Episode 219 - Tiphany Kane On Leaving A Cult-Like Upbringing To Encourage Women Everywhere

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is your host, Stacy Lauren. Well, you guys, this is when Doing the thing is really amazing because you just never know who you're going to meet when you do the thing. And that's what happened when. I don't even know how this happened, but there was this podcaster meetup event that was in San Diego and I was tagged on it on LinkedIn by someone I didn't even know. And I ended up, it was basically a meetup for PodFest, which is something that's happening next year and that happens every year. And I decided to go because it was where I live, Coronado. And it's cool because I went to this thing not realizing that I would just meet all these cool people. And my next guest is one of those amazing people. And when she spoke to this group about all the stuff that she's working on and all of the people that she's helping through the work she's doing, I just was blown away. And so I'm so excited to dive into her story and I wanted to welcome Tiffany Caine to the show. Hi, Tiffany. Thank you.

Thank you so much for the welcome. And I love that story about how you found out about the meetup. Social media has its challenges, for sure, but it's also this amazing magical connector that I constantly have to remind myself about. Being almost 50 years old, social media is one of those things that I have a love hate relationship with. So that's really cool that LinkedIn brought us together. I'm really excited about that.

It's incredible because you wouldn't. And I do that too. I have a love hate relationship also. But when you have those moments of, wow, this is how we're even having this conversation, right? Is by finding out about it and then going to this event.

Yes. So cool. So cool. So that was really great. I also, I didn't realize that little nuance of how we met. So that was great.

Yeah. Well, I'd love to just have you start off and just tell your story.

Oh, my gosh. Okay, so how far back do you want me to go?

Which part of the story? Okay, super quick zoom backward because that kind of informs what's happening now. So just. I'll be really, really quick. I grew up in a high control religion. A lot of people call it a cult. And I grew up very, very patriarchal, very highly controlled women's only role is to be a helpmate and a servant. We weren't allowed to pray out loud. All of these things. We weren't allowed to do. And I had my role set out before me, and if I ever went against that role, I would get in trouble. Right. Series of events happened, and at about 19 years old, I realized, I can't do this. There are so many fundamental things wrong with the way this religion sees the world and sees people in the world. Tolerance for LGBTQ people for just. There was none of that. And I just realized I couldn't be a part of it anymore. And so I left at 19 and packed up my little car and drove 3,000 miles across the country from Florida to California, and started a new life at 19. Took me eight years to put myself through school, which was something I was not allowed to do in that religion. I was not allowed to go to college. And I put myself through college and eventually got my teaching credential, became a teacher. 20 years in teaching. Wow. Yeah. And in all of that, got into a marriage that gave me two beautiful children, but wasn't a great marriage because of all my religious conditioning. You get primed to meet somebody that it'd be in a relationship that's not serving you. So, long story short, divorce. And it led me to really thinking about what I wanted and what I wanted to do in the world. And I realized that where I was at in public education, as much as I loved it, I wasn't getting to do and say the things and make the changes I wanted to make, because there's a lot of rules that come with being a teacher. And I was at the district office level. I was actually teaching teachers, so there were even more rules on me. And so I left after 20 years and started my own business. And so that's kind of the super short version of.

47 years of life. I'm now almost 50, moving into my second year of being out of the school district, so.

Wow. I didn't realize it was that soon. That's amazing.

Okay.

I'd love to stay here for just a minute, because leaving that life that you knew. Well, first we'll talk about the first life, which is the religion and all that goes into that. I mean, that's your initial do the thing story, really is being able to do that. I'm just curious. How did you actually get the courage to leave?

Part of it is the naivete of youth, being 19, and be like, well, of course I can pack up my car, move across the country and start over. Why wouldn't I? And part of it was truly, it was a big moral. I had to do it. And there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes that I'm not going to get into that really helped me to realize I needed to leave and I needed to get out of there. And so I did, you know, took the big giant leap. I felt the drive and I knew I needed to get out. It did mean that I lost my family. And when you're in a high control religion, when you're in a cult, the religion is your family, the religion is your life. You don't have anything else. And so it was truly and completely starting over. And for quite a while, I lost my actual biological family as well. Still to this day, my mother and my youngest sister I have no relationship with. They refuse. My middle sister and my father eventually left. And so we have rekindled a relationship. But yeah, it was quite a while of being on my own, truly and completely on my own.

Yeah. And I feel like at such a young age you were able to really tap into who you were and what you even wanted.

It was more of a tapping into what I didn't want, I think. And sometimes that's really important. Sometimes knowing what we want is a big giant leap. But we can start with, here's what we don't want, here's what's not right. And so at that point, I cannot say at 19 that I knew what I wanted, but. But I knew what I didn't want and I didn't want to be a part of what I was of that vision of the world and that intolerance and that rigidity and the patriarchal oppression. And they truly thought they were the only ones that had the truth and would have salvation. And everybody else was going to be killed by Armageddon. And it was like, wow, what a horrible way to look at the world. And so it was very good to get out of that. I knew I didn't want that anymore. I knew that I just couldn't have it. But I remember writing a letter and.

Saying that I felt like a two dimensional character at that point. And I had my religion kind of holding me up. And without that I was terrified I would fall because I hadn't developed any facets to my character as of yet. I had this one role, this one thing I could be, but I had gone overseas and taken a trip at 18, early 19, and I think that's what gave me the strength to realize, oh, there's a bigger world out there than what I'm living in right now. And it was still a trip within my religion. I still stayed with people in my religion. But I got glimpses of the bigger world out there and that was me realizing I don't want to be so small anymore. I want to be a part of this bigger world.

Wow. And when you then later got divorced and then decided to leave teaching, it was not the same thing obviously, but that rules thing was driving you. So it's just your body was screaming to basically be free.

Yeah. I kind of say there's these three big turning points in my life. So the leaving the religion was my moral, come to my moral aha moment. The leaving my marriage was truly my life saving moment. My health, the stress was so much. I was hospitalized from my stress and from the physical aspects of that and I, I was truly dying. I was very, very ill. And leaving that allowed me to be healthy. So that was like my life saving, turning moment and then leaving my job. It took nine years from my divorce to leave my job. It wasn't a quick turnaround, but that was my coming to me moment of, okay, this is what I actually want in my life. And each of those decisions was really, really hard. So I hope everybody listening isn't like, oh, well, it was easy for her to make these decisions. No. There's a lot of tears and soul crushing moments. And often the path that is right for you is a very hard path. The easy path is very rarely the right one for you. I just have to say that because it's easy to go along, go with the flow, go with what other people are telling you you should do. And it's usually easy. It doesn't have as many obstacles because somebody else has laid it out for you. This is your role in the world. And so when you're going to turn against the tide and you're going to go into your own path, it is fricking hard. And I think that's when you know you're doing the right thing. And I think sometimes we mix that up, we're like, oh, this is hard. This must not be what I should be doing. But it's hard because you're going against the norm. You're going against that prescribed path. You're following your heart, you're following your journey, and doors will open and, and things will happen that are amazing, but it's not easy.

Wow. Your words are like magic. I just tell you, it's so true. And I just heard this the other day. It's kind of along that lines. It's like, how do you know even though it's hard that it's the right path? And I liked this kind of frame of mind also, which is, let's say it all worked out and you got what you were going for, would you want it? And if you want it, then, yeah, go for it. But if you wouldn't, then maybe it's not the right path.

Yep. And sometimes. Sometimes we're not even sure. Like, we think what we want is the marriage and the kids and the house and the white picket fence and the. The dog. And we think that's what we want because that's what we've been told that's what we want our whole life. Especially the generation I was raised in, the generation before me, the generation before that, we were told there was a role for us. Right. And we could be teachers and nurses. That was okay. Secretaries, you know, you can be that. That's fine, Go ahead. But to buck that and to do something a little bit different, it's going to be really hard. And it's. Sometimes it's really hard to see what is it I really, really want. And I don't have any true answers for being able to say, well, this is how you know what, you're on the right path. I think when you're starting and when you're learning, the best thing is to figure out, what do I not want, does this thing everybody says I should want, the kids, the house, the particular education, a particular career, Is that really what I want? Or am I making somebody else happy with this? And that's kind of a lot of soul searching on that. Yeah.

And sometimes it's just moving in action, even just if it's a small step. Right. And then you get to kind of see how it feels along each step.

Yep. Yep.

So do you have any advice before we move on to the business for people that are unhappy with their job or unhappy with their marriage or whatever? Unhappy with their. Insert blank here. How to just even kind of take a step out to see what's next.

So I have a little visualization I like to use, and I think this visualization is important because the answer is not blow it all up. Leave your marriage, leave your job. That's not the answer. It's going to be different for each of us. But I like to think of. You've all seen the fly hit the glass over and over and over. Right. So the fly is trying to get out. There's a beautiful picnic outside, lovely oak tree and all that food. And the fly wants to get out there and they can see it, and they're. They're going and they're going and they just keep hitting the glass. And if they just keep hitting the glass, that fly will wear itself out, fall to the silly, possibly die. Right? Whereas if the fly went, okay, let me zoom back, I hit the glass, okay, I can't get out that way. Let me zoom back a little. Is there another way to do this? Is there a skylight? Is there a hole in the screen? Is there a door open? Usually there's another way to go. And so taking that zoom back and looking and going, is there another way to get there? So if you're in a marriage where you feel miserable for some reason, taking that step back and going, why do I feel miserable? And is this something that I could go around another path and keep this marriage, do we need therapy? Are we not on the same page? Have we somehow grown apart? The kids were exhausted, job, work, money, but there really is still love there. Is there another way we can go about this and reconnect and find that way? Same with your job. Oh, I'm miserable. My job. Is there another avenue you can take in your job? Maybe something different you can do a new project you can take on, a new role you can take on, or a side hustle you can take on, or a crafts job, follow that hobby that will fill you up to be able to do your job better. So it's not always, let me blow up where I'm at and just start over. I took 20 years in my marriage and 20 years in my career, right? So it wasn't just, oh, it's wrong and let me go. I tried everything.

And was happy for a good amount of each of those. Otherwise I wouldn't have stayed in either of them for 20 years. Right? But then it got to the point where, okay, now I'm at that point where I need to take a different path. And that's when that fly would say, well, that picnic isn't going to work for me. I can't really get out there. It's not going to work. Is there something else? Oh, look, there's a kitchen over here that has an apple pie left out. Maybe I want to go somewhere else, right? And so then there's no black and white answer to your question. There's no, this is what everybody should do. But it's very simply that zooming back, is there another way to do this thing I'm in now that will bring me happiness and joy for a short term, a midterm, a long term, or do I need to start looking elsewhere? And the start looking elsewhere? You know, it needs to Be a careful decision, especially if it's something like a marriage or a long term career where if you are going to change that, you don't want to have regrets about it. You want to know that you really looked at it and tried and took your time and made the right decision for you. Not for everybody else, but for you, but that you took that. So for me, by the time I left my marriage, by the time I left my job, there was no, should I have done that? Did I make the right choice? Was this. I just knew it was the right choice. There honestly was no other choice at that point. This is the path I need to go on this. But again, took me 20 years to get there. So it's not an overnight decision.

Yeah, but it is a decision, which is great. And you got there. So with your business, when you started that you had left your job already and then you started the business, it.

Was a side hustle for probably six to eight months. Had a good little side hustle going on and was like, okay, this is cool. Okay, do you want to hear the side hustle story?

Yes.

Okay. Okay. All right. So I started a podcast which was called Love and Life After Divorce. And I was about five, six years out of my divorce and was feeling good and was like, oh, maybe I can help other people going through divorce. I carried a lot of shame with my religious upbringing and it felt so good to release the shame. Maybe I can help other people. And so I started this podcast with the idea that, well, huh, maybe relationship coaching after divorce, something like that might be something I want to pursue. So it was like a experiment, it was something I was going to play with. But I knew this was a topic that would be interesting to talk about. So I started the podcast and it started doing really well. I'm not talking, oh, 10,000 downloads overnight. But it started doing well and that people started talking about it. And then people started saying, hey, how are you doing this? And can you help me do it? And so before I even had 500 downloads, I had people saying, can you help me start a podcast? And my partner has been in the audio industry for more than 20 years. So it was this fun project for us. We were having a lot of fun with it. And I turned him. I'm like, would you want to help teach people how to do this? He's like, yeah, why not? So we did a one day class for $25. We probably had 30, 40 people come to it and it was a blast. And then at the end of that, the people said, hey, we really liked it. We'd like more support. Do you think you'd make it something a little longer? So we felt like we just got the nuggets, but we'd like more support on this. We, like, turned to him. Would you want to do that? He's all, yeah, so we did a four week course and then the four week course, and I think we charged under $100 for that. Right? And then the four week course, people were like, oh, my God, we love this. This was so wonderful. We want to hang out with you more. So I turned my part like, well, how can we keep people as longer. You want to start a membership group? Sure, let's start a membership group. So we started a membership group and it just kind of snowballed from there to the point where we finally felt like, well, I think I could quit my job. We could make a thing of this. And it just started with listening to what people were asking for and what they were interested in. We don't really do podcast coaching anymore. We don't really launch people's podcast forum anymore. But it started us on a path of really leaning into his audio expertise and his video expertise and my instructional design expertise. And we created a business out of that where we get to help brands, teach other people about their brand. We help make videos and certification courses and things like that for brands. We get to do AV for big brands, audio visual work for big brands. And we've just had a lot of fun with it. And we're about to open our own studio that specializes in very, very specialized voiceover work and all of that. So it's just really exciting. And it started with people going, but hey, can you help me do that thing that you seem to be having so much fun with? Like, okay, let's try. It's all been an experiment and all right, let's go. And two years down the road is when we really started making a business plan, because before that it was like, okay, well, what are people interested in? What feels good to us? And we kind of played with it and sat with it and tried a couple different things, and now we're finally clear on what it is we want to do. But it was fun to take that time to experiment.

Yeah, you just followed your fun, basically, and then he followed along with you, which was really cool. And I love that it started with a podcast. That's how my story starts too, with the podcast. And I feel like it opens up this witness window to just all these possibilities and opportunities that you wouldn't have before.

It really does. It's like a magic portal, and it has nothing to do with your downloads. This is my. I could get up on the soapbox. Downloads are great. Downloads are fun.

It's fun to be like, oh, my.

God, X number of people are listening to my podcast. Is this fun? But the magic portal doors that open have nothing to do with your downloads. It has to do with just the connections you make and the things you explore when you start your podcast. And frankly, the confidence that it builds in you to do the thing, you know, to be like, okay, I'm just gonna. I'm just gonna do this, and I'm gonna talk in a microphone and see what happens. Like, the giant shift that happens inside yourself opens so many doors.

Yeah. And then I love that you're just kind of following along at each step and you're hearing what people are saying, and then you're able to. Like, you said, it wasn't like you just did it because they wanted it. You were tapping into what felt alive in you, and that's what made it seem to work.

Yeah, yeah. And they were asking. I mean, it's one of those things where you can have people ask things of you, where you're like, I don't know that. That doesn't feel very good. Or people can ask things of you, and you're like, huh, that's interesting. And so if you get that little huh, that's interesting, you don't even have to be, like, an enthusiastic guest. It just like, huh, what would that be like? That's interesting. Follow that. Follow that curiosity and see if it takes you somewhere.

And so what is the situation with your podcast now? Are you still doing that one, or do you have a new one now?

Well, no, that one kind of morphed and changed. So I'm a big experimenter. I'm in the podcast world to experiment, connect, explore. I'm not trying to be the next Joe Rogan or whatever. So I'm on, personally, my third podcast. It's called Raise youe Volume Academy. We are always starting new podcasts, trying things out, and they'll go for however long they need to go, and then we'll start trying something else out. So down the road, I wouldn't be surprised if we've done two dozen different podcasts. It's just fun for us. So right now, my heart project, it's called Raise your Volume Academy. And, yeah, it's like, get out there, and I talk to people that are raising their volume on topics that women typically have not been encouraged to raise their volume on before. Right. Whether it's social issues, equity issues, inclusion issues, environmental issues, political issues. Just being a woman issue, you know, like so many things that we're not encouraged to talk about, I like to explore what are those things and how can we talk about them?

So you're taking out the shame and the embarrassment people have sometimes of wanting to hide about certain things and giving them that safe space to be able to open up and then you're able to explore it together.

Yeah. And I'm talking to people that found a path to be unapologetically themselves and passionate about their topic. Maybe they're a female scientist, maybe in a typical male world. And what has she had to go through and do to get to where she's at and. And how is she changing the industry and paving the way for the next female scientist or politician or a author or. And people talking about something differently, Right? Yeah. Releasing the shame from whatever that topic is and helping us realize that it's not this one path that society told us we need to go down. Just because this one way of life is right for some people doesn't mean it's right for all. Right. Some women don't want to have children. Some women can't have children. Children. Some women would like to be identified as a different gender or as non binary or. Some women want to be heavily into sports and some women want to be in fashion. There's not one way to be a woman. And I just really like to celebrate that.

And I love how you're such a good example of being able to use something that you've experienced in your life. Right. Like you mentioned earlier, that conditioning that you had to be a certain way, and now you've been able to come on the other side of that. And it's almost like your fuel. Right. To be able to expand all these other people.

Yeah. Yeah. I like how you said that very much. It is definitely a fuel. Yeah.

And it makes it where your voice is so unique because of your experience. So you're speaking on a whole nother lens than someone else might be. And then you're able to bring out different sides of people because you lived it in a way.

Mm. And everybody listening to this also has a unique experience on whatever it is. We can all be in the same room experiencing the same thing and we'll tell a different story about it. It hits us differently because of our life experience. I mean, just look at a beautiful painting, especially abstract art. Every one of us takes something different from it. Look at a beautiful poem, a really good poem means that everybody who reads it gets something different out of it. And you can read that same poem at five different points in your life and you understand it differently each time. Right? And so that everybody listening, they also have a very unique viewpoint, very unique voice, very unique thing to say.

And so I definitely encourage people, your story matters, your voice matters. You will make a difference. I don't care if it's only three people that ever listen to what you had to say, if you can make a difference in their lives, you've made a difference, right? If you're letting three people feel seen, heard, connected, you've made a difference. And we live in a time where we're sold this story that we have to have a million followers. And if your podcast isn't successful, if you're not getting 10,000 downloads a month, and if you're not number one on the charts, then you're not successful. And it's like if you were in a restaurant and somebody was choking and you saved that person's life, would you feel like you made a difference in the world? Yes. So let's bring it back down to that one to one connection and realize that small differences make a big difference in the world. They all add up. And so if your voice can make even a small difference, it adds up.

What would you say to the person that's just holding back because of fear?

This topic so much, it's so nuanced. Fear is an important response. Okay? For a good amount of our human evolution, it protected us, right? I mean, we've all heard fear was to protect you from the tigers crouching or the, you know, whatever predator was going after us. As we were hunters and gatherers, fear was life saving. Fear is life saving for you walking down a dark alley, it'll keep you from walking down the dark alley or it'll alert you of danger. So fear is important. So I never, ever want to say, oh, ignore your fear, whatever. Likewise, when you're in a non life threatening situation, fear is important. Your brain doesn't understand that you're not about to die, right? Like, oh my God, I'm behind a microphone and I'm sweating profusely and I'm worried and I'm anxious. Your body is in that you must save your life in some way because it realizes you're afraid. Okay? So just physiologically, your body doesn't know the difference between a tiger or an ax murderer and a microphone. Okay? So give yourself a break there. But then you can. I like to visualize fear as a friend that's trying to protect you. Okay. And this friend can be there for you and help you, but the friend doesn't need to drive your car. Right. They're not necessarily a great driver. And it's okay for them to be in the passenger seat. And it's okay to say, okay, thank you. I see that you're trying to protect me. There's something I can learn from you. Fear I can learn. Am I on the wrong path, doing the wrong thing? Let me take a moment to look at this. Are you telling me, fear, that somehow I am in danger with this? And we've all done that. We've made really stupid choices because we didn't listen to fear. Okay? So maybe fear is telling you that. Maybe fear is telling you you're not quite ready for this. Maybe there's more research needs to be done. There's more things that need to happen. For instance, don't just get up in the morning and say, I'm quitting my job and quit without a plan. Right? So fear is telling you, let's take a little more time. Let's see what's the right next step. Okay? And then fear also may just be saying, this is scary. You're scared right now. Go snuggle in a blanket because you're scared. And we want to protect you. And it's in that moment when fear is just trying to protect you because it's scary when you can say, thank you, fear. I really appreciate you being here for me. I got this. I'm driving the car. I will do it. Scared. That's fine. I'm going to do it. And I mean, any of you that can see this video will see that my neck is bright red. It doesn't matter. Every single time I get behind the mic, my blood pressure goes up a little bit. Anytime I'm up on stage, my blood pressure goes up a little bit.

Fear's with me.

Fear's hanging out with me. I got the redness to show it. My body physiology will never. I can't play poker. My body will. Will give it away every time. But fear is my friend. Fear is not driving my car. And so I can sit here and have this conversation with you and talk openly and vulnerably and tell you all of this stuff, because I know that it's okay. It's okay. I'm not gonna die so very long. Answer to your question, I. Oh, my gosh.

I'm just imagining a visual that could come with that too, as you're about to do something scary, right? And picture kicking fear out and put him in the passenger seat. Hi, I got this again. Be nice to fear.

You don't have to be embattled with fear.

Fear is your enemy. I think sometimes when we battle our fears, we battle our anxiety, we battle our anger. We're in that really fighting against ourselves. And you don't need to do that. That brings shame, that brings frustration. It's more like rather than fighting with fear and beating fear off, it's like, okay, let me just put your seatbelt on you and keep you safe because you're my friend. You are my friend, Fear. But I'm going to buckle you in right now, keeping you safe.

It's okay.

You can still talk. I'm not muzzling you, but you're over there and that's. That's okay. We all have those people we drive with that want to take over and we can nicely tell them, no, I got it.

I would love to hear more about. Is it the raise your volume Academy? Is that where you're doing the new educational platform or is that something different?

So that is our. We have a university, Casa Media University. We started, and it is a 100% educational platform. And there's no upselling. We pay the instructors. It's not a lead funnel, a lead generation activity for them. They are truly coming in to give. Right. And then we pay them for their efforts. And it's not a big payment, but it's a payment. And we have very strict rules. They sign an agreement that they will not be selling anything, that they are there to teach. And we bring people in that most of our people don't have a coaching business, don't make money off other people. They're in the podcast industry in some way where they're truly just coming in to give back. Right. And so it's really fun to learn from these experts that you wouldn't normally have access to. And they're there to serve. And yeah, so that's been my passion project. It's my little pushback on a lot of the stuff I've seen in the industry where I feel like some predatory practices on independent podcasters. And my partner and I had a deep heart to heart, like, are we a part of this? Are we doing things because that's kind of the way things are, or are we doing things because it's the way we want to do it? But we dialed back, we changed some of the ways we were doing things. We had a different membership Group before that was much more high priced and we said, I don't think we need to do this. So anyway, that's where the university came from. It was really a how do we kind of counter balance some of the things we don't feel good about that are going on? And so that was our answer to it.

So who are you helping then with this new educational platform?

It's independent podcasters. Yeah. So it's people that are usually they've launched. Right. Because it's not how to launch your podcast that's a different type of education, but it's the what next, what now? We have three pillars in the community, in the learning community. So our instructors will either teach pillar one, which is mindset, Pillar two, which is content, which is giant. Everything from everything you need to do with your podcast to SEO to marketing, to YouTube to social media. So the content piece, that's huge. And then we also have a business piece because a lot of podcasters need to have a business mindset as well. Especially if they're going to be making any kind of money, even $10 a month, there's ways they need to protect themselves. And so we bring in people familiar with the law, we bring lawyers in, tax specialists, people that are good at business strategy and that kind of stuff. So we want to support podcasters in those next steps. And again, it's very low cost, there's no upsell and it's just I get to come in and participate in the learning. So it's a university, it's a university setting.

So it's like you're, I think, a lot of people and we have a lot of teachers in the do the thing community and educators and you have that passion right inside of you and it doesn't have to look like in a box at a school right now. You've taken it more globally and you're able to help so many more people because you felt followed your passion and you followed this curiosity.

Yeah. And I get to help in a little bit of a different way. And that's fun. Definitely.

I would love to hear more about the media production company because I know you guys were just selected for the podfest, the whole big thing, which has got to be crazy.

It is crazy and it's wonderful. First of all, big giant, shout out to Chris Kremitzos and the whole PodFest Expo team. There's an incredible team over there. If your listeners are in the podcast world and they haven't been to PodFest Expo, I highly recommend they go because you truly Feel like you're a part of a community there. It's not one of those conferences where you just go and maybe you hit a couple parties and you go do some learning. They start building community months before the conference with their town halls and stuff, so that by the time you get to the conference, you've got friends, people you know, and you are part of the community. And then they do a lot of things there to build the community, a lot of networking things and things that will foster that community feel. So I just want to shout out to that and just say that when we got involved in PodFest Expo, early on.

We saw how special it was and we dove with both feet in of, okay, how can we volunteer? How do we be a part of this? This is so cool. And so for several years we've been a part of the community of how do we get the word out about you? How do we support? How do we. And we just had volunteered in all the ways that we possibly could. And so this year it's their 10th anniversary and they wanted to make it really, really special and be our budget champagne taste. And my partner and I were like, we got you. We're going to help you with this. Let's make this happen. And it's been really, really fun. And I'm so excited to see how it's going to turn out because our team really cares. I think that's going to be the difference. We're going to go there and the speakers are going to have an amazing experience. The people listening are going to have an amazing experience because we care deeply about this community and we care deeply about the organizers. So this isn't another job for us. It's like, okay, we're doing this for family and friends. So we're really excited about it. So what it means to do the AV is we're doing all the audio, all the visuals, all the video work. And it's a huge job. And we're, we're just really excited. We're thrilled.

Incredible. I'd love to hear what your number one piece of advice would be for the listeners on doing the thing.

This isn't going to sound very sexy, but take one step, right? I tend to be an all or nothing person, which means I want to take one big giant leap and have the thing done. And if I can't do that, then it's like, well, forget it. That doesn't work because in between point A and point B are about a thousand little steps in between. And you are not going to get to Point B, without all these little steps, there's no fast track, there's no freight train, there's no big giant leap. It's take those little steps. Sometimes you can take two or three steps at a time. Sometimes you can run through those steps, but you just have to take those steps. And sometimes it's one tiny little hesitant step. And so what I started doing with this business, anytime I got frustrated with the progress was I would make a note, I'm a big list maker. So what are some little things I can accomplish today that'll make me feel really good? Is it reaching out to somebody? Is it seeing how I can collaborate with somebody? Is it a stinking social media post? Sometimes that's the thing. I remember my first time going live my terror. My. Oh, my God. I was like, okay, just go live for a minute. Just a minute. That's all you need to do. And so I went live for a minute and now I go live all the time. It's not a big deal. But that minute, oh, my God, I thought I was gonna die and throw up. Right? So what is that little tiny step you can take that will get you closer to point B? Just a small step. That's it.

I'd love to have you share. So if people want to hire Casa Media Productions for something, what would be. Who would you want to call you for that? We'll talk about that first.

Well, for the indie podcaster that's just looking for what are some of those next steps? How can I be better? We have our. Our university. It's low cost. It's $19.99 a month. And a lot of that money goes back into the community. It goes to our instructors, goes back. So that's an easy way. Our business.

We'Re a media production. We work in the voiceover world a lot. We work with video game companies doing their voiceover. We work with brands creating training videos for people to learn how to use their brand. So if you happen to be a brand or something that needs a company that cares to help you make videos, to teach people about your products, or to help you with your audio work, we can do that. But for the indie podcaster, we'd love to have you in the university. That would be really, really cool.

And where do they mind sharing the website for that?

I don't mind sharing the website. It is www.kasamediapro casa mediapro.com. if you go to Casa mediapro.com there is a button for Casa Media University and you just click on that button. So that's way to get there and.

We'Ll put it in the show notes.

And I'll yeah, I'll give you the link. I'll give you a direct link which is the way I get there but it's a long, it's kind of a long thing. So I'm like sounds good.

Well this was incredible. I just can't wait to honestly listen to it with so many moments that I'm like oh my God, I needed that right now. And so I know for sure the listeners are going to be feeling that too. I really appreciate you coming on and doing this with me.

Well thank you so much. I'm so excited we got to meet you at that meetup. So excited. Thank you to the person who tagged you. That was so cool and I hope this is the first of many and.

For the listeners do the thing, don't wait for opportunity, create it.