Latest / Health Tech & Wellness Podcast / Kendall Breitman on Success, Balance & Finding a Life Beyond Your Career

Transcript

Kendall Breitman on Success, Balance & Finding a Life Beyond Your Career · Health Tech & Wellness Podcast

• John Adams: Welcome to a very special episode of the Health Tech and Wellness Podcast. I'm John Adams. Crystal Nevedale: And I'm Crystal Navideal. John Adams: And today we're joined by somebody that I genuinely have been looking forward to having on the show since way before this was even a podcast. I want to introduce Kendall Breitman the head of community at Riverside. Kendall is the whole reason why I'm even doing this today, because I was about to give up, I would say almost two years ago. Kindle helps all of us grow. She listens to our feedback. She builds what, in my opinion, well, she's still building it, but it's one of the most supportive creator communities, in my opinion, in podcasting. Before joining Riverside, Kindle worked as a journalist covering politics and current events, something that we completely try to steer away from. We talk a little bit of current events, but politics we don't touch. so while many people may know Kendall today as the face of Riverside and the Riverside community, today we want to go beyond her job title. Today we want to learn about Kindle the person. So, Kindle, let me officially welcome you to the Health Tech and Wellness Podcast. And we're so thrilled that you're able to take the time out of your day today, because we know it's going to be really busy for you. So again, thank you so much for being on. Kendall: Wow, what a what a roundup. Like yeah, wow, thank you. I hope I live up to the to this hype. A very special episode. I'm like, okay, John Adams: you do and Kendall: here I am. I'll send this one to my mom. John Adams: well Kendall, before we get started, I do want to share something that's kind of to me kind of special because I've had the privilege of interviewing other guests before I brought on Crystal and I've had other people on my other YouTube channel. But I'm gonna kind of throw this at you as a little bit of a surprise. You are currently our official first guest as a team here on the podcast. So thank you and welcome again. Kendall: Wow. my god. Hi guys. So exciting. Wow. Crystal Nevedale: Welcome Kendall, welcome. John Adams: She's like, I didn't expect to blush today. Kendall: Wow. Thank you. Yes. John Adams: no, but we actually do, you know, we spent some time thinking about who we wanted to have on a guest. And I've got a list of people that I really wanted to have on, but honestly, I couldn't think of anybody better to start it because without you, without Riverside, without the great things that the company you you work for and represent has built, I wouldn't be doing this today. yeah. So I really wanted to. Kendall: Thank you. Yay. Do you know the story, Crystal, of how me and John met? Crystal Nevedale: A little bit of it. Kendall: Okay. Crystal Nevedale: You wanna share the funny part though? Kendall: Yeah, I was I was leading a webinar John Adams: Yeah. Kendall: and there was a somebody in the chat named John that was like hyping it was like number one cheerleader hyping me up and also hyping up Riverside but being like I love it here. I love this product and I was like and I literally at the end of the webinar, I was like, and John in the chat just like write to me in my email. Put out my email to like everyone that was watching, being like, All right, if I get a bunch of random ones, I know this John character is gonna reach out. And that's How we met, because I was like, who is this John in the chat? Actually, my boss was also watching that webinar. And he's like, there's that one guy, John, that was like really, he was great. And I was like, if you don't think that I've been already emailing with this with this John. So Crystal Nevedale: Well. Kendall: that that's how that's how we that's how we met. Yeah. John Adams: yeah, for sure. And I I think I've I've told you on a numerous occasions, and I was just talking with Crystal before we got on, that I love to call myself your favorite pain in the ass community member. because not only Kendall: You're not. But I mean you are my favorite comedian member, but you're you're you're not a you're not a pain in the ass at all. John Adams: I I don't want to make anybody mad. I'm sure I'm not your favorite, but I am the pain in the ass. I'll take that and wear it. because seriously, like this entire I'm over the top. Kendall: I'd flip it. I think you're you're you're you're top. But you're not a no, you're not a you're not a pain at all. Really. It's no, no. You're actually every t every time it's like, do you have a comedian member who would be willing to hop on a call? I'm like, yes I do. John's the best. So yeah. John Adams: Awesome. Well, yeah, this studio is is all thanks to you too. I mean, I've thrown the idea of my logo at you and we we talked about Rocky when you first came on and and you were saying you're from Yes, yes. Kendall: Yeah, 'cause I'm a Philadelphia girl. Yeah. So I saw Rocky and I was like, all right. There's a there as a background, there's a fly in the studio. So hopefully it doesn't get in the shot. If if it does, then I've already I've announced it, you know? But John Adams: That it I appreciate it because I was curious what you were staring. I was like, is her k Crystal Nevedale: I think that's John Adams: is her monitor up above her head at the moment? Kendall: There's just there's a fly going around here, but that's what makes us authentic and that's what people John Adams: goodness. Kendall: want is authentic content. So here we are. John Adams: Yes. but I do want to, you know, you mentioned, you know, your boss, and I do want to kind of, you know, make him a little happy and talk a little bit about Riverside because I do love it. And me and Crystal, we could tell you numerous times that Riverside has saved our show. from internet connection issues where the the high quality recording was already there and my entire because again I'm an over-the-top guy and my entire ramble was going and not even knowing Crystal was frozen, not even there. And then she'd come back on and go, Hey, I was gone. And I'd be like, I gotta remember what Kendall: Ha ha. John Adams: let's just go from here. So it saved my recordings so many times. and then I didn't even know it. But let me just give a little quick plug for something that I didn't know Riverside did. but everybody's like, Well, I I use Zoom because it's just reliable. I don't want to worry about if I have enough space on my hard drive or whatever. Go look at my last episode, our last episode. It's a Zoom quality on Crystal Side. It was not nothing I could do about it. Her phone was full. She records on her phone. but her phone was full. I didn't see the notice. She saw the notice. Maybe she mentioned it to me and I just didn't think about it. But long story short, I got done and there was like 10 seconds of her raw recording in the editor for me to work with. And I'm like, We lost this entire episode. So luckily I am part of the beta community and I've got a few little contacts to speak to other people besides just Kindle and Judah's Lake. Kendall: People who are gonna actually help you with technical issues. John Adams: Yes. So he literally says to me, download the cloud. And I'm like, it didn't go to the cloud. It didn't save on our No, we still save it. Don't worry about it. So I pull down the cloud. It wasn't the great quality that you're gonna see today. It wasn't the great quality you see on the podcast on a regular basis, but we saved the episode, right? So it was amazing. So Riverside has really went above and beyond for our show, for my Kendall: Nice. John Adams: podcasting career, for my creator side where I'm helping other creators and I'm doing, you know, editing for them. So again, Nadav, if you see this, thank you so much. Kendall: Awesome. Crystal, are you using the front camera of your b of your of your phone or back camera? The front, you should use your back one. That's just my side, that's my side note. It has better quality than your front camera. Pro tip. Yeah. Crystal Nevedale: but then I can't see if I look funny or not. And that is a must, you see. Kendall: It's it it is it's yes, okay, okay, fair, yes. Crystal Nevedale: Yeah. John Adams: Yes. I do have to fix her eyes using the AI eye adjuster because she's looking at herself or me the entire time instead of the camera, but we work on that. Kendall: She's looking at she's 'cause he's looking at herself the whole time instead the camera. John Adams: Little narcissism right now, just joking. Kendall: Mm-hmm. John Adams: but let's let's go into some questions here real quick. And I I really want to talk about just on the riverside side, because it is grown, you know, it started in what 2020? Okay. Ish, like right around COVID times, it seemed like. Kendall: Mm, yes, maybe twenty nineteen. Yeah. Yeah, right before COVID. John Adams: And I came on with you guys almost close to two years ago. So maybe you were up. Say four years, right? And in that amount of time, you know, it did some growth. But in this last two years, it has skyrocketed. And I mean, when I first came on, I'm like, this is super easy. It's all I need. I'm good. And then literally every time I'd go, man, I do wish it did this, but I don't want to go back and try that other stuff because I hated it. You guys literally throw it in. So when you look back over the last few years, what are you most proud of? I think of where the things that they've added, the tools that they've added, or just in general, what are you most proud of? Kendall: Yeah, I mean, okay, I joined three and a half years ago and I remember when I joined, it was mainly a recording tool. And then there was like a light, light, light editor. And there was even a whole discussion on like, do we want to get into editing? And of course we did. And so from there it's been editing, clipping, hosting now, publishing, social scheduling. You have websites, newsletters through it. So I think just like been proud of seeing that growth. It's also just like a very cool company to work for because like as you were saying, we're all just very like everyone thinks really outside of the box. So if we're saying, this would be really cool to have, and then we just start developing it, like it's a very agile type of company. I don't know, it's like it's just been really cool to see that evolution from coming in and being like local recordings, which is still like obviously our bread and butter, but then moving on to see us build out an editor, us release a new editor, then hosting and the websites and the newsletters. It's just all of that has just been really cool, like the evolution of that. So I think that as a whole I'm proud of, but also just like as a team that we are very like that we don't we don't put a lot of bureaucracy into what we're doing. There's not a lot of like, let's have eighteen people approve this idea before we start chasing it. It's like if we have cool ideas, we just start running after them. We see which one to prioritize. So that's very cool. And then not to like give a million answers to this, but I think for the third one, just as as head of community myself, is that it's really cool to see how much community like feedback is put into this. So when the community is saying, Hey, we have an issue here, or this would be really cool to have this. Just the amount that the product team and the developers like actually see that and hear it and respond to it is just it's just really cool. So I think a lot of companies like head of John Adams: Okay. Kendall: community can kind of be seen as like maybe not as imp important as a role or as impactful of a role, but here like really it like hearing what the community says and responding to it is something that's just like very much in the DNA. John Adams: Yeah, we were joking before we came on. so you'd mentioned how we met, and I was telling her, like, I've had HBO since it was HBO Go, and then they went through their identity crisis and became HBO now, and then they went to HBO Max and then back to HBO and then back to HBO Max. Yes, and now it's I think it's back to Kendall: Now it's just Max. John Adams: HBO Max. But either way, like they've never once reached out and said, John. You've got Big Bang Theory running 24-7 at your house. Let's talk about it. But yet Crystal Nevedale: Yeah. John Adams: Riverside reaches out and says, Hey, we would love to hear how do you use us? What can we do better? Hey, you talk a lot about the fact that we keep it easy for the new guy. How do we grow but keep it easy for the new guy? A lot of companies don't do that. So you bring in this community that you're building. I I don't see any other company out there really doing that. Kendall: Yay. Thank you. I'm glad to hear that. No, it's something that's like really, really ingrained. Like we are having we're we're building new features for the co-creator. And like the first thing that the team is doing is coming up to me be saying, like, hey, can we reach out to a few people from the community that have that have said that they've used Co-Creator and gather feedback? I'm like, Of course, I know that this person, that person, this person, or like I'll make a post just asking people and people are really excited to to contribute. But it also just it really is very much in the DNA of the company of like, let's just actually see how people are using this. John Adams: One hundred percent. So I guess on a personal level, not as an employee of Riverside, but as a personal level, when you hear those stories, like me and Crystal saying how many times it saved our show or other creators in the community saying, Hey, I really appreciate this or that. As a person, not as an employee of Riverside, but just as Kindle, how does that make you feel? Kendall: it's really nice. Like I I think it's so there are a few things. Like on one side I just like say that I have the best job at Riverside because they all have to work really hard on making all of this and like developing all of these features. And then on my end, I like just get to hear how they've affected people's lives and like have that kind of like qualitative part of it. So that's really nice. But it just I'm like really constantly impressed by creators because there is so much like vulnerability and putting yourself out there when you're creating content. And to a point that like I myself, like I've always wanted to like have a podcast, but I don't know. And it's so crazy to say because I literally work at Riverside, but I just like don't know what I want to talk about. Would I have a would I have a co-host, would I have guests on, like all of that. I just know how much that you all put into your shows and how Like even putting clips out there for me, like terrifies me of just like promoting my own work. It's so for me, it's like part of it is just really exciting to hear how like the company that you're working for has really affected people. Like I've had people cry on calls about how they've like how they've started their content creation journey and how many people they've connected with and how much they love what they do. And then also like on the other part of it, I'm just usually really just impressed by how everybody's really putting themselves out there. 'Cause that's something that I think is that people don't realize when you're just seeing it all over TikTok. But it is very like it's a scary thing to do. John Adams: The first time you sit in front of a camera is scary. But the worst part is the first time when you go to edit it and you hear your own voice. Kendall: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and then you like try to clip it. I think for me, I've done all of that. The the scary part for me is like creating a clip of myself and then putting it onto the internet. I don't know why it's so like scary to me, 'cause I it's not like I don't put pictures of myself on Instagram. There's just like something about creating content rather than just like a picture of you or a LinkedIn post and and yeah, so. John Adams: No for sure and and Crystal Nevedale: It's the vulnerability. Kendall: Yeah, definitely. Crystal Nevedale: It's the vulnerability issue, you know, Kendall: Yeah. Like I I mean I have this like weird thing about like people I haven't seen in years, like seeing me pop up on their feeds of me being like, Here are the five things you need to know about your podcast, you know? And why does that terrify me so much? I don't know, but it does. John Adams: What is it called? I've talked about it. It's imposter syndrome and and we all get it. I don't care if you've been doing it a hundred years. when I first started doing it, I 100% had it. but even two years later, I mean, I feel like I'm not the I'm not a perfect professional. I I only use Riverside. I don't go into those other ones because I tried them and I hated them, right? But I would say that I still have that. So I think that's a hundred percent what it is. Your friends, your family, people see that stuff and they go, Well, they don't. They're probably going, wow, that's cool. But in our mind, we're thinking, they're judging us, you know. Kendall: Yeah, exactly. John Adams: So before we move on to get a little to learn a little bit more about Kendall, I just kind of want to again thank you so much, Kendall, for being on. This is a really busy day for you. but by the time people see this, it'll already be out. But you've got this big call later on with the CEO of the company, Nadav, to talk about the new updates So thank you again so much, so much for being on today and taking this time. I can't thank you enough for that. Kendall: Of course. Yeah, of course. You know, it helps that the g one time that I have to sit in the studio and then my makeup can take me from this to the next. Yeah, yeah. And then I get to fine tune everything before it's a call with John Adams: There you go. Or your mic issues because the guys set things up wrong. Kendall: the CEO. It's all good. John Adams: So now, Kendall, we really want to get to know you, right? Because behind every great community, behind every great company, there's the real person. So, Kendall, we want to learn about you. We love Riverside. We've talked about Riverside enough, and I'm sure you're gonna steer some of these answers back to Riverside. But Kendall, outside of Riverside, who's Kendall? Tell us a little bit about you. Kendall: so I mean, I don't know where to start. I'm originally from Philadelphia. I grew up there. and kind of I started I went to college in DC and then started becoming a political journalist there. I was a political journalist for a while and then ended up leaving it when I met my part like a little bit right after when I met my partner, who's now my wife, and moved to be with her. And so then I kind of had to figure out, okay, what's the next step? What am I gonna do next? And then ended up a writer for a little while, like a marketing writer. Cause I was like, I'm a journalist. I write. That's cool. And then realized very quickly that like marketing writing was definitely not for me. I just having to figure out landing page copy was not fun to put it lightly for me. And so then I ended up like Riverside had reached out to me about a community. position and I had never thought about it before and it's just been like a really great match. but then outside of that, I mean I have an almost two-year-old daughter. Her name is Nellie. and she is amazing. She's like, she's like very much in this talking phase now where she's like picking up a bunch of different words and it's very funny to hear what she says. It makes you really realize what words that you say a lot. The other day she pointed at a cat and was like, my gosh. And I was like, what did she just say? And then I was like, and then I looked to my wife, I'm like, my gosh, Donna, do you hear what you said? I'm like, why am I saying, my gosh? Like I apparently say it a lot. So yeah, now it's just it's me, my wife Donna, and our daughter Nellie. And then kinda outside of that, like I just hang out with friends. I go to the beach. I don't know. What do you want to know about me? Crystal Nevedale: I have a question. It's Kendall: Yeah. Crystal Nevedale: a b it's a big one though. Kendall: Okay. Crystal Nevedale: you have a very busy life. Like you have a family, you have a career. What do you do to decompress? And do you do it solo or do you decompress usually with a friend or family or your wife? Kendall: Okay, so decompressing. I really think that like parenthood for me turned it I guess it's gonna sound bad because I'm talking about my work, but like it it turned work into almost like a hobby in a way. That like decompressing after like a long day of work to me is like coming home and seeing my daughter and like playing with her and like being a present parent. Like I don't see it as something I mean it's not like it's not exhausting like to follow around an almost two-year-old. But for me, that's a form of like decompression from the day. So that has been part of it. But then if I like beyond family and beyond that, like I'm a very social person. Like it makes sense because I work in community. But I'm a very social person. And I think that it's been important for me and my partner that like we balance it very well. Like we have no problem, like you go out and be with friends, I'll be back home here. Like I part of me like recharges being with family and decompresses being with my my wife and child. And then part of me is also like given that space to go get a drink with a friend or to, you know, going to a birthday party with my friends a little bit later. So there's like I I feel like I have that balance as of right now, you know, like talk to me and a few kids and we'll see. John Adams: Well, that's a huge piece that I wanted to really dive into because you're you're a community manager. You you know, you've got Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, the riverside pages, all the videos you have to do, all of that, me reaching out to you about my sign, like how do you do you ever feel like you're off? Like how do you Where do you find that switch where I can go, okay? I'm not Kindle from Riverside anymore. I'm Kindle the mother, Kindle the wife. Where do you find that switch? Kendall: So it's funny because like I mean my my wife's a a doctor. So like she has it's like very funny how we both kind of find try to find our balance of like when we're on and when we're off. I'd say for me, it's like I what I'll do is like my my schedule is very nice in the way that it can be very flexible. So my daughter is out from her childcare at like four thirty. And so I'll go home and I block off like let's say four hours to be with her. And then at 8 30, she's going to bed. I'll sometimes hop back on my computer and like take a few calls if I need to, answer a few emails just to kind of like bridge that gap of the time that I that I took off to be with my child. but otherwise, I mean, I in the beginning it was really hard to balance, like trying to figure out when to answer, when to not answer, all of that. And then and like a lot of the time it'd be like me in. line at a restaurant to go to the bathroom and like answering emails, like trying to bridge that gap of like always being on. And sorry that that was a little TMI, but that was how I was working in the beginning. And then now it's like I know when to like when if I see somebody that's like I see preview text that's like, hey, I'm unable to log into my account. Okay, I'll jump in. If it's like I'd like to discuss a partnership, I'm like, I can answer that another time. So My only time that I like try to draw a little bit of a boundary is that like people, like a lot of some users will like have my my WhatsApp and it's okay to write to me. But then sometimes if it's like like I sometimes have to say, like, hey, why don't you send me an email just so that I feel that separation between like my own phone and my my email. You have not done that, John. I was gonna say, don't you have to raise your hand, you haven't done that. John Adams: No, but I'm I'm guilty. I no, no, no, but I'm guilty of of look, I I'm I feel very privileged that I get to be part of the beta community. but sometimes I think that and I catch myself and I've done it where I'm like, you know what, I could probably send this through the actual like questions portion or or help portion of the app versus driving your poor, you know, team. Yeah. Yeah. Kendall: No, the group is one thing. The group is made for that. It's more of just like somebody being angry about something and then they have my WhatsApp and will write to me. And it's John Adams: yeah. Kendall: just like, I want to respond because I want to be there. But also it's a Saturday and I'm with my kids. And also it's like it's like a it's a hard balance sometimes being a community manager because you do want to like have that open line of communication, but you have to kind of figure out when and where to respond to what and how. John Adams: No, for sure. Crystal Nevedale: It takes time though, I feel like, to figure that out too. It's not something that you Kendall: Yeah. Crystal Nevedale: just know from the rip. Like you realize, okay, well, I need a boundary here, I need a boundary there, to keep our sanity, to keep everything, you know, balanced. Kendall: Exactly. And at first you're like, okay, let me answer everything all the time. And Crystal Nevedale: Yes. Kendall: now it's become, okay, if this sits for like another few hours, is that going to be like a make or break thing? If it's like a timely issue that somebody's having, then I try to jump in as much as I can. But if it's like I would be answering, Hey, I'm looking for a partnership deal I'll be like, Hey, here's the partnerships team, like that's something that can wait till the next morning, you know? John Adams: No, for sure. so on that note of advice, when I brought Crystal on, I brought her on because she's kind of the yin to my yang when it comes to the mental health side, right? there's a lot of things that she's like I look at her and go, my goodness, I wish that I was that amazing at. but then there's other things where she bounces off of me. And I saw, you know, we've known each other since what, we were maybe five. so yeah, very long. Kendall: wow. I've been picking up to this yin Crystal Nevedale: Long time. Kendall: yang thing. Yeah, with the difference in questions about like how do I balance it mentally versus more of the tech. Yeah. John Adams: Yes. So I guess on her side, when I brought her on, I said, look, I want you to make sure that this is what you want to get into. You know, I I love this. Like this is four years ago. Was this on my bingo card of life? Not at all. But I love it now. And I want to make sure that you're getting out of what, out of this, what you think you need to get out of it, and that we're helping people. And I said, Don't invest a dime. Use your phone, use your earbuds. Riverside will clean everything up. Don't worry about it. but as a new creator, 'cause she's she is, I mean, she's creates all the time. She's got her own shop, of course. but as a new creator on the podcast world, if you were to give her one piece of advice, what would it be? Kendall: I mean, I get this question a lot about like advice. Like my thing is just if you're doing like you need to make sure that it's something and not not just you, Crystal, but like anyone who's doing this, a general you. Need to make sure that's something that like you love to do and that makes you feel happy and fulfilled. Just because there's so much work involved of coming up to the mic and like editing all of it and having these conversations weekly or whatever your cadence is and Putting it out there, if you're really going to make like the effort, it has to be for something that like really fills your cup. And so that's just off the bat. Cause a lot of people be like, Yeah, I want to make a podcast maybe for and it'll be like something that they think is going to get them a lot of views or they think is going to get them sponsorships or something like that. Like, no, it has to be something that you even if it does get you a lot of views and sponsorships, just something that like you love to talk about and you feel fulfilled by and you're excited to connect with other people about. Cause I think that that's kind of the hidden excitement of podcasting is that you're alone in your studio creating something, but it creates this level of community with other people who are also interested in the same thing that you are. And I think that that's just like a really beautiful thing. Crystal Nevedale: Yeah, I think for me too, I I struggle with balance. Like I have a lot going on and John really does pick up a lot of the weight of all everything. I just show up and and talk at this point because that's all I have to give. But one thing that's really changed in my life was I posted every day and sometimes twice a day. I haven't posted on social media since my birthday on the twentieth until yesterday. So July twentieth till now. anything about my personal life. because I feel like this podcast is taking the place of that, which has afforded me much more time with my partner, with my grandchildren, with my family, and doing my job. So, like now Kendall: That's great. Crystal Nevedale: I'm able to get that feeling out instead of every day wasting that not it's it was never a waste of time because I love inspiring people. I like telling my story, I like showing that there's other ways to do things. It doesn't always have to be how you were told, you know, there's challenges or whatever. But so I feel like that's given me a lot of time. Even though it's really hard to manage my time and get all this working right, I feel like it's actually helping my life a lot. Kendall: It makes sense 'cause like kind of like what we teach people is that they should make like well recording and have that be the foundation for what they post. Like kind of the bottom of the pyramid. Then you make clips and so it ends up creating like you think it's kind of like like setting up a system and like that's gonna take a long time, but then once you've set it up, like it's gonna free you out a lot of time. So doing an hour long recording in that situation. It's like okay, but then once you have that, you can have X amount of clips, which could mean a whole month of content just from recording that one thing. So it makes a lot of sense that it would be like that. John Adams: So we, as you can tell, you know, my tech side of my life and this side of my life are starting to more separate, right? Even though I still leave the tech piece in, if we talk any tech, it's usually put it down, you know, digital detox. but outside of creator life, outside of all of that, you personally, how do you recognize burnout before it gets too far for you? Kendall: I think, I mean, I'm like a very I'm a I'm a reactive person. Not a reactive person, but I'm not like, that crept up on me. Like I will feel something and I'll know that it's coming. And so I like identify the signs of it's not burnout. For me, it's more like overwhelm. Like if I have too much going on, that I'll be like, okay, I like I'll go to my manager and say, like, I need prioritization. Like, especially because something like community has so many different, it's it's kind of new. So, like, let's do an advocacy program, let's do beta testing, let's do this. Like, there are so many different things that people could just throw at you. Let's do a a workshop and a webinar and five of these. So then it becomes okay, too many things are getting thrown at me. I start to feel like overwhelmed, and that then it becomes, let's prioritize it. So that's usually how I approach it. But I'm not like, sl burnout's slowly creeping up on me. I'm like, I am realizing that I'm overwhelmed. I think as far as burnout with like jobs and stuff, I've always been the kind of person that once I hit that place, like I try not to, but once I hit that place, I know that I need to just like move on to the next thing. Like I'm not I don't dwell into situations where I don't feel happy in them. Like if I'm done at a job, I'm like, okay, I should probably start looking somewhere else 'cause otherwise I'm just gonna be like sitting at this job unhappy. You know what I mean? John Adams: Yeah. Completely. so I've been there and I've left a career due to health concerns, and we've talked about that. And that's kind of what got me into podcasting to begin with, that I never thought I would ever have done. so my definition of success used to be I want to, you know, go as far in, you know, corporate America as I can, you know, make X amount of money, have this massive house, and then Health issues came with all that that was on top of me. And my entire definition of success changed. So for you, Kindle, over the years, you know, your career path has changed not really dramatically because you're still talking to people, but going from pro political journalism to community manager for a podcasting company, how has your definition of success kind of changed over the years? Kendall: I actually like I love that question because it's it's been something that like I really have talked a lot about with like friends and family. Like my kind of background is that I so I was working in journalism, I like had some really cool jobs at Bloomberg and NBC and I was covering the twenty sixteen campaign. And I think for a while while I was doing that, it was like everyone would like kind of speak with me about being a journalist. And it was like in this very like, you're doing such amazing stuff. You know what I mean? Like and so I started really looking at my own worth as my job. Like, wow, it's like if I wasn't when I was when I started not being happy in my job, I started being like, But this is such an incredible opportunity. So many people would want this. Is this such an important time for journalism? Like all of that, but I myself wasn't so happy. And then when I I quit my job and moved across the world for my wife and well like to have a shot at like we were talking and just trying to figure out what was going on there. And so I quit my job and everyone, like my friends, were all like, you're insane. And it was a moment where I kind of was like I started thinking about success and how for my whole life I'm I'm very East Coast US, born and bred. Like lived in New York, Philadelphia, DC, like very East Coast. And so my whole life I'd been very like success is career. And I was like, maybe success could be finding your own way in another country. Maybe success can be learning another language or just assimilating to an entirely new culture, throwing yourself into something new. And so I think moving and having that experience completely changed what I thought success was because it became not rooted in career, but like rooted in other parts of my life that I could the successfully make a life somewhere else and find happiness somewhere else. That's not even part of my relationship, but that's with within me. John Adams: No, and it I I'm gonna try to keep politics out of it as much as humanly possible, but you move to Tel Aviv, So how has that changed your perspective Kendall: Mm-hmm. John Adams: on life and just you know, everybody says live for today because you don't know about tomorrow? How how has that really changed your perspective on life? Kendall: I think that a lot of people say that without the experience of actually ever feeling that way. You know? Like to be completely honest, like it's been very, very difficult in that way. Like like being like raising a a child in war. And not just in war, but like an active war of like huddling in a room in a shelter, like while bombs are exploding above your head. Like it really puts into perspective one, like your life and others' lives. It puts in it really for me as being an American that then moved, put into perspective my own privilege of how my life had been before then, how I never, never had to even c come close to experiencing something like that ever in my life before that. But then also raising a child in it, like looking at your child and realizing that like they are living in a completely different reality than what I grew up in, you know? So I think everyone's like, live for today. Like But you never actually have that feeling of like like and it be so consistent for so long. So yeah, and I also think that it just like introduced the idea of like like human to human experience and like you see headlines and you read the news, but what it really is like for people and like individuals and just like how like There's so much generalization that goes on about like places, but it's what I see is just humans that are in a area that's struggling. No matter like what side of the political spectrum you are, which country, which which place you're in. It's just like it's humans experiencing something that's very hard. You know what I mean? So yeah. Crystal Nevedale: Do you find that people have more compassion in that area because all of that is going on? Like more aware of each other? Yeah. Kendall: Yes, a hundred percent. One hundred percent. Like there is such a more like familial feeling. Like I remember when this was like I like the first this is like even way a few years ago when I was here for the first time that there was conflict. Like all of my friends here were all writing to me being like, I know this is the first time that they've been here for any of this. Are you okay? Is your family okay? Like are they worried about you? There's just like so much more compassion for each other. There's so much more just like familial type of feeling of friendship, of like really looking out for each other. So yeah, it just like it's when you go through experiences like this, you really it it's there's so much compassion that comes from it, of from like one person to another, one person's experience to another, just like checking in on each other. Crystal Nevedale: That's actually Kendall: Yeah. Crystal Nevedale: kind of nice to hear. You know, that's like a really Kendall: Yeah. Crystal Nevedale: good feeling. It puts it into a way different perspective. Kendall: It does. It's also like it it's it may and it it comes into so many different parts of life in the way that like I think that like again for me I have a very specific experience in the US, which is like East Coast, whatever, but like even the people that I like stores that I go to, like the people working there, there's like an anonymity. Like I didn't know the name of the person that's selling me my fruits and vegetables. But here it's just like you I know the names of the people from the stands I go to at the the market. They know my daughter. I know that they have a have a child that's her age too. We talk about like there is this like in it's rooted in every single thing that you do. During wartime when you're not going shopping, you'll see them after and they'll ask each other like, How are you doing? How is your wife? Like it's just it's root it's so like heavily rooted in in the culture. John Adams: That whole thing gave me chills. because here in the United States we're we're privileged and we sometimes we forget what privilege we have until you hear that perspective. and and you know that more than anybody because you were here on the east coast of the United States and now there. so thanks for sharing that. Yeah. Kendall: And covering politics, yeah. Yeah, no, of course. It's like, you know, it's the thing is is that it's very difficult, but like there are those kinds of like glimmers of good that come out of it only in the way of like what I'm speaking about. Like that, you know, it's a horrible situation to be in, but it also may like leads to compassion and like I'm yeah, so but it is interesting, especially Crystal Nevedale: True connection. Kendall: becoming a new mom into it. Like it's and and watching My child lived that life, you know. John Adams: Well, we got a little deep there and I thank you so Kendall: Yeah. John Adams: much for taking us down that path because that I think that Kendall: Yeah, of course. John Adams: that's gonna help a lot of people who are sitting here watching the news and seeing one side or the other and don't understand. And that perspective I think is gonna help a lot of our listeners. so thank you so much. Kendall: Yeah, I th I think that it's important that that to hear stories of just like people because I think that when we have this like one side or the other, like this is not a sport game, you know, like this is not soccer or football or whatever you wanna call. Like there is a thousands of like real people that are real like That have nothing to do with their governments that are just like trying to live peacefully and just like no matter where they're from. You know what I mean? John Adams: So let me ask you this, because I think this'll kind of maybe make it full circle. So we're talking about all of that. We're talking about that, you know, what you're living through. You come here other than your your family, your your wife and your child, what do you miss most about there? Because it's a different world, right? Kendall: Yeah. about Tel Aviv? John Adams: Yeah. Kendall: I think like the cultures can't really be like compared. There's just like a lot of spontaneity here. I think that also like kinda is probably woven into the way that life is, about just like kinda, you know, figuring out day by day. There's just a lot of spontaneity. I live near the beach, like So it's just it's like a much more like laid back culture. Like you go to the beach and you just like can sit at like a place that's like kinda like hole in the wall with like fold out chairs on the street and have a drink with your friend, go back home. Like it's I like that part of the culture, but what I really like I also really miss how it doesn't feel like everything doesn't feel gigantic. Like I'll go to a Walmart and it's huge. I'll go to my supermarket and it's huge. And when you have all of those kinds of like big establishments, you lose, I feel like sometimes the personal connection of a place. And so I really like that. It's it's very like Mediterranean in that way. That there just feels more like a familial vibe than that I don't see as much, weirdly when I'm home with my family. So yeah. John Adams: What do you miss most about the United States? Kendall: The ease of things. Not only just like living, like the ease of just like being safe, but but also just the ease of like I order something on Amazon, it's there next day. Like at my door too. That does not happen here. or like there's just like a there's you don't realize until you're until you d don't live in the US how easy things are in the US. So for example, I might go to I might we're gonna go soon to visit my family for the first time since my daughter has been born. And I was like, My parents don't have anything for my daughter. Like they don't have a crib, they don't a car seat. And I just like Googled being like, you know, setting up for a kid. And they're like services that'll come to your house and like set up your home with the crib and put a car seat in for you. Like that's it's just it's you just like that ease of living that you get. You know what I mean? And then Trader Joe's. Yeah. Yeah. John Adams: You and Crystal would get along. The water the trader you yeah, yeah. Crystal Nevedale: We got I have a question. I have a really good question. It's all off of Kendall: Amazing. Mm-hmm. Crystal Nevedale: mental health. It's do your beaches have any beach glass or shells or anything that to collect off the beach? Kendall: Yeah, yeah, yeah. There it's like it's it's cra it's like Mediterranean water is like it's like bath water, especially right now. Like you go in and it's like very warm. There are there are some shells. It's not like, you know, one of those like beautiful shelly beaches that you like walk and collect a bunch of stuff. But you know, that, some trash, you'll collect it on the beach. Crystal Nevedale: I'm actually going to Saint Kitts next month to collect stuff out of their water. So I that's why I was Kendall: nice. Crystal Nevedale: curious. That's part of my job. Kendall: Yeah, it's more of like like little shells and stuff, but mostly mostly mostly just micro pr plastics and a little bit of trash. But it's beautiful. It's beautiful. Crystal Nevedale: Yeah. John Adams: So I know this is not gonna be top on your list, but when you do come back, bring her some some beach glass Crystal Nevedale: Mm-hmm. John Adams: or shells from Tel Aviv. She could put a right in her shop. Kendall: Perfect. Amazing. Amazing. Perfect. Yes. John Adams: so I I I wanna be considerate about your time and I don't want to take too much of it. So I wanna kinda get towards the end here. but I do want to ask before we start to wrap things up. If you look back at your life and you could look back to Kendall when you were a kid, what's one thing that you would go back and go, man, you're really gonna be surprised about this. You're really gonna enjoy this. What would that be? Kendall: jokingly, I would say that well when you said when you would go back, if I thought at first you're gonna say like what would you tell them, I'd like, sit up straight because you have a horrible slouch now because you're 'cause you just were like the tallest kid in class going like this for like years. So John Adams: Yeah. Kendall: that's what I'd tell her to change. But as far as like surprising, I mean I think that like I think my whole life here, I think like the fact that I came out, the fact that I found a wife and we have a beautiful child and we live near the beat like all of that is just like I think all of that would be stuff that I think would be surprising. Especially the whole gay part, but like I think that that like in the life Crystal Nevedale: When did you come out? Kendall: that I've built. I came out when I was like twenty two. Yeah, like twenty two. hindsight's twenty twenty. It should have been years before that, but I think like I think just the fact that I built this li like I come from a small suburban town outside of Philadelphia. And so I think just the fact that like I built this life on the other side of the world and have a wife and a child, like all of that I think would just be really exciting for for thirteen year old slouchy Kendall. John Adams: So Kendall, you've spent your entire career from journalism to now being the community manager at Riverside, telling other people's stories and helping them tell their stories. so 20 years from now, what do you hope people hear about your story? Kendall: wow. I like to like I hop I like to hope that like I really like connect with people. Like I hope that I hope that people really connect with me. I like to hope that I am helping people or that I'm at least making like a positive impact. But also like that I like that I am A fun person to be around, that I am a good friend. Like that's what I want people to like, I don't know, that my connections with them are meaningful. Whether that's making them laugh, whether that's making them feel supported. I think that that would be one. And then also just like for my child's sake, being a good parent, you know? John Adams: Awesome. Anything else from you, Crystal, before we wrap this up and let Kendall enjoy the rest of her busy, busy day? Kendall: I love the guy I I'm I'm answering people's messages. It's all good. It's all good. Crystal Nevedale: No, I think it was a great interview. I I really enjoyed meeting you, Kendall, and hearing your story. And you probably will give a lot Kendall: Thank you. Crystal Nevedale: of hope to people in a lot of different areas of their life. Career, love Kendall: Hope so. Thank you. Crystal Nevedale: life, marriage, all the things. Kendall: Yay. Well thank you very much. I I've really loved meeting you. I've heard a lot about from John, so I was excited to get on a call with you. John Adams: Well, thank you again so much for taking the time. now before we wrap up, I'm gonna put you on a little bit of the spot here. So I I don't know how many of my videos that you've ever seen, whether it's the podcast here or on my other channel, but I've kind of got this little thing that I adopted. Okay. And I always say at the very end, as always, stay healthy, stay balanced, Crystal Nevedale: I am. John Adams: and keep driving forward. Right. So when I brought on Crystal. she adopted stay balanced. So you don't notice Kendall: Mm-hmm. John Adams: what I said, it's almost like now wired into her. I said stay healthy. She automatically says stay balanced, right? So Crystal Nevedale: Yeah. John Adams: I wanna give you as our first guest, and if and if you do a great job at it, maybe our guests are this is gonna be the new thing, I wanna start with stay healthy. Crystal's gonna say her stay balanced. Now here's what I want from you. You can 100% Kendall: Okay. John Adams: say and keep driving forward. You can do that. But I would love Kendall: Keep driving forward. John Adams: if you would actually give it your own spin. Give it the Kindle spin. It doesn't have to be keep driving Kendall: Stay John Adams: forward, whatever the Kindle spin is. And I can give you a few seconds to think. But if you're okay with this, Kendall: Yeah, please. John Adams: I would love to wrap up the end of our show with it. Kendall: Sure, I'm trying to think. I feel like I'm just gonna say stay happy. Is that is that lame? John Adams: Okay, okay. Whatever works. Crystal Nevedale: gosh, I honestly said you were gonna say something just like that. I always thought you would say joyful. I thought joyful would be the word. Don't do joyful, do happy Kendall: Yeah No, I could do Joy Fall Okay, I'll do Joy Fall. Damn it. Okay, fine, I'll do happy. John Adams: You do whatever Kendall: Yay! John Adams: whatever hits you at that moment. So let's wrap up the show, guys. We really love this. Kendall: Okay. It's happy, so I'm just gonna John Adams: it's been such a great conversation with you again, Kindle, and thank you so much. So as always, are you ready? Stay healthy. Crystal Nevedale: Stay balanced. Kendall: And stay happy. Crystal Nevedale: And keep driving forward. John Adams: Always have a great one guys.