID, I, the company that I was working for, decided to lay off our whole team. And I was like, man, crazy time in the world, right? Like none of us have ever been through a pandemic, I wasn't sure what to expect. And I was in an okay place financially, and decided I would just take the time to kind of reassess and maybe focus on some things that I was passionate about that had nothing to do with a career.

1:28:42

And I spent most of the last year mountain biking, traveling around the United States in my car, and camping. And it's been super fun. And now I'm like, that reset was totally what I needed to be at a place where now I'm, like, excited about taking on projects, again, doesn't feel like a burden. It's like, oh, yeah, like other things to feel fulfilled by in my life outside of like, my friends, and you know, like, my sports hobbies. Amazing what I love that you're pointing out, you know, some of the potential pitfalls or just the realities of, you know, the illusion that you can work from anywhere. And it's going to be like, great, because for me, I am also one of those people who just go go go all the time, but it's on my mind all the time.

1:29:28

So it doesn't like even if I'm out and about enjoying something, it's very rare that I go anywhere where I'm not bringing my laptop, which also you know, if you have a smartphone, then that's now with you all the time as well. So I have to actively, like turn off notifications during certain times and like things like that. And, you know, similar to that, when I became a yoga teacher, I wish that someone had told me in advance that you would never be able to go to a yoga class again, like, you would just perpetually be evaluating the teacher, like why wouldn't do that, or, Oh, that was a really good flow, like maybe in the future, like, you know, like I would do that. And so and also

Judy Tsuei 1:30:00

because, you know, I became a teacher and I became so much well versed, more well versed with my own body, if I were in a public class, and they were suggesting me to do a pose that I knew wouldn't serve me, like it would, I would just do a modification, but it just be very distracting for everybody else. So I'm like, Yeah, I'm not going to do this anymore. Like, you know, it's so I think that there are realities, which I'm glad that you're covering it. And this is another reason why I love that Jen has joined our team, because I tend to be like, especially because of the cultural upbringing, since we're talking about flex saving face, like just people pleaser, slash, you know,

Judy Tsuei 1:30:35

one of the people that I interviewed who talked about high context, low context, and so certain cultures have a lot of value on high context, which means that you are going to pay attention to a lot of how everybody else around you is feeling, rather than just like how you alone are feeling. And western country, the US in particular is the opposite of that. It's like low context, it's very, whatever I want, however, I'm going to do it, and it's very independence driven. And so because of that, you know, I've had to learn and I'm still learning how to have healthier boundaries until like, speak more in a more forthcoming, even like, upfront, direct kind of way. But knowing that that's not going to be offensive to someone, you know, like, you can still put grease around how you communicate. But I love that Jen is coming on, because she is helping us now.

Judy Tsuei 1:31:23

And I have no problem saying the complete wrong thing, because it's factual. And so I think it shouldn't hurt your feelings. So it's a good balance. And when it comes to the role that we brought her on, that's exactly what it is that we need, because she's helping to foster client communications, and really setting clear timelines and milestones and deliverables. And that's the kind of space that you don't want to have any fuzzy bits, you just want to have very clear bits when you're running a business. So I love that she's now joined our team for that. And I can just defer to her. I mean, in the background, we have conversations, which is like, all of those conversations you don't want to have, I'm happy to have one with great.

1:32:02

Awesome. And, you know, I think that that's part of the other thing that I heard in your story was figuring out what elements of your life are a priority, and then figuring out how other things can support that. And, you know, giving yourself the room to figure that out, which I know is a luxury for a lot of people I think, you know, especially what we've seen in the pandemic is people didn't have that luxury. And there's a lot of like living, you know, hand to mouth, like just figuring out, especially if you have dependents and like all that kind of stuff.

1:32:34

So I'm not saying that everybody has the same opportunities, but it is important to figure out like, what, how you're gonna thrive in the world? And then yeah, yeah, and I mean, that's a total journey, like ongoing, you know, like, I certainly, I'm very excited to be joining your team. And this is fantastic. But you know, like, I certainly haven't reached the end of my career journey. Yeah, like, figured it all out. I you know, I still joke with friends, like, what am I going to do when I grow up, like,

1:33:05

because

1:33:07

I have them and you know, a lot of that's like, my upbringing and my family. And just like, being lucky to be born in a country where there are lots of options, and you do have a lot of abilities to pursue things, and then also coming from a family that really didn't like enable, but wasn't anti me taking my own path. Like I had a lot of freedom to pursue what I wanted, without getting a lot of judgment for that. Um, and, and yeah, it's been, you know, I've done I mean, I only talked about like, the past, I don't know, I guess seven, we determined years of like, my career history, but I've done so many things.

1:33:47

And it's taken me so long to even get to this point where like, I'll take on an adult jobs, which I call like, anything in marketing an adult job for some reason. But I think it's, you know, because I, I also was a yoga teacher for a short while, and I've worked in like, countless restaurants. And I've worked on farms and like, just done like, so many random things, trying to figure out what the balance between like, Okay, I want to have a good life and have a lot of freedoms, I want to be able to like make money and not be committed and be able to leave and travel and stuff to those desires shifting as I get older, to not wanting to like have to start over, so to speak, and like more financial stability and stuff like that.

1:34:30

So it's definitely like an ongoing journey that I constantly, you know, I'm like questioning myself like, is this where I should be like, I look at other people and you know what they're doing, like my peers and I'm just like, Wait, well, am I like, my behind, you know, and then I was like, oh, no, I've had all these cool experiences. I wouldn't trade that to have like, taken a more kind of normal path where I like, you know, got out of high school and went to college, got a job and then like, built my career on that like

1:35:00

that'd be great. I would be way more advanced my career right now. But, you know, I'd have to give up like the all the like the years overseas and like all the fun, strange people I've met and all that stuff. So yeah, it's definitely like an ongoing thing. I struggle with it occasionally. And sometimes I'm, like, so stoked with it. So

Judy Tsuei 1:35:22

what you're saying is literally what I was thinking about this morning, and just thinking like, yeah, I,

Judy Tsuei 1:35:28

I've had a lot of experiences, and I've taken my daughter, and we've traveled and lived around the world. And that is very different than the majority of people. And yet, it doesn't mean that I still don't sit there and feel like, Did I fail in some way? Am I not? Did I miss the mark somewhere? What am I doing? And I think it's partly the momentum of the culture around us and what that looks like, like the majority, you know, I was even listening to an Abraham Hicks thing today after dropping Wilder off at school and driving home and just listening to,

Judy Tsuei 1:36:00

you know, Abraham channeling and saying that our predominant culture is going to try to get us to behave and fall in line and do the things that make other people feel safe. And that is just historically, if you look over millennia, that's what we wanted, we want to feel safe. And usually, it's by normalizing what we do or what we want and fitting in with a bigger hole. And so I think with such a huge momentum behind that, when you do choose to pursue your own path, there's there are challenges either overt or very subtle that you constantly have to navigate.

Judy Tsuei 1:36:35

And so I wish I could say like, oh, yeah, you know, I mean, my business mentor said it to me the other day where he's like, I'm going to tell you from the outside looking in, that I think you're very successful, but it doesn't matter what I think it has to be what you think. And so I feel that we are all on this quest to figure out like, Okay, well, is this the right thing? How do we, you know, and I think that sometimes when we do have more of those opportunities in front of us, it makes it harder, not easier. Oh, yeah. I mean, there's a, I can't remember exactly what it's called.

Judy Tsuei 1:37:04

But in psychology, there's like the thing with like, where when you have more choices, you are bound to be less content, right? Because you're like, Well, what if the one I didn't choose was going to be better? We have like, one or two choices, like Yeah, okay, I'm happy with this. And we're in an age in a society where we have so much insight into, I don't wanna say, into other people's lives, because it's also just like, a window, right? Like, and it's a window that they choose to show us, like, we really only see like, the positive side of most people's lives, but we get a lot of that.

Judy Tsuei 1:37:36

And so it's so hard not to just like, compare yourself to something that's not even real, or like, all encompassing. And I think that's really challenging for people, both in careers and in pretty much all aspects of your life, right? Cuz you're just like looking at everyone else. And being like, well, have I met? Have I met that like level of success, which is not very realistic.

Judy Tsuei 1:38:03

So as we are closing 2021, and we're moving into 2022, what are you looking for forward to in the year ahead?

1:38:14

Oh, yeah, that's a big question. Um, yeah, I guess, this year, I'm really excited about like, work projects, and kind of seeing what that looks like, like I, you know, was not expecting to work with you.

1:38:31

And I'm super excited about it. And I'm really excited to see how we can grow your businesses. And also, just like, I've always said that 90% of my happiness in a job is my coworkers, and how much I like them. And so like, you know, you don't have to be passionate about digital ad spend to enjoy a job where you do that, if you really like everyone you work with, and like, going to work is

1:38:58

fun, because you're like, I'm gonna hang out with and interact with people I like. So I'm super excited about that. Like I said, I spent all of last year just kind of like mountain biking, and it was great. I really, I'm way better at it. But I was to begin with her photos are beautiful.

1:39:14

It takes you to amazing places. That's usually how I've picked my hobbies is like things that take me to go places.

1:39:21

And so I am of course, looking forward to doing more of that. But with the shift and focus being more on, you know, career wise, what I'm doing to make money. And yeah, just watching that grow and being open to opportunities. I think it's really hard to like box myself into anything and be like, This is how my career is going to grow and how I'm going to make money because I don't know what opportunities will present themselves. You know, maybe I'll just be working with you very part time. Maybe it'll grow into something bigger and maybe new opportunities come up. But I'd say that that's probably the thing I'm like most excited about and 2022 is just seeing where that goes and who knows what you know, a career

Judy Tsuei 1:40:00

path I'm gonna end up this next year. I know and who knows what will be ahead in the world. I'm hoping that it's to our benefit is Yeah, more good things for me, I feel like 2021 was easier than 2020. So true. And time has become some crazy portal that I don't even know anymore of how we're already at the end of the year. So

1:40:25

thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today. Yeah, of course. It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Judy Tsuei 1:40:45

Okay, I'm really excited for you to meet my next word stylist who's Krysta brown. So I'm going to turn it over to her just to share with you directly a little bit about her story.

1:40:56

Thanks so much. Yeah, hi, I'm Krista. And

1:41:01

I was raised in Eastern Europe. So I grew up in the Czech Republic, and then moved to the US to attend University where I studied music, I emphasized in vocal performance. And throughout my time at school, I just realized that that kind of the, the pressures of the performance world and the industry was just not going to be a good fit for me long term. So I started taking journalism classes, and discovered that I love writing and have just, you know, been having,

1:41:33

enjoying really, really enjoying kind of discovering that passion and working working with that from from there on out. And I think that since you joined the team, you traveled back to Eastern Europe. Was that where you went to?

Judy Tsuei 1:41:46

Places? Yeah, so I think that one of the things that's amazing about remote work and being able, you know, I think the pandemic, despite all of the challenges that it's created, has enabled people to think outside the box and to see what's possible. And I know that there's also this type of fatigue that also sets in from just being on video calls all the time and not having that human interaction, because we are social creatures by nature. But I think one of the other things that it's enabled us to do is to really see, you know, how we can kind of create that location independence and that time freedom. And so I'd love for you to speak more about the things that you love about freelancing, and just being able to create life on your own terms. For sure, yeah. For me, kind of the last couple months, a huge part of that has been the ability to travel.

Judy Tsuei 1:42:33

Since I grew up internationally, my family still lives in Eastern Europe. So I was able to go see them and spend some time with them, which guys is something that if I was needing to take time off or vacation time to do that, I probably wouldn't have been able to stay with them for as long. I've also got kind of friends all around the world. And so I've been able to go visit a lot of them this past year, which is just a huge privilege, and something that I definitely don't take for granted. And something that remote work has enabled me to do.

Judy Tsuei 1:43:01

And I just love that opportunity to step into other spaces and other cultures, whether that's a new city or a new country, and just learn a little piece of their history and their culture. What's something that you would share with someone who is looking to get started, I think it's so scary to take non traditional pads. You know, this whole podcast is about everybody, removing taboos around mental and emotional health. And I think that one of the things that keep us unhealthy is trying to fit our lives in someone else's mold. And then trying to seek that happiness, when the ways that were built are different, I've actually been creating a playlist for my daughter, that's all these empowered songs for her to listen to.

Judy Tsuei 1:43:39

And so I really love pink, if anybody hasn't watched the documentary, she's a phenomenal performer. But one of her songs and one of the lines is you're wrong and all the right ways. And I just loved that because I think I grew up feeling very wrong in so many ways that if I were just in a different circumstance, or with people who were more resonant with the way that I was built, it wouldn't have felt wrong, that it would have just been a different way of being. So what are some of the tips that you would be able to offer in terms of pursuing that path?

1:44:09

Yeah, I think that's such a great question, I think there is, there can be this kind of pressure of feeling like what I'm doing is not seen as like legitimate or as much work even as my counterparts who are in more traditional jobs. So I think there's just a lot of, you know, needing to be kind of grow that confidence within yourself that like what I'm doing is what I care about, but also is contributing in valuable and important ways to people around me. So one way that I've loved doing that is that I've been able to actually partner with a couple of nonprofits and being able to work with them and really just see firsthand since they're small, really small teams, being able to see firsthand how my communication skills are contributing to furthering their mission and vision. But then also, even with my other clients, like just being able to really get to know

1:45:00

team members and getting to know the the impact that my work is bringing to a group of people I think is really important. And I think it's really helpful, I have a couple of kind of like minded friends near me who are also in the freelance space. And that's

1:45:18

just been really

Judy Tsuei 1:45:20

encouraging on those days, when you do have an off day, just be able to call someone up and be like, Hey, I'm struggling, can we talk and having someone who understands that struggle, because it definitely is a different set of challenges than a more traditional job might have? Absolutely, there's so much more risk and a sense of ownership that you have to take, there's so many more things that you need to manage for yourself.

Judy Tsuei 1:45:41

And I love that you said that you have this team around you, who is helping you to, you know, kind of create the emotional sounding board that we all need, I have it with my business mentor, I have it with my friends who are entrepreneurs, it really helps to validate, you're not abnormal, if you're built differently. And then also, you are going to have those days where you're like, What am I doing? Why am I doing this? This is so much more, you know this or that than something else.

Judy Tsuei 1:46:06

But I think also just remembering that what we see when we're comparing ourselves to others is what's on the outside and the surface, which is not necessarily what is actually happening on the inside. And I just wrote an Instagram post about how people often say to me, Oh, it must be really nice that you have time yourself, you know, as a parent, because of my custody schedule. And I'm like, yeah, it is, it is nice to be able to have that time for myself so that I can ground and show up as the human that I want to be for my daughter.

Judy Tsuei 1:46:32

And I'd like for you to also know that every week here are the things that I go through where it like breaks my heart every week to have to say goodbye to her to know that every time she comes back to me, she's so much bigger and older seeming and there's a whole section of her life that I don't have access to. Because you know, I'm not close to her father. And so I think when people make those blanket statements, it's very easy to see like, oh, well, that must be nice. But in actuality, I think we all work so hard for our dreams, whatever those dreams look like.

Judy Tsuei 1:47:01

And I'm not Pooh poohing anybody else's, like full time dreams. My partner has a full time job and a very stable, like, very scheduled kind of routine. And I see the appeal of that. And it's wonderful, and it fits his personality really, really well. So I think, you know, what I hope that people take away from this episode in particular, is that hear all these examples of people who are making it work? And I'm sure in the very beginning for you when you started doing this, it wasn't easy, and it was scary. How did you handle that transition?

1:47:30

Yeah, I mean, a lot of that transition for me really happened right around the pandemic. So it was just a lot of time that was kind of scary and uncertain for a lot of people. So in some ways. Well, while it's challenging to see a lot of a lot of people going through a hard time, in some ways, there is sort of a bonding and unifying sense to that of like, okay, we're all struggling, we're all trying to do our best with this new set of norms. So how can we like come alongside each other and encourage each other in this next step forward?

1:48:00

And yeah, so it definitely did have its challenges. But I'm, in some ways thankful even for the timing of that, because it gave me a sense of community within the isolation, if that makes sense. Oh, yeah, totally. So what are you looking forward to in 2022,

1:48:17

I, I'm just looking forward to kind of getting to do explore more of this, I still feel like I'm learning a lot. And I'm super thankful for the opportunities I've had. But I'm definitely excited to learn, learn more and grow as a writer and as a freelancer. And as a just a person. Definitely want to step out of my comfort zone some more, there's some different just, you know, relational areas, I think within family, I want to work on building those relationships more.

Judy Tsuei 1:48:47

And then personally, I just want to, you know, grow and develop. So I'm definitely have kind of a book list going of books I want to read by authors that I really you're respected admire. And I'm just excited to kind of see, see what comes my way. I love that, um, we I have a poster in my closet, that because I read the statistic that CEOs of companies, you know, tend to read like 50 Plus books a year. And in my mind, my response was, Oh, that's it. And when I mentioned that to other people, they're like, I'm sorry, what you're not, that's it.

Judy Tsuei 1:49:23

The average person reads like six books a year, maybe if, if even that, that's like a high amount. I was like, really. So I've been trying to like, hit that number throughout the year. And I'm gonna say that I have a side by side list of all the books that I've been reading with my daughter. So that doesn't really count because we for sure, hit that number out of the water. But thank you so much for joining us today. And thank you for your time. I'm really looking forward to all that we're creating in 2022. And you're such an essential part of that. Thank you. Oh, thank you so much. I'm really excited as well.

Judy Tsuei 1:50:07

Thank you so much for tuning in today. I hope that you got to know my team a little bit more and what we're working on and how we're setting ourselves up for 2022. I hope that this inspired you in any way to pursue your own dreams and your own path and knowing that the more that you step into that personal power, the more that you light up and illuminate the path for others to do the same. I wish you the very best and I will see you next week for our mindfulness episode to close off season two, and to finish 2021 and get us set up for a phenomenal 2022 Have a great week.

Judy Tsuei 1:50:49

Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. You can follow me on Instagram at F*ck saving face or have an honest conversation with me in my private Facebook group f*ck saving face. That's f*ck without the if you enjoy this work, please help support and sustain it. The best ways to do that are to share it with your friends and networks. Subscribe rate and review on your listening platforms. And of course through your thoughtful financial donations. You can buy me a coffee or treat me a lunch or share even bigger lab at F*ck saving face.com Again, that's f*ck without the U.

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