Latest / Scrubbing In with Becca Tilley & Tanya Rad / Modern Woman CEO with Gigi Caruso

Transcript

Modern Woman CEO with Gigi Caruso · Scrubbing In with Becca Tilley & Tanya Rad

0:00
Speaker 1: Scrubbing In with Becca Tilly and Tanya ret An iHeartRadio podcast.
0:07
Speaker 2: Hello everybody, we are scrubbing in.
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Speaker 3: Scrub a dub dub dumb.
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Speaker 1: I'm excited because today we have a guest and we
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Speaker 1: haven't had a guest episode in a minute.
0:17
Speaker 3: We have not.
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Speaker 1: We've given a lot of advice, yes, and we're taking
0:20
Speaker 1: a break.
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Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, I turned thirty seven, and I'm like, I
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Speaker 3: have so much wisdom to give, but not this wee
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Speaker 3: but not this week though, because we have somebody much wiser,
0:29
Speaker 3: much wiser.
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Speaker 1: She's accomplished more than many do in this amount of time.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean she launched a brand at sixteen.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, she is a hearing loss advocate. She has her
0:40
Speaker 1: own foundation called Here with You. She is an owner
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Speaker 1: of her own company, GGC Bikinis.
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Speaker 2: It has loungewear, active.
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Speaker 3: Wear, swimsuits, all the things.
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Speaker 2: All the things. And she's only twenty four.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, she's a business woman.
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Speaker 1: She's a businesswoman, and we are so excited to have
0:56
Speaker 1: her scrubbing in.
0:58
Speaker 2: So please welcome Cariso Gig. We are so happy to
1:07
Speaker 2: have you here.
1:08
Speaker 3: Well, she came in bringing us gifts.
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Speaker 1: I was gonna say she brought us gifts. She brought
1:12
Speaker 1: us swim matching swimsuits. How do you feel about that?
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Speaker 3: So, Gigi, thank you so much for bringing us matching
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Speaker 3: swimsuits because I love matching. Becca. Yes, she does not
1:23
Speaker 3: like to match me, but happy too.
1:26
Speaker 1: But like, do we need to wear this swimsuit on
1:28
Speaker 1: the same day together?
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Speaker 3: Absolutely?
1:30
Speaker 4: Can you be cute?
1:31
Speaker 1: Yeah?
1:31
Speaker 3: So cute.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it'll be super cute.
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Speaker 1: But I'm really I love it so much, so I
1:36
Speaker 1: can't wait to wear it. And it's just so thoughtful
1:39
Speaker 1: and sweet that you brought it. But you shared that
1:41
Speaker 1: this is your first in studio podcast.
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Speaker 4: Yes, thank you for having me. I'm so excited.
1:47
Speaker 1: We're so honored. For people who don't know you have
1:51
Speaker 1: started your company. How old were you when you started it?
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Speaker 4: I was sixteen when I started it.
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Speaker 3: Okay, I have just so many I have so many
2:00
Speaker 3: uessions and I don't even know what order to go in,
2:02
Speaker 3: but I guess we'll start there. Okay, So you're sixteen
2:05
Speaker 3: and you're in high school. Yes, how do you even
2:08
Speaker 3: have the like where the idea came to you?
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Speaker 4: Yes? So I grew up. I have three older brothers,
2:16
Speaker 4: so I'm always being active and we would travel a lot,
2:20
Speaker 4: and we would always be in the water doing water sports.
2:22
Speaker 4: We weren't just like laying out and tanning on the beach,
2:25
Speaker 4: and so I never had bathing suits that I felt
2:28
Speaker 4: like we're staying on when I was weakeboarding or tubing
2:31
Speaker 4: and doing all the fun things in the water. So
2:34
Speaker 4: I actually started cutting up my old Victoria's Secret bathing suits,
2:38
Speaker 4: the iconic ones, and literally like pinning them together, safety
2:44
Speaker 4: pinning them, gluing them, and then I took them to
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Speaker 4: my mom and I was like, oh my gosh, look
2:48
Speaker 4: at this, Like this would be so much more supportive
2:50
Speaker 4: and it's really cute still, because I felt like the
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Speaker 4: surf suits that were available at that time weren't like fashionable,
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Speaker 4: they weren't cute, they were more, you know, really surfyeared.
3:02
Speaker 4: So I ended up putting them all together and then
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Speaker 4: my mom was like, let's bring this to life. She
3:07
Speaker 4: had a little girl clothing line before I was born
3:10
Speaker 4: because she always need of having a girl, and so
3:13
Speaker 4: she has that experience with design and she's like, let's
3:16
Speaker 4: make this happen. And it just kind of went from
3:18
Speaker 4: there and it's grown into an incredible brand that I'm
3:21
Speaker 4: so proud of.
3:22
Speaker 3: That is so crazy.
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Speaker 1: Well, I'm thinking about myself at sixteen, and she was
3:28
Speaker 1: not an entrepreneur.
3:30
Speaker 3: By oh no, no, no, no no.
3:34
Speaker 2: So did it happen?
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Speaker 1: I mean, obviously your mom being in the industry and
3:38
Speaker 1: like having.
3:39
Speaker 3: A swimsuit model.
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Speaker 4: She was, so she was just she was a model,
3:43
Speaker 4: and then she had my brothers, and then, as I said,
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Speaker 4: she always wanted a girl, so she started designing little
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Speaker 4: girl dresses and did that with her best friend, and
3:53
Speaker 4: then she found out she was pregnant with me and
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Speaker 4: stopped doing that and was just so excited to finally
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Speaker 4: have a girl. She said she would keep going until
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Speaker 4: she got a girl, and so she got her girl.
4:02
Speaker 4: And I think she was just so excited when I
4:04
Speaker 4: started to express my love for fashion too, since she's
4:08
Speaker 4: always had that, and so I just continued to design
4:11
Speaker 4: and cut up more and more suits and we started
4:13
Speaker 4: putting them into actual sketches and it just went from there.
4:17
Speaker 4: But I would go home after school and focus on that,
4:20
Speaker 4: and I loved it. I was so passionate about it,
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Speaker 4: and I think it's so special that I was feeling
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Speaker 4: as passionate at such a young age, and then now
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Speaker 4: I can continue it like I'm really grateful for that
4:30
Speaker 4: because I always worried like was I going to be
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Speaker 4: like what do I want to do with my life?
4:35
Speaker 4: Where do I want to go after college? Like what
4:37
Speaker 4: do I want to study? And it really just naturally
4:40
Speaker 4: came to me. It's just like childhood passion with fashion.
4:43
Speaker 3: And so you did it at sixteen. So you launched
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Speaker 3: this company And was it just swimsuits at the time.
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Speaker 4: Yes, and only black and white. Always said I wanted
4:53
Speaker 4: it to just be classic, timeless pieces.
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Speaker 3: That's so she get sixteen. I would have seen me
4:59
Speaker 3: at sixteen.
5:00
Speaker 2: I'm trying to think I wore one.
5:01
Speaker 1: I went on a brand trip to the Bahamas and
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Speaker 1: I wore one of your whites. Oh my gosh, yeah,
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Speaker 1: one of the It was like the one piece that
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Speaker 1: has the cutouts and everyone was like, what is this swimsuit?
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Speaker 1: I loved the material was so cool, and so when
5:13
Speaker 1: we were going to have you on, I was like,
5:14
Speaker 1: she's been doing this for a long time, you guys,
5:16
Speaker 1: because that.
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Speaker 2: Was back in I was with Robert twenty sixteen.
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Speaker 3: Long time.
5:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, crazy dating men.
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Speaker 4: And our fabric is signature to us. It's our silky scuba.
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Speaker 4: So it's not like heavy, it's really thin and really soft,
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Speaker 4: and it seriously hugs you in all the right places,
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Speaker 4: like when I put our surfsuit on, it just like
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Speaker 4: sucks you in and you feel ready to go, like
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Speaker 4: you can do anything and not have to worry about
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Speaker 4: having like any malfunctions in the water.
5:42
Speaker 2: I love that.
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Speaker 1: I love fucking I love when people have find something
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Speaker 1: that's missing in the market, which was like cute, cute
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Speaker 1: swimsuits that you can wear while you're not just laying
5:52
Speaker 1: out or like frolicking in the ocean, but actually doing
5:55
Speaker 1: water sports, but still feel like cute and feminine w
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Speaker 1: all doing that.
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Speaker 2: I love that you found that gap.
6:00
Speaker 3: That you actually like let your mom Like I feel
6:02
Speaker 3: like when I was sixteen and my mom wanted to
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Speaker 3: help me with anything, like I was always like no,
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Speaker 3: like I don't you know what I mean, Like I
6:07
Speaker 3: want to do it myself. It's like Lnice that you
6:08
Speaker 3: actually like listened and like had that guidance.
6:11
Speaker 4: And she's still the co founder of the brand. We
6:13
Speaker 4: still work together every day and it's just such a blessing.
6:16
Speaker 4: It's so fun. We're best friends.
6:18
Speaker 3: That is really cool.
6:20
Speaker 1: How what's your age difference between your youngest brother.
6:22
Speaker 2: What's the We're.
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Speaker 4: Five years okay, and then my oldest brother's ten years,
6:26
Speaker 4: ten years.
6:27
Speaker 2: Older than you.
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Speaker 1: Yes, okay, So your mom was like it's gonna happen eventually.
6:32
Speaker 2: Yes, I just gotta wait. My sister has four boys,
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Speaker 2: and then she finally had.
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Speaker 1: A right and it was kind of the same thing,
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Speaker 1: like she was always kind of like, I'll probably just
6:39
Speaker 1: have a basketball team of boys, but then she got
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Speaker 1: pregnant and it was a girl, and it's like, that's
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Speaker 1: just so sweetesty, you know, that's so sweet.
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Speaker 2: I know.
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Speaker 3: So you launched this it's GGC and it was just swimwear,
6:50
Speaker 3: and when did you break out into other things?
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Speaker 4: So we got approached by Carbon thirty eight to do
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Speaker 4: a collection with them for sportswear, and so we did
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Speaker 4: a sports for a collection that had our cutouts in
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Speaker 4: the leggings and in the bras, and it did so
7:03
Speaker 4: so well for Carbon thirty eight that we actually brought
7:05
Speaker 4: it in house and then started designing more sportswear for
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Speaker 4: the brand. So we brought sportswear in house and we
7:12
Speaker 4: started designing more collections around that, and it did so well.
7:16
Speaker 4: And then during COVID there's a whole Boom for loungewear,
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Speaker 4: and so we actually launched our sustainable cashmere collection and
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Speaker 4: we did like a knitted cut out on the sleeve
7:27
Speaker 4: and it was still really chic and comfortable, and bringing
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Speaker 4: in that sustainability was important for us. So my goal
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Speaker 4: long term for GGC is just to continue to tap
7:37
Speaker 4: into other categories and really build like a lifestyle brand.
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Speaker 4: There's so many things I want to do, like what
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Speaker 4: I would love to just go into, Like, Okay, I
7:45
Speaker 4: want to dress our GGC girl for vacation from head
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Speaker 4: to toe, so like tying in other accessories, more cover ups.
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Speaker 4: I think there's a huge gap in the market for
7:53
Speaker 4: cover ups just for me personally. I can never find
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Speaker 4: a cover up that I can wear it to the
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Speaker 4: beach but then also not feel like uncomfortable wearing it
8:02
Speaker 4: to lunch right, right, you can dress it up for dinner,
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Speaker 4: and so we've tapped in that a little bit with
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Speaker 4: our mesh cover ups and our skirts here and there.
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Speaker 4: But I really would like to like dive fall into
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Speaker 4: that because I think there's so much you can do there.
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Speaker 2: You're so right that I have the hardest time finding
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Speaker 2: cover ups that I'm.
8:20
Speaker 3: I don't think I have any that I really like,
8:23
Speaker 3: but like they're like, you're right, they're just for the beach,
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Speaker 3: you know what I mean, Like they're just for the beach.
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Speaker 3: And you can't like wear your cover up to lunch.
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Speaker 4: Or like walking around a town. Like you want something
8:32
Speaker 4: that's covering you but still not like too hot, right,
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Speaker 4: and you can like dress it up with a bag
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Speaker 4: and shoes and sunglasses and like make it a full outfit.
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Speaker 3: Right.
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Speaker 4: So that would be my long term goal for the
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Speaker 4: brand is to be able to do that.
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Speaker 1: Have you had a person that wore your swimsuit and
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Speaker 1: like Tiger, you just saw them wearing it where you
8:49
Speaker 1: were like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this person's
8:51
Speaker 1: wearing my brand.
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Speaker 4: The first like celebrity major person to wear GIGC with
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Speaker 4: Julian Huff and I was freaking out. It was on her.
9:00
Speaker 4: I think it was like her bachelorette or something, And
9:03
Speaker 4: that was probably like my big moment, like oh my god,
9:06
Speaker 4: like other people are loving my product, and that really
9:10
Speaker 4: like gave me the passion to continue with it. Yeah,
9:13
Speaker 4: thank you putting out there.
9:15
Speaker 2: Did you go to the Eras tour premiere the movie premiere?
9:19
Speaker 3: Yes, Okay, I met her there? Did I meet?
9:23
Speaker 4: We sat down next to each other.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, wait at the.
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Speaker 3: Oh you went to that one too?
9:30
Speaker 2: At the g because I thought I saw I was
9:32
Speaker 2: in the theater.
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Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, No, Kay, Taylor was in a.
9:35
Speaker 1: Thing and I saw y'all come in and I was.
9:38
Speaker 2: Oh, my god, I don't I know her, but she
9:40
Speaker 2: don't know me. But she said, Hi, there's a lot happening.
9:45
Speaker 2: I was over stimulated and was.
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Speaker 4: Such an incredible night. That was amazing, Like when she
9:49
Speaker 4: walked in a theater, I was like, we're about to
9:51
Speaker 4: watch this with her, Like you're in.
9:52
Speaker 3: That theater too.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, did you get to meet her.
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Speaker 4: Like in passing, like for two seconds? I mean, I'm
9:58
Speaker 4: sure she was just so a lot going on, but yeah,
10:01
Speaker 4: I can't believe we were like sitting behind her while
10:03
Speaker 4: she's watching and she was like singing and dancing with
10:05
Speaker 4: her dancers. It was insane.
10:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, she was mad that I didn't go to the
10:09
Speaker 1: one with her, and I was like, I was literally
10:11
Speaker 1: behind I couldn't say noticeting ball.
10:14
Speaker 3: We had plans to see it together, so that was like,
10:16
Speaker 3: you know, like we were going to see it together.
10:18
Speaker 3: She like didn't you get like a whole movie theater,
10:21
Speaker 3: no eight seeds whatever, same difference. Rented a movie theater,
10:26
Speaker 3: got the seats, and we were going to see it together.
10:28
Speaker 3: And then she was like I got invited to the
10:30
Speaker 3: premiere and I was like, we're supposed to see it together.
10:33
Speaker 3: And she's like, Taylor Swift is going to be like
10:35
Speaker 3: in my theater.
10:36
Speaker 4: Like how do you say no that that?
10:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, like I did what had to be done.
10:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, she had to go. But we actually met at
10:46
Speaker 3: did they did that? They like rent out of theater
10:49
Speaker 3: and invited friends and we ended up sitting next to
10:51
Speaker 3: each other. One of my girlfriends actually went out with
10:53
Speaker 3: your brother.
10:56
Speaker 4: How I started talking.
10:58
Speaker 3: She does not need to be She's one of my
11:01
Speaker 3: best friends, you know her? Okay, gotcha, got got yeah.
11:04
Speaker 3: But yeah that's how we met. You were sitting right
11:06
Speaker 3: next to us and we were all like dancing and
11:10
Speaker 3: like we had the theme.
11:11
Speaker 4: It was so fun. We like just no one like
11:14
Speaker 4: sat the rest of the movie. Like we were literally
11:16
Speaker 4: like up and singing dancing the whole time.
11:18
Speaker 1: Taylor was doing like backflips and stuff. Yeah, I want
11:23
Speaker 1: to talk about your foundation here with you. Because Tanya
11:27
Speaker 1: was asking she goes, I have a question. I think
11:29
Speaker 1: it's dumb that I want to ask her, And I
11:30
Speaker 1: was like, what is it? And she was like, I'm
11:32
Speaker 1: just curious what it's like to Was it not like when.
11:35
Speaker 3: Like when you were born, did you could you hear
11:38
Speaker 3: or could you not hear anything? Or what did you hear?
11:40
Speaker 4: Yeah, well I don't remember because I was so young.
11:44
Speaker 4: I was I was born with it, but I got
11:50
Speaker 4: my first her of hair and age at three months old,
11:53
Speaker 4: so I was very grateful that I got that so
11:56
Speaker 4: soon after I was diagnosed. So many kids, so everyone
12:00
Speaker 4: has to get screened at birth, every maybe, and there's
12:04
Speaker 4: so much follow up that has to be done. You
12:06
Speaker 4: have to get tested, you have to get fitted for
12:07
Speaker 4: ear molds, and then you get your hearnaes and a
12:10
Speaker 4: lot of children don't have that follow up, so they
12:13
Speaker 4: are actually missing that super important developmental time where they're
12:18
Speaker 4: hearing different sounds and then you start to talk and
12:20
Speaker 4: you're hearing what your parents are saying. You're picking that up,
12:23
Speaker 4: and a lot of kids miss that. So part of
12:25
Speaker 4: what we're doing at the Foundation is really making sure
12:29
Speaker 4: that the kids that are diagnosed are getting those resources
12:31
Speaker 4: and their parents are getting those resources as soon as
12:34
Speaker 4: possible so that they can get speech therapy and get
12:37
Speaker 4: hearing aides and they don't miss that important time frame.
12:41
Speaker 4: So I was very grateful and blessed that I got
12:43
Speaker 4: here in aides at three months.
12:46
Speaker 3: So at three months you have a hearing aid put
12:49
Speaker 3: in your ear, yes, but how did you How did
12:51
Speaker 3: your parents know that, like something was off.
12:54
Speaker 4: Because you have to get tested at birth.
12:56
Speaker 3: Oh, so the doctors were just like.
12:58
Speaker 4: I didn't pass my hearing tests as a baby, and
13:02
Speaker 4: then I got my hair in aids and I went
13:03
Speaker 4: through years of speech therapy all the way up until
13:06
Speaker 4: I want to say, like eighth grade. And right before
13:12
Speaker 4: I went into high school, this device called the lyric
13:15
Speaker 4: Bonac Haronade came out and it sits. So I used
13:18
Speaker 4: to have these big, chunky heronades when I was growing up,
13:20
Speaker 4: which was so hard in school because other kids are
13:22
Speaker 4: coming up like what's in your ear and wanting to
13:24
Speaker 4: try it or like poke it and try it. That
13:28
Speaker 4: was like like can I try it on? And so
13:31
Speaker 4: that was really tough. And going into high school, I
13:33
Speaker 4: feel like that's just a very anxious time in general.
13:38
Speaker 4: It's like a whole new chapter you're going into a
13:40
Speaker 4: big school. I went to high school. I didn't know anyone,
13:44
Speaker 4: And so these little devices, the lyric sits right on
13:48
Speaker 4: your ear drum, so it's all the way in my ear.
13:50
Speaker 4: You can't see it from the outside. You wouldn't know
13:52
Speaker 4: I'm wearing a hare inaid right now. And so I
13:56
Speaker 4: got that, and I didn't even realize. I think because
13:59
Speaker 4: I was born not being able to hear well, I
14:03
Speaker 4: didn't even realize how much I was missing. So when
14:06
Speaker 4: I got the lyric, I heard my voice clearly for
14:09
Speaker 4: the first time. I heard rain. I walked outside the
14:12
Speaker 4: hospital and I heard the waterfall, and I didn't even
14:15
Speaker 4: really see I was there when I walked into the
14:17
Speaker 4: hospital at first to get this put in. So there
14:20
Speaker 4: were so many sounds that I didn't even know I
14:22
Speaker 4: was missing, and I'm still discovering new sounds. It's crazy.
14:26
Speaker 4: Just I'll be like, oh my god, I heard an owl.
14:29
Speaker 4: I hear my dogs on the hardwood floor of their
14:31
Speaker 4: claws so much, and so I don't think I ever
14:35
Speaker 4: it was such a gift that I got. I don't
14:37
Speaker 4: like to even call it hearing loss because I never
14:40
Speaker 4: feel like I really lost it. In the first place.
14:42
Speaker 4: It's something. It was a gift that I gained later
14:45
Speaker 4: in life. I just wasn't born with it.
14:48
Speaker 3: That is so wild. So is it like again part
14:51
Speaker 3: of my ignorance. Is it surgery that's put in there
14:54
Speaker 3: or is it just like somebody just goes in while
14:56
Speaker 3: you're awake.
14:57
Speaker 4: I was awake. A doctor has to put it in
15:00
Speaker 4: because it sits so close to your ear drum. It's
15:03
Speaker 4: really scary. If it hits, it's not right. You have
15:06
Speaker 4: to sit, you get measured before, and it gets to
15:08
Speaker 4: put in like a super specific place. So doctor puts
15:12
Speaker 4: it in. But I can take it out on my own.
15:14
Speaker 4: I just can't put it in. So if I want
15:17
Speaker 4: to go swimming, they're not waterproof, I can take them out,
15:21
Speaker 4: but I can't. I have to go to the doctor
15:23
Speaker 4: to get it put back in.
15:23
Speaker 3: So if you go swimming, you have to take that out,
15:26
Speaker 3: and then you just can't hear.
15:27
Speaker 4: I can hear very very if you're like right in
15:30
Speaker 4: front of me and looking at me, I can hear you.
15:34
Speaker 4: But if you turn your back or you walk away
15:36
Speaker 4: from me, then it's very difficult for me.
15:38
Speaker 3: But I imagine like you probably don't want to swim that much, right,
15:41
Speaker 3: because you just don't want to go to the doctor
15:42
Speaker 3: or to get it put back in.
15:44
Speaker 4: Well. I actually love swimming because I think it's a
15:48
Speaker 4: nice way for me to just take a break. It's
15:51
Speaker 4: almost like overstimulating to have my hairnads, and sometimes in
15:54
Speaker 4: loud environments, it's so much noise and it's a lot
15:57
Speaker 4: for my brain to process and to be like really
16:00
Speaker 4: like translating everything I'm hearing. So I like to take
16:03
Speaker 4: them out and go in the water. It feels so
16:05
Speaker 4: good to get water in my ears because I don't
16:07
Speaker 4: feel that feeling often and to just escape from reality
16:11
Speaker 4: for a little bit, give my mind a break.
16:13
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's so crazy.
16:31
Speaker 1: So from birth basically until high school, everything was just
16:36
Speaker 1: almost like muted sounds.
16:37
Speaker 2: Is that how you would describe it.
16:39
Speaker 4: Yes, I would say it's very like muted, and I
16:42
Speaker 4: couldn't I can't hear a lot of like sh sounds.
16:45
Speaker 4: And again, like if teachers would turn their back in
16:48
Speaker 4: class and right on a board, it would be almost
16:50
Speaker 4: impossible for me to hear them. I relied on lip
16:53
Speaker 4: reading a lot growing up, and so especially in college,
16:58
Speaker 4: even with the lyric being like huge classrooms and if
17:01
Speaker 4: you have a teacher that's not facing you. It's really difficult.
17:05
Speaker 4: So high school, going through school was tough with a
17:08
Speaker 4: hearing loss, and I really just want to make sure
17:10
Speaker 4: that I can provide resources to kids now and even
17:15
Speaker 4: children in high school and college. You have to speak
17:18
Speaker 4: up for yourself, and you have to advocate for yourself
17:20
Speaker 4: and sit your teachers down and say, hey, this is
17:22
Speaker 4: what I need. I have hearing loss. I have this disability.
17:25
Speaker 4: I think it's so important to teach kids at a
17:28
Speaker 4: young age to learn how to do that, because if
17:30
Speaker 4: I didn't learn how to advocate for myself, I would
17:32
Speaker 4: definitely not be where I am today.
17:34
Speaker 3: Right, Like did you have to like sit in the
17:35
Speaker 3: front of class, Like did you have to sit in
17:37
Speaker 3: the front seat.
17:37
Speaker 4: Yes, and have like a note taker, have captions When
17:41
Speaker 4: we were on zoom during COVID, I was still in
17:43
Speaker 4: college and so I needed captions on zoom. I just
17:47
Speaker 4: think it's so important to speak up for what you
17:49
Speaker 4: need because hearing loss is sometimes an invisible disability, Like
17:53
Speaker 4: you don't look at someone and know they have hearing loss,
17:56
Speaker 4: so you're not like being aware that they may need
18:00
Speaker 4: to extra support, and so you have to just advocate
18:03
Speaker 4: and speak up for yourself, and it can be really
18:05
Speaker 4: scary to do that, especially at a young age and
18:08
Speaker 4: with teachers. But I was so grateful that I had
18:12
Speaker 4: my family and my friends around me that really like
18:14
Speaker 4: pushed me and taught me how to do that. And
18:17
Speaker 4: so with the foundation, I want to bring more people
18:21
Speaker 4: together that are part of the deaf and heart of
18:22
Speaker 4: hearing community so we can all you don't feel so
18:25
Speaker 4: alone and isolated. Other people are going through this and
18:28
Speaker 4: you can share stories and hear what helped someone else.
18:31
Speaker 4: And I think it's so important to have that sense
18:33
Speaker 4: of community.
18:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like, have you met Daisy from The Bachelor?
18:38
Speaker 4: We haven't we Actually, yes we did. We met as
18:41
Speaker 4: stage coach. We ran into each other at stage coach.
18:43
Speaker 4: But we've talked here and there and messaged to each other.
18:46
Speaker 4: And I love her. She's such an inspiration. She's amazing.
18:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's amazing.
18:49
Speaker 1: And it's it was so eye opening during her season
18:52
Speaker 1: of seeing how her talking about it and then seeing
18:54
Speaker 1: the way people responded to it. Who how so many
18:57
Speaker 1: people have experienced either during laws are like, you know,
19:01
Speaker 1: hard of hearing whatever it was, and how impactful it
19:04
Speaker 1: is to have someone with a platform talk about it.
19:06
Speaker 1: So I think that's so important what you're doing and
19:09
Speaker 1: giving people the chance to have the experience of what
19:13
Speaker 1: you experienced in high school. Obviously at three months you
19:17
Speaker 1: you got assistance hearing, but having such a change when
19:22
Speaker 1: going into such a vulnerable time, So that's really cool. Yeah,
19:26
Speaker 1: what are your goals like with the with the foundation,
19:30
Speaker 1: like you what are the resources and like how young
19:33
Speaker 1: does it start? And like does it feel like people
19:35
Speaker 1: don't have access to it because of cost or in short,
19:39
Speaker 1: like does entrance cover what is it that keeps people
19:42
Speaker 1: from doing that?
19:43
Speaker 4: So we definitely are targeting targeting the lower income communities
19:47
Speaker 4: because they don't have the access and the resources they
19:50
Speaker 4: need and yeah it's expensive to have here and need,
19:53
Speaker 4: but also just even getting the referral of where do
19:57
Speaker 4: I even go? Like these families don't even know what
19:59
Speaker 4: the next step is. Is your baby is given this
20:02
Speaker 4: test at birth and say they don't pass it. There's
20:04
Speaker 4: not a lot of resources that you're given out a
20:07
Speaker 4: hospital for where you should go next. And every child
20:10
Speaker 4: is different. There's different levels of hearing loss and so
20:13
Speaker 4: you need to go to the right person for the
20:16
Speaker 4: right support. So we really want to connect with different
20:20
Speaker 4: organizations that have already started to tap into those families
20:24
Speaker 4: and then give them the referrals they need. I'm working
20:27
Speaker 4: on the foundation with my audiologists, and so she has
20:30
Speaker 4: incredible resources, she's able to test kids. We're actually partnering
20:35
Speaker 4: with Parlos Ninos, which is I don't know, have you
20:37
Speaker 4: guys heard of Carlos. They're amazing, and we're going to
20:41
Speaker 4: their daycare and we are doing free hearing screenings for
20:46
Speaker 4: the parents and the kids there. And that's just the
20:50
Speaker 4: first step in us just tapping into that community and
20:53
Speaker 4: giving them the opportunity to get a hearing tests that's
20:57
Speaker 4: for free, and they don't need to figure out a
21:00
Speaker 4: way to get transportation to the doctor's office or where
21:02
Speaker 4: do they even go to get the tests, and we're
21:05
Speaker 4: coming to them. So I'm really excited about that, and
21:08
Speaker 4: there's just many more things that we can do as
21:10
Speaker 4: foundations similar to that. I actually had a zoom on
21:14
Speaker 4: Friday with an organization called No Limits and they're incredible.
21:19
Speaker 4: I could have talked to them for hours. But they
21:21
Speaker 4: bring kids in that don't have a lot of the
21:24
Speaker 4: resources they need, and they give them speech therapy for free,
21:27
Speaker 4: and there's this six year old girl, and she hadn't
21:31
Speaker 4: been able to have speech therapy, and she hadn't been
21:34
Speaker 4: able to have the access to hear needs, and so
21:36
Speaker 4: she hasn't spoken yet. And she went through a few
21:40
Speaker 4: months of therapy with them and then she was able
21:42
Speaker 4: to say, Hi, my name is and my dream job is,
21:46
Speaker 4: and this is what I want to be when I
21:48
Speaker 4: grow up, and I can do it. That's their hole
21:50
Speaker 4: motto is, I can do it. And so now we're
21:53
Speaker 4: looking to partner with them and making sure that we
21:55
Speaker 4: can refer children to them, that we meet up Parlos NEO.
21:59
Speaker 4: So again it goes back to that sense of community
22:02
Speaker 4: and working together. There's so many great organizations out there,
22:06
Speaker 4: but everyone's doing things separate, and we need to bring
22:09
Speaker 4: them all together and bring together those family and children
22:13
Speaker 4: so that they know they're not alone. I didn't really
22:15
Speaker 4: have I didn't know anyone growing up that had hearing loss.
22:18
Speaker 4: So I felt so alone. I didn't have anyone I
22:20
Speaker 4: could talk to that understood it.
22:22
Speaker 3: I feel okay. So you're like, you know you're older,
22:24
Speaker 3: you're confident, like you know you are, you are who
22:28
Speaker 3: you are, But like when you were younger and you
22:29
Speaker 3: were going through this was it like did you get
22:31
Speaker 3: made fun of a lot?
22:32
Speaker 4: Like?
22:32
Speaker 3: Do you have like trauma from growing up?
22:35
Speaker 4: I think high school, even though I had the lyric,
22:38
Speaker 4: was probably honestly the hardest four years because of my
22:42
Speaker 4: teachers not being understanding. And it ended up that my
22:46
Speaker 4: dad had to sit them down and say you wouldn't
22:49
Speaker 4: take someone in a wheelchair take the stairs. And I
22:53
Speaker 4: think that like really hit them again because it's an
22:56
Speaker 4: invisible disability. They weren't seeing how much I was struggling
22:59
Speaker 4: sitting in class and couldn't hear them that I needed
23:01
Speaker 4: the extra support. Something just wasn't clicking for them. And
23:05
Speaker 4: so another thing that I would like to do with
23:08
Speaker 4: here with you is to go and talk to schools
23:10
Speaker 4: and to sit down with a teachers and to give
23:12
Speaker 4: presentations and say, okay, this is what you need to
23:14
Speaker 4: do if you have someone in your class who is
23:17
Speaker 4: deaf or hard of hearing.
23:17
Speaker 3: But would you like on your first day a school,
23:20
Speaker 3: would you tell your teachers like I'm hard of hearing, yeah,
23:22
Speaker 3: and then they would just do nothing about it, is which.
23:24
Speaker 4: I just I don't think anyone what cares them? Yeah,
23:28
Speaker 4: they don't know what to do. And so that again
23:30
Speaker 4: goes back to you have to speak up for yourself
23:33
Speaker 4: and say this is what I need.
23:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it's like again at that.
23:37
Speaker 4: Age, it's so hard. It's so intimidated to a teacher. Yeah, exactly,
23:43
Speaker 4: ask go to the bathroom, you know.
23:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, literally, I would be so scared to raise my
23:47
Speaker 1: hand to go the bathroom. I imagine having to say like, hey, I.
23:50
Speaker 2: Can't hear hard, can you? You know? Turn around?
23:54
Speaker 4: Definitely. So there's just so many things I want to
23:57
Speaker 4: do and I am doing with the Foundation, where really
24:00
Speaker 4: just sitting down with families and organizations and we're asking
24:03
Speaker 4: them what do you want from us? I think it's
24:06
Speaker 4: important to hear from the community and where the gaps
24:09
Speaker 4: are missing and how we can provide support in those areas.
24:12
Speaker 4: And then the Foundation isn't just for people who are
24:15
Speaker 4: deaf or hard of hearing. It's also to bring more
24:18
Speaker 4: awareness to hearing loss in general. And so even me
24:21
Speaker 4: being here today and speaking about it and putting out
24:26
Speaker 4: resources on how you can protect your hearing. All of
24:29
Speaker 4: us nowadays we're going to super loud concerts, we're going
24:32
Speaker 4: to football games or where we do that air pods
24:35
Speaker 4: that are like blasting music yes, but it's damaging your hearing.
24:39
Speaker 4: Even if you don't have a hearing you go to.
24:40
Speaker 3: A concert, is it bad? Is it bad for you
24:43
Speaker 3: with your.
24:44
Speaker 4: So my lyrics actually act as ear plugs and they'll
24:46
Speaker 4: automatically shut off when the noise level is too dangerous.
24:50
Speaker 4: And it's so important for people even without hearing loss,
24:53
Speaker 4: to know, Okay, you need to wear ear plugs. You
24:56
Speaker 4: need to protect your hearing because you can damage your
24:59
Speaker 4: he And there's so many like different fun ear plug
25:03
Speaker 4: companies now that make them like really cool looking, like
25:06
Speaker 4: you don't have to wear anything that's really chunky and
25:09
Speaker 4: other people can see. But it's so important to protect
25:12
Speaker 4: your hearing and not last music in your ears or
25:15
Speaker 4: go to these big venues. There's actually an app I've
25:17
Speaker 4: been using recently where you can test the noise level
25:21
Speaker 4: and it will tell you if it's too loud. And
25:24
Speaker 4: I was at a restaurant with my parents on vacation
25:27
Speaker 4: and it was so loud in this restaurant and my
25:29
Speaker 4: parents couldn't hear and I was like, hold on, let
25:31
Speaker 4: me take it out and see, and it was a
25:34
Speaker 4: dangerous level. So we actually ended up leaving because I
25:36
Speaker 4: was my brain was going crazy. It was overwhelming for me,
25:39
Speaker 4: and then they couldn't hear, and I want to protect
25:41
Speaker 4: their hearing. So it's little things like that that you
25:45
Speaker 4: can do.
25:46
Speaker 2: Oh, you don't even think about that at a restaurant.
25:48
Speaker 3: No, And I think, honestly, hearing is something that we
25:50
Speaker 3: take for granted. Yeah, like I really do you know,
25:54
Speaker 3: like you just don't. You don't think about it, Yeah,
25:56
Speaker 3: like you don't think about protecting it, Like it's not
25:58
Speaker 3: something that, like, you know, I think come out on
26:00
Speaker 3: a daily basis.
26:02
Speaker 1: I want to talk about your parents because I'm so
26:05
Speaker 1: fascinated by well, I'm so impressed by you because you
26:10
Speaker 1: come from a known family and your dad's very a
26:13
Speaker 1: very well known businessman, and yet you're taking something that's
26:17
Speaker 1: been you know, given to you and you're using it
26:19
Speaker 1: for so much good and like doing so much and
26:22
Speaker 1: starting your own business at sixteen and starting a foundation
26:25
Speaker 1: that's like helping people in the community is so impressive
26:28
Speaker 1: to me. But I have always been curious about having
26:32
Speaker 1: a parent or family member in politics, and I'm curious
26:35
Speaker 1: what that's been like for you, because it's like, obviously
26:37
Speaker 1: your dad is a successful businessman, he has these beautiful
26:41
Speaker 1: malls and businesses. But what was it like for you
26:44
Speaker 1: when he entered the political world for your family and
26:47
Speaker 1: just you know, it's like, what kind of conversations were
26:50
Speaker 1: you having with people?
26:52
Speaker 4: I mean, I think it was one of those things
26:55
Speaker 4: where my brothers and I were all so close and
26:57
Speaker 4: we were like, we're going to rally behind what i've
27:00
Speaker 4: my dad wants to, We're going to support him. We're
27:02
Speaker 4: just that tight knit family and we're all in this together.
27:06
Speaker 4: It wasn't like he came to us and I was like,
27:08
Speaker 4: this is what I'm doing. He actually sat us down
27:10
Speaker 4: and he was like, is this okay? Are you guys
27:13
Speaker 4: on board? As a family, We're going to do this.
27:16
Speaker 4: And it was, honestly like such a special time to
27:19
Speaker 4: be campaigning and going around la I learned so much
27:23
Speaker 4: about our city just going into different areas and neighborhoods
27:27
Speaker 4: and meeting different communities and people, and it was so
27:30
Speaker 4: eye opening and inspiring. It was such a special time
27:33
Speaker 4: in it. Even I never thought our family could become closer,
27:37
Speaker 4: but we all became closer because it was we went
27:39
Speaker 4: through it together. And obviously there were tough days and
27:43
Speaker 4: tough challenges. It's not an easy time when you were
27:47
Speaker 4: reading the comments on Instagram, like I had to be like, Okay,
27:50
Speaker 4: you can't dive into that, you can't read that. And
27:53
Speaker 4: I feel like I've never gone through that before where
27:55
Speaker 4: I publicly eve been seeing my dad be attacked, and
27:59
Speaker 4: so that was really tough. But again, it was us
28:02
Speaker 4: all leaning on each other and supporting each other. And
28:05
Speaker 4: you know who you are, you know you your family is,
28:07
Speaker 4: I know who my dad is, and you just have
28:09
Speaker 4: to block that out and stay true to yourself and
28:12
Speaker 4: stick up for what you believe in. So it was
28:15
Speaker 4: such an incredible experience and I'm so grateful that I
28:18
Speaker 4: was able to live through something like that.
28:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, does it make you like, I mean, I follow
28:23
Speaker 3: you on Instagram and I feel like your Instagram's pretty,
28:26
Speaker 3: Like what's the word I'm looking for? PG? Like it's very,
28:30
Speaker 3: you know what I mean? Like it's very? But do
28:32
Speaker 3: you ever like second guest things sometimes?
28:34
Speaker 4: Like of course, yeah, I think in today's world, a
28:38
Speaker 4: lot of people, right you never you're never going to
28:41
Speaker 4: please everyone though, and especially on the campaign trail, you know,
28:45
Speaker 4: I always I was wanting to post about my dad
28:47
Speaker 4: and wanting to post about my family and what we're
28:49
Speaker 4: doing and where we're going today and what we believe
28:52
Speaker 4: in and we're standing up for in politics. But you
28:55
Speaker 4: can't please everyone in politics. Everyone has their own views
28:58
Speaker 4: and so that was always tricky. But it just goes
29:02
Speaker 4: back to being yourself and staying true to who you
29:05
Speaker 4: are in business, in every day of life, and with GGC,
29:10
Speaker 4: I always go back to that. I think it's so
29:12
Speaker 4: important to just cancel out the outside noise and just
29:16
Speaker 4: be who you are.
29:34
Speaker 1: Were there ever times where you were like seeing stuff
29:36
Speaker 1: or or there was something that he said or did
29:39
Speaker 1: where you all were like you were like having conversations
29:42
Speaker 1: with him, like or where you disagreed or there was that,
29:45
Speaker 1: you know, conflict, because I feel like if my dad
29:48
Speaker 1: ran for anything, we'd be having some conversations.
29:52
Speaker 4: I think we definitely have fun family dinner conversations, but
29:57
Speaker 4: it's all like healthy and I think.
29:59
Speaker 3: It's great that great place.
30:01
Speaker 4: Each one of my brothers and I like we all
30:02
Speaker 4: have different views on different opinions, Like it's not like
30:06
Speaker 4: we're always gonna agree exactly on the same thing, and
30:09
Speaker 4: I think that was what made it so special. It's like, Okay,
30:13
Speaker 4: let me challenge you on this. How do you feel
30:15
Speaker 4: about this, And we had amazing conversations, but it was
30:18
Speaker 4: never like we butt heads on anything. It's just like
30:20
Speaker 4: healthy debates that would happen at the dinner table.
30:23
Speaker 2: We need more healthy debates.
30:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, honestly, that's such a refreshing place to be at
30:28
Speaker 3: because I think that politics can like really tear into families.
30:33
Speaker 3: You know, it's like very polarizing. So the fact that
30:34
Speaker 3: you can have like healthy debates is like a great
30:37
Speaker 3: place to be.
30:37
Speaker 4: And I think it also we all love the city
30:41
Speaker 4: so much. We all grew up in La and we
30:43
Speaker 4: have so many memories in La, and we see it
30:46
Speaker 4: going in a direction that was really breaking our hearts,
30:49
Speaker 4: and so we just were so passionate about getting La
30:53
Speaker 4: back to a safe place where you can feel comfortable
30:56
Speaker 4: as a woman walking down the street and not be
30:58
Speaker 4: worried about anything. And so I think that really drove us.
31:03
Speaker 4: It wasn't oh, I'm going to run and take this
31:06
Speaker 4: political position like there was a lot of heart behind it.
31:11
Speaker 4: It wasn't something that was just so I'm getting into politics.
31:14
Speaker 4: He really saw a need and wanted to help La.
31:18
Speaker 2: Did it give you any desire to go into politics.
31:22
Speaker 4: I will always support him, and I will always if
31:27
Speaker 4: he decides to run for anything again or go into politics,
31:32
Speaker 4: I'll always be there. And I have learned so much
31:35
Speaker 4: through the whole journey and the process of all of it.
31:38
Speaker 4: But I don't think I would have the strength to
31:41
Speaker 4: go through it myself. It's really tough. It's a lot,
31:45
Speaker 4: and it can be very draining. And I think again,
31:48
Speaker 4: it was the love for the city we grew up
31:51
Speaker 4: in that made it a passionate experience.
31:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, honestly, I mean that knowing where it comes from
31:59
Speaker 1: and like the the passion and heart behind it, and
32:02
Speaker 1: like what y'all wanted for LA.
32:04
Speaker 4: But never say never. I don't know. We'll see what
32:07
Speaker 4: happens in the future.
32:08
Speaker 3: I'll never say never. Wow, I could see you like
32:13
Speaker 3: in politics really yeah, but we'll see you're like starting
32:20
Speaker 3: your own business, you know what I mean? Like I
32:21
Speaker 3: feel like you have it in you.
32:24
Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, it was such a fun ride. It
32:27
Speaker 4: was it was amazing. It was a special night. Election
32:31
Speaker 4: night was a really special night. But I don't know
32:33
Speaker 4: if I could stand up there and do all the
32:36
Speaker 4: things he did. I admire him for that.
32:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, I could never ever, I like say one thing
32:41
Speaker 1: on the podcast, and I'm like, was that rude?
32:44
Speaker 2: You guys?
32:45
Speaker 3: You know, it's very it's crazy, and I do I like,
32:48
Speaker 3: I do admire. I admire a lot that you know
32:50
Speaker 3: that you guys can stand up and say and and
32:53
Speaker 3: and be and be together and be like a united front.
32:56
Speaker 3: I think that's really special.
32:58
Speaker 2: Are you dating?
32:59
Speaker 4: Yeah? I have a boyfriend.
33:01
Speaker 3: You've had a boyfriend for a while, right.
33:02
Speaker 4: Yes, we've been dating for over five years now.
33:05
Speaker 3: Yeah.
33:05
Speaker 4: Wow?
33:06
Speaker 3: How did you meet him?
33:07
Speaker 4: At USC? He texted me out of nowhere. I didn't
33:11
Speaker 4: even know who he was. And he sent me a
33:14
Speaker 4: text and he was like, I know this is far
33:16
Speaker 4: out of left field, but would you go to invite
33:18
Speaker 4: with me? And I like, immediately I was in my
33:22
Speaker 4: doring room. I'll never forget this, right.
33:24
Speaker 3: What's invite?
33:25
Speaker 4: Invite is when the fraternities have like a night out
33:30
Speaker 4: and they usually invite a girl from a sorority.
33:33
Speaker 3: And wait, wait, wait what fraternity? What's sorority?
33:36
Speaker 4: Okay, So he was in Sikhai and I was in Kappa.
33:38
Speaker 4: I had just gotten into Kappa. It was my freshman year.
33:42
Speaker 4: I probably looked like I think it was like two
33:44
Speaker 4: weeks after I got into Kappa. And I guess it
33:47
Speaker 4: was his last invite. So he was a senior and
33:49
Speaker 4: I was a freshman, and all his friends were like, oh,
33:52
Speaker 4: like looking at the photo of like the new Kapa girls, like,
33:55
Speaker 4: let's take the new girls. So he reached out to me,
33:59
Speaker 4: and I was in my dorm room with a few
34:01
Speaker 4: of my best friends and we were just immediately like
34:04
Speaker 4: looking him up, who is he, figuring everything about him,
34:07
Speaker 4: and he was super cute. So I was like, yeah,
34:09
Speaker 4: I'll go to invite with you. I was so nervous though,
34:11
Speaker 4: because I didn't know him, I didn't know any of
34:14
Speaker 4: his friends. I'm a freshman going to senior invite with
34:18
Speaker 4: all these seniors. It was intimidating, but we honestly just
34:22
Speaker 4: hit it off that night and ever since we've been together.
34:24
Speaker 2: Wow, amazing. Yeah, is he the one?
34:28
Speaker 3: Yes, Okay, that's exciting.
34:32
Speaker 4: I'm just waiting.
34:34
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm not gonna ask, but maybe she'll
34:37
Speaker 1: say I'm just waiting.
34:39
Speaker 2: Donia also was just waiting.
34:40
Speaker 3: I was just waiting for a long time. It happened recently, right, Yeah,
34:44
Speaker 3: it's September of last year, so.
34:46
Speaker 4: Like gone by really fast. I just saw you posting
34:49
Speaker 4: about it.
34:50
Speaker 3: I know honestly, but I was waiting for like two years.
34:54
Speaker 1: Do you feel like every trip or special event that
34:56
Speaker 1: y'all have that you're like, yes, gotta wardrobe is white
35:01
Speaker 1: right now?
35:02
Speaker 2: You're literally me that is so funny.
35:05
Speaker 3: Always I was like manifesting it, and I was just
35:07
Speaker 3: like always wearing white. Do you know if he's asked
35:10
Speaker 3: your parents for.
35:10
Speaker 4: They don't know, and I've stopped asking, like I don't
35:13
Speaker 4: want to know anything. Like when it happens, it happens,
35:16
Speaker 4: it will be the perfect right moment. So I'm just
35:19
Speaker 4: sitting here and like letting it all unfold. My brother's
35:22
Speaker 4: getting married in two weeks actually, so I think maybe
35:26
Speaker 4: after moment, which is so respectful of Yeah, is.
35:31
Speaker 2: That like non negotiable that he asked your parents for permission?
35:35
Speaker 2: Of course?
35:35
Speaker 4: Right? Like yeah, my parents, Like I don't want him
35:40
Speaker 4: to go to just my dad. I think it's my mom.
35:43
Speaker 4: I'm so close to my mind. I think he should
35:44
Speaker 4: set the book down, ye, Like it's good for the
35:47
Speaker 4: guys to be put in that situation for.
35:50
Speaker 3: Is I knew when he asked my parents.
35:54
Speaker 4: My mom she just no, she like told you or
35:58
Speaker 4: she just couldn't lie to you. If you asked her,
36:00
Speaker 4: she told me, okay.
36:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, she didn't even have to be prompted, came right out.
36:05
Speaker 3: There's no prime. So I was like at that point,
36:09
Speaker 3: I was like, oh man. And it was months after that,
36:11
Speaker 3: so it's good that you don't know, because that really
36:14
Speaker 3: kept me on my toe.
36:15
Speaker 4: I want to be so surprised, like I want to
36:17
Speaker 4: be completely caught off guard. Obviously. I want to be
36:19
Speaker 4: like dressed, and you'll be dressed in your nails put together,
36:24
Speaker 4: nails are going to be done for their for a while.
36:27
Speaker 4: You're not always missing an appointment. Yeah, definitely, everything's white
36:33
Speaker 4: suit or exact sign.
36:35
Speaker 3: You know that works out though, because like after you
36:37
Speaker 3: get engaged and you're just like always gonna wear white,
36:39
Speaker 3: and then like in your wedding season, you're just like.
36:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, honestly, that's perfect. You could design a like an
36:45
Speaker 1: engagement capsule collection.
36:47
Speaker 4: We actually have so many brides that reach out to
36:51
Speaker 4: us asking for a white suits, like we've done bride
36:54
Speaker 4: all edits on Instagram. We get pressed around bride bachelorette
36:58
Speaker 4: like wear this suit. Like We've had so many bachelor parties.
37:02
Speaker 4: I'm being tagged in on Instagram and I love it
37:04
Speaker 4: it's so fun to see. We even had this one
37:07
Speaker 4: girl did she wore a white suit and then she
37:10
Speaker 4: had all of the girls behind her wear like this
37:13
Speaker 4: light pink that we did and it was just so cute.
37:15
Speaker 4: I love seeing people like enjoying our suits, especially during
37:18
Speaker 4: such a special time.
37:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, that is really fun.
37:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, you have a year in advance. They're like,
37:26
Speaker 1: you can do whatever you want this next year with
37:28
Speaker 1: the foundation, with the company starting something new.
37:30
Speaker 2: What does the next year look like with no woman?
37:32
Speaker 4: Gosh, that's a big question. I would say. In terms
37:38
Speaker 4: of GGC, just continuing to grow it and like I said,
37:43
Speaker 4: tapping into those other categories. I would love to just
37:47
Speaker 4: come out with like a big collection of cover ups.
37:51
Speaker 4: And I just want to continue expanding the brand and
37:54
Speaker 4: bringing more awareness to it and doing more activations around it.
37:57
Speaker 4: We're planning a workout class our fall collection that launches soon,
38:02
Speaker 4: which I'm really excited about. So just continuing to grow GGC.
38:08
Speaker 4: In terms of the foundation, I think really just partnering
38:14
Speaker 4: with more organizations like I mentioned, and my dream would
38:19
Speaker 4: just to be able to see what we're doing actually
38:23
Speaker 4: come to life. Like I would love to see like
38:25
Speaker 4: one kid that I meet and we do screening with them,
38:28
Speaker 4: and then I'd love to see like the progress of
38:30
Speaker 4: them Okay, getting their here and it's a progress, and
38:31
Speaker 4: them going to speak to therapy and learning how to
38:34
Speaker 4: say words. Just because we do things here and there,
38:38
Speaker 4: but I don't get to see the full journey of
38:40
Speaker 4: other children, and so I think it would be so
38:43
Speaker 4: special to see the full journey of the kids that
38:45
Speaker 4: we've been meeting with. I've been mentoring this young girl
38:49
Speaker 4: and she's literally reminded me of myself when I was
38:52
Speaker 4: She's going to eighth grade, and it's so fun to
38:56
Speaker 4: be able to share stories and experiences that I've gone
38:59
Speaker 4: through and like to kind of relive what she's going through.
39:03
Speaker 4: So I'd love to be able to do that with
39:05
Speaker 4: other kids.
39:06
Speaker 1: I love that that's so special that you are doing that,
39:10
Speaker 1: like honestly, as so many people I think would be intimidated,
39:14
Speaker 1: feeling like you know why me, and you know why
39:18
Speaker 1: did I get this experience? And I feel like your
39:20
Speaker 1: perspective on it is so refreshing and so impactable and
39:23
Speaker 1: will be impactable for people who have vulnera will go
39:26
Speaker 1: through the same thing.
39:28
Speaker 2: Did you ever learn sign language? Do you know sign language.
39:30
Speaker 4: So I took sign language classes in high school. It
39:32
Speaker 4: was so hard. I don't know why. I just couldnot
39:34
Speaker 4: pick it up. But I definitely really want to learn
39:38
Speaker 4: how to do that. I think it would be amazing
39:41
Speaker 4: to learn. So that would be a goal of mine
39:43
Speaker 4: for the next year, is to try to learn sign
39:46
Speaker 4: And it wasn't easy. I've never how do I phrase this.
39:53
Speaker 4: It wasn't like I was open about my hearing lost
39:55
Speaker 4: my whole life, Like I went through a lot of
39:57
Speaker 4: anxiety processing this, and and it only was I think
40:03
Speaker 4: it was my senior year of high school. I'll never
40:07
Speaker 4: forget this. I was open to doing an article with
40:10
Speaker 4: People magazine about my hearing loss, and so I did
40:13
Speaker 4: the interview, I did the article, and I was with
40:16
Speaker 4: all my friends in Nantucket and it was summertime and
40:19
Speaker 4: the article came out and it was an amazing article.
40:22
Speaker 4: I was so excited about it, and I felt like
40:25
Speaker 4: that was my first major public talking about my hearing
40:29
Speaker 4: lost journey. And I was like, I'm not going to
40:31
Speaker 4: post about it, like I'm not going to bring more
40:33
Speaker 4: attention to it, Like I'll just let it slide. And
40:36
Speaker 4: then I was talking to one of my friends Whitney,
40:38
Speaker 4: and I was like, should I post about it? I
40:40
Speaker 4: was so nervous. I was like shaking, and I was like, Okay,
40:43
Speaker 4: I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it,
40:44
Speaker 4: like I'm going to like talk about this publicly and
40:47
Speaker 4: like I need to be proud of this, Like this
40:49
Speaker 4: is a part of me that I just need to
40:51
Speaker 4: accept and if I talk about it, then other people
40:54
Speaker 4: will know they're not alone they can talk about it.
40:57
Speaker 4: And I remember posting that and I got so much
41:00
Speaker 4: positive feedback. I was connecting and dming with other people.
41:04
Speaker 4: Yeah hearing loss. There is a girl on my sorority
41:07
Speaker 4: and she was like, oh my gosh, I have hearing
41:09
Speaker 4: loss too, and we didn't even know like that, and
41:12
Speaker 4: it was just it was great. The more you talk
41:14
Speaker 4: about it, the more you feel less alone. You're helping others,
41:17
Speaker 4: and then it feel to your confidence and their confidence
41:19
Speaker 4: and it's just so special. And so I'm very grateful
41:22
Speaker 4: to my friend Whitney for like pushing me to post
41:25
Speaker 4: that article and being able to actually like.
41:27
Speaker 3: To hear that and to say yeah, because I think
41:29
Speaker 3: you know you're hearing loss was like an insecurity of yours.
41:33
Speaker 3: And I think a lot of people have different insecurities
41:36
Speaker 3: that they are like scared to talk about, post about,
41:39
Speaker 3: be open about. At the end of the day, there's
41:42
Speaker 3: so much more. There's so many more people that are
41:44
Speaker 3: dealing with those insecurities too, and so it's like almost
41:47
Speaker 3: like you just free it and then you become a
41:49
Speaker 3: part of this community and like that's like the biggest
41:51
Speaker 3: blessing in life exactly, like being in community.
41:54
Speaker 4: And this month is actually Disability Pride Months, So it's
41:57
Speaker 4: all about draining more awareness. Yes, oh the disabilities and
42:03
Speaker 4: a wide range of disabilities and talking about it and
42:06
Speaker 4: knowing you're not alone. So this conversation so cool.
42:10
Speaker 3: I love that is that?
42:12
Speaker 4: Yeah?
42:13
Speaker 1: I agree? I think it's so true. Like I remember
42:15
Speaker 1: my girlfriend Haley. I remember her talking about when she
42:18
Speaker 1: was like coming out about being gay, and there was
42:21
Speaker 1: just like she was so scared and as soon as
42:24
Speaker 1: she finally released it, it was like she found this
42:26
Speaker 1: community of people. And I feel like, you're so right,
42:28
Speaker 1: Like when you have this insecurity about something that's literally
42:32
Speaker 1: a part of.
42:32
Speaker 4: Who you are and you think nothing to be ashamed of.
42:36
Speaker 3: She always as she's always like your eyes are getting watery.
42:39
Speaker 3: I'm not at all I mean emotional about it.
42:41
Speaker 2: I was like, it is. It is a powerful thing.
42:44
Speaker 1: I know I can make myself cry about it if
42:46
Speaker 1: I need to, but I just think it's such a
42:49
Speaker 1: beautiful thing to take something that that your whole life
42:51
Speaker 1: you were scared to talk about, and then you finally
42:54
Speaker 1: do and it's like you you feel free, and you
42:56
Speaker 1: open up this community of people who were like I've
42:59
Speaker 1: been waiting for someone like you to share something like
43:02
Speaker 1: this so that I didn't feel alone.
43:04
Speaker 2: It's really powerful, it is. I think it's cool that
43:06
Speaker 2: you're using your platform for that you and I think
43:09
Speaker 2: so too.
43:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm so grateful that you came on and shared
43:13
Speaker 1: your story, and I'm so honored that we were your
43:16
Speaker 1: first person.
43:17
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me.
43:19
Speaker 1: Where can people follow you? Where can people buy your products?
43:22
Speaker 1: Where can people learn more about the foundation?
43:25
Speaker 4: All the things you can buy GGC at GGC bikinis
43:28
Speaker 4: dot com. You can follow me at gg dot cruse
43:32
Speaker 4: on Instagram. And the foundation is called the Here with
43:35
Speaker 4: You Foundation. It's spelled h E A R.
43:38
Speaker 2: I like that.
43:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you so much, and thank you to sprinkle
43:43
Speaker 3: all my engagement dust on you. Thank you, You're welcome.
43:47
Speaker 3: I'm taking powerful stuff.
43:50
Speaker 2: We can't wait to twin in our bikinis. I can't
43:53
Speaker 2: wait to see it, and you're the sweetest. Thank you
43:56
Speaker 2: so much for Thank you, STO