Latest / Your Mic / I Lost $7,500 on an Event and Now I'm Teaming Up with a Friend FOR ANOTHER ONE

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I Lost $7,500 on an Event and Now I'm Teaming Up with a Friend FOR ANOTHER ONE · Your Mic

• 0:00
  I spent $7,500 on SpeakFest, and only four people actually bought tickets.
• 0:06
  Most people would have quit, and I almost did, but in that nearly empty room at the end
• 0:11
  of day number two, my friend Brittany and I started talking and what came out of that
• 0:15
  conversation became something I am so excited about.
• 0:19
  That something is called Illuminate, it's happening Saturday, October 3rd of this year at
• 0:23
  the Health Museum, and it's going to be something you've never experienced before.
• 0:30
  Let's go.
• 0:31
  So we're teaming up for Illuminate, and it's going to be a lot of fun.
• 0:37
  It is going to be a lot of fun, obviously, because we're going to be there.
• 0:39
  I don't do anything that's not fun.
• 0:40
  It's going to be really special, though, because we also do everything we do.
• 0:45
  There's so much heart into it.
• 0:46
  That's what I love about the way that you and I connect is that, I mean, the truth is,
• 0:50
  there's lots of events for all kinds of things, and there's lots of events for creators.
• 0:55
  But I don't know, I've been to them, and they're not getting in here in the heart.
• 1:02
  I think that that's what we'll be able to provide.
• 1:03
  That's a huge part of it.
• 1:04
  Absolutely.
• 1:05
  I felt that the first time that I've been to social success, where you invited me to be
• 1:10
  a panelist for podcasting, and you were one of our keynotes for SpeakFest and the groups
• 1:17
  of people at these two individual events, where it was about connecting and was about
• 1:21
  hanging out with one another and encouraging one another.
• 1:25
  I don't want to say it was less about the speeches in the panels, because that would
• 1:29
  minimize what we were doing, right?
• 1:34
  It would just minimize the panelists and the speakers, right?
• 1:38
  But also, it was just fun to be able to get out of working in the daily grind and to
• 1:46
  connect with other people who are on the same journey as we are.
• 1:49
  Right.
• 1:50
  And I see with other creators that genuinely in their hearts want to make a positive impact.
• 1:56
  And as cheesy as that sounds, it's true.
• 1:58
  And like you said, you experienced it at social success.
• 2:00
  I saw it at SpeakFest, and it's just these people that you attract when you are already
• 2:06
  one of those people.
• 2:07
  You know what I mean?
• 2:08
  Like, we are all kind of drawn to each other.
• 2:09
  So you and I already like that.
• 2:10
  Right.
• 2:11
  And actually, you know, we want good things.
• 2:13
  We want to do good things.
• 2:14
  We want to make an impact with our content, with our businesses, and then the community
• 2:16
  and beyond.
• 2:17
  And you're just going to actually attract those kind of people.
• 2:20
  And it's so special.
• 2:21
  I mean, every time I've ever done social success, like, so much, we're crying.
• 2:24
  I haven't seen you since last year.
• 2:26
  We're hugging.
• 2:27
  We love you.
• 2:28
  I love you so much.
• 2:29
  You know, it's a family.
• 2:30
  It may sound a little cheesy, but it's very, very true.
• 2:33
  And I know that's exactly what's going to happen with Eliminate.
• 2:35
  And before we go on any further, because I just realized we have not yet talked about
• 2:40
  the date or the venue, right?
• 2:43
  Right.
• 2:44
  Maybe we should share.
• 2:45
  It might be slightly important.
• 2:47
  Yes.
• 2:48
  It's on Saturday, October 3rd, 2026 here in Houston, Texas at the Health Museum.
• 2:55
  Yes.
• 2:56
  Yeah.
• 2:57
  Which is such a cool.
• 2:58
  They have such cool spaces there.
• 2:59
  Yeah.
• 3:00
  I mean, really, truly, exactly what we needed.
• 3:02
  Well, Houston has a fantastic museum district.
• 3:08
  And just a collection of museums and it doesn't even have to be in the museum district, because
• 3:12
  the National Museum, if you know, in history, which, by the way, is a speak client, they're
• 3:15
  not in the museum district.
• 3:17
  There are a number of other museums that are not in the actual district throughout the
• 3:21
  Houston area that are incredible places that really tell untold stories of history.
• 3:27
  But, you know, one of the reasons why I wanted to have my event at NMFH last year and another
• 3:31
  one why I sort of like tried to nudge you into getting it done at the Health Museum is
• 3:40
  because the panelists and the speakers that will have this year are cool.
• 3:48
  Also, what we realized with our events, both social success and speakers is that people
• 3:55
  like to connect and do fun things to one another, not just talk.
• 3:59
  But what better way to do it in an environment that really fosters creativity like a museum?
• 4:05
  Right.
• 4:06
  Right.
• 4:07
  It's true.
• 4:08
  It's kind of a vibe when you walk in.
• 4:11
  It's unique.
• 4:12
  It's not just another conference in some big ballroom somewhere, which look, those are cool.
• 4:18
  We need those spaces, too.
• 4:19
  But you're right.
• 4:20
  It really does help provide that kind of vibe that we're going for.
• 4:23
  Right.
• 4:24
  Exactly.
• 4:25
  So you can have somebody who, my own marketing agency, and then you might have somebody
• 4:29
  who owns a pet nutrition company and both attendings of social success last year, as examples.
• 4:37
  So you can have these two people who live in completely different states, and they're
• 4:41
  hanging out maybe at this year's event, and they're like, oh, wow, here's a big giant
• 4:47
  colon.
• 4:48
  Let's take a picture inside it.
• 4:50
  I mean, that's exactly what I'm going to do first is take a picture inside the giant
• 4:54
  colon at the Health Museum.
• 4:56
  And there really is a gigantic colon.
• 4:59
  There is.
• 5:00
  With polyps.
• 5:01
  Now, we're going to do it.
• 5:06
  It's going to be photos, videos, colon videos, colon videos, I can't even say without laughing.
• 5:14
  And there's a giant heart, which is appropriate.
• 5:18
  There's a big brain, right?
• 5:20
  Like there's all kinds of cool stuff there.
• 5:22
  It is a cool, creative, unique space, but we are actually going to be able to have the
• 5:28
  actual spaces we need to help these creators have this day where, like you were saying,
• 5:34
  we're going to get in there and have an experience together.
• 5:37
  It's not just sit down and be a student in a classroom and stare at a presentation all
• 5:41
  day.
• 5:42
  This is interactive.
• 5:43
  This is where creating content together all day together.
• 5:46
  Right.
• 5:47
  And that was one of the other things I had seen.
• 5:48
  I've been seeing the same ad as like my phone is listening to me or something, but I've
• 5:52
  been seeing the same ad about how have you been going to conferences and not getting
• 5:58
  content?
• 6:00
  And this is what we are trying to do.
• 6:03
  It's, yes, we would like for you to learn something with the people that Brittany and
• 6:08
  I are bringing to the event to speak.
• 6:10
  Also we want you to have fun and channel your inner kid because I think when I think
• 6:16
  of creativity, I think of going back to when you're a little kid and all the things that
• 6:20
  fascinated you and what better place to do it than at a place like a museum, specifically
• 6:27
  the health museum this year.
• 6:30
  And you get to channel that inner that inner child because so many times as a business owner
• 6:36
  and I'm sure you can relate, you get really stressed out as much as we love our jobs and
• 6:41
  what I do with speak is a lot of fun and it doesn't seem like work until it seems like
• 6:48
  work and there might be a few deadlines in a week and so now your blood pressure is
• 6:52
  up, you got to make dinner, you have to watch the dishes, you have to walk the dog and
• 6:55
  you want to make sure you're exercising and doing this, that and the other and you get
• 7:00
  an emergency phone call from something that didn't happen, that didn't come through and
• 7:04
  next thing you know, it's Thursday at five and it doesn't seem like you've had anything
• 7:07
  done.
• 7:08
  And are you channeling your inner child when you're in that state?
• 7:11
  No.
• 7:12
  We can give you a day, like a day and we do have a pre-party that Friday before but if
• 7:19
  we can give you an evening and then a full day of activities to just be creative and be
• 7:24
  a kid for once, you know, why not?
• 7:27
  No, I agree completely and I think another thing that's unique about illuminate and us doing
• 7:34
  this is that that's different from a lot of other events that at least I've been to
• 7:39
  of this kind is that we are actually like in the trenches doing this work, actually for
• 7:44
  real for real.
• 7:45
  Yeah.
• 7:46
  So it's not like we're representing something or we're saying that we're content creators
• 7:52
  but we're not only doing the work or you know like because that's honestly the case in
• 7:57
  a lot of these things is that you know, you're not really hearing from the people that are
• 8:00
  in there actually, you know, recording the show that are in there editing the video that
• 8:05
  have to go in and deal with all the actual logistics of it all and you and I actually
• 8:09
  do that every day.
• 8:10
  Yeah.
• 8:11
  You know, we are creators ourselves every day and so and we're also inviting other people
• 8:16
  to come and talk and interact with everybody that are also creators every day.
• 8:19
  That's why it's unique.
• 8:20
  We're not just talking to talk about the walk.
• 8:22
  Right.
• 8:23
  And one of the things that I've really admired about you and your team at Fun LaMedia is
• 8:27
  that you all have, you all like to document everything.
• 8:32
  Oh yeah.
• 8:33
  Oh my God.
• 8:34
  There is a camera right over here to my left that's getting behind the scenes content
• 8:39
  of us right now.
• 8:41
  Okay.
• 8:42
  Yeah.
• 8:43
  Yeah.
• 8:44
  I mean, when she says we're walking the walk that's literally what is happening and you
• 8:47
  all have nudged me in that direction of trying to document document a little more and it's
• 8:53
  harder for me as a 90% 95% solo operator, you know, you got a team where, you know, it
• 9:00
  could be more than one of you at a content shoot, but still there are ways to get around
• 9:06
  it to document.
• 9:07
  Right.
• 9:08
  So, for instance, you're about yourself.
• 9:09
  You don't have any team members with you, but you still brought your stand and you're
• 9:12
  still documenting it.
• 9:13
  Yeah.
• 9:14
  There's a tripod over there.
• 9:15
  I bet you've got so much memory.
• 9:16
  You've got the other phone.
• 9:17
  Not the other phone.
• 9:18
  Memory.
• 9:19
  Yeah.
• 9:20
  You used up on your phone.
• 9:21
  How often do you do that?
• 9:22
  Oh my God.
• 9:23
  There's 180,000 photos of it.
• 9:25
  Am I joking?
• 9:26
  Something like that?
• 9:27
  I'm one of my phones.
• 9:28
  I was two phones.
• 9:29
  Six figures.
• 9:30
  Bigger numbers of files.
• 9:31
  Yes.
• 9:32
  Wow.
• 9:33
  Yes.
• 9:34
  That's a lot.
• 9:35
  But, you know, this is, and I hope that there is something that people can learn from you
• 9:41
  specifically at the event, or even, you know, in following you beforehand, it's okay
• 9:49
  to document and it's okay to film and it's okay to take pictures and make stuff.
• 9:57
  There's a meme going around and it's like, don't show your work, show off yourself working
• 10:01
  or something like that.
• 10:02
  Yes.
• 10:03
  Right.
• 10:04
  I've seen it.
• 10:05
  Which is a total documentary.
• 10:06
  Right.
• 10:07
  No, it totally is.
• 10:08
  It totally is.
• 10:09
  And it's, like, I know things get away from us and time gets away from us and we want
• 10:11
  to create things, we want to capture things and we forget or whatever, but it's like
• 10:15
  anything else.
• 10:16
  You have to put forth that effort and like make it more of a priority, make it tough
• 10:19
  with mine, remind yourself whatever the hell it takes for you to get more in that
• 10:22
  creator mode and actually capturing stuff.
• 10:25
  If you want to do things like that, then you've just got to get it.
• 10:28
  It's like getting in any routine, like a fitness routine or something, you know what I mean?
• 10:31
  You just have to work it into your life and then no shame, like whatever, you know, because
• 10:36
  I always say, like, 88-year-old me is going to be so happy that I did this really.
• 10:41
  I mean, I look back and be like, wow, look at all this cool stuff that you document and
• 10:45
  all this, you act in a full on the internet, like she's going to love watching that and
• 10:50
  be so proud that you just went for it, you know what I mean?
• 10:53
  So that kind of helps me encourage me to actually do it.
• 10:56
  Yeah.
• 10:57
  You're right, though, in that it is sort of like a fitness routine because I remember when
• 11:05
  I started working out heavily a few years ago.
• 11:09
  One of the hacks that I'd seen on Instagram was wear your gym shorts to sleep.
• 11:15
  Sure.
• 11:16
  Yeah.
• 11:17
  Okay, I'll wear my gym shorts and my polyester, whatever the knit shirt is that doesn't
• 11:24
  make you sweat or whatever it is.
• 11:26
  And so that actually helps because when you wake up, you're like, oh, yeah, I need to
• 11:31
  go.
• 11:32
  And so I don't know what you do to get yourself in that mindset, but one of the things that
• 11:38
  I have found is that with this particular podcast that you're on, I have a folder that
• 11:44
  is, so this is getting really nerdy here.
• 11:46
  I've got on my desktop of my Mac, I've got all my folders where I'm organized, right?
• 11:54
  And I've got the speak podcasting folder.
• 11:56
  And then within speak podcasting, I've got my documents, my tax compliance, my images,
• 12:03
  my B-roll video, all that stuff.
• 12:06
  And then I've got my client files and then my client files.
• 12:09
  I've also got all the people that I work with, but then I've got your mic.
• 12:16
  I treat it as if it's a client show.
• 12:19
  And we all know, and you do, too, because you do client work, we're not going to let
• 12:23
  down our clients.
• 12:25
  And so I'm not going to let down my client as the, the show your mic.
• 12:31
  Right.
• 12:32
  I'm not going to let it down.
• 12:33
  Yeah.
• 12:34
  So that's sort of like my version, my podcast version of wearing my exercise clothes
• 12:38
  to sleep.
• 12:39
  Yeah.
• 12:40
  Yeah.
• 12:41
  No, it's, it's so, so true.
• 12:42
  I mean, whatever it takes, it's like anything else that you really desire, that you really
• 12:45
  want to do, and you just kind of can't quite get over the hump or break the ice, like figure
• 12:50
  out your little hacks and your things, whatever it takes, really.
• 12:52
  What do you like to do?
• 12:54
  Um, it's, I mean, gosh, it's so natural, natural to me now to like have a camera up everywhere,
• 13:01
  but it really is one in the big picture it is thinking about older me, because I, that
• 13:05
  just helps me in general in life, but also I, I know that the whole, like, the right,
• 13:11
  quote unquote, right thing to say is that real life matters more than what matters in
• 13:16
  content and on social media and whatnot, because I'm social media creator, and people say,
• 13:20
  ah, be in the moment more.
• 13:22
  It's not just about getting a picture for the gram and she'll like that.
• 13:25
  But actually, it's very important when you have a mission to get the content.
• 13:32
  If I don't make that a priority, I cannot fulfill my mission and my purpose, the end.
• 13:37
  Yeah.
• 13:38
  So who cares what people say?
• 13:40
  Like I have my real life moments, but I know whenever it's time and you get quick with
• 13:44
  it, you don't distract people around you.
• 13:46
  You know what I mean?
• 13:47
  You can be smooth.
• 13:48
  Get a little quick two, second, three second video, put the phone down, you know what I mean?
• 13:53
  And you know what, um, Mel Robbins has this quote, so I've been on this thing with edits,
• 14:00
  making videos with edits.
• 14:01
  Okay.
• 14:02
  Which is the Instagram, it's the Instagram version of CapCut.
• 14:05
  I guess it's just.
• 14:06
  I love it.
• 14:07
  Okay.
• 14:08
  I like edits just as much as I like CapCut.
• 14:11
  Oh.
• 14:12
  Yeah.
• 14:13
  I don't know if that's a hot tape, but I'm not, I'm not really in the, in the social world.
• 14:17
  I mean, I post one I can, but I'm getting better because of edits and CapCut.
• 14:22
  But um, there's a, a Mel Robbins template where she talks about why your social media
• 14:29
  feed is for you and not for them.
• 14:33
  So post the stuff for you.
• 14:35
  And so what you're riffing on is a total, like it totally reminds me of that.
• 14:39
  Yeah.
• 14:40
  It's like, okay, we'll par my language, but fuck everybody else.
• 14:44
  This is for me.
• 14:45
  This is for the 88 year old version of me who one day is going to be on Instagram and
• 14:50
  is going to go all the way back.
• 14:52
  All right.
• 14:53
  All the way back.
• 14:54
  All right.
• 14:55
  Well, yeah, make, make yourself proud.
• 14:56
  Make whatever it takes to inspire you.
• 14:59
  And then also flipping that, actually, Mel Robbins, let me add a little something to her thing.
• 15:05
  That's a little different is also thinking about, thinking about someone else, yes, but
• 15:08
  the audience specifically that is wanting your content, like there are people that want
• 15:13
  it.
• 15:14
  And who cares if this inconvenience is, you know, your friends sitting on the table whenever
• 15:19
  you're trying to get the video or the food before you start eating, you know what?
• 15:22
  You can wait five seconds.
• 15:24
  It's going to be okay.
• 15:25
  Like, you know, I mean, like we get all like been out of shape sometimes about these things
• 15:28
  and it's just not, it's not that we can deal.
• 15:30
  You just find little quick ways to get the content.
• 15:32
  Think about who you're making it for and think about yourself and what you want to get
• 15:35
  out of it and go to work.
• 15:37
  Right.
• 15:38
  And you're really quick at it and you're, you are quite nimble because you'll have a picture
• 15:45
  or video and there'll be times when you're like, I don't even know what you do that.
• 15:50
  I'm like, how did you get this for real?
• 15:54
  It reminds me of the scene.
• 15:56
  Did you ever see the movie chef?
• 15:57
  Oh, I did.
• 15:59
  Well, there's the scene where the little kid is showing John Favreau.
• 16:03
  Oh, yeah, it was on Twitter and here, look, I already did it.
• 16:07
  He's like, what?
• 16:08
  That's what every time you do something like that, it reminds me of that one scene.
• 16:13
  Right.
• 16:14
  Yeah, and I'm like, okay, I'm not that much older than you.
• 16:17
  I mean, you're a little older than me.
• 16:19
  I'm going to have a decade older.
• 16:21
  Well, I hope that that's something that I, well, I know that that's something that everybody
• 16:25
  illuminates going to do and be encouraged to do.
• 16:28
  So there's no being too shy about it.
• 16:30
  There's no worrying about that because we are all in the space together to support each
• 16:34
  other.
• 16:35
  Right.
• 16:36
  That's literally the point of the event.
• 16:37
  So like you come in there and put your camera up, get your, get your little microphone
• 16:41
  out like that.
• 16:42
  Get inside that colon.
• 16:43
  Get inside the colon and get the freaking video and get it done.
• 16:48
  You know what I mean?
• 16:49
  Like, but we're all in this together.
• 16:51
  And that's what's cool about this event, too, is because you can feel like a weirdo.
• 16:55
  Yeah.
• 16:56
  You're, when you're a content creator, you feel like a weirdo.
• 17:00
  So there's, you've got all these opinions.
• 17:01
  It's not a real job.
• 17:02
  What are you going to do about that?
• 17:03
  Did you go to college for it?
• 17:04
  And then all the shit that we hear and there's so many opinions and then it can get you,
• 17:09
  it can get you down and it can feel not so great all the time.
• 17:12
  So to know that you're in the space with other creators all day and there's no shame and
• 17:17
  you get to just make cool shit together.
• 17:20
  Come on.
• 17:21
  Especially as a business owner and you and I are obviously in the creative space, you
• 17:26
  were social media, me with podcasting.
• 17:27
  But for somebody who is in real estate or working, you, you had a car dealership.
• 17:36
  We work with banks and nonprofits.
• 17:39
  And so creating from that context and this is actually fun and it's a different way of
• 17:45
  channeling your message to people who otherwise might not know what it is that is behind the
• 17:51
  story of your business or your nonprofit.
• 17:53
  Right.
• 17:54
  Yeah, showing those moments.
• 17:55
  Yeah.
• 17:56
  Yeah, for sure.
• 17:57
  For sure, for sure.
• 17:58
  And I mean, anybody that, so many people, I mean, we didn't really like mean for this
• 18:02
  to happen, but it's happened where so many of us are content creators just because that's
• 18:07
  the way things are going now.
• 18:08
  Like I'm, you know, you and I are intentionally doing this as work, right?
• 18:13
  And that's good because we're needed.
• 18:14
  But like, like you're saying, business owners, people that are in brands and organizations,
• 18:19
  you kind of like have to make some sort of content.
• 18:21
  If you want to get out there and stand out.
• 18:24
  And so that's why there's going to be such a variety of people at Illuminate because if
• 18:28
  you got to make content, you got to make content.
• 18:32
  Right.
• 18:33
  Well, bully you into making at least 20 pieces of content between the Friday evening
• 18:36
  and Saturday.
• 18:37
  Yeah.
• 18:38
  I would totally bully you for sure.
• 18:39
  Put you on the spot.
• 18:41
  And we're going to do it.
• 18:42
  Yeah.
• 18:43
  But, you know, we joke around about the colon in the heart.
• 18:45
  I mean, they are fun.
• 18:46
  It's a fun museum.
• 18:47
  If you've never been, of course, we're going to have people from out of state coming down
• 18:51
  to join us in October.
• 18:54
  But we're going to have a theater to ourselves with a huge jumbo tron screen.
• 19:02
  I cannot wait to see my face on that screen.
• 19:05
  So excited.
• 19:06
  And a classroom.
• 19:09
  And so, yeah, there will be, yes, we're creating fun pieces of content, videos, static
• 19:17
  images.
• 19:18
  We're going to network.
• 19:19
  We're going to have fun.
• 19:20
  We're going to drink loads of coffee the night before it might be drinking other things.
• 19:24
  But we're also planning to learn with one another and learn from one another, which
• 19:31
  is why we have the theater and we have the classrooms booked off as well.
• 19:37
  And we've got some stuff cooking.
• 19:40
  I cannot wait to divulge some of the people from the podcast space that I'm bringing,
• 19:47
  that I'm bringing to the table to join us.
• 19:49
  And I know you are equally as excited about who you're bringing from social media from
• 19:53
  that world.
• 19:54
  Yes.
• 19:55
  And to bring it all together, too.
• 19:56
  Like, it totally makes sense because they go together.
• 19:59
  Yeah.
• 20:00
  We're creating social media creation.
• 20:01
  It all goes together.
• 20:02
  It's all in the same world.
• 20:04
  And a lot of podcasters need to make social media content, a lot of social media people,
• 20:07
  either want to have a podcast, have a podcast or want to be on podcast.
• 20:10
  It's all mischished up together, you know.
• 20:13
  Yeah.
• 20:14
  We're all one big happy family.
• 20:15
  We're new media.
• 20:16
  Yeah.
• 20:17
  We are the media.
• 20:18
  Right.
• 20:19
  We're not just new media.
• 20:20
  We are the media.
• 20:21
  Right.
• 20:22
  Well, and also the cool thing that I'm really liking about this event we're planning this
• 20:25
  year is the size of it because it's big enough where you have a good, hefty, you know,
• 20:32
  number of people there, but it's still intimate enough that you're not like fighting for attention.
• 20:37
  Like, if you want to go and be able to ask one of us or a panelist or somebody a couple
• 20:43
  of questions, you actually can.
• 20:45
  Yeah.
• 20:46
  It's actually about connection.
• 20:47
  Yes.
• 20:48
  And you're going to be able to spend time with people and have access to us and to others.
• 20:53
  And that to me is really exciting because that's just not what you get everywhere else.
• 20:56
  Right.
• 20:57
  Yes.
• 20:58
  And so that's like one of the things with the bigger events.
• 21:01
  And I went to one of the bigger events last year and had fun.
• 21:06
  Also, it could be daunting for somebody who's not in the actual business side of it.
• 21:11
  So for instance, I had fun because I'm in the business side of it.
• 21:14
  But for somebody who, okay, so a perfect example.
• 21:18
  If you hosted the middle mix, but did not own a social media marketing agency, so you
• 21:25
  were just doing this as a hobby, it would almost feel alienating for somebody who's just
• 21:31
  running a hobby podcast.
• 21:33
  But because it's so because that event was such a big event, right?
• 21:37
  Yeah, for sure.
• 21:38
  But you come to an event, which is about this, what we're planning on is about the size
• 21:43
  of a very large wedding, but not like overwhelmingly huge.
• 21:48
  Yeah, it's I think it's a perfect amount of spaces for everybody.
• 21:53
  And I think that I think that not only will everybody have access to each other and actually
• 21:57
  get to have that one on one time and all that kind of thing, but you also will genuinely
• 22:02
  leave there with relationships.
• 22:04
  I speak, like we talked about with social success and all the crying and I love you.
• 22:07
  And I have a season since this last year.
• 22:09
  It's real.
• 22:10
  And that's what's going to happen.
• 22:11
  You're going to get there.
• 22:12
  You're going to see people you know probably if you're already in the space and you're
• 22:16
  going to leave with new connections and actual friendships and relationships and business
• 22:19
  relationships and things like that because you have that setting, we're providing that
• 22:22
  kind of space.
• 22:24
  It's not cold.
• 22:25
  It's warm and it's friendly.
• 22:26
  Right.
• 22:27
  And it's not one of those awkward networking subscription clubs that you're like stand
• 22:33
  in the circle.
• 22:34
  And I went to one one time and you had to like chant this thing.
• 22:36
  I don't know.
• 22:37
  I don't know.
• 22:38
  I don't understand.
• 22:39
  No, we're not going to do that.
• 22:40
  I can do that.
• 22:41
  We'll just make you crawl inside a giant colon with polyps in it.
• 22:44
  100%.
• 22:45
  And you know what?
• 22:46
  Get Freddie Cruz to dance in a video with you.
• 22:49
  That'd be perfect.
• 22:50
  Because I know that's your favorite thing to do.
• 22:52
  Yeah.
• 22:53
  No, but for real.
• 22:54
  Like, want me to dance in a video with you?
• 22:56
  Let's do it.
• 22:57
  You want to interview each other and get out your microphones and do that.
• 23:00
  Let's do it.
• 23:01
  Let's do it all.
• 23:02
  Yeah.
• 23:03
  I got to figure out what we're going to do.
• 23:04
  I want to do something really fun with the podcast gear that we can do maybe on stage.
• 23:11
  Yeah.
• 23:12
  With that.
• 23:13
  I mean, the huge ass jumbo tron.
• 23:14
  It's a huge screen.
• 23:15
  I'm telling you, I'm going to look really cute on that screen.
• 23:18
  It's going to be a lot of fun.
• 23:19
  So I got to I got to I got to mull over that aspect of it.
• 23:22
  But we you and I've already had preliminary conversations about who I'm bringing.
• 23:28
  Yeah.
• 23:29
  And I am very, very, very excited.
• 23:33
  But before we wrap up, Britt, I just want to ask why, why it was important for you to
• 23:42
  do this when we had talked about how much events have kicked our asses.
• 23:49
  Right.
• 23:50
  This is true.
• 23:51
  I think I just I'm looking for a little punishment now, I'm kidding.
• 23:56
  It's important.
• 23:57
  It's important to me to do this because when I think back about events past, I just you
• 24:06
  cannot be the experience and the special relationships that it's built and what it means
• 24:11
  to people who work in this space work officially or unofficially in these creator spaces and dealing
• 24:17
  with technology all the time and you're not able to be face to face and in person and
• 24:21
  it feels isolating and you really do you really can't have a hard time with it.
• 24:27
  And I've seen firsthand how it helps people.
• 24:30
  And to me, I just if I can provide that for others, then that's what I'm going to do.
• 24:34
  And then especially doing it with you because I really I didn't I wasn't teamed up with
• 24:38
  anybody before.
• 24:39
  I had wonderful fun with media team, but ultimately it was up to me to figure out all the shit, you
• 24:45
  know, and to know that we can share in this together and bring different strengths is
• 24:51
  what makes it really, really special.
• 24:54
  Brittany is one of my best friends and we haven't known each other very long.
• 24:59
  And I got to say that every time we get to work with one another, it is so much fun and
• 25:05
  it's very rewarding and you've met, you've met, I think most of my clients, you've met
• 25:12
  my wife.
• 25:13
  Yes.
• 25:14
  I've got my daughters who are like, oh, yeah, the blonde, she's fun because they've seen
• 25:19
  you want.
• 25:20
  They've seen you on the internet.
• 25:21
  My mom is like, oh, she looks so much fun.
• 25:23
  And I know my daughters have, I think I texted you one time.
• 25:27
  Yeah, Angelina, she's the one that's in Louisiana, she's like, I want to meet her.
• 25:31
  Let's do it, girl.
• 25:34
  I love that.
• 25:35
  Well, and same with you, like, you've met, you've met my clients, my team, and everything
• 25:40
  just always just flows and goes together so well.
• 25:43
  We just complement each other so well.
• 25:46
  And even though we're bringing different strengths, you have podcasting me with social media,
• 25:51
  we have so much in common when it comes to like, instead earlier, like, providing this
• 25:55
  warm, friendly space for creators to be and from people that actually care, we actually
• 26:00
  give a shit.
• 26:01
  And that's who's going to be there as people that care about what they're doing, and it's
• 26:05
  going to be amazing.
• 26:06
  And it's going to be so special.
• 26:08
  Don't let me cry, Freddie Crews.
• 26:10
  Yeah, well, and I'll end it on this note.
• 26:16
  Britney's got, I forget, is it over 150 or is it over 200,000, like, cumulative?
• 26:22
  Um, we're over 300,000 now, Freddie Crews.
• 26:25
  Okay, over 300.
• 26:26
  So here, here's something I was just thinking about is that Britney has hundreds of thousands
• 26:32
  over 300,000 cumulative followers across the social media platforms.
• 26:37
  I come from a world where it was, everything was very gate-capped, uh, terrestrial radio,
• 26:44
  and you could be at the mercy of someone, and I'm sure TV was probably and still is to
• 26:49
  this day, it could be gate-capped in such a way that you can have a producer on a bad
• 26:54
  day.
• 26:55
  And if, uh, Britney wants to talk about a skincare line that she's launching, and she's
• 26:59
  a local female-owned business, and if that producer is having a bad day, go to hell.
• 27:05
  Yeah.
• 27:06
  But you have this huge following.
• 27:09
  I come from a place where there is a lot of, a lot of holding the thumb down, and you
• 27:16
  and I are empowering people who may be still, I don't know, one, maybe they're still hung
• 27:27
  up on the old guard, and we're encouraging them to discover what is actually within.
• 27:34
  Right.
• 27:35
  And once they discover what's within, then the sky is the limit, and even then that's
• 27:43
  limited thinking.
• 27:44
  Right.
• 27:45
  That's so true.
• 27:46
  But the limit does not exist, and I'm going to quote me, girls, as I do often.
• 27:52
  You're so right, you're so right, it's all just, I don't know, you said it, you got
• 27:58
  it.
• 27:59
  And I don't want to, I don't have any secrets to, like I share everything, as you know,
• 28:02
  like you said.
• 28:03
  I mean, I'll tell you the real deal, like even if it's not what you want to hear, you
• 28:07
  know, about social media, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, like if somebody says, oh,
• 28:11
  I want to get, I want to get to 300,000 followers, and they're like, well, get to work, because
• 28:14
  you're going to have to post every day, you're going to, like, I'm going to tell you the
• 28:17
  real deal.
• 28:18
  Yeah.
• 28:19
  And I just don't have any reason to keep the secret.
• 28:21
  So why not?
• 28:22
  So why the hell not?
• 28:23
  Yeah, that's all I want together.
• 28:25
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 28:26
  So follow follow Brittany on social media, follow her company, fun love media on social
• 28:31
  media as well.
• 28:33
  Tickets get on the wait list, funlovemedia.com, there's going to be a page for you to go
• 28:38
  to where you can get on the wait list and get your tickets and then announcements.
• 28:45
  At the time of this recording, it is May 18th, and this episode is going to be out soon
• 28:51
  after, and which will be before we make any formal announcements of who exactly is going
• 28:56
  to be speaking.
• 28:58
  And while we are going to have speakers and maybe a panel or something, it's really going
• 29:02
  to be more about the networking and more about the connections and making lifelong friendships.
• 29:08
  We made a lot of those at social success last year, which is Brittany's event.
• 29:13
  And we made some at speak fest last year.
• 29:16
  There will not be a speak fest because there's going to be an illuminate, which I think
• 29:19
  is going to be more badass because I got one of my besties with me and we're going to
• 29:23
  be teaming up for this.
• 29:24
  So I am really, really, really super excited to introduce our worlds to everyone listening
• 29:31
  to this show.
• 29:33
  And Brittany, I could not imagine doing this with anybody else.
• 29:37
  Oh, my God.
• 29:38
  It's my dream come true.
• 29:39
  It's Freddie Cruz from the radio.
• 29:41
  Oh, God.
• 29:42
  And now one of my best friends.
• 29:43
  I'm doing it to you on your own show.
• 29:44
  Look, if you're from Houston, you want to come hang out with the one and only Freddie
• 29:49
  Cruz.
• 29:50
  And if you're not from Houston, you're going to know who Freddie Cruz is when you come to
• 29:54
  illuminate 2026.
• 29:55
  Thank you very much.
• 29:56
  All right.
• 29:57
  Just for that, I'm not dancing.
• 29:59
  He's going to dance.
• 30:00
  All right, Britt.
• 30:01
  Thank you so much.
• 30:02
  Thank you.