Latest / Crafted Connections / EP 18: Nomadic Clarity & Energetic Alignment with Nikki Corbett

Transcript

EP 18: Nomadic Clarity & Energetic Alignment with Nikki Corbett · Crafted Connections

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Hello! Welcome to Crafted Connections.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Kayla Calhoun, and this is a podcast all about storytelling and building genuine community.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: Here we'll dive into the art of storytelling, unpack strategies for making meaningful connections, and hear from incredible humans who are using their story to create impact.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: So grab your favorite beverage, settle in, and let's craft some connections.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, hello, welcome back to Crafted Connections.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Y'all, I missed you.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: I missed you, I missed you, I missed you.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: When I was thinking about a little intro bit, I was like, oh my gosh, I missed publishing.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, why?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh yeah, I skipped last week.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: It is July, and we are out here making July things happen.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure a lot of you experience the uh phenomenon that is July.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: It is one of those months where nothing and everything is happening.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: I have found it is this vortex of like you blink and then all of a sudden July's over.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: This episode's coming out July 31st, so I think we all can feel that because tomorrow is August, and that's pretty bonkers, if you ask me.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: But, anyways, I missed you, and I really appreciate you always tuning in and letting me be the human that I am, experiencing the vortex that is July every year.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Today, today, today, today, we have Nikki Corbett on.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to share this conversation, so much so that I actually split it into two in a very intentional way.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Nikki is sort of the reason that I finally put my butt in the chair and started doing the dang thing with Crafted Connections.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: I've podcasted before, I obviously have this video audio background.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: I've been showing up on the socials for years now, but to actually be like, you're gonna commit to a podcast, you're gonna do the thing you've wanted to for years, you've tried it before.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Something about Nikki's former podcast, she just did a rerand and we'll talk about that in a second.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Something about Nikki's former podcast, round two podcast, got me inspired to make it happen.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's specifically like her philosophy in podcasting, which is genuinely about building a network.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's genuinely a thing of you can feel that she is driven by simply connecting with people.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: You can feel the more important layer, which is building a community and relationship with the people that you speak to.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I can genuinely feel that in her podcasting, in our conversations, and I'm so excited for you to enjoy them.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I split our conversation into two.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Today is all about Nikki, her nomadic traveling experiences, a little bit of woo-ey conversations.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: So excited to share that.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: I do want to say she has had a podcast for a few years now.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's called Round Two Podcast.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: She recently, we're talking this month, launched a new podcast that's all about divorce, affairs, situationships, really like giving people a space to share their stories in those areas because it is such a taboo topic that people don't really get to talk about out in the open.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so excited for this new journey she's on.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: She just released the first three parts of her own story that inspired her to start this podcast.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: So check out round two, check out her new podcast.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's called The Scarlet Edit.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Enjoy this episode.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: If you like this, there's more where that came from in all of Nikki's podcast episodes.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: And like I said, there's a bonus episode coming out soon as well.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: So lots for you to enjoy.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for being here as always.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Nikki, thank you so much for joining.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: I am so excited to have you to kind of give you a little bit of umph in your step.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: I have been thinking about a podcast for a while.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: I even had a small little one that I did with a friend like this time last year.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it was actually us connecting through like a content creation group that finally was like, Caitlin, get your butt out of the chair and start recording.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Just go.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And you bring that energy, and I'm so glad that we get to like have this conversation recorded for Crafted Connections.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: I was so excited when I saw that you started it.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, I can't wait to hear what she's gonna talk to people about.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and so like the premise like I have a documentary filmmaking background, and so I'm a big believer that like you can connect with anyone if you like find what you have similarities in, right?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: And that comes through story.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: So story and connecting, and then you know, one little connection leads to shit tons of connections, and then all of a sudden you have a community.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like storytelling builds community, crafted connections.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's the pitch.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's the pitch.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: I like it.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: I like it a lot, and you're so right on the community that you will build as you continue on this journey.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's truly one of the most unexpected joys.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I knew I would meet cool people, but the people that I've like stayed connected with, the people that I talk to now on a regular basis simply because like they saw my podcast and either reached out to me and wanted to be on it, or because I saw them and I thought they were cool and wanted them to be on it.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's just, it's so awesome.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I've heard.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's an amazing way to build a really cool network.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it seems like that's what has been happening for you.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: But before we go into that any further, can you give the people a little bit about who is Nikki Corbett?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, the timing of this could not be more perfect because I am actually going through what is called the brand edit right now.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: Love, love.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say for the last like few months in particular, I have been really like kind of struggling as far as like what is my personal brand and what is the thing that I want to be known for.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I started getting some clarity just last month, and then I hired a business coach in March.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so she and I have been working together, and then she's doing this four-week cohort called the brand edit.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like finally, just over the last few days, like things have become so clear.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm now like, oh, like this is like what I want to be focused on.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I want to be known for.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm even gonna like shift the topics of my podcast a little bit to fall in line.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just everything is gonna be on the same path, and it feels like so smooth and so exciting.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, and because I have like yet to announce all of that fully to the world, um, I would say, you know, I am a citizen of the world.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: I am a traveler.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: I have been traveling pretty consistently since my early 30s.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, last summer I made a really big jump where I sold my house and most of my stuff.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I have been traveling very intentionally since then.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: I left the corporate world in 2023 and have been doing my own thing also since then.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's been the most enjoyable, challenging, liberating an 18 months time of my life.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just so incredibly grateful.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I have a podcast, it's called Round Two Podcasts, and share lots of cool stories from lots of cool people.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that's me.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: I where to start because there's so many good, good, thick, juicy things in there, right?
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: We have a similar timeline on the selling all of our stuff and and traveling.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think I shared with you my partner and I, early 2024, sold our house, and now we're kind of pseudo-nomadic on our boat, slash uh we rent a place somewhere in the wintertime, right?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: We're 18 months in.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, what does that actually mean as far as seasons, winter?
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: But like thus far, we'll spend summers on the boat and we'll rent somewhere in the winter.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Eventually we want to take the boat off into the sunset, right?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: But it's gonna be so cool.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be so cool.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's also like there's a practicality, there's a safety, there's a financial, like that whole uh experience.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: But what has that been like for you?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: What made you decide to take that leap and live that life?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I left my corporate job at the end of Q3 of 23.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: I had a trip already planned for the first two weeks of October of that year.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I went off on that, and it was so funny.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: I remember sitting at a bar in Savannah, Georgia one night, and I was literally thinking about nothing.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: And it was the first time ever that I actually actively acknowledged that I was thinking about nothing.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you think about it when you're, you know, working in a job and say you like take a two-week vacation or you do whatever, you can totally disconnect, but there's always something going on in the background, right?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's always like those tabs that are open in the background, and your subconscious is like working through things, or maybe there's an idea that pops in your head, you're like, oh, I want to talk to my team about this when I get back.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: I was sitting there and I literally was thinking about absolutely nothing.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like I was like, this is a fantastic martini.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember I text two of my girlfriends and I was like, you guys, this is like I have chills just talking about it because I'm like, oh my God, like I'm thinking about literally nothing.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: So that was an interesting moment because I had thought that when I got back from this trip, I was like, oh, I'm gonna be so refreshed and I'm gonna feel all these ways.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll like, you know, start seeing what else is out there, like career-wise, and what else can I get myself into?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I got back and it was like my body took a massive exhale and was like, no, no, no, you just need to chill.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you need to just chill.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so I did.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I decided, you know what?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost the holidays.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, you're not gonna want to be out interviewing for jobs or doing all these things, just enjoy it.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I did.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So then 2024 started.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay, I'm gonna go out on my own, mainly the job market.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm if you remember January 2024, it was like every day, it was like lay off, lay off, lay off, lay off.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, especially, I mean, you've got a bit of a tech background too, right?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: So to do not cute.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, you know, you're looking online and you're seeing like what types of people are applying for what types of roles.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And people like at my level, which was like director level, you know, there's roles out there, but like they're being applied to by like VPs and execs and people that have a ton because so many people had been laid off.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was like, okay, I don't want to play on that playground right now.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I decided to go and work the metaphor myself.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, right.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: So then I just, you know, life just started unfolding.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I totally believe that when you end up on the right path, like things just start showing up.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: I decided to have coffee with a friend who I hadn't had coffee with in like five years.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like telling me about her business and what they're doing.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm doing some consulting in the operations space.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like, oh my God, we could totally use some help like that.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And hey, by the way, we just got accepted into this world-renowned, super hard to get into startup accelerator program.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you join us and go through it with us?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: It'll you'll learn a ton.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like, go home, Google it, you know, because I'd never heard of it.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: You couldn't have set yourself up for that.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: No, and it was literally, that's why I'm just like, things just start showing up when you start putting yourself out there in the ways that you're meant to.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I end up going through this program.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's called Tech Stars.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's like literally like 3% of companies that apply get in.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: They have cohorts all over the world.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, you know what?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do this.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then when that was wrapping up, a couple of the other opportunities that I had kind of, you know, pinned out in the horizon ended up getting pushed.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, hmm.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I was kind of like, what am I gonna do next?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like I'm a very routined person in general, but I had noticed that the routines were routining a little too hard, and life was very, very much like Groundhog's Day.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt myself starting to just get really down.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I work very hard to be very self-aware, and I don't like to use words that I feel are very overused these days.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that are words like triggered PTSD, anxiety, depression, because I think that those things are all very, very real.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, somebody being mean to you in the line at Starbucks, like I don't personally think that that is the cause for you to say, like, oh my God, I have PTSD from ordering a latte.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I did notice myself start to see the early signs of being depressed, and that scared me because I've only felt that way two other times in my life.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I don't want to go down that road again.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: No, so I thought, you know what, I've been thinking about selling this house for a while.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't I just like see what's going on in the market?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Found a realtor, she came over, she was awesome.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: We're like around the same age.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: We, you know, had a lot in common, had a great conversation.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: She was killing it in the greater area.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, okay, I'll think about it.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then I was like, I haven't been to Europe in two years.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's two years too long.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm grateful that I've been able to build a life where I've been able to travel internationally at least once a year.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, hmm.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I started doing some research, and then I was like, where would I want to go?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, I've always wanted to live in Greece, like, because I've been to, you know, Greece a few times, but there's one city that I love in particular.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: I've always wanted to live there.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I should see like what would that look like?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then I was like, huh.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Taylor Swift's gonna be in Europe this summer.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, maybe I should see if I could like catch another show because I'm hearing all these things about how tickets aren't as expensive and it's just a different experience.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I start organizing everything.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: So then I call the realtor one morning when I'm out for a walk and I'm like, so if I wanted to leave for Europe on August 1st, when do we need to put this house on the market?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like, Wednesday.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, great, let's do it.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that kind of was like the catalyst.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I immediately got a little bit of like pet back in my step.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh my God, I'm really gonna do this.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then I was like, I'm gonna sell all this stuff too, because like it's just stuff.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: True.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I started, you know, cleaning and purging and donating and getting stuff for a garage sale.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I got a full price offer within four days of it being on the market.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: And the only thing we had to negotiate on was the closing timeline.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: They wanted to move fast because they were like, oh my God, this is a great, like, this is exactly what we want.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: So they didn't want to get beat out by anybody.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: But I was like, no, I actually need the month.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: We need a 30-day escape.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right, right, right, right, right.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: You I promise you can have the house.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Just like it's a good thing.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: I promise it's yours, but like I gotta have 30 days because I'm not just like packing everything and moving it, I'm doing all these other things.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was kind of how I got there.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then it was so liberating feeling like I'm off traveling.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: I packed entirely too much stuff.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's comical looking back on it because I packed like three suitcases essentially worth of stuff, thinking I would need to take it all with me because of all of these like what if scenarios.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: I quickly realized when I got there, I could have packed the way I normally do for a two-week trip because I was only wearing a limited amount of stuff anyway.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also didn't give myself enough credit for how quickly I can immerse into a new culture, even little things like medicine and makeup and skincare.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: I like brought all these extras, you know, and I'm like, I'm going back in a month, and I'm like, I'm bringing hardly anything because I'm just gonna buy all the stuff there that I know is fabulous that I've already run out of because I brought it all home with me.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been a great adventure.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so, so glad that I made that decision.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Wonderful.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm curious over the course of your life, the flow you experienced over those 18 months.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Could Nikki 10 years ago been that flowy?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like what so can we talk about like that trajectory?
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm like, I love this story because I love how you're like, and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: But like, game sees game, you're a high performing woman.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: I know this, right?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like to get there, like you said, the routines were routinely too hard, right?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, so sp tell me a little bit about that and that journey of like getting into a person who could be in flow like this.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it is funny because when I I've I've talked about this very briefly in the past because I it's is something that I actively acknowledged.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like I remember in 2018, one of my friends from college who lives in Southern California, she called me on a Sunday and she said, Hey, can you meet me in San Diego on Friday?
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I'm sorry, what?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like this coming Friday?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like six days or Saturday?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Saturday.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, uh, I'm literally like paralyzed.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, how could I possibly do something like that?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's so spontaneous.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: And now I'm like, if some if someone called me today and was like, hey, can you meet me tomorrow?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be like, yeah, I can figure it out.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: If it's like, you know, in this case, she was like, I really, really need you.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I've got a lot going on.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: I really need a friend and I need it to be you.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I went and it made it work.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: But it's just so funny to me that that was like this monumental, like, I can't believe I did that.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: I had to like learn how to be spontaneous.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: I've always been like very planned, very routined.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, even when I travel, I get into a routine.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's just how I naturally operate.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: But now I'm so much more comfortable being like, okay, here's where I'm gonna be for the next like two weeks.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna get into a routine here if I can.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then I've also had to give myself grace and know that like sometimes it just doesn't happen.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that's okay.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: What has that experience been like when you have to be like, ooh, grace time, time to give myself a little bit of kindness, because it'll kind of surprise you all of a sudden where you're like, I thought I was spontaneous, and then ooh, this challenge doesn't feel so good, right?
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: So what do you do in those moments when when you're challenged or or you see that maybe it's time to give yourself a little bit of grace?
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've worked really hard over the last few years on like negative self-talk.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I would say my biggest challenges really have to do with like my physical body, right?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm somebody who is so routined, I'm used to like eating a certain way, exercising a certain way, doing all these things because they make me feel good first and foremost, right?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's like all mental at the top.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: But of course, you enjoy like the physical benefits of feeding your body the way that works for you and doing exercise in the way that works for you.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I certainly have had moments where I'm like, oh gosh, I'm feeling a little fluffy.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: But then I'm like, but look at all these memories that I have.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: What's the alternative?
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: The alternative would be that I never would have made this decision last year and I'd be still living day in and day out in my house in the same routines, having not been to nine different countries over the last nine months, done all the things that I've done, eaten all the delicious things that I've eaten, tried all these places, like driven on roads, ridden on trains, been on planes, had plans go awry.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: All the things that I've done, all the beauty that I've seen, yeah, it's so worth it.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like I remind myself of that.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also remind myself that this is actually a very recent lesson that I learned is that a lot of times stress is so subconscious that we don't even realize that it's happening or that we are stressed about something.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that acknowledging that is so important and acknowledging like how you respond to stress, even that subconscious, like maybe you're still in a great mood and maybe you're even still sleeping well and doing all of your other things.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe there's one or two things that you're doing, you don't even realize that you're doing that are like negatively impacting you.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's like, oh shit, it's because I was stressed.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I had this moment, you know, just literally within the last couple of weeks where I'm like, okay, I typically, when I'm super anxious, like it anxiety kills my appetite, stress like enrages it.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was like, okay, like if you notice that, like, let's like stop and kind of go, wait a minute.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like once I just had that acknowledgement, it was like my entire body like let go of the stress.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: I like gave myself a hug.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, okay, it's okay that you've been stressed.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, you know, it's gonna be fine.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: All of it is self-awareness.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: I totally agree.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: Because you can easily numb yourself, distract yourself, push it away, pretend it's not happening, and that does not help.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: That does not help.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it reminds me of earlier in your story you're drinking that was it a martini, and you're like, I'm only thinking about how good this martini is.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: What's happening?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: It was so awesome.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: I just you're just like, that's the best martini I've ever had.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like just because it's like it was you and that martini and that was it, you know, or it's like you and a chocolate cake and that's it.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's like just being in the moment.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: I love that like the start of like this 18 months, which you know will grow into more and more and more months, is a moment of presence that you will never forget.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Or at least not soon.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: No, not at all.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like it's so awesome, you know.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that there's like such a difference too between vacationing, traveling, and then staying or living or being in one place abroad.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: For me, my definition of going on vacation is like going to like a great resort where there's like pina coladas and hot waiters, and you know, you're like staying on property for the most part and like walking on the beach or maybe walking into a little town.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then like traveling is just like where you're like every few days somewhere new, like lugging your stuff around, being like, oh man, now I'm buying all this stuff.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna need another bag, you know, figuring things out, having missed flights, all these things, and then staying abroad or living somewhere abroad, that's when you're like, okay.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I have experienced all of that over the last year.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that's been so crazy.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And they all have their pros and cons.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: But what I'm most looking forward to is I am going back to Greece next month, and that's for like a stay.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like I got the same apartment I had last summer.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's just gonna be like plug and play.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like I get to go back and like reactivate my gym card and the grocery store is like I know my way around.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I, even though I don't speak the language at all, I still like know, like, okay, these are all the things that I like.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it's gonna just it feels like going home.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm really excited.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that is so fun.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: What you were saying, too, right?
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: With you thought, oh, I need all my comforts of home, this certain makeup, that certain this.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then you're like, oh no, I found things there.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: And like, you know, women there wear makeup too.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: People there, you know, it's like, and you're like, is it gonna be available?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um Right.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's so dumb.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's like we forget that like we're going to these like modern developed cities and countries that like they have all the same drama that we do, just because it's in a different language doesn't mean that they don't have all the same needs to take care of themselves and make themselves feel good.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: And now you know the space, and so it's gonna be a homecoming in a way.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's so special.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: And and you like.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: When you share all this stuff, I know that you inspire bunches of people because I feel really inspired every time I'm like, oh, this is where Nikki is.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and we've known each other for like three or four months on the internet, and that's it.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I already feel like I get to like, you know, it's like Nikki's travel show.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's so great.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's so great.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Hey y'all.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know I love telling stories, gathering stories, and finding a way to help people connect their story with the people that will get it.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what my story strategy sessions are all about.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: So over at Calhoun Creative Consulting, my strategic storytelling firm, we do one-on-one and or facilitated workshops in relation to really honing in the strategy around your story.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's a bit of messaging, meets content creation, meets storytelling, and then how do we put that out in the world?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: How do we show up regularly?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: There's a bit of mindset work around it, right?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: To actually tell your story.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you're launching something new or trying to rework your brand or just feeling a little foggy on how to communicate with your people, this is how to get clear.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: We'll dig into things like your narrative, how to uncover what matters most, maybe map out a few content pillars while we're at it.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: You'll also get a recording of our session so you can revisit the conversation anytime you like.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: Let's shape a story that actually feels like you.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: So book yours today.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: There is a link in the show notes.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: And hey, while you're at it, use the code podcast, all caps, podcast for 25% off your session.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: I would be honored to spend time with you and suss out your story.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: Let's dive back into the episode, shall we?
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I so I want to talk about this because you've spoken about this on your pod a few times.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: You're a big energy person, you know?
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to just hear your musings and thoughts on how energy works and how like attracts like and and kind of how you approach energetics.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, it's weird because like I don't necessarily feel like there was a moment in time where I was like got really into it.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think I just started paying more attention.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, that being said, I can look back in in times in my life where there have been people in it where I've kind of always been like, huh?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like there was this girl I went to college with, and she could have literally had the best day, but she would always put a disclaimer of like, but I got a sunburn.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Or there was always like a but.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, why do you always have to add like something negative to like this beautiful, like amazing day?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: So that is something that I always actively acknowledge and kind of like, huh?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't love that.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why is there negativity there?
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one thing too that I noticed a long, long time ago was that I had a really hard time making eye contact with people that I've come to realize that I don't have respect for.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I was always like, that's so weird, but it's like almost like I'm like, oh, like their energy is so negatively strong that it was like mine was just like, ah, we don't even want to see that.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want to be around it.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Looking back, like I didn't realize it was energy at the time.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was just was like, oh, I just have no respect for this person.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: And like I don't even want to like look at them.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: But as I've gotten older and I've tapped more into my own intuition and really let my like energy be my guide, it's made things so interesting and so much easier for me to either immediately recognize that somebody is not for me or a situation is not for me.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: But it's also made it so much easier to figure out what is for me.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's like the coolest part ever.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: The people that I've chosen to bring into my circle or to work with, I'm like, ooh, it's because of the energy that I felt from them and how it either complimented mine, inspired mine, just made me feel like calm and comforted and wanting to be around them.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of neat.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: The reason I really wanted to ask you about it too is a lot of people talk about it and you almost allude to it because you're living it.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh like you said, there's a lot of buzzwords, there's a lot of so like energetics is a buzzword, manifestation is a buzzword, right?
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: But like there's something about the way that you speak about it, the way that you're living your life that you're like, oh, she's just doing the dang thing, and energy is intertwined in there.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really cool.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I appreciate that.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, even just like thinking about like some of the like the travel things that I've like seen and done and experienced, and I'm just like, oh my god, like this is nuts, you know.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: The pain I felt when you said missing flights was oh gosh, it is not a great experience for sure.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean also like you know, you miss a flight, you end up here, you do, you know, like yeah, okay.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: What's the word?
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you're still breathing.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's great.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, well, you know, I saw this TikTok the other day, and this girl was talking about how solo travel like really like taps into like all five of the love languages because of how you have to really like advocate for yourself and how you're having like even like with like the physical touch, like all of like you're not necessarily like touching people or people aren't like touching you, but like there's a sensory aspect to solo travel, and then like the acts of service, like you really have to like advocate for yourself.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: I was in Bristol, and I had not intended to be in Bristol.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: I intended to fly from Belfast to Inverness, and then there was this windstorm that came through.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: So the flight that I had booked was canceled.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I rebooked for a flight that went Belfast to Bristol to Inverness.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, of course, that flight took off late.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: So by the time I landed in Bristol, the Inverness flight was gone.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: There wasn't another one until the two days later.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: Had a lovely time in Bristol unexpectedly.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: So then I get back to the airport.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, all right, get into Inverness.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna happen.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: We're at the gate, and then they're like, just kidding.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: In the flight app that I use, you can see the plane as it's incoming.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I literally saw it like in coming to the Bristol airport, and then I saw it bypass the Bristol airport, and I'm like, why didn't it land?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: What happened?
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, just throw a rope all time.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I just want to get on that plane.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, long story short, that flight ended up getting canceled and pushed to the following morning.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, absolutely not.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not staying one more night in this city.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm looking and I'm like, forget it at this point.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'll just go straight to Edinburgh.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'll bypass Inverness.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I look, there is a flight.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, great.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I go to the counter.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: There's nobody at the counter, by the way, not a soul.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, hey, can you rebook me onto this flight?
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm currently on this flight.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: It got pushed till tomorrow.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'd rather go on this flight to Edinburgh today.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: She goes, That flight's sold out.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't even look at the computer.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: She goes, that flight's sold out.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I go, Are you sure?
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: I go, because I'm looking on the website.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: I go, the only reason I'm not literally booking it on your website is because the Wi-Fi in here is so bad and there's so many people on your website trying to rebook themselves to get because this flight was canceled.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: She's like, no, it's sold out.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: I go, You're not even gonna look.
• 28:33
  unknown: Yeah.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: So she goes on the computer, which she probably just was like, you know, probably wasn't even really looking at it.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: She's like, it's sold out.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, all right.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I walk away, find a part of the building where there was a decent Wi-Fi signal, go onto a third-party booking system, book it, go get back in line, check my suitcase.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: I walk up to her and I go, Hey, guess what?
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was able to get on that flight.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: I was so mad.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: And she looked at me and I was like, mm-hmm, and I just walked away.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I was just like, no, like I was not gonna take no for an answer.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's what you're saying.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: You're advocating for yourself.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I also, I've never heard anybody refer to the five love languages towards themselves, and that is super empowering.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: Wasn't that an interesting thought process?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: I had never heard that either.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: When I was scrolling and I saw that, I was like, I am intrigued, and this is a really cool concept.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: We're out here being like relationships are a mirror, but then like love language is like with your, you know, partner, your friends, or whatever.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, look in the mirror, look in the mirror.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: You deserve that.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: I that is, yeah, I'm not gonna forget that anytime soon.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: That is very cool.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I kind of want to just go down a rabbit hole with your travel adventures now.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: What pops up next, man?
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm actually leaving a week from Friday and going to Columbia.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really excited for a number of reasons.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: One, because it's a new country and I love adding new countries, but this is an interesting trip.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is not a solo trip.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: Going with a friend and one of her friends.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: So one of my girlfriends from college, she's incredibly well traveled.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, people think I'm well traveled.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: She's like got almost twice the amount of countries that I do.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: And her and her friend, they travel together all the time.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: And we've been chatting on and off throughout the years.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: And more recently, we're like, we got we gotta meet up somewhere, we gotta figure something out.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: So they had booked this trip to Cartagena, and they were like, Hey, do you wanna come?
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Yeah, let me think about it.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then one morning I was just like, I'm gonna look, you know.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I looked at all and I was like, and then I just sent her a screenshot.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: She was like, No way, you booked it.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Yeah, I'll see you there.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that will be fun, also too, because my friend, she is super type A.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: So she's not only created a slide deck with a day-by-day itinerary, including tons of options, photos, links to restaurants, activities, etc.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: She's made reservations.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, this is the nicest thing ever.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: I can't believe I get to go and I don't really have to do much.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: So that'll be fun.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's a beautiful contrast to like your solo traveling, right?
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like sometimes you're like, cool, my brain's gonna be firing on all cylinders.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it's like, I'm gonna be a passenger princess and it's gonna be great.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: So that'll be fun.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'm head, like I mentioned, I'm heading back to Greece.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: I've been wanting to go back since the day that I left.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like I left and I was like, oh, I don't want to leave here.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I was also thinking that it would be a good time to go back.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like a reflection point.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be like a year since my household, a year since I left to go over there.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm big on time.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: Certain time things are really important to me.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like New Year's, my birthday, and then like anniversaries are as well.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: So celebrations.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it'll be just kind of cool to, you know, see how I feel.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: And and now that like I kind of know the flow of the life that I have there, I'm like, ooh, there's so much that I can accomplish because I won't have those initial like figure out days where it's like, I mean, it literally took me, I think, four weeks of being there before I was able to find heavy cream to put in my coffee in the morning because they don't use heavy cream the way we do.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: So even though and it's still in the section where the milk is, I just didn't see it because it's in these little tiny boxes, like you know, like the that brand nutpods.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it's in a box like that.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: But instead of having, you know, like something that would indicate coffee or even saying like heavy cream or whatever, there's like pasta and strawberries on it because it's insinuating that you can make like Alfredo sauce or like whipped cream.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I probably glazed over it plenty of times, and then finally one day it caught my eye and I was like, no way.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because you had you had remembered the strawberries and pasta, probably.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, those are cute little pictures.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, where's the heavy cream?
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then it like finally clicks.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was like buying these, like, you know, those little like creamers that come in those little tiny like that you get at hotels, and those were just gross.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh my god.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: Especially if you're used to heavy cream, like those are not, I don't even know if those are real dairy.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then you've got like heavy cream is like such a you like you do a tiny little splash and you can do some damage.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: And it goes so far.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: So little goes such a long way, you know.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I I don't imagine, like, and I'm not projecting on you that you need coffee in the morning to function.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: I but I like I like the routine of it, right?
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: To go to routine, like I do.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: I will admit that I need it to function.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that's not a projection.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just especially because you were like, you were like uh trying to figure the stuff out and you went straight to like my coffee recipe in the morning was theft.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: How do we sell this?
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was good to know.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: If I ever go to Greece, look for those strawberries.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: Or pasta.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's like the weirdest thing.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like seeing pasta on a milk carton.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, why is there pasta on a milk carton?
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what's happening here?
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then you're like, okay, what yeah, they probably make quite a bit of Alfredo.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness, so fun.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: It was funny.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: I do have another like random, random question, but uh Yeah, yeah, go for it.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I one of your recent episodes, you were talking about astro cartography.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: So cool.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: I have never had the chance to like look into my stuff.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, you gotta do it.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, tell me about your astro cartography experience.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: Where should I go to figure this out?
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so curious.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: So it was funny.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: I posted something, I think, on LinkedIn about like traveling.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: And anyway, this gal also that I met through that content course, she commented on it and she was like, Oh my god, you should totally check out astro cartography.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, What is that?
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: So then we started DMing and she was like, Okay, this is what you do.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: And we actually had a Zoom call one morning and she kind of like helped me like organize it.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: So basically, you put in your name, your birthday, your birth location, and the time of day you were born.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then it like generates this map where it shows like where all the planets I think were when you were born, and then all the planets have their different energy alignments, and then the planet stuff, and then it'll be like the the like rising and well, I don't know, ascending, ascending, is that ascending and descending.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: So there's that stuff is like I get it.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: So complicated.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where I was like, oh, I gotta ask Nikki about it because I try and Google astrophotography, and it's just like I see the map, I don't know what it means.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, so with this one thing I've put it on my phone too, which is what I'm saying.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, you gotta use a computer because it's like it's so hard on the phone.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: So basically, when you're zooming in on all these different lines, you can click on like what the planetary energy means, right?
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, I was like intrigued because my Saturn line went right over Thessaloniki, and that's where I stay in Greece.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that some of the things that it said about that was kind of like, you know, being like on your own, like career stuff, professionalism.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay, that's really interesting because like number one, I was there by myself.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, when I got there, I was like, okay, what am I gonna do while I'm here?
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, aside from just live?
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what am I gonna do career-wise that I'm gonna really like focus on?
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: And like I mentioned with all the podcast stuff, all these people like reaching out to me, I very quickly realized like this is why I'm here.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm here to build this into something that I can do and like do well.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: So that was so interesting to me.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: So the second I saw that, I was like, okay, I'm a believer, right?
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm totally a believer.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: So then I was looking at it more because I was like, okay, where am I gonna go this year?
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like I had already been to the UK.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: So this was like February timeframe.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm looking at all the different lines and seeing, you know, like, okay, do I want to go somewhere where like my Venus line is because it's more like feminine and love and blah, blah, blah.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: And my my Venus line does go over quite a few very cool places.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm kind of like, ooh, okay, that's like one the less.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: But then Mars went right over Mexico, Baja specifically, a little bit west of Cabo.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: So Cabo's on the very tip of the Baja Peninsula, and then it went like right over just a little bit northwest.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was like, I'm just gonna go there.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: And also, like you'll see on the map, there's like areas where it's like concentrated differently.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where I had this huge concentration of like Mars energy.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: So Mars is like entrepreneurship, like more masculine energy, like getting shit done.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay, that's what I want.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I want to see like what happens when I go down there.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I did.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: I went down there for almost three weeks and I physically felt an energy shift by the time that I left.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it was really fascinating to me because I felt like it was like self-doubt kind of like left my body.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I came back just more.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've always been very confident, but I think I just came back confident in like some different ways that we're like the the catalyst for all this other, all these other things that have happened now.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: March, you started working with your coach, you're doing like a lot of evaluating of like your story.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that makes total sense.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: That makes total sense.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, okay, I'm a believer.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that's like another reason I want to go back to Thessaloniki and like see how I feel and all that kind of stuff.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then yeah, just see what happens.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's a grand experiment, is it not?
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's wonderful.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: It is, it totally is.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm just so grateful that I was able to give myself this gift of like time and space, and that I have like the full support of my family because that is I was actually listening to a podcast this morning, and one of the things that he said was he was like, I'll never say that I'm self-made.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: The reason I say that is because I grew up in a house with like really loving parents and a family, and he's like, and I just don't think that I am the way I am on my own.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Because I grew up like that.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, and I think being lucky enough to grow up that way, 100%, that experience helped turn me into who I am career-wise.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, wow, that was like such a beautiful thing to say.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I also I agree with that wholeheartedly because my family's always had my back.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I feel like I'm so grateful for that support.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because I mean, like every few weeks, you know, my dad'll kind of be like, so like what's next?
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like if he's not sure, if we haven't, like, if I haven't confirmed something, you know, he's like, So what's it?
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how are you doing?
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: Where are you going?
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like it's so loving and also like where you gonna be okay.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's just you're checking in because because it's love.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh totally.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's I mean, that's a lottery of its own, right?
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because you can't, you can't, you know, you can earn money, you can this, that, and the other.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: You can't make that happen, you know.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like you, you know, there are like found family for sure, but to to have that support is everything.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely everything.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: It is, it's really amazing, and I'm very, very grateful.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I don't wanna say goodbye to you until I have you tell the people where they can find you.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I am easy to find.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: I my by the time this comes out, my website will be live, so it's just nikki-corbett.com.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: She got that URL.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: Everything will be linked on there, but you can also find me on LinkedIn at Nikki Corbett and would love to connect with anybody.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: I love meeting new people, learning about new people.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: So come say hi.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and YouTube.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: God, I gotta say YouTube.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, right to YouTube subs, baby.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_01: You're getting oh okay, yes.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_01: So so start with YouTube and then you can check out our website after that.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's so good.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we'll link all that in the show notes.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for the inspiration and the time today.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: This was super fun.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_01: Crafted Connections is lovingly produced by Calhoun Creative Consulting, a strategic storytelling firm dedicated to helping people and brands tell their stories in a way that resonates.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and connect with us on Instagram at Crafted Connections Pod.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_01: Keep creating, keep connecting until we meet again.