Latest / Corpus Christi Originals Podcast / #5 | Julie Leyva, MSW

Transcript

#5 | Julie Leyva, MSW · Corpus Christi Originals Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: What's going on y'all?
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: CC Ladier Nandis here.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, we have got another Corpus Christi original on the podcast for episode five.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Julie Leeva has a master's in social work.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: We talk about mental health, social work, what's going on in her life, what she's doing, and uh at about maybe 35 minutes or mark or so, we just kind of have a conversation about different stuff.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're interested in that, uh stay tuned.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, welcome to the show, Julie.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, thanks for having me.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome, awesome.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, so I've met you on Facebook.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: You were like one of our first customers, you had got a hoodie from us.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and I was like, cool, cool, okay, cool.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then so tell us, uh, tell us a bit about yourself.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, so um I'm originally from here.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: I was born and raised here.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I went to Crockett and then I went to Mardin, and then I went to Miller.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: So kind of around that neighborhood, a little bit of everything.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, most of my family is based in Molina.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so that's been something like being able to now work with those same kiddos as I work at the West Doso Junior High.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I guess a little bit of my background is um I'm the youngest.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: I have two older siblings, both boys.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and they're 10 and 12 years older than me.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like way behind.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so that was an experience too, just growing up with boys.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, my mom working, you know, several jobs.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so I guess the idea of college, just that in general, nobody before me had gone.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I didn't even that wasn't even a thought, really, I'll be honest with you, until I was a senior.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I was working at Lubi's and I hated my life.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: And it was only a weekend job, and I still was miserable.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think that was like the turning moment where I was like, okay, you have to do something different.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I um I applied to UTSA.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: It was the only college I applied to.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: I figured that was far enough away for me to experience a real college, but also close enough for my mom to come to me.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I went there and I originally went in as an English major.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: I thought I wanted to be an English teacher.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: I thought it had I had it all written out.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: And midway, maybe my sophomore year, I got involved um in the Mexican American Studies Student Organization, which is uh the acronym is MASL.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: And it really just opened up my eyes um on me as a person, as a female of color, as something that I always kind of knew, but never really identified with it.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: You know, having a a father from Mexico, having a mom from here, being very much very much Mexican-American, like majority of us are, I don't think I was really in tune with myself.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: And it took me having to go to college and meeting the right people that were advocates for people like myself, first generation students, for me to really feel like, wow, this is like really life-changing.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: How do I get to do something like this too and advocate for the community?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: So that same year, I changed my major from English to Mexican American Studies, which is actually what I ended up getting my bachelor's in.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that was that was pretty interesting because I had never known anybody around me that had a degree in that.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I, of course, had those conversations like, oh, what am I gonna do with that?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Do I still want to go into education?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: San Antonio is a very big, um, they're very much on the rise of ethnic studies and Latinx studies.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: So they have a lot of teachers that have their bachelor's in that.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I knew that wasn't probably gonna be something that I could find as easily here back home.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I went back and forth as far as like, do I want to go back home?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: Do I not want to go back home?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, I had a lot of friends there, but the truth is, like, I've always been connected here.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: My whole family is rooted here, and I just thought it was what was best for me at the time.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so I ended up getting a basically a tutoring job here um at Westoso pretty much right away.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: And it originally was supposed to be just strictly for the English department, and I was supposed to just help those kids that hadn't passed a star test.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: But it somehow has turned into me getting really involved with the ESL kids, which is English second language.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: And um it's been a crazy three years, but it's been really awesome uh getting to work in on with them on their telpas writing.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's just essentially having them practice their English.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I am not in any, you know, shape or form a professional.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: My first language is English, and you know, I used to get called a pocho a lot, you know, and so I didn't even know what that was until I was like 18.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: And it took one of my friends from the MAS program to call me that, and I was like, what is that?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I really took it upon myself to learn um and to not be so embarrassed.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: That's really what it's always been.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't want to sound silly, I didn't want to mess up on a word, or like what's that joke on like TikTok that's like, how do you say embarrassed in Spanish?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like people say embarrassado or something, and that's like pregnant, like that's the embassavo kid like that a lot of us feel.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: But um, but yeah, and so that's pretty much what it is right now, currently.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then I took a year off from school, just was strictly working, then decided that I wanted to go in the social work field, which again, I didn't haven't had anybody around me that kind of worked in that field except for one of my cousins.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: She um got her bachelor's in sociology from Texas Tech.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so she was actually the first person I saw go to college outside of my immediate family, and um, she works in the mental health um field, and so I just we kind of we've had this conversation several times with counseling and social work.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: People get the they they overlap, you know, very much so.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: But um, I ended up going to the social work field and I did that in um Kingsville.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I was commuting back and forth at this time because I was already back home.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: That took me two years, and I ended up finishing that degree uh last May, actually.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: So almost a year now.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome, and that's a master's degree, right?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, awesome, master's degree in social work.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: So uh uh are you applying like are you applying now or uh how does that work?
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like you're are you trying to get into the social work field?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I for the last few months, you know, I thought about um doing school social work, right?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: So a school is like a setting that I'm very comfortable in.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um and they recently opened up what a position there at the school that I work at.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Right, awesome.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: But um, you know, I I I every day it changes.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, some days I want to work in like a trafficking um uh kid shelter.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes I want to go to the border and work with those, you know, students, those kids.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: And some days I want to work at the Pride Center.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: So my I wish I could tell you I have a definite population that I know I want to work with.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I want to do this long term, but you know, I guess at 26, like I'm still figuring that out.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and uh, I guess the only thing I know that is true that still holds true is like I just want to help people, but I still haven't figured out exactly do I want to get out of my comfort zone or do I not want to do that quite yet?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's very interesting.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: It seems like you just care about people in general, and there's and there's a wide range of people in in that field.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think it's just you know, they they say, right, in your programs and and these uh uh trainings you go to, right?
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: You can't go into this field thinking you can save everybody, right?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's that's the truth.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: But I think a lot of us kind of uh gravitate towards that field from like past trauma, whatever may be, like minimal or not minimal, um however you define that, you know, it's kind of just being a voice for the voiceless, which is a lot of people do in a way, whether it's social work or not.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like a lot of us are advocates for a lot of things that we believe in.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so that is that is really important to me for sure.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's awesome.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: So what what do you think it's even more so in spaces of color?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: I think that um spaces of color.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: I I mean, even going back to college, right?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like there was a lot of times where I'll be honest, um, I was in a room with people, uh, the majority were not people of color.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, being from here, being from the west side, I did not, I never experienced that everyone looked like me.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: I never had a moment where I was like, wow, was I belittled here or you know, and so I found myself constantly feeling like I was barely catching up to this level, and people around me were here.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, it could have been a combination of things, maybe like their resources that they had.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm not gonna sit here and say like money is everything.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: I understand that, like, someone that has enough Ghanas is gonna do something whether they were tutored or not.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: But I do feel like spaces of color is such a just allowing those conversations of mental health, right?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: So, like I say this to my mom all the time like me and you talk a lot about these like taboo conversations, right?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Conversations as simple as um say sex practices, you know, these are things that like you don't talk about, um talking about depression and anxiety, that's not a form of laziness, that's that's a real thing, and just justifying those things and connecting it to our family.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I really hope that really close to me because I I had a brother who was in prison, and even to this day, he did 10 years, um, and even to this day, like we're super close, but there's a lot of things we've never discussed, and it's more so from his end, and I respect that enough.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: But I guess I feel like if someone would have just allowed him the space to talk, even just talk, would things have been different?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, and so of course I build all these things off of my own experiences, which you're not supposed to do, but it it makes you push that much harder just to open up those doors and to give everyone the equal opportunity, and also just to know like the first gen students, like they're not alone.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: There's so many of us trying to navigate through those waters, and then even like post-grad, like what do you do after graduation?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: Do you go straight into a master's?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: Do you go straight into a doctorate?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know, that's that's how I identify myself too, like just a student.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: So now that I'm not a student, yeah, what does Julie like to do?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what am I at?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's like you're in that little bubble, like in the college, because I've been to college and like I wanted to be in college forever, you know.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, I'm gonna get a doctor, but then bills started stacking up.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, man, I need to I need to make some money, you know.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: So and then to to try to find it in a in an area that you like is you know, it's even more challenging because sometimes like you may do a degree, like in I don't know, something, and there's no demand for it, you know, and it sucks because it's very difficult to find a job in there.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: So how are you finding the so how are you finding that?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, is it difficult?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I'm still in the wave.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um I was just I was on the other end already, you know.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: I I have these conversations with my cousins, my friends all the time.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: You know, everyone's like everyone sees the post grad pictures and the success that this paper contains, right?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: Which I am not minimizing at all.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: It was very hard for me to do get a master's.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so I don't minimize that hard work at all.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like I acknowledge my drive, but I also know like this post, yeah, post-grad life, it's it's hard, you know.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's hard because maybe there's some times where I feel like, okay, well, you're still not in the field that you went to school for.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: And how are you actually utilizing maybe your Moss degree?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, how are you actually making a difference?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: And um, and I think about it all the time.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: Are you willing to leave home and go find something that is in demand as far as like um uh an LCSW?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: So that's currently where I'm at right now.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so once you get your master's, um there you have to get your license.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's kind of like a counselor.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: So your master's does hold weight, don't get me wrong, but you have to have a license in order to really get a job.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I have not I've attempted it and did not pass it.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I actually take it again um May 10th, but that's what brings you up another notch.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's another obstacle that I kind of work through.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: And that defeat alone was like the worst.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: I came home and I was crying.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: Mom was like, Are you okay?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, No, you know, and I she thought I was joking because I play around a lot, and I I think I was more mad that she thought I was joking.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how dare you?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: But um, it's been hard, I'll be honest, just navigating and then um now just solely working.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: There is no school to fall back on, there is no financial aid to fall back on.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: All the money that I have is the money that I make, right?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: And that has been a big wake-up call because I will admit I have been sheltered and I was babied a lot, and so having to figure out the harsh reality of the world has been a really rude awakening, and also figuring out like what is your next step, Julie?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: What are you gonna do?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: That I'm still very much in that little hole, right?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, definitely being faced with a lot of challenges, I can tell.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: At 26, yeah, 26.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: But that man, yeah, don't discredit your education at all.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think education is important.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I try to tell like I want to teach my kids, like, uh, you know, if you do go if you do go to college or some kind of school, make sure that it's your degree is marketable.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, make sure that it's marketable and you can get a job when you finish with it, you know.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: So don't don't discredit that at all.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: I also though want to acknowledge the fact that like even those that do not go to school, like there's nothing wrong with that either.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we cannot sit here and like make ourselves feel superior, right?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's a matter of using the privilege, because in a sense, it is a privilege that I have now being able to use that and give back, you know, because I'm the product of working class, I'm the product of people who didn't go to school, but they're hard workers, they're great people, you know.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I can't sit here and just sit on a throne either, right?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like I have to acknowledge that, but I also do acknowledge the fact that what I have now is a privilege, me being able to go to school, you know.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: This was not something that my great-grandparents were able to do, and being able to pick up and decide when I want to go to school and what I want to do it in or you know, major in.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, yeah.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then I because I I substitute taught for a little bit.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: And when I would go to like I went to, I think it was Savala elementary school.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, my grandma's area was like in that area.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I I went over there and I substitute taught for like a week or something, and I can tell that the kids were like, Oh, this is somebody like me.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, and and that's like it's an encouragement for them, and that's what I love.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's like uh you're showing them, look, you can do something with yourself, you know.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's not just your about your surroundings and what everything you see and hear, and and that was that was enlightening for me.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Do you get so how do you do you get that at all?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: When at your yes, I I'm glad you actually pointed that out because um having representation in the classroom is so important.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't realize that until I was in the classroom.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because like growing up, most of my teachers were female, but they were white, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I never saw myself in any of those um individuals.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: And now, like my workplace, I have kids that are, you know, I I look very normal to them.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll be honest, I go to work sometimes like this in hoodies and hoops and jeans and probably some bands if I can get away with it.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry about that, Miss Evans.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: But um, and if not, it's like slacks and a nice shirt.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: But for the most part, everyone else looks like me.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, tattoos, that's another thing too.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that makes you normal to them.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um we're talking about a community that most of these teachers that work there went there.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I myself did not go there, but my family did, right?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: I went to Miller, right?
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: But yes, that is so important.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm really glad you pointed that out.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_02: Just having those relationships because that opens up the door for them to be able to confide in you.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: And if something like social work is really what I want to do, having the kids trust initially based off of how I'm approaching them and how I normalize mental health, I think that I will be able to get somewhere with that.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, for sure.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: That plays a part.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like if you don't, if you don't get a job in that, you can definitely use it where you're at.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's you can tell them, look, this is you know, this you don't have this, or you know, this is depression, this is anxiety, this is this, you know, this here's how to help get through that.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's pretty cool.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: I remember one time I was substitute, I was teaching, and there was a kid, like he was real down, like downtrodden.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can tell he was just down, like he would go home and have a you know, have a rough, and then he would have a rough at school, and he was just you know, really acting out, not acting out, but you can tell he's real downtrodden.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I was teaching him about writing, right?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, look, dude, I said, no matter if you're low or if you're high, no matter where you're at, bro, you're always gonna have to learn how to write something, you know, whether it's on the job or whatever.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: So you may not agree with your teacher or whatever, but look, you need to know how to write, you know.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: And like, and when I told him that, and I think he was kind of looking at me because I I'm like him, like I'm Hispanic, I have an accent like him and stuff, and he just started okay, you know what I mean?
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: He'd started putting effort into it's like, yes, you know, that's what we that's what we need.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: You see, mental health.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, so um, did you discover some things about yourself, your mental health as you were learning about it?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, of course.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, there was a like a lot of projects we had to do within the program, and of course, our final project was like this major thesis, and I actually use one of my really good friends as my Jane Doe.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, and um, she's one of my best friends.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: I I have two best friends, we've been friends since we were in third grade, and um, they're practically my sisters, like I said, I don't have any sisters, but that's the closest thing I could think of uh when it comes to that.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I feel like I learned a lot about her too and our relationship in general, right?
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: But being able to identify maybe like where I fall short and how that could possibly affect me one day as a worker in general was like the craziest thing to me because I didn't go into that program thinking that I would learn something about myself.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: I was very aware of like think past trauma, but I don't think I actually realized how much it affected me as an adult today.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: And being you're talking about the mental mental health, yeah, like being able to like learn about it, learn the ins and outs of like social work and like assessment and engagement and planning, the steps that there are when someone essentially meets a social worker for the first time, whether it was willingly or like court-ordered, um, being able to use your past experiences and what you know about yourself is gonna help you regardless.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I and I'm able to somewhat use it, you know, I'm not exactly in the field yet, but I'm able to somewhat use that with like these children in like their behavioral issues or maybe some learning disabilities going on.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, being able to like drop it down to their level and meeting them where they are.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: That's the biggest thing in social work, right?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: Meeting the client exactly where they are.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: You don't put too much, you don't do too little.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so yeah.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's tough, that's tough because you that you're not them, right?
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Right, exactly.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: And you're trying, how do I think like a 10-year-old?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, but what would I do?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then and you kind of question like, can I really relate to them?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, do I really have an experience like them?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: So that's pretty tough, man.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so is it so um do kids have resources?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, is it easy for them?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, like, as I can't speak for you know, um everybody, but as far as like from my experiences being back home and having um the exposure to resources myself, um, I actually interned uh my first year in the grad in the grad program um at the Colstebin Wellness Foundation, which I'm not sure if you're familiar with.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's off of Holly.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it used to be the Colsabin AIDS Foundation, it's a very good resource.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's not maybe what you think when you hear it right away.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um they've expanded it from it just initially being a clinic that serviced clients with AIDS, it turned into a behavioral program.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they have a food pantry, a clothes pantry.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they provide all kinds of resources, mental uh uh like mental wise, but also like physically wise.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so I learned a lot there because they have a teen program.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: So they have a lot of resources themselves.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: They have like dances, they have um teen night, but it's sort of like discussing mental health, discussing like issues in today's society, because like we are not teenagers in today's society, and none of us really understand or like grasp the idea of what it's like with social media um playing such a big part in like how these kids are coming up.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: So that's a great resource for kids that I definitely always vouch for any chance that I can, whether it's a kid needing clothes or a kid, um uh being being paired with a counselor.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they're really great.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then I've also worked with New Life Refuge Ministries, which is um it's a sex trafficking uh shelter.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and they have a lot of great resources.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: Theirs is more faith-based, um, but definitely some resources there for the kiddos under 18.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: And then, of course, you have communities and schools, which is like a great resource.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: Our current um coordinator at the junior high, she's amazing.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: She also is also alumni, so that's a different relationship, too, right?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like I said, when you have uh workers that come from the same neighborhood and being able to put back into it, I think it just it's just like magic being able to see that, of course.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's like teamwork and it's uh helping the community grow.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: We actually just did um we did a like meat giveaway like two weeks ago.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so they partnered up with one of the local Catholic churches.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: I don't remember the name, but it's on custors, and um, they like hand select uh families uh from the neighborhood to go and you know do that.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: So that's really nice too.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um they have food pantries at least once in once a month, I believe it is.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so yeah, just being able to coordinate those, especially to our bilingual or monolingual speakers, that is the biggest push.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like that is the biggest push for me on my end.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because I have such a relationship with these kiddos that I that I work with on a daily basis.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: I have kids from Honduras, from Mexico, from El Salvador.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: And so being able to push those very much same resources to them and getting their parents more engaged, because we often find that they're a little more um a little more skeptical, I guess, of certain resources that schools do hold.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: But being able to create those relationships through the kids in general has been pretty awesome to see.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's very awesome.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: You're pushing them.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's so awesome.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm trying, I'm sorry, I'm looking at my notes here.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so man, that's so awesome.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: You're just helping you helping people that they don't speak English.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: You're giving it's like you're giving them hope.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's pretty cool.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: Go ahead.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, no.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: I I being able to work with those kids, it's like it's been a humbling experience for me, right?
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like I grew up very much like low income as as well, but I don't think I ever really thought of it as being like it was a tough situation.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: It was very normal to me, but um putting in a language barrier, you know, you're throwing in a kid that is not from here, and being able to just let them know, like, hey, someone's here for you, and you're gonna be okay if you need help with anything, whether it's academic or not academic.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's just been a really humbling experience for me personally, right?
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_02: Having um a father from Mexico who went up to the third grade, and um not being able, you know, maybe pursue that, uh, due to whatever reason, right?
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: Because we have a lot of kids um that are working, and that's a different experience having to explain that, you know, because it just goes into like the legality part of it.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: But um, it's just been really nice.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: I I love what I do.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: I know that eventually I'm gonna have to branch off and go into the social work field and and have that title, but for now I'm definitely enjoying like what I do, and I know that eventually one day I see myself like licensed and all working with that same population.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Do you do you do you see yourself like maybe having your own practice or or just uh being in you know what I mean?
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I see myself owning one.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: I definitely think right now I'm so skeptical of and I tend to like not think that I'm capable of, but I I think it's a combination of things like my imposter syndrome, right?
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm like, oh, you can't do that, you're crazy, girl.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: Or the other side of me is like, uh, who do you think you are?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: But then the other, the other side is like, no, you can do this.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: You have the personality for it, you have the paper to show for it.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: What are you doing?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: Self-doubting, but yeah, I can definitely see that happening in the next 20-30 years.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: Not not we not not soon, yeah.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: Not soon, you just get started.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's like one thing at a time.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: One thing at a time, yeah.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, so there's a difference between mental health and social work, or what what do you you we spoke earlier.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: I remember what were you saying?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, they're essentially within the same, right?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: Social work is just a title for a role.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: So their social workers are really meant to help all around those that are considered vulnerable populations, and that can mean something as simple as well, not simple, but something as housing, uh, the safety, the food, the clothing, the resources, uh, shelter, anything like that.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's aiding and assisting and accommodating those that are considered vulnerable populations.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: Veterans are a very uh vulnerable population, um, older individuals, right?
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: So there's geriatric social workers, um, there's hospice social workers, which I salute those because that is a job.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then there's um, I can't think there's just so many school social workers, there's like nonprofit social workers.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: You can go so many different directions with that, but nonetheless, you're still making life a little easier as possible as possible, right?
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um for those.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: That sounds cool.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: I think is there anything else you want to share?
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's pretty much everything that we covered that I had on the on my notes here.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_02: No, um, that was it.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: I um earlier you mentioned like um how we found each other.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: I think um I actually came across your page on TikTok, which was so crazy.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I don't know.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was just scrolling one day, and that's because I was one of those people who was like, I'm not gonna download TikTok.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: No, man.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: And here I am every day making TikToks myself.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I came across your page and I was like, hey, because I love hoodies.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like my mom always says I have swimmy jacket.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: I do, like I am a hoodie girl.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um even if it's like 100 degrees.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, hoodie, pony on hoodie.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I came across your page and I was like, hey, it's a Scorpio.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, so that's actually I think how I messaged you.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: And you were so awesome that like I think I messaged you the first time that I decided that I was gonna get one.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: It was right before work.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so I go in at eight, and I think I texted you at like 7:30, and I had to go to Stripe to go get cash.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I literally changed in the car of the school, like put on the jacket or the sweater.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: I got the black one, yeah, and I went to work, and I remember everyone was like, make it fun of me, right?
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Because I'm always in hoodies.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, Oh, you got a new one?
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I just bought it this morning.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: And then I think the last time I messaged you was to get the white one, but that one I was actually running late to work, so I could not stop.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_03: But you were so fast and responsive, like, shout out to you for like last-minute calls.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: I was it luckily uh well, I'm up early.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: I usually up early.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: My son is two, and he's a he's pretty much a natural alarm clock for me and my wife.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I was awake and I had to go to work that day, uh, probably like an hour after we had spoken.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Yeah, sure, come by, come and get it, you know.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, you pulled up in your truck, like yeah, it was for real.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: It was so funny because I literally went to work and like changed like it was just yeah, that morning was ridiculous.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: And it was actually one of those really coldest days.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: It was, I don't know, a few maybe a month ago or something, but it's so funny because I was like, He's not gonna respond, and you did, and you screwed it pull up.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I respond pretty fast.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and that's not and that's you're not the only one that does that.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: I've uh several other people do I you know, we've met somewhere kind of here, you know, by the place where we met at.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so a lot of people think, Oh, you ship.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, no, if you can catch me when I'm off, yeah, don't get it, you know.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: Come come pick it up.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so catch me in the street, I'll yeah, I will deliver.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I put it on my backpack.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: Here you go.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: You're like, Hey, you know what?
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_03: You can have this one I have on actually here, yeah.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I even yeah, and talking mental health, there's a couple of like homeless guys when it was cold.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: I I was I had a hoodie myself, you know, you know, stealing off my own supply or whatever.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, and there was a guy at like at the donut place at the you know, the bottom of the over here, and the dude was in a wheelchair.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, dude, here's a hoodie, man.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: He's a corpus christi original, you know what I mean?
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and uh the guy looked at me like I was like, Yeah, bro, it's freaking cold, it's gonna get cold.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I yeah, yeah.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: I because I don't know, because you know, people it people with mental health are homeless, right?
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of them are, yeah, and they kind of stay homeless, you know, and it's just I don't know, you sometimes are treated bad, and sometimes I you know, I just like to be a light sometimes to them.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I have nothing to give, but maybe just have a conversation with them, you know.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: For sure, even like those that are like um on the corner sometimes, um being able to like roll down your window and just acknowledge that they're there, like that that goes a long way.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_02: I I I I'm not gonna say I hate, but I think it's just really rude for those that like kind of just you know, yeah, just kind of avoid trying to scoot up, yeah.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: Only because they're still human and we need to acknowledge that, like, there's very much still human.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm glad you brought up the homeless population because Corpus has a very big one.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_02: That was one of our studies in the program addressing why Corpus has such high home homeless rates the way we do.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and um, we actually went around like the courthouse, we spoke to a few businesses, those Bell Bond plays.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know, some of them were um, they had enough empathy, and then there was others that were just like we closed off our public bathrooms because whatever, whatever.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, yeah.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what makes you feel like you have the power to take away that from somebody else?
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, nonetheless, we're still humans, we bleed the same blood.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I I don't I don't know when that shift happened where there was like hierarchies, and there is right, money-wise, financially.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I get that, but being able to rehumanize those people, so like you doing that was really nice to you too.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: I hope you know that.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's yeah, and it's like we can only do it like one well, like we're one person, right?
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: But there's a lot of us, yeah.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: So that person could have been treated like that by somebody else, you know, and it was just kind of like a you know, fresh air.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: I was down here at the at the seawall with my kids, and I left my stroller there, and I I we walked along like to the beach, and my stroller was left back there.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: And the security guard was like, Oh, you can't leave it here.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Well, I mean, that's fine.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: I I took all my stuff, I can leave it there if I want to, you know.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: And he was kind of like, Well, these these homeless guys, they this and that.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just like, Man, they're they're this is a public place, they can walk here, you know what I mean.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's you know, it's not my problem to you know, basically try to offend them off or push them off, you know what I mean?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's kind of you know, and like even people in the thori, like like you said, there's different ranks, and sometimes people use use abuse, you know, use their authority that in such a way to where it's kind of inhumane toward humans, you know.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I feel like I feel like that too, though, like even with the animals, like my nickname in my family is like Snow White, because um, and there's a lot of new nicknames, but that one in particular, because I used to like sneak in animals, or I would like buy animal food and hide it in my room and like feed them, and then my mom would wonder why they didn't go away.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I don't like I really don't know why they're staying around, even though I was feeding them like on the low, right?
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like that with animals astrays, I'm like, I want to take all of them home.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's my way my wife is.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: We got yeah, we got a bunch of neighbors uh neighborhood cats here, and she feeds them and she she she taught me to have compassion for them, you know what I mean?
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: When we started dating that, because I used to be like, Oh, get away, you know.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: But they're it's they're not humans, they're animals, you know.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: But it's just like they need the the what we have in common, we eat like they do, you know what I mean?
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: They're hungry and they're voiceless.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_02: You have to be able to do that, and yes, I don't know.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_02: That one's really like that one pulls a certain like little that tugs me certainly because yeah, animals are just so helpless, and they really are depending on pretty much humans to to you know take care of them, maybe not all around, but being able to provide certain things that they can't for themselves, and just to see so many because that's also a big issue here in Corpus.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: We have so many stray animals, yeah.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of getting their animals fixed, and it's you know, they offer free services to that too.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's just a matter of people doing it and yeah, or taking the little uh mobile trailer to them, you know, which I I have seen them do too.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not really too involved with that part, yeah.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, just things like that.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we just had uh three cats fixed, and we took them to I don't remember where where it was, but it was cheap.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: It was like uh like was it packed?
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay, yeah, that was it.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we took and because we wanted we were gonna take it to a vet, and they're like, Oh,$300.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, nah, that's too much.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: They stay outside anyway, you know.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're just trying to trying to suppress the the growth of all the cats out here.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so yeah, for sure.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, even if we like we don't feed them, they'll still find like they'll still find like birds, and but it's just kind of like uh like weird to just kind of push them off, like if they come up to you, like just push them off, you know.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: It it they're just animals, you know, like you said.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I feel like that with possums too.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_02: Possums, and they're so they're not gonna hurt you, you know.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_02: They're actually more scared of you than you are of them, but like people their automatic thought is like, get a shovel, like my wife.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: She picked up uh we picked up a little baby one, she was like, pick them up.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_01: So pick them up, put it, we put them in a box, and she's like, Well, let's take them somewhere.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: We took him to some vet or something, I don't know.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: It was a while back.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: So she just wanted to just to help him, you know, to help the animal.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Man, that's really compassionate for an animal, you know.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so it's pretty cool that that uh people care about him like that.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: Animals, what else?
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, that's pretty cool.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to think of something else to say.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like a conversation that that's what I'm doing with this podcast, just having a conversation with people in the city.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_01: I was trying, uh you know, sometime in the future I want to try to get maybe like a homeless person on, you know, just to just to have them talk, you know what I mean?
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: Just to not not to make fun of them, but just to get trying to just talk to them, yeah.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: And show and show people look, this guy lives in your city too, you know what I mean?
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I you know, I just think that I I liked I liked that we can help our city, you know what I mean.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like we're helpless to not help help out, you know, whether you have a degree or not.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean it's all good.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_02: Being able to like give back in in whatever way that looks like for everybody, right?
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: Being able to do that.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's good.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_02: Your platform is able to like bring exposure to normal people that live here, whether they're from here, they're not.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, just being able to be like, hey, I'm from here, and this is kind of what I do, or maybe this is what I want to do.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and uh, because I always say, like, Corpus is growing.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like when I came back in 2019, there was the first thing I noticed, like the restaurants, right?
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, last week I was at the Loca for Local, like vendor show.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I like the the condos and the townhomes that are down there, like sometimes I feel like I'm not even in Corpus, like it just feels so foreign to me, right?
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because I know inner city corpus, but like that part of corpus crazy, and I'm over there trying to move that way.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_02: My mom's like, that's loca.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like, okay, right.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_02: But it's just like it almost feels like I'm not even here anymore.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's just so crazy to me, like how corpus is expanding.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_02: But no, going back to what you're saying, like just be to put back in any way you can, and whatever that means, whether that's having a conversation with somebody, or just um, I know your last podcast was with um Casa Creations, yeah.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I watched, I heard that one.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, dude, she's badass, you know.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I was thinking to myself, like, I don't have any kind of business, like, yeah, that yeah, man.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: She's she's she's awesome, man.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: When I when she was real excited and she was nervous, I was like, just you know, and she did it.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_01: She just she was just herself and sharing herself.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's cool that people can see, hey, she's on a podcast, you know, she's kind of around me, you know.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's I think it's encouraging.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of businesses on especially on Instagram, like a lot of creators.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, man, I didn't even know this was here.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_01: Cool, you know.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_02: Have you heard of Sobonita?
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, okay, yeah, so bonita, and then her, I think her her husband, uh, the taco gear.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yeah, okay, yeah.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I didn't, I just you know, kind of learned about her this year, I'll be honest.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: But it's because a good friend of mine who lives in San Antonio, she owns very that, yes, and she's a good friend of hers, and she had been posting her and posting her in her store.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Is this in Corpus?
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_02: Comment center, and I was like, Oh Lord, so I know, of course, but yeah, just being and and you know, she's someone that also looks like us, and being able to just kind of build a business up from the ground up, I just think that's badass, you know.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I haven't done that, but just being able to see people that look like me do so and do so like successfully, I think it's pretty cool.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and all we gotta do is go on YouTube or go find some articles to figure this stuff out.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's where I got that's where I got all you know, all everything that I'm doing for this the brand, this thing that I'm doing.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, got it all online.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: I tried one before, I tried a like one before, and it just didn't work.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, man, how do I get a like a brand?
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_01: How do I how do I get one and and make it successful?
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: And this one is it's starting to to gain traction, and I'm starting to understand that it's not it it's for ever for the people that it's made for.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like who it's for is gonna find.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and and and I like to post like if somebody tags tags corporate security originals, hey, that's grounds for being me, you being reposted.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna put you up there so people can see you, you know.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: And when people see you, they relate to you, they're like, Oh, cool.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just it helps the brand, it helps the helps it grow.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: So, and I want that because I want for I want for our community to to grow.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I want to grow along with the community.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's already growing, like yes, just being able to not necessarily keep up, but to keep us, people like us, people of color, very much in the loop, and people that are like natives.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's cool what you're doing.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and then two, there's always money to be made.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like there can like there's another Corpus Christie brand that sells shirts and stuff, which is made in Corpus Christi.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know, there could be silver others, but my point is like they can make money, I can make money too, doing the same thing.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like not just our relationships grow, but the the the economy, it'll help the the money grow.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, uh, I'm a real like financial perk, you know, nerd.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: I get into stuff like that, and I see how how our money, when our money stays local, it helps the the economy uh in our city, you know, it just it helps the city grow and then the state, you know, and then eventually the you know the United States.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just rambling.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you listening.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, no.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks for coming on.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_02: This is a good conversation.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome, awesome.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we'll try to maybe have you on in the future.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to get I'm trying to go like maybe the art walk or something.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_01: Ooh, yeah, just so I can you know just be out there so I because I I just sell online and I just meet people.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe just uh maybe an art walk or something to just to be a part of the community, like, hey, I'm out here, you know.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_02: I really thought you were gonna be, I just like I um assumed, I guess, at the Loka for Local because I was like, Oh, that you're the first person I thought of.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Loka for Local, I've never even heard of it, I've heard of it, but uh not as much as some other things like uh like the farmers market or or the art walk or whatever.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, that's pretty cool that you thought about it.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: How often does that happen?
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_02: I have no idea.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_02: I know this they happened last year.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh I think so bonita was actually in charge of it this year.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, but last year uh she might have just been a she was a vendor there too.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it just happened, right?
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was last weekend.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_02: Last weekend, yeah.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, yeah.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but that was the first.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: I had ever been to one, but I I heard there was one last year as well.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_02: But of course, there's like my mom coughing in the background, so sorry.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, there's like farmers markets and stuff, but yeah, I definitely think you should get in on those, um, just to bring more exposure.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_01: You're not the first person to tell me that.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, several people tell me, like, oh, yeah, maybe I should, you know what I mean?
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm I'm just real hard-headed, like, no, no, I'm gonna do it like this.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then when it when I start hearing from a bunch of different people, I'm like, well, okay, yeah.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_02: But I I I am a fan of the way you do it too, like just out of the truck, like out the back of the drucca.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I I'm all for that.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we love that.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was uh it's growing.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm growing with the with the people here, so yeah, I'm glad to say that I can say that, and and it's all good.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's all good.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, appreciate you coming on once again.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's like the a culture, like we say goodbye, like 70 different.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's like on the some of my mom's in the back, like waiting.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, no, no, no, we're gonna we're going, we're going.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_03: Like 30 minutes go.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: 30 more minutes, yeah.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like you stay at yeah, that reminds me of like my family, because my family is big on my dad's side, yeah.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like a lot of brothers and sisters, and we would always go to grandma's house.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody went to grandma's house, right?
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: And that would happen.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_01: It would be like 10 o'clock at night, and they've been saying goodbye, yeah.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like nine o'clock.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, are we leaving?
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I do that with my family now.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like, okay, I gotta go.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_01: All right, I gotta go.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: Bro, I gotta go.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, yes, that's how we are too.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I just got to a point because we go to my wellas every Sunday.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_02: We play bingo, that's like our thing.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_02: I am a golden girl, I have been uh clicked into the golden girl gang.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_02: My Wella, my Tia, my mom, myself.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_01: The y'all do change, the y'all do change with the little purse.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yes, I do have a little bury that bag because it's bulga money.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_02: But we play every Sunday, and um, it got to the point where like me and my mom would go in the same car, right?
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_02: And so sometimes I try to leave at nine because I know I have to go to work on Monday, and I hate waking up late, I hate going to bed late because then I wake up just mad.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_02: And so it got it's gotten to the point where she gets up, she's like, All right, let's go, and she starts cleaning and you know, the track, which is great, right?
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_02: But it's like I don't even get up till I see her by the door.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_02: I I'm trained, I've been trained for this.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_02: But it's funny that like that's really a thing, and like that's us now.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_02: We are those people, yeah, exactly.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's awesome.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_03: You're like, okay, no for real now.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for real.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm so like, yeah, because I try to think of stuff like uh because I was trying to research, I was trying to because I I like to sorry, I I hit this thing.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: I try to like research the person that I'm like interviewing.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, man, there's I mean, there's there really wasn't a lot of stuff.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you have some nice pictures, don't get me wrong, but I like to find like like videos, like a good like I found a gold mine with uh who was it?
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh the uh podcast guest I'm gonna have in the future.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_01: He's got a podcast.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, oh shoot, I could live, I could bench.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_01: All right, I got these questions here.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_02: See, that's that's exciting.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_02: I want to start one.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like I had a YouTube channel when I was in college, but it was over like makeup reviews and like being comfortable with our curves.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_02: I've never been a smaller girl and just acknowledging that too, and like colorism, just conversations like that.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_02: But I realized that it was a lot of editing, having to like keep up with my appearance and stuff.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I would like to get to a point where I could just have these conversations like this and be very comfortable and I'll have to edit it.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_02: One try and we're done.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I looked into microphones and stuff, but I just haven't been able to like do so.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I have the time now, it's just a matter of me finding the energy, I guess.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, it's definitely an avenue to you know, I think of it it well, of course, it's content, right?
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_01: The more you got content, and then you then you figure out ways how that you can make a small stream of income from that, you know, and then you find your concept.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, how can I do this?
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's difficult for like if I do like long form just me talking, it's not gonna be an hour, it'll be like five minutes, ten minutes, you know what I mean.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, for one, I don't like to listen to a whole hour-long thing on something that I want to learn that I can learn for five minutes on YouTube, you know what I mean?
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the type of content that I want to cut out, put out, you know.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_01: If I do that type of stuff, there's definitely an avenue for that to be able to make a stream, a stream of income.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it's easy to get into, like, you can use like some who is it?
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think Abel, the guy that I interviewed last, Abel Ozuna, he uses Anchor FM.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, I heard that.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you could do you could do it from your phone.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh sh that's easy, you know.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because like you could you couldn't be able to used you weren't able to do that like so many years ago.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_01: Now it's just like you the barrier to entry is not as hard as it was back then, you know.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, more power too.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_01: If you start one, I'm gonna invite you.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna we're gonna reverse the roles, yeah.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for real.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be a guest.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_01: That was another and it's like it's getting like people are finding out about it in Corpus, and I think a lot of people want to do it.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_01: And there's actually several podcasts that are out of corpus.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I didn't know that.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I went to the Coastal Bend magazine where they're they're voting for the you know best of 2020 or whatever.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_01: They have a podcast list.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_01: You can select your favorite, yeah.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_01: So there's like maybe 10 podcasters talking about different stuff.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, there's a guy uh who he does only wolves.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's only wolves.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_02: Eric.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_01: Eric, yes, yeah.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_02: I um I work out at his gym at the arena.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, nice, yeah.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he was he was mentioning that that he was gonna start one and that if I if I would be a guest, I was like, heck yeah, I'll be a guest.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, so if you start one, let me know, I'll be a guest.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, cool.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, thanks for having me.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_01: Likewise.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk to you soon.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'll put a I'll put an outro video and then an intro video.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'll edit it after this.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_01: So don't worry about that.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_02: You have a good day.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_01: You too.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_02: Bye.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_01: All right, y'all.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_01: That was Julie Leva, our fifth podcast guest on the podcast.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_01: And uh stay tuned for some more.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to y'all soon.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.