Seen for Me

I've done many interviews across podcasts, panels, live talks, fireside chats, and media articles, and each one is meaningful in its own way. But the most intimate interview I have ever done was with Neil Hudson-Basing on his podcast, Pause and Rewind. You see, Neil's whole concept is about stepping behind the public version of someone and asking, who are you really? Where did this all begin? When I was preparing for our recording, I listened to how he spoke with other guests, and I found myself in tears, not because it was sad, but because it was so real. Neil creates the kind of space where you can tell the truth, not the polished version, not the branding, just you. And when recorded for our conversation, I didn't cry, but I felt the emotion in my entire body. But thankfully, Neil made it a safe space. It was one of the only times that I've ever been interviewed not specifically about my identity, not specifically about my work, but about me, the human being, not the one the world sees. I mask up, I put my professional face on, and— but the one that is there when the mic turns off, and that, that stays with me.