334: How to Find and Navigate The Relationships That Will Change Your Life with Olivia June

And so I really saw the power of really focusing on women's empowerment, not just in my own life, but in communities all around the world. And so that brought in another lens of wanting to create a place that's specifically just for women, because it's not only safer, but it also makes the world a better place.

Welcome to the Earn youn Happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of The Bliss Project, 3 Time Fitness World champion, fitness expert, expert and cover model, turned self love junkie, lifestyle entrepreneur and author. Each week I'll bring you a guest or a thought that will help you bust through your fears, connect to your soul, and get focused and clear so you can elevate your life, business and relationships. We don't wait until we're ready for someone to tell us we're good enough. We take what we want and we anoint ourselves. Get ready to earn, own, and unapologetically rock your happiness every single day. Are you with me? Here we go.

Welcome back to the show.

I'm really excited about today's podcast because I feel like if my message and my book had a sister, this is who it would be and whose message it would be. So it's so much fun when you meet someone who's like, oh my God, that's my mission. Oh my God, this is. That's exactly what I'm doing. But she's doing it in such an awesome modality. So today on my podcast, I have Olivia June and she is the creator and founder of hey Vena, which is a social discovery app just for women and you guys. Olivia June is the CEO who is obsessed with meeting new friends, connecting people, and she has a degree in social psychology. She's passionate about empowering women around the world and she wants people to live their best lives. And truly, you guys, hey Vena was created on the simple premise that it only takes one friend to change your entire life and that nothing makes you feel more confident, secure, happy and free than a supportive group of friends. She says when women have the tools to connect, support and empower each other, we truly can change the world for the better. Together, she says. The Vena team and I couldn't be more proud of the life changing friendships that have developed from the millions of dittos on hey vena. Women in 158 countries from all over the world have met their best friends, their travel partners, their roommates, their bridesmaids, all from a simple right swipe. You guys, I'm so incredibly excited for you to listen to this conversation and download the app right after this because. Because it is so good. And I'm so excited that there is an actual way now, outside of what I teach in my book, to also connect through an app. So you guys go and check it out right now. It's linked in the show notes before you even listen to this because you're going to be so excited about it. And let's get started with my amazing guest. Here we go. Olivia, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast today. How are you?

I'm great. Thanks so much for having me, Lori. This is fantastic to be able to sit down with you today.

So we're in person, you guys. I do a lot of my stuff via Zoom, but we get to be in person today. I've had more and more in person podcasts, which is so much fun.

It's so great. I love your setup because we're really, like, staring directly eye to eye. Yes. Like, as we're talking, it's like super intimate.

Like, we're gonna hold hands in five minutes for the rest of it. I'm just kidding. But, you know, if. If comes to that, we can't tell you.

We are.

If it comes to. Just picture us holding hands and staring deeply into each other's eyes, and you'll be right in the group with us, so it's great.

True French Missy.

So I'm so excited to chat with you today about everything, basically. Not just that you do, but who you are and how this all started. But I just want to share a little bit of how we connected, because I think it's pretty much exactly how we teach people to connect, which is awesome for the most part. Besides being connected through setting up an interview for one of the modalities of your businesses, it was also that we connected via social media. Pretty much just found each other via social media and then was like, hey, I'd love to talk to you. Love to figure out how we can support each other. Connected for coffee really quick. And then said we should do something else.

Yeah.

It can happen that fast.

It was really just, you know, seeing. Seeing something. A spark of passion that we both.

Share and then not letting that just slip by, but actually making another intentional date. Yeah.

It's all about action. Yeah. And a few texts in between, just telling each other how great we are.

Those are always nice.

You're like, happy birthday.

I'm just gonna.

I'm just gonna put it out there and say that I really enjoyed connecting with you. And then, you know what? If you wouldn't have responded back, that would have been fine too. But I loved, you know, the text back with. I believe it had some emojis, which is always great for me. So that's perfect.

Gotta have emojis.

It's so true. We were talking about. I was talking with someone yesterday. Now we've become such an emoji culture. Like, I wrote thank you on something with a period, and I was like, oh, that seems like such an asshole thing to say. Like, thank you, period. So rude. Like, it's got to be like, well, thank you, heart. It really does.

You know, if it's a business email or a job interview, like, you know. Yeah, don't. Don't throw in the heart. Keep to the periods. No exclamation points.

But with friends, this was in, like, dms, like, people like doing stuff.

I was like, exclamation points at least three.

Two. I'm like, what's wrong?

I'm just kidding.

But three is good. Three is a happy number. So, okay, I want to know. And for everybody who is not aware of what you do yet, or maybe who hasn't gotten the blessing of getting to meet you or hear about you, would you share, first of all, what you're doing now? But I would love for you to also go back and share where that came from.

Yeah. So, you know, as I'm founder and CEO of Vena, and Vena is a company that's fully dedicated to empowering women through connections and helping. Helping you get access to the information and people required to help you live your best life. And that I really see is through friends and through friendship and building community. So whether it is you're looking for more mom friends or runners or other women who are entrepreneurs or women who code or people who also love doing crafts, we help you find that community through an app. And so the app is called Heyvina. And for your information, information and education, Vena actually is the word for female friend in Icelandic.

Oh, my God, I love that. I did not know that.

Yeah. So if, you know, like amiga, for example. We all love our amigas, but vena is Icelandic word for that. And the story behind that is that I started a women's group actually to solve my own problem of how do I meet new friends called ladies who vino, where every month they threw a wine happy hour. And it was as simple as just inviting everyone I know and a friend of mine knew to come together at a shared place, at a shared time, over a glass of wine to start these relationships. And when I wanted to scale that out to other people around the world and continue to solve this problem that I had been thinking about for literally my whole life of, like, how do I get access to more people and more people like me? Because it's not just about, you know, just having anyone around. It's about having the right people surrounding you where feel lifted up and you feel happy and empowered and you don't feel like you're questioning yourself all the time or anything like that. And so I've built this technology platform available on iPhone and Android in 158 countries around the world. So really, you can open it up pretty much anywhere you are in your life or in the world and instantly see a plethora of women who are like you, and they want to connect and they want to build community and they're showing up to say, hey, I'm here for this, and I want to build more relationships and find more people and really fill out that circle. And so it's kind of like a dating app interface where you actually fill out personality quiz questions and then you swipe left and right to indicate whether or not you want to meet someone right now or skip them, save them for later. And at that point, when you get a match, we introduce you and you get a little message from the Olivia bot, actually, who says, hey, you two are both members of this community or you have this shared personality trait based on your quizzes. Why don't you two start chatting or make plans to meet up right away? I really encourage everyone to meet up right away because at the end of the day, that's why we're there. There are plenty of places on the Internet where you can continue to share content or chat and participate in a forum. And those are great. But what my intentionality is to actually give you a tool to meet up with people who are nearby and make those connections in real life, Sit face to face, hug each other, talk to each other about each other's lives and have that mutual energy. Exchan so that's what I've built with Veena and the story behind it. It's kind of like, you know, it's a real personal story. You know, it's a journey of being a woman that we've all felt where, you know, growing up, sometimes in your social groups, you suddenly feel like the odd girl out and you're like, whoa, like, this is weird. I feel like everyone is against me.

Yeah.

Like, how did this happen? Like, these were my best friends and it was times where I survived that I met new people or I've Revived those relationships and through a lot of work and good conversation. And then I moved to San Francisco in 2009. And one of the catalysts for this was in my hometown, which isn't necessarily a super small town, but I'm from Newport beach in Orange county, and I'd lived there my whole life, and there was this night where I was in a blockbuster, for those of you who ever got to experience a blockbuster. And I knew every single person in that blockbuster. And I was like, wait, what is it? A blockbuster? Like, where you met in videos? Like a video? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I was like, is she talking about the video place?

Yeah, like back in the day where we actually rented videos from a store.

I was like, is that a California thing? Is it a type of party or.

It's been that long since we remember going into a store to rent a video. But, like, that's where you go on Friday night, and you're like, all right, my friends and I rent a video today to watch. You know, maybe it'll be like the Sex and the City video. I don't really know. We'll walk around. We'll see what. What strikes her fancy. And I knew every single person in that blockbuster.

Oh, my gosh.

Like, it was the boy that I had a crush on in elementary school. It was, like, my teacher from, like, this, you know, eighth grade science teacher. It was, you know, basically, I knew everyone. I was like, okay, I really want to push myself to expand more. Like, I got to get out of here. I really want to really see and experience a lot more and my life. And I left, you know, shortly thereafter to just go to a bigger town and without really realizing how hard it would be to be the new girl in town, to move to a new city where I'm like, oh, I don't know anyone. And I was staying with my aunt, who was so lucky to have, you know, put me up and led me to quit my job and just show up and be like, all right, I'm here, San Francisco. Like, show me the world. I was 20, 23 and realized that this is gonna be really hard. As I was on, like, you know, my eighth day of saying, watching marathons of say yes to the Dress and America's Next Top Model.

Oh, I've been there.

And, like, looking outside and, like, seeing girls walk by with their yoga mats on their way to brunch. Stupid girls looking so happy. I'm like, wait, like, where's my invite?

How do I do that?

How do I do that? Like, Shoot. I didn't realize that I didn't learn how to make friends. Something we don't really learn or ever really think about as a formula of how am I about to go do this? And you go out. I started looking online. I was like, okay, well at least maybe I could go on some dates. And this was before we had dating apps. And I was like, all right, well, we'll go on some dating websites on OkCupid. And something really interesting that OkCupid would do is they would show you women who were like you. And I was going on these dates and it was a very scientific process where you answer these personality questions. And these dates that I were going on were pretty interesting. I would have really great conversation with these guys. And I was realizing that while we weren't necessarily having chemistry, a romantic connection, I was having great conversations. We liked the same books or we had similar political perspectives, or we like to go do the same stuff. Because technology is pretty good at figuring out do you have these things in common? Know is like, you know, is the sound of this guy's voice going to drive you absolutely insane within five minutes? And so you, you know, of anyone who's ever online dated, it's probably really been on a lot of like bad dates. And that's like the truth for meeting anyone new per se. You just aren't going to click with everyone, right?

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So I started looking at the profiles of women similar to me and I was like, well maybe like these girls are really funny. Like they read the same things. Like we like to go to the same places. Like she has amazing eyebrows and I love her outfits. Like, like how do I become friends with her? So I started messaging them and I got rejected a lot being like, I'm not a lesbian. Thanks. I'm like, well you know, it wouldn't be wrong if you wanted to be a lesbian. But like I'm not hitting on you. Like I explicitly said like new to town. Like we like the same band. Like what if we went to a show? Or like Happy Hour. I don't really know how to do this. It's super awkward, right? Like, this is obviously, this is not the case on OkCupid that we were looking for friends, but, like, trying to make something work here, because I'm feeling really lonely and I want to get out of this house and, like, not be with someone who's going to just be trying to get into my pants, right? And so I tried a lot of other things. I signed up for charity events, and I did a triathlon. I literally did a triathlon.

Wow.

You go, girl.

Yeah. So I could make friends. I fundraise for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, which was a meaningful cause to me. And I joined Women's empowerment nonprofit, where we did grant writing for women's organizations. And in this process, I learned a lot of really interesting things. Like, one, it's still hard to make friends when you're in person, with other people, even around a cause. But two, that when you invest into groups of women, that the entirety of society improves, which was a really interesting lens for me to take on always believing in, like, my own power as women. But not only that, but, like, when you really build something or, like, give resources to women, they reinvest them into their communities and make, you know, education thrives and the economy thrives and everybody's happier and healthier and better, which is amazing. And so I really saw the power of really focusing on women's empowerment, not just in my own life, but in communities all around the world. And so that brought in another lens of wanting to create a place that's specifically just for women, because it's not only safer, but it also makes the world a better place. And so fast forward, I started working in tech a bunch and was then the only woman in the office and enterprise software companies and witnessed all the terrible things. I don't know if you've ever read the news about weird, terrible things that happen in office culture and tech companies when you're the only woman. But those things happen and happen to everyone, usually, whether or not you talk about it.

What was that like? Just what was it like going to work, knowing that? Like, how did you prepare for that?

I think, like, I just really, you know, I really tried to be like one of the guys. Like, I kind of always, you know, there were times in my life where I was, like, hung out with a lot of guy friends and, you know, maybe I even convinced myself that when I wasn't having good relationships with other women that, like, you know, maybe I'm just A guy's girlfriend.

Yeah. Like, maybe totally used that line, like, most of my life. Yeah.

Like, maybe actually, like, I just hang. Prefer the company of men. And that was really kind of making up for the fact that, like, I just was feeling really disconnected from women and feeling, like, afraid of the friendship of women.

What were you afraid of around your friendship with women?

You know, it's like acceptance and feeling. Wanting to feel accepted or feeling like, like, just intimidated or feeling like I'd been on, like, you know, I'd had a bad falling out with, like, a girlfriend. And, you know, it was just like, it's scary where, like, maybe I was like, oh, well, if I got to hang out with guys. And then, you know, I had some really bad interactions with guy friends where I. I confess this. I literally punched one in the face once. I've never, like, really made that admission to, like, any publicly, but because he told me that the only reason guys wanted to be my friend was because they were trying to sleep with me because he tried to kiss me. And I was like, oh, no, like, you're such a good friend. Like, I don't want to see that relationship. Like, I just don't think of you in that way. And, like, you're a great friend. Like, you know, I'm flattered, but just, like, don't. Let's not go there. And when he told me that my only value was sex, I just, like, the rage came out. I was just like, screw you. Come on. How could you put me. It's like, the woman, you're suddenly objectified so to your face that literally, that's your only value. And so I punched him.

It's easy to take that moment of. It makes that moment of all of the moments with all of your other guy friends where they were real for you and you felt connected. And it's like the only people you feel connected to were men. And that got taken away as well.

Yeah. And so obviously it wasn't the most. That's not productive communication there, but it was masculine communication. And it was like.

And that's what you were in and used to.

Yeah. And that was like, well, I'll show you and I'll show you my power. And the least thing that you expect me to do at that point is for me to tell you that in the most dramatic way possible that I know that's so wrong.

What does that feel like right now, looking back at that whole portion of your life now that you know what you know I mean, of course it's important. And you needed it to even figure out what you're doing now. But what, like from where you're standing right now, what does that. Cause right now you're.

We're.

I know that we're on that same mission of talking to that woman who's in that position right now, who thinks that I'm just a guy's girl and this is how it is. And looking back, you can actually be like, no, that was me. And now that I have this wisdom over here, what I'd like to share.

With her is, you know, I think one, I'm really proud of the fact that I stood up for myself and punished that guy for saying that to me. Because I think that's something that like we, a more timid version of me would have been like, just really hurt and like cried and instead of like sticking up for myself. And maybe it's not the most mature thing to do to punch someone and like, physical violence is never encouraged. But I felt really proud of showing like standing up for myself in that moment, like going back to that girl. I think it's. You know, there was a really beautiful story that a journalist shared when she tried, when she tried Veena for the first time and she was really against it. She was a journalist for Mike and she came with the perspective of also being only a guy's girl and like that she just like didn't, couldn't form bonds with women and like that. And she actually had this full coming of age moment when she used Veena and had a successful and like had some unsuccessful times where she was like. I realized that actually I'm the problem. It's not other women that are the problem. It's my defenses and my insecurities and, or my jealousy that is preventing me from building these bonds. And like they're my walls where, you know, there's men and women. So I come from a social psychology background and this is something I've been passionate about my whole life. And I studied in college and I did tons of research around, but men and women actually form bonds differently. So men form bonds through activity oriented experiences. So usually like they're doing something and by doing the thing they develop a friendship. Whereas women form bonds through storytelling and vulnerability and that differentiator, you know, And I think that there's. It's not to say that men and women don't crave opposite ways of bonding. And like, we're all masculine and feminine in many ways and variations through our lives. It doesn't mean that has anything to do with your gender, but it's just the masculine versus feminine way of actually building relationships. And I think when you're feeling really vulnerable and you have your walls up, you default to maybe a more masculine way of bonding. And there's a lot of men who actually really gravitate to building friendships with women because they crave vulnerable connection, which all humans crave. Vulnerable connection. We need it, like physically, we actually need it. And that's starting to be proven by science. And we actually have a medical advisory board at Vena, where we have the top researchers and scientists and psychologists who look at the role of human connections in our lives. And so looking at its role with disease recovery, virus recovery, cancer recovery, to our health span, to the. The likelihood you are to even get sick. And it all comes back to those social connections. And it's not just about seeing other people. It's about having vulnerable interactions with them.

Oh, I love all of that because, I mean, it's literally what I've been living the past, I don't know, probably four plus years, but it's what I'm. So literally everything you're talking about is exactly what I'm passionate about. And I'm just so obsessed with finding other women who are doing the same thing. Cause it's a message that I think is just. Just, it's. It's probably one of the most important messages right now because we're isolating ourselves even more in social media and we're really starting to convince ourselves that it's not needed. It's like, no, you can just reach out and connect on social or, you know, you can text someone, or, you know, you should be fine, or you should be this girl boss, or you can do this and this will make you happy. Or if you have this, this will make you happy. And it's like, I've done all that. I spent my time thinking that it would get me somewhere and that I was going to feel different. And at the end of the day, accomplishments are really important, I believe. But you have to have the. You have to have the connection along with it. And I think that life and all of your goals and all of the achievements just go so much easier and faster because I believe that we're not meant to do it alone. What have you noticed in your life through connection? How it's affected different parts of your life? What would you say has been. Let's just use this. Last year has been one of the biggest things that has either improved or that you've really noticed has, you know, shifted from having friendship.

There are so many challenges to business that I don't want starting to be.

One of them for you.

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Yeah, well, as an entrepreneur and as a startup founder, you know, there's absolutely no way that you can build a successful business on your own. Like, it's just, you know, anyone who says that they did it alone is kidding themselves.

Yep.

Like, you need people and you need a network and you need a lot of variety of people in that network and you need a lot of. And when I say network, like, I don't network. I make friends. I don't believe in just having. Like when you're networking, like there's a value exchange there. At that point you're, you're buying and selling or bartering. You know, when you build an authentic connection with someone, you're making a friend. And so, you know, it's getting to know people for the sake of just getting to know them and seeing them and understanding them and what motivates and then, you know, and having that reciprocated to you. And by having those, building those relationships with people and giving things to them and being helpful to them, when it comes time to actually need it and to ask for something for feedback or help or an introduction, those people are happy to show up for you. And so, you know, when it came to starting a tech company, like, I by all means didn't know everything. I worked in tech for quite some time, but before I went off to build this, and one of the things that I realized that gave me the confidence to actually even go and start my business was working with a very senior executives and realizing that these senior male executives that have worked at big companies and scaled big organizations didn't know everything and that I knew just as much as they did. Because anytime you're building something or doing something or creating something, you're doing it for the first time. You know, it's never going to be the exact same as anybody else's formula. And the magic that happens is actually when you use your creativity and your own ingenuity to actually build something that's different. And so having like the friends that I could turn to when I needed to figure out how to learn to pitch to investors and knowing people who could actually give me feedback on my pitch and, you know, tell me I would. I had designed, I designed Veena myself and, and I am an untrained designer. I didn't go to RISD and I didn't design at Apple or Facebook or Google beforehand. But what I did have was have a lot of really good friends who were designers and a vision And I've always wanted to design a platform. And so I would spend hours a day in the very beginning of unit, designing things and showing up and being like, hey, will you grab coffee with me and give me feedback on my designs? And I'd be like, why is it ugly? I knew it was ugly.

But why?

But why? I don't really know. Like, I need to change it exactly. Like, something is not right here. And, like, it's far better for me to do that and get that feedback and learning than it is for me to show up and be like, do this for me. Yeah, make this for me. Which, like, they very well could have. I could have like, hired them to do it, because you should always pay your friends for work that they do for you. And. And instead, I was getting feedback and advice, and by doing that and coming back and showing them my progress on the things that they were helping me with, they could actually see the real impact that they were having in my life and the way that they were nurturing me as a friend and as a human. And this was really special because it created a really important and vulnerable bond between us where part of them has been imparted upon me, and now they're part of this experience where when they're helping me or giving me feedback, they can actually see results because I'm doing the results. And so it was actually really helpful and empowering to then say, okay, look at all this progress I've made. And by the time I'm finished, everyone's really bought into what I'm doing and willing and excited to share it with other people. And that's a big deal, because when you're creating something and creating a business, it's not enough for it to just be good. It has to be good enough where people are excited to share about it or they're. They want it. And so by involving people in the process, the entire process of Veena, I say, is by women, for women, and it's by our members and for our members, we involve our members in every step of the way. We have cohorts of 1,000 women at a time that actually do user testing and QA testing and feedback on which icon should we use and which title do you like better for this? And, like, hey, is this even thing even working for you guys? And we sit down in rooms and, like, we give feedback and we test things and we say, like, what do you actually want to see? Like, what features do you want Bina to have? And we built those things, and it's not like just anyone in an ivory tower here saying, like, this is this thing we made, now you buy it. It's a truly communal effort.

Wow. I mean, I don't even know which branch to jump on right now. There are so many good ones. So I would love to know, at this point in your career, what are you in this very moment? Like, when you wake up? What are you right now? What's your biggest obstacle and how are you going at it?

Well, so I just moved to la, and my biggest obstacle is the fact that I'm revisiting that moment that catalyzed the start of Venus, where I'm the new girl in town and I don't really know very many people in la, and so I have to rebuild my own community. And, you know, there are even moments where there was, like, a Friday night once, and I'd, like, texted everyone I knew in la. I was like, hey, I live here now. Like, want to hang out? Like, let's grab a drink. And, like, everyone's like, oh, great to hear. Like, let's circle back in, like, a couple weeks. And so I'm, like, driving home, and all I want to do is is see someone that I know or have a meaningful conversation and find familiarity. And I just cry. And I'm like, I'm so lonely because I'm realizing, and I'm going back to that feeling of what it's like to be in that position again. And you need people with your social life. You need to find those people that aren't just work contacts that, you know, you can talk about anything and everything with. And you also need those contacts when it comes to business, too. And so a lot of my effort and work right now is rebuilding, and not rebuilding, but building a new network in Los Angeles. And so not just for myself personally, but professionally with other entrepreneurs here, because I need my other founder friends that I can, like, go to lunch with and talk about, talk business and shop with. And I need people who I can just go decompress with, just as we all need such a kaleidoscope of individuals in our lives. And so that's. That's my challenge, and that's a big focus of my time right now, is like, building my. My building a professional and social network here in Los Angeles. So finding events and finding other people who are doing interesting things, things that I like, and getting introductions and using Veena myself to, like, go to brunches. I'm hosting a brunch actually tomorrow morning.

Awesome.

Yeah. There's about 25 women coming.

Amazing.

I'm really excited because, I mean, you can just poach that you want to do something in a place that, you know you like and see who else wants to join. And so I'm really excited about that and, like, meeting some more friends.

You're on it.

Yeah. I mean, look, we all have problems in the big, biggest differentiator between, you know, happiness and, you know, being. Being sad about them is action.

It's so true. I. I love the quote, action cures anxiety. Because whenever I'm feeling anxious or I'm like, oh, this isn't happening, or I start to feel bad or anything like that, it's like, what are you not doing? Because just like the friendship thing, we're always the only variable. Always, like, we're the only thing that we can change ever. And it's. It's the. So much is perspective. Especially. I talk about this a lot because I hear. Especially going around on book tour, I would ask women in different areas. So I was in, you know, Boston and then New York and then the Midwest and then, you know, the west coast, and every woman we could kind of in. In the rooms, I could kind of start categorizing what the thing was that they thought was stopping them from connecting with women. And it's so funny because it's. It was so stereotypical. Like, I would say, what is it? And almost. Almost the whole room in the Midwest, when I asked, why are you afraid to connect with women? What's the stereotype around women friends here? And they were like, that they're nice to your face, but they stab you in the back. And that was like 300 women all saying the same thing. And I'm like, okay, can we all first notice that that's your perspective. That's just a perspective that's stopping you from connecting. So when you go. You know, when women first go on the app, are there things that you're, like, breaking down first of all? Like, having them kind of like, you know what I mean? Confront with how they're viewing their relationships first? Or what do you say to women when they're like, I'm just not. I'm doing this, but I still can't seem to find my match.

Do you ever get that?

Yeah. And I think we. We are so used to everything being instant in our lives now. Like, you have a movie, any movie you want to watch, or, like, anything you want to eat within an hour, and it's really hard to not take that same approach, wanting that same approach with our interpersonal relationships. Because it takes time and work, work and time on yourself and with other people and their own time in their lives. Because we're all doing lots of other things. Even when you feel like you're doing nothing, like, you can make up a million excuses as to why you're too busy to make it a priority. I think one of the really important things that I like to do is when I say I don't have time for something, I rephrase it as, like, that's not a priority. And I evaluate how that makes me feel. And if it's actually not true, I rearrange my life a bit. And. And it's really. With our members, there's a lot of vulnerability. We're very afraid of the word loneliness. We're very afraid to think of ourselves as lonely when it shouldn't be considered any different from being dehydrated because it's a physiological state that you have total control over changing. It's not an identity. It's not who you are. You're not alone, lonely person. You are lonely because you haven't had a meaningful conversation or connection.

That's a really powerful statement. Like, I just really want people to just, you know, sit with that for a minute. Because I think I used to be so ashamed of being like, does anybody else sit in their house this much and cry and go to the. The refrigerator 37 times out of loneliness? Like, you know, sometimes I just be like, let me just chew so that I don't feel so lonely. And I just. You start thinking that because it can spiral. It's like a really real thing. It can spiral into starting to think that you have so many other things wrong with you. When I actually started connecting with people, it became like this cure for so many things that I was experiencing.

Someone. I forget who said this, but someone really beautifully said that dating, the act of dating is actually the act of falling in love with yourself over and over again. Oh, that's so good. Which I thought was so perfect. And I don't think it has to be just romantic dating, but you're falling in love with yourself because you're sharing your favorite things, your passions, like the stories that make you who you are. And that actually is what's happening when you're having this connection with someone or you're taking the time to share and be intimate. And so it's like. Like, it's a very beautiful concept to say, it's not you. It's absolutely nothing to do. Like, you are not Quasimodo up in a Tower locked away from society. When you think of yourself as being lonely and when you go onto an app to make friends, it's not like, oh, hello, is this moment where I'm on an app now? No. You are really smart and really very proactive, and you are empowered and confident and all of these amazing, amazing qualities. And you're showing up there to build community. Like, that is a boss move. That is not a pathetic move. That is a girl boss move. And to show up and say, like, you know what? Like, I want to meet more people and, like, I'm going to do what I want to do to make it happen. And not only that, I'm not going to leave it up to chance.

Yes.

Because, you know, living things up to chance like, that, that is not a control and an empowered state of your life. And when you take control and you say, like, like, look, I'm going to look for these qualities in a friend. These are the things that I want to bring into my life. I want to bring in people who make me laugh. I want to bring in people who don't gossip. I want to bring in people who are these things. Like, think about the qualities that you want in a friend. Because we shouldn't just be in a take what we can get mentality. You get to choose. That's the beautiful thing about friendship. It's not your family. You get to choose who you hang out with, who you spend your time with, with. And that is really, really powerful because I think, was it Shine theory? But we're the five people that we're the sum of the five people that we spend the most amount of time with. Like, who are those people that you're spending time with? Is that who you want to be? Like, think about it. You know, those are things that we should journal about and, like, spend our time visioning, envisioning, like, who we want in our lives. And if it's not the people that are currently around you who are lifting you up and. And making you feel awesome, then think about, who do you want to bring in? It's not sad or pathetic ever to be looking for a particular kind of person in your life. That's a place of knowing what you want.

I couldn't, like, I could not agree more. That's literally like going to an exercise studio that's on your block and wondering why you hate it so much, but you're not willing to venture out to anything else. Like, I hate this workout. It's. It doesn't work. But I'm not gonna go Anywhere. Like, it's. But it's on my block. Like, that's really how we are with. But they're my neighbor, or but they're my high school friends or. But they're, you know, my husband's wife's friends or whatever it is. And it's like, those don't have. You pick. Don't. Not what comes at you, but what you choose. And I look back at life and it's like the things that. When I've really, truly let go of my ego, my husband, like, one of his favorite quotes is, ego is your biggest overhead because it will be one of the things that holds you back from your happiness every single time. And I always am, like, if I ever recognize myself saying, like, oh, well, I'm better than that or too good for that. In my head, I'm like, oh, that's exactly what you need to go and do right now.

I've been doing this exercise where if something makes me uncomfortable, I lean into it and I'm like, I'm gonna say, sit in this moment of feeling really uncomfortable with the situation here, and I'm gonna get over it. I need to get over myself. Because so much of what we want and what we want to do is you gotta get over yourself. Because you're not that. None of us are that special or unique. We're all. We don't have to fit in. You can just get over that and just, like, be you and just get really comfortable in sitting there and just owning who you are.

When's the point for. Cause I know some people, there's a lot of things that you have to go out and do to start to learn that. Wow, you get to kind of start differentiating. Because a lot of the things I first experienced and also questions I get are like, at what point do I stay and sit in that discomfort? But then if it continues on, do I keep peeling back? Or are these not the right people? When does the differentiation start? When you're trying to collect those people?

Yeah, I think I'm always really proud. One of my favorite times of my life is my birthday party because I invite all of the people that I know to come out and get together. And these are people who don't know each other. These are people that I've collected throughout the world. Whether I met them in, like, an Uber pool or I, you know, picked her up in a coffee shop or met her on Venus.

I love that. Whether I picked her up in a.

Coffee shop, I literally picked up my best friend in a coffee Shop.

That's amazing.

I was like, hey, I see you in here pretty often. Like, what are you doing? Like, hey, girl, come here often? Hey, we laugh about it all the time. Time. Because you know what I see? When I see, like, someone that's, like, beautiful and smart or, like, I love her outfit and, like, someone I admire, I think, how can I bring more of that into my life? As opposed to a lot of our feelings that we're taught is, like, oh, well, screw her. Like, she's so perfect. Like, ew, that's you being afraid. And instead of saying, you know, like, I want to be more like her. Like, how can I be friends with her? Like, tell me, like, like, what are you doing? What's your workout tactic? Like, are you looking so good? Like, can you bring my.

You looking so good.

I need some of that, right? Like, I need it. Like, tell me your secrets. Like, why is your hair so perfect? Cause, like, mine. I'm, like, trying to figure it out right now. Like, really? Like, that's how to get better. Not by saying, like, oh, well, her. And so I love bringing all the people that I've collected, but it's looking for those qualities that you admire in other people, whether it might be their aesthetic or if you're not aesthetically driven, like, people that you would take a class with and are really smart. And you're like, oh, she's so smart. Like, instead of being competitive, being like, hey, can I study with you? Like, can I provide the snacks? And, like, you know, bring me in to, like, how'd you figure all this out? So that's the way is, like, turning that. That envy that we might feel into admiration.

Yes.

And bringing it in closer.

That's been really huge for me. And as much as it's. As much as I thought that I was already doing that, I get really intimidated by people who are smart and also tech savvy as well. Like, if they have, like, a big tech background or I feel like I look at them in their business and they're doing everything, and I like, how in the hell do they do that? Like, it's almost. It's almost intimidating to me. Where I noticed I used to back away, and now I'm leaning in. I'm like, go straight there. Because it's actually what I need. It's what I want to be doing in the future as well. And what's happening is, of course, it's like, the best conversations. Like, you. You just notice that you're like, wow, A different part of me is Being fed in a completely different way. So it's been. It's probably been one of the biggest gifts to just be like, go there. Just go there. It's like the. It's Mel Robbins five second rule. I'm just like, go there. Just stop being so afraid and just go, like, make that. I had another podcast yesterday, whom this guy is, like, so into science that sometimes I can be intimidated by it because I'm like, what am I even going to ask this person? He's, like, so smart. And then when I got him here, I was like, this is like, one of the best, easiest conversations because I'm truly, like, I can't ask enough because I don't know. But we tend to gravitate towards the people that we're like, oh, that's familiar. So when you are. Well, you kind of touched on it. Like, when you specifically are looking for your business and your life to go in a certain direction, do you seek out specifically those types of people?

Yeah, absolutely. For example, I have been spending a lot of time with friends who are really good at media because I have been. And I tend to be a person that really likes to have been behind the scenes and want to, like, I build tools for you to go and do things right. And, you know, like, don't worry about me. But one of the things that's really important as part of my work is telling the story and sharing all of the knowledge that I learned through my research and working with all of these incredible scientists who know really amazing things about human connection and helping our members, because I've been studying this for so long and helping them get. Be able to get to the point where you feel really confident in going and not just, like, signing up and be like, all right, I'm here. I'm really excited to do this. But like, oh, my gosh, and now what? Because I know that that's a feeling that so many people feel. Whereas, like, all right, I'm ready to make some new friends. I'm ready to build some connections. But, like, I'm showing up here and I've got the tool now, but now I'm scared. Like, what do I say? And these are things that I've studied and tools and actual scientific reasons why you should approach things certain particular ways. You know, people want to be friends. Like, scientifically, it's proven that people want to be friends. Friends with people who are confident. Like, that is backed by research. And so, you know, when we're taught as women to not be too shiny, too bright, or Too much of anything to make sure that like nobody feels threatened by you. That's actually bad advice.

It's really bad advice because I will tell you. Well, I came from a really religious background. So on top of already having that in my family, it was like, like a major part of my religion to not do anything outside of that. Like to not go after dreams, to not stand out too much, to give all glory, you know, to God and the religion. And while that was great to learn and it was fantastic and I don't regret a moment of it, it's been one of the biggest things that I've had to work through in order to connect with people, to figure out who I am, to build a business, to, to attract people into my business, to attract friends into my life. Because I found that I was creating these connections where I was learning all about them, but they were learning nothing about me. So I felt more connected to them than maybe they did to me. It's almost like that social media connection where you're like, wow, I get to learn everything about you. But I'm, you know, they're not learning anything about me. So it was like, oh my gosh, I'm actually not sharing. So I was never feeling fully connected to people because of the lack of sharing, like out of fear of that. So what do you think are some of the top fears or not even fears, but blocks for women when they go to connect? Like, what's important for women to know when they're going on this app or when they're going on their own friend dates?

Well, I think being interested is interesting. So like, everyone loves to talk and share about. So I think you were doing actually really good behavior when it comes to bonding. And most people don't even realize that they haven't asked you any questions because we're all so self involved. Right. And that's just like, you know, being a human. And I'm not going to point at fingers at being bad per se, but I'm saying that these are behaviors that we can keep track of.

Right.

And so, you know, I think it's sharing stories in an exchange way about common, common interests. So like you ask a story, ask someone about, you know, about their hobbies or if they do crafts. I'm like, oh, like you learned how to, how did you learn how to do that? I've always been interested in, in it because of X, Y and Z. So when you have a variety of interests and you nurture them or you become curious, curiosity is actually a really helpful tactic. In becoming friends, I always like to have a few, like, pocket questions that, like, I ask people. Like, I kind of pick, like, a handful. My favorite books that I had when I was a kid were these books of questions. Oh, awesome. I know. I just. I literally have, like, 12 of them. Wow. Like 10,000 questions for getting to know or like 50,000 questions.

That's amazing.

I just love them. And I actually found some really, like, nurtured some really great relationships that I had by just going. Being like, hey, I have this book of questions. Like, want to go through it?

Do you remember what they were? Because someone's going to ask me.

What, the questions. Yeah.

Or the questions.

Books from when you were born. There's one that's called 20,000 questions for getting to know Anyone.

Okay.

We actually have. There's a researcher that created a study that was like, 36 questions for falling in love with anyone. So he's on our medical advisory board at Vena. And it's not just like falling in romantic love, but there are 36 questions that basically increase an intimacy of getting to know someone from very surface level things to actually. Things like that are stories about your childhood. And those are great to go through. You can buy boxes of table topics that you just, like, throw on your dining table. And by doing that kind of gives you an excuse. Like, you have, like, an alibi where you're like, I'm not just asking you this really personal question. Like, it's on the card.

Yes, totally.

It's in the book.

Totally.

Exactly. You know, it's okay. I think I encourage you to just kind of take ownership of those questions. But if you need baby steps and be like, hey, like, let's do this game. This question game. Yes, it's good to have those on tan, those tools. And then I like to have a few that I just make up here and there where I'm like, hey, I like to have these dinner party questions. Disclaimer. These are the questions that I'm asking people right now. What do you think?

As you talk, I'm like, we are like twins. I literally am like, when I was writing that book, it says in there, I'm like, this is your excuse. Just use this and say it to your. Your excuse. Because I'm. I'm obsessed with dinner parties and questions, and I just make it sound like it's a part of my life or, like, my life's work. I'm like, oh, I'm asking these questions right now. I'm like, I just totally pulled that out of My ass. Because I. I need to know these things. Or I need to, like, yeah, you know, have something to say right now.

Right now. And I want to know real about you.

I can't talk about LA's weather that doesn't actually exist anyway.

Right now. Right. Or how long it took me to get here.

I know, but we have to talk about that anyway.

It's like the first.

Okay. I'm like, how long did it take?

45 minutes this morning.

Not bad, you guys. It's a real quiet. It's like a real thing. It's actually still intriguing to me too, because I'm like, wait, how long did the three miles take you today? We never know exactly when someone's like, 15 minutes. I'm like, no way.

Like, how'd you do that?

It's not even real.

Did you write a helicopter?

What is that?

It's true. So. So the other thing is, one of the practices that we started in the women's group I created was the concept of lady bragging.

Ooh, I need to hear about this.

Yeah. So I made a website, ladybag.com. and you can go on and just post something you're proud of, because as women. So I started to think about one of the ethos behind Veena is all of these excuses as to why men. Not excuses, but I guess they're excuses as to why men are so succeeding over women. And, like, what can we actually take control over to make sure that we are doing the most we possibly can to fight these things? And so one of them was the reason is men brag about their work more and women don't brag enough. Yeah. And that's just a behavior like, women are not taught to brag. It's not to be bad to brag. Like. And so we, my group of friends and I coined the term lady bragging as to own your brags. And, you know, it's actually to be a lady is to be, you know, socially, culturally, or etiquette appropriate. But if we're gonna call it a lady brag, you're owning it. And this is kind of a contrary term. And so one of the things we've seen happen in a lot of women's groups is seeing brag days take off where actually we encourage each other to talk about our achievements. And by doing this, by creating, like, in this group, we would all go around in a circle at dinner parties and be like, hey, everybody, share your lady brag. And we learned so much about each other. We learned that some of our friends did like a 10,000 pushup challenge. And they never would have told us that they were learning how to do 10,000 pushups. Or they did a presentation at their work, and it was celebrated by their CEO, and they got a huge raise and bonus from it. These are things we don't tell our friends because we feel like, oh, we're not supposed to brag about. Right. Our financial wealth or success. We don't want to make our friends feel bad or that, hey, I was walking the guy that I've had a crush on. I asked him out, and he said yes. I'm really excited that I took the first move. So bragging about these things, we learn so much. It doesn't even have to be anything. You actually just start celebrating yourself. It might have been like, I was having a terrible day the other day, and I pushed myself to get up, do my hair, put my clothes on, put my makeup on, and, like, go and get myself out of it. And I feel really proud of that. And by celebrating yourself and then celebrating your friends, celebrating you, and having the community celebrate you, like, that's a really powerful moment.

Oh, I love that. This could be a whole other thing. Like, I want. I want people to really understand how important. Important that is. And I love that you coined that phrase, because it's just makes it easier to do. Like, here's what we're gonna do right now. Just kind of like, here's my questions I've been asking this week. It's like, this is a part of it.

Like, hey, let's all lady brag.

Yeah, let's all do it so that we can all know. Because I think it's especially female entrepreneurs. It's so important because you just made me kind of scan through my past of when I've gotten opportunities. The only reason is because. Because I was like, lori, if you don't buck up and lady brag right now about what's good in your life, you may miss this opportunity because they don't know what you're doing and what an impact it had. I will say so many people come and pitch to. I'll give an example so you guys can understand who are listening. So many people pitch to me to either want to be on my podcast or have me on theirs, but they don't tell me their numbers at all. So what happens is, because you don't have a lot of time, and I'm sure, like, you, you have to figure out who's worth the time and the direction that you want to go and what they have if they're not telling you. Like, if you have a bunch of, you know, women pitching you, but you have no idea what's going on, if their ideas are making an impact, if something has worked before, you're, like, probably not even going to give it any thought, and you'll go to the one that shows the impact it's had or what you're looking for or the numbers that feel worth your time or whatever that looks like. Like, so for me, it's like, if people would just brag to me, I'd be like, oh, thank you. Okay, yes. That's worth the time right now. That's where, you know, for my schedule, this is where I'm at or what I want to be doing, or vice versa. Like, the people I've been able to get on my podcast is only because I've had to brag about numbers. And I'm like, most people don't send that, but when you do, it's a good thing, right?

I mean, and so much of what we as women even call bragging is not bragging. It's not giving the context to your life. And, you know, even that made me warm.

I'm just like.

Because you can just take that word.

Away, even, you know, because it is.

Well, you can call it if you like, at least say, like, oh, if I'm, like, what am I going to brag about? Like, it at least forces you to, like, evaluate. And then it's good to put numbers to things. It's good to say, like, oh, I did this, or, you know, I got a press coverage that I really want is. Or I got a good, great grade in this class, or I, you know, I've kept my kid alive for five years.

Yeah, I would call that a bonus. I haven't done that yet.

Yeah, me either. But it's finding those things that you want to celebrate about yourself, whether they're professional or personal. It's really important to celebrate. And it's different from being grateful, because being grateful is a state of receiving, and which is great. And you can be like, oh, I'm so grateful that I have a beautiful home to live in. But you know what? If you say, I'm really proud of the fact that I earned a great home and I went out and I created a great space, and you own that. You did that. Like, that is really special because we work so hard in our lives to get the things that we want. Sometimes things are given to us, and we can be grateful for those gifts, and we can be me, be Grateful to have had the opportunity to pursue, like, you know, achieving these things or having. Grateful for the access to connections or whatever. But being proud of yourself for those achievements, like, that's important. And recognizing. I think Snoop Dogg actually recently gave a speech. I loved it.

When Snoop talks, we listen.

Oh, yeah, he gave, like, this. Like, he won an award. And he was like, I just want to say thank you to myself for all of the work that I put into making this happen. I want to say thank you to myself for. And it was a speech where he thanked himself. And we need to do that, ladies. We need to thank ourselves for everything that we do to make our dreams come true.

Oh, my gosh. It's so true. Because. And I think thanking yourself and really knowing that. That that was inside of you can also help keep away the fear of, what if. What if I lose all of this? Do you know what I'm saying? Because sometimes we can think it was just luck or something happened or was a relationship you built, and it's like, okay, you. You built that relationship. You created that from the same place that you created that thing that maybe you don't have anymore or you lost or doesn't work or you're afraid of going away. Like, you have that power inside of you. And if you don't fully acknowledge that, like, I've been doing a lot of work around that recently. Just, you know, I think sometimes when you can create a lot of things that you love, all of a sudden the fear can now turn from not getting the things but to losing the things. And I'm like, from the same place that you created is the same place that you could create again. So I think that's really powerful. Thank you for that. Yeah.

I mean, it's like the difference of saying, I'm really grateful that this podcast exists as opposed to being. I'm really proud of myself for making the time to listen to it and invest in myself.

Wow. And thank you for that. And just that made me just think, I'm really grateful that I took the time to show up for all of these episodes for three years.

Yeah.

Like, I could do that again.

You could do it again. But also, like, help you tackle imposter syndrome, too. And you think about, like, oh, am I really qualified to be here? And you think about, what did I do to. Like, I did stuff to get here. I read the books. I went to school. Like, I, you know, put myself forward. I showed up. I did the work.

What are you working through? Do you have something right now that you go back to. To just remind yourself. Because what I always want to show people on this podcast is, like, you know, people might be looking at you like, oh, my God, she created this awesome app, and she's so pretty, and she's doing all of these things. But. But I know that you still have your days, which sometimes, maybe every day, something's sneaking in there. So what's kind of in the back of your mind? What's the inner mean girl voice saying right now? And how do you tackle it?

I try to be really, really kind to myself always. And one of the things that I. I think we can all go through is, like, we can get really attached to our problems. And even, like, oh, I'm not, like, doing. Like, I'm not showing up. I'm not working as hard as I should be working. Yeah, I'm working so hard. Like. Like, I don't know, but I'm like, I could be doing better or, like, I should be making more time to work out, or, like, I haven't been going to bed on time. Like, I'm just really not taking care of myself or, like, I'm not calling my family enough. And. And, like, you just do it resonate.

With all of those.

You can get really down. Or, like, you have these problems, or, like, oh, you know, you have. You know, I want. I want all these things, and I can't get them. And, like, there's something in my way of blocking them. What's wrong with me?

Like.

Or what's wrong, you know, with the world? And I have been really focused. My new exercise that I've been doing personally is problems of privilege, and I've been giving myself this tool where I become grateful that I have the privilege to have that problem, where I feel like if I feel frustrated, like, oh, I have to move again. And I've moved so many times last year, like, I can't possibly do this. It's so hard. Like, I am so fortunate to have a home and feel like I can qualify to live other places and that I have the resources to make that happen. Like, how lucky am I that I get to have this problem? Or if I'm having problems with my family and so. And so is annoying me or, like, giving me a really hard time about things in my life. I'm like, how grateful am I that I get to have a family, that I have someone that cares enough about me to give me a hard time about this? So this is a problem of privilege, which. Which allows me to kind of get over the Fact that it's still a problem. It's still something I need to solve because it's a pain point. And I hate. I cannot just sit there with a pain point. I'm a princess and a pea of life. I'm like, there is something itching me. I have to get away from it or fix it right now. And so that's something that I exercise that I've been working on for myself. I don't know. I just made it up the other day.

I love it. I'm like, I'm using that one. I'm gonna quote you on lady bragging. That's a great one for people to start with. Like, just a girl's dinner.

Yeah.

Like, that's amazing because it's like a really fast way to break down a wall, to put yourself out there and to learn about people. It's like lady brag dinners. You gotta just get that out there.

We gotta. Everyone she needs to. Everyone listening. Go and ask at least one person with their lady brag is right now. Yeah. You can also go to ladybag.com and post it there. You can send digital cheers to other people who've posted brags.

How fun. Oh, I love that. Okay. That's super fun.

Super fun.

Go on there.

And it's easy.

Do mine.

Yeah. What is your lady brag?

Oh, my lady brag. Oh, well, now it's uncomfortable.

You gotta go. It's nice. I mean, now you can't be endorsing it without doing it.

Okay.

Oh, man. I mean, there's. I have two big lady brags from this last year that I really. I'm so proud of myself. Like, I wrote a book that's great. And it's. It's the number one bestseller. Like, I'm in that. I never. I'm from a small town. Come on.

That's huge.

And it was hard. I will say writing that book was probably one of the hardest, most beautiful experience of my life. So I'm so proud of myself that I got, like. I went through it and I enjoyed it. Cause my mantra through the whole thing was like. Like, it was kind of like, you get to do this is what I was telling myself the whole time. So while it was so challenging and I had moments of like, this is never going to happen, I did also thoroughly enjoy it and, like, got through. I don't even want to say got through. Did book tour and did the whole thing the way that I wanted to do it. So I'm really proud of that and I'm really proud of the podcast. Like, I'm so proud of the podcast. Like, it's mild. Like, hit massive miles, milestones. Like, that's cra. 10 million people have listened to this podcast. Like, that's insane.

That's amazing.

And I'm so proud of that. So those are my lady brags.

I am proud of you. I'm cheering you right now.

We've got some water. We can turn it into wine. It's fine. I don't know how that's going to.

Happen, but just close your eyes and there it is.

There it is.

Grapes, champagne, bubbles.

It's great. What's yours? This is fun, isn't it?

Well, it's so hard. It's so easy to tell everyone to do this and be like. And then when you have to do.

It, you're like, oh, my gosh. Yeah, I'm a little warm right after. A little toasty.

So my lady brag is there's a. Actually, there's a lot of things I'm really proud of.

Isn't that the best?

But, you know, at this point, like, I'm going into the new year with bigger goals than I've ever possibly even allowed myself. I don't. Like, I've always been one of those people that's, like, I don't have dreams. Like, it was not my dream. Like, I had a goal and, like, for whatever reason, I was, like, allergic to the concept of dreaming. And at this point, like, these are dreams and I'm there and they're goals, too. They're. They're concrete. And I feel the confidence in myself that I will be able to make them all come true. And just having that confidence, even though, like, there are zero signals at this point that, like, say that, like, these are. These are achievable.

Yeah.

You know, aside from the fact that, like, I had, you know, three years ago, there was novena. There was, like, me being like, I have an idea. And I sat down with one of my investors yesterday. Sorry, this is a longer lady brag.

It's great.

Keep going. But in one of my investors, Sean Rad, who's the founder and CEO of Tinder, or former CEO of Tinder, and I was telling him about my plans for the new year, and he was like, this is huge. You're building a several billion dollar company here. And I was like, I told you that, like, three years ago when you met me and you reached out and did you not believe me then? Right? He's like, you were ambitious. He's like, I'll give you that. And he's like, I didn't know for sure if you had it, but you have it. And so there's a lot of really exciting announcements coming up with fina, all involving women and community and building special places for us. And so that was. I had someone I really respect and admire and a lot of people really respect billionaire and say, like, hey, what you are doing is on the track to build something huge. Wow. And I'm really proud of you and everything that you've achieved because with Veena as a solo female founder, you know, I found the people and the places to bring it all together. I've connected more than 7 million new friendships.

That's amazing.

And so it's 7 million more brunches and happy hours and problem solved, problem solving and nights of crying businesses.

Oh, my goodness.

Bridesmaids. I brought people bridesmaids and, you know, seen people tell me the stories of how they. They went from the deepest depression they've ever felt to feeling excited every day because they have people to text and go see and make plans with. And that to me is like, I will brag about that to the day. I've touched that many lives and my technology and this dream of being able to give access to people in their lives and give you the ability to find those people who will support you through breakup and bad days and becoming roommates too. Like, there's like five girls in Vegas right now, like, because, like, out partying, having a great time. Like, go, girls. Like, invite me next time. And, like, I've sent, like, people roommate gifts and all kinds of things. One girl was. Had this great friendship story of these girls who were childhood friends and their friends when they were like 6 or 7, had both ended up moving to some random small town in a different state and then found each other on Vina and reconnected.

Oh, my gosh.

And are now, like, best friends again.

So tell me, it's just so not all interconnected. Like, your amazing idea to be like, hey, you should follow this one. And you being like, I should follow this? And following it was not actually a part of their plan as well. So when you get those nudges and you get those hits, ladies and gentlemen, you're meant to follow them. Like, you're meant to follow through with them. Because I'm sure this was like a definite download or hit where you're like, huh, I definitely feel like I should do this.

Oh, yeah. I mean, and there's definitely. There's been so many days where I'm like, why Am I doing this? This is so hard. Like, this is so hard. It'd be so much easier just have a job.

Yeah.

And then I remember, like, I, you know, just think about our. I read our friendship stories, and I reach out and I talk to another Veena on the platform, and I'm like, I'm doing this because this is. That literally, I could not imagine doing anything else. And this is something I care about more than anything. Like, it's not about it being an easy journey. It's about being a purposeful journey and a journey that. Where I get to bring my best self and, like, allow myself to learn and grow as a human and at the same time, you know, make a meaningful impact in people's lives in a way that I really want to, in a way that, like, I feel is most meaningful, and that's access to other people.

Yes. Amen. Well, I just. We've been talking for a while. I could talk to you for a lot longer, but I would love to just acknowledge and say I'm number one. I'm so excited we met.

Me, too. Super excited.

Like, I just. I love it. I can't even wait for who. Who even knows what the year can hold? I don't even know. That's when I meet some people, I'm like, God, I wonder what the year will hold. That'll be so exciting. And just. I'm so grateful that you consistently show up and follow through on your dream. Like, I'm so inspired by all of the work that you've done and what you're doing and your passion and how you're helping so many women. So how. How can people get on the app? Where can they find you? Where can they follow you? What should they go and do right now?

So, hey, Veena is available on the App Store and Play Store, so you can get it in 158 countries around the world. It's free to download, free to use. You can upgrade to some premium features on iOS, but you can totally have the entire experience for free. And you can find me on Instagram and as hey, Olivia June at Twitter, Livia June. And you can find Vena on basically every platform at Venazine. And Venazine is our content platform where you can actually read stories by and for our community that help you make better connections. You can actually read an amazing interview that we did with Lori, and that's@venazine.com and you can read it in the app.

Awesome.

I'm so grateful for you.

And I always end on one Last question. Are you ready? Ready?

Yes.

Okay. So you're in an elevator. Yep. Kind of cliche, but it's like a 30 second ride. It's like two floors and it's a total stranger in the elevator, and she looks over at you and asks you, how can I make myself happy? What do you say?

Love yourself.

Amen, sister. All right, you guys, if you loved this episode as much as I did, make sure you share it with your friends. And this is a really important episode to make sure you share with your friends. So until next time, earn your happy. Bye, everyone. Thank you guys so much for spending this time with me on the earn your happy podcast. I am so glad that you stopped by. If you could take one second to share this episode with someone you think would love it, that would be absolutely amazing and we would be forever grateful. Also, please leave us a review. If you feel so moved by going to itunes and leaving us an honest thought and honest comment. Tell us what you think, tell us what you want to hear. More of it would really help us out on our journey to helping thousands and thousands of people. Until then, don't forget to earn your happy. Thanks again, guys.

Bye. Bye, Sam.