Want to support us?

Michelle: 00:01 Are you, you texted me and you’re like

Brandi: 00:03 So I’m like, oh my gosh, Michelle, I forgot to brush my teeth this morning. I’m like driving. It takes me 30 minutes to get downtown and I was going to get coffee, which was just going to make it work.

Michelle: 00:16 Right

Brandi: 00:16 I’m going to be like shaking someone’s hand and being like, hhhhhhiiii.

Michelle: 00:19 Hi, so nice to meet you.

Brandi: 00:23 So the solution was gum and it was fine. I sat far enough away from them every one.

Intro dude: 00:29 Welcome to Design Speaks. This lovely podcast is brought to you by a graphic design geek and a regular human being. A.K.A. a non-designer. We’re here to chat about music, pop culture, cool places. Basically whatever we feel is relevant.

Brandi: 00:46 Hey guys, I’m Brandi Sea

Michelle: 00:47 And I’m Michelle

Brandi: 00:48 And you’re listening to episode 82 of Design Speaks

Michelle: 00:52 And on today’s episode we’re going to be talking about the importance of having someone supportive in your life.

Brandi: 00:59 Someone or someones.

Michelle: 01:00 Someones could. Apostrophe S. is that apostrophe s? No, because that’s present possessive.

Brandi: 01:07 Someones. So it’s like two words.

Michelle: 01:10 No, someone. Once someones. That’s someone’s nevermind English. I taught good. Remember last episode?

Brandi: 01:18 I remember. Remember you do. you talk purdy?

Michelle: 01:21 I talk real purdy.

Brandi: 01:24 So what are we going to talk purdy about today?

Michelle: 01:26 Uh

Brandi: 01:27 besides that we have, we have, we have, we have lots of things to talk about.

Michelle: 01:30 We have a lot of things to talk about. So we’re going to try to not like breeze over everything but not take a million years to talk about it because we can take a million years.

Brandi: 01:40 We’ve got some stuff to cover. So you want to tell me about your week?

Michelle: 01:42 Yeah. So my week was just filled with allergy season and work, which I will update your work has been, um, kind of a lot of fun. And then also challenging at times in terms of me focusing, which is the word for my year. Um, I, there were, I will say there was a day that I was like, today’s bust today is a bust but I, and I was really disappointed in myself.

Brandi: 02:10 But you can always start again.

Michelle: 02:11 Yes, exactly.

Brandi: 02:11 You have to embrace that. Like, but it’s not too late.

Michelle: 02:14 It’s not, it’s not too late to like start over. Although that day it was too late because I’m like, what am I going to do in 30 minutes? What am I going to do in 30 minutes?

Brandi: 02:23 I mean you can start over the next day.

Michelle: 02:24 Yes, exactly. So I did and it was fine and I did a good job, so that’s a little update. Another thing for my week is actually not happening until tomorrow. By the time this podcast airs, it will have already happened, but being interviewed on the Enneagram.

Brandi: 02:42 Look at you like little expert Michelle.

Michelle: 02:45 I know. I’m going to just

Brandi: 02:46 In our little sphere of people. That’s awesome.

Michelle: 02:49 I’m going to walk into the interview and being like, look, guys, I am not a professional in this, but it is all I’ve been reading about.

Brandi: 02:58 Passion. Passion goes a long way.

Michelle: 03:00 Yeah, so I’m excited. I’m excited to tell people about it and educate them as much as I can and I’m just hoping I don’t say anything stupid in front of all of these people

Brandi: 03:10 You’re going to do. Great.

Michelle: 03:11 Thank you.

Brandi: 03:11 You’re used to talking. We do it every week.

Michelle: 03:13 We talk.

Brandi: 03:14 Yeah

Michelle: 03:15 But I mean, there’s not usually a crowd in front of me, so I’m going to need to do some like yoga beforehand.

Brandi: 03:21 Exercise, mental exercise, some breathing exercises.

Michelle: 03:24 Um, but yeah, that’s been my week and about to be my week and I’m excited. I’m my song for this week. I’ve been listening to this girl for a few months. She just released an album, I think it dropped today, if not like late last night. Um, she has been giving some, like, little snippets of it throughout her Instagram. My name is Maggie Rogers. You might’ve heard of her. Um, she’s been on SNL. She’s been on a slew of other talk shows. Um, she was just on Ellen this week. She’s so, ugh. Love it. She’s still refreshing. That’s the word. She’s so refreshing. So my song today is called Light On by Maggie Rogers.

Michelle: 05:20 Maggie Rogers. It’s refreshing.

Brandi: 05:23 I like it. I like it a lot.

Michelle: 05:25 Super vibe-y. Um, she’s, I feel like she is paving the way for a new sound. Um, and she’s kind of in the main eye, I like the public eye right now in, so I’m sure we’ll hear her stuff on the radio. Um, I have not just yet, but she’s like all over talk shows and all over like she was just got off a tour with Mumford and Sons.

Brandi: 05:49 That’s no small thing.

Michelle: 05:51 No. No small thing. I’m super cool. So I’ve just been jamming her lately, have found just like relief and listening to her just like I can breathe. And then also just like honestly I don’t know if this sounds dumb, but inspiration just to go do things.

Brandi: 06:10 Hey, you don’t often get that.

Michelle: 06:12 I don’t.

Brandi: 06:13 No offense Michelle, but that’s usually my line like it makes me want to do things.

Michelle: 06:18 Yes.

Brandi: 06:18 And I always just wanted to.

Michelle: 06:20 Yeah. And usually like I don’t, I’m just like, that’s cool.

Brandi: 06:23 Hey, that’s fantastic.

Michelle: 06:25 So I’ve been loving it

Brandi: 06:26 So go do things. She popped up on my new music thing on Spotify too and I, I liked it.

Michelle: 06:33 Yeah.

Brandi: 06:33 Yeah.

Michelle: 06:33 So good.

Brandi: 06:34 Nice. Nice one to bring.

Michelle: 06:36 Thanks. What about your week?

Brandi: 06:37 Um, yeah, it’s been, wow. It’s been kind of a, I dunno, I guess a good week we were approached as AIGA, um and I can’t talk about what the project is yet, um, because it, it, it has yet to get the official green light. But um, the, I think his, I think his role as the director of marketing and innovation over at the mayor’s office for the city of Albuquerque, um, approached one of our board members, um, with a really neat project that we want to kind of possibly partner with them. Um, so Ben Taught, we had a meeting about that. So as myself have been dealing with my board members just can you just go into the mayor’s office? No big deal.

Michelle: 07:22 Can I put you on the spot?

Brandi: 07:23 Sure.

Michelle: 07:24 What was the embarrassing thing that happened to you when you met? Right before you met the mayor?

Brandi: 07:29 Right before I. I didn’t meet the mayor.

Michelle: 07:30 You. You texted me and you’re like.

Brandi: 07:32 Oh. Yeah. So I. okay. So full disclosure, I didn’t really know like what was exactly what this meeting was going to look like. I knew that we were meeting with the guy over there, um, but I knew that

Michelle: 07:45 Somebody important.

Brandi: 07:45 Yeah, so I knew who one of the people we’re meeting with, but I knew it was at the mayor’s office. I didn’t know like, is the mayor going to be there because I knew that he had helped kind of initiate this project idea. Um, so I’m like, oh my gosh, Michelle, I forgot to brush my teeth this morning. I’m like driving. It takes me 30 minutes to get Downtown. So I’m like halfway there and I was like.

Michelle: 08:10 Feeling the front of your teeth, like.

Brandi: 08:12 Yeah, which is my, Oh I hate, I hate it so much and I was going to get coffee which was just going to make it works. And I’m like, I don’t know, like I’m going to be like shaking someone’s hand and being like, hhhh.

Michelle: 08:25 Hi, so nice to meet you.

Brandi: 08:27 I mean the solution was, was gum and it was fine and

Michelle: 08:31 It’s fine.

Brandi: 08:32 I sat far enough away from everyone for it to be a non-issue.

Michelle: 08:36 It’s not like you smelled like sweat.

Brandi: 08:38 No. And I showered that morning so I smelled good and my mouth just was, I just was feeling super self-conscious about my mouth.

Michelle: 08:46 I hate that so much, but it’s really funny.

Brandi: 08:48 Thanks for putting me on the spot.

Michelle: 08:50 Super relatable.

Brandi: 08:51 I know that it was, it was definitely a thing and I don’t even know why I texted you. And I also texted Kenny, I’m like, I don’t know, I just feel like I need someone to commiserate with me right now because I just felt gross.

Michelle: 09:02 I was like, well, sounds like gum is in your future. So.

Brandi: 09:06 So been talking, been talking with them, I’m in that. Been talking more with Hugh Weber regarding some really cool things he’s working on. Um, and possibly partnering with us with the city to do some things. So I’m then doing that. My status on my goals is that I started to set up Jasmine’s Kickstarter. Um, I started setting it up and then realize like, I don’t know if this is the best platform for sure. Like as far as how much money they take and like all the things I needed go, I like need to double back.

Michelle: 09:37 Totally.

Brandi: 09:37 And even though I was like, yes, I’m on the roll, I’m like doing things I need to do. It was like, wait, is this the best course of action? So I think it is. Um, but um.

Michelle: 09:46 You just want to double check

Brandi: 09:47 Do a little more research on that. I’m also a while I put  away the last of the Christmas decorations. I was watching tidying up with

Michelle: 09:57 Marie Kondo.

Brandi: 09:57 There you go. Yeah. That lady, the really cute lady.

Michelle: 10:02 She’s like, Kon’nichiwa.

Brandi: 10:03 I know. Can I greet your home? And I’m like I don’t know what you’re doing, but you look so sweet.

Michelle: 10:07 Yes, this looks good.

Brandi: 10:09 So I’ve been watching that. I watched, I basically binge that for like four hours while I took Christmas decorations down, decided I’m going to need to rewatch it. Just like actually see the things that she’s really doing because I wasn’t fully engaged.

Michelle: 10:24 So I was, I did, I watched it the same way I like was watching it but not watching it, which is, those are the types of shows I can do that. But whenever she’d start talking I have to like pause everything I was doing and because you have to read in subtitles.

Brandi: 10:38 She’s speaking Japanese.

Michelle: 10:40 And so there was some parts that I missed and I’m like, that was probably important.

Brandi: 10:44 Yeah, now I have to go rewatch that. So I also started, um, started to other shows that one is, they’re both really fantastic but one is called Good Girls. Um, it’s on Netflix and it stars, um, it stars one of the main actresses from Mad Men, one of the main actresses from Parenthood and one of the main actresses from Parks and Rec and it’s um, it’s almost like Breaking Bad with women, but more comedy. That’s my best description.

Michelle: 11:16 Those are weird shows to pull the main form.

Brandi: 11:19 But they’re incredible. It’s such a good show. So I love it. And I started The Marvelous Mrs. Maizel on Amazon, which just, I’ve been wanting to see it because it just keeps getting awarded for things.

Michelle: 11:30 Yeah. It looks good.

Brandi: 11:31 She’s, she’s a female comic and it’s kind of like about her life in the forties, fifties, sixties, somewhere in that.

Michelle: 11:38 Okay. I

Brandi: 11:38 n that time frame.

Michelle: 11:39 Very cool.

Brandi: 11:40 Besides that, uh, my husband got me for Christmas, this thing called the Upright.

Michelle: 11:45 Oh yeah.

Brandi: 11:46 It’s like a little nodule thing that you stick on your back to help you with your posture. Because of all my crazy stuff with my

Michelle: 11:57 Heart.

Brandi: 11:57 My rib cage and the surgery that I had. My posture has been super awful and so it was a kind gift he gave me.

Michelle: 12:09 And I know you don’t mean it like this. I know. Just disclaimer. I know you don’t mean it like this, but it’s Kinda like, yeah, I got a vacuum for Christmas. It was nice. I wanted it.

Brandi: 12:20 It felt a little bit like that when I first got it. I was like, okay. So, first of all, I told him I didn’t want anything for Christmas.

Michelle: 12:29 Because you were like.

Brandi: 12:29 But he’s still got me a couple of things. This was one of those things.

Michelle: 12:32 Okay.

Brandi: 12:33 And so I felt like, okay, he didn’t have to get me anything at all. This is nice. I don’t know if this is like, should I be offended because I look like a hunchback, like, or no, no, he just really cares about me actually. My posture has been causing me back pain and so he’s very sweet. So it is really nice, but it does sort of sound like he got you a thing so you get better posture. That’s weird.

Michelle: 12:57 Wow. That’s not at all how he meant it.

Brandi: 13:00 But it like buzzes. You calibrate it when you’re sitting up straight and it buzzes every time you slouch over and it doesn’t do it all day. You can set like a certain amount of time. And yesterday when I took it off, um. Oh No, I didn’t wear it for a whole day and that whole day, every time I watched I kept waiting for it to buzz. So it works after one day

Michelle: 13:21 It’s like conditioning you.

Brandi: 13:22 Yeah. So shout out to upright. You’re, you’re doing a good job on that. Pavlov’s dog.

Michelle: 13:26 Hey,

Brandi: 13:27 Conditioning.

Michelle: 13:27 Yep.

Brandi: 13:28 Conditioning me thing.

Michelle: 13:28 I like it.

Brandi: 13:30 Lastly, uh, my song for this week is, um, it’s called Almost and in parentheses Sweet Music. It’s by Hosier and here it is.

Brandi: 14:52 That’s my song. I really love. Uh, I love the sound, I love the beat, the vibe. It’s got a lot of soul and I really, I like that their sound doesn’t sound overly produced. It’s a little bit gritty.

Michelle: 15:09 Yeah.

Brandi: 15:10 And I liked, I liked that in a voice. I like that in a, in a song I’ve always been really drawn to, which is probably why I love. I’m like Etta James and like Billie Holiday and that era because you, you hear that little bit gritty and why albums are so awesome.

Michelle: 15:28 I think that I’m on the same. I know I’m on the same page as you. With that. I was listening to the album by Maggie Rogers. It’s called Heard it in a Past Life. Um, today on my way up here because I have like a 25-minute drive to your house and um, she was, there was a song that like, it didn’t feel. I don’t, I don’t want, I hate saying this because I don’t mean it like this, but it didn’t feel perfect. It felt like it was real. It felt like she didn’t use autotune and I loved it.

Brandi: 16:03 I love that too. Yeah. And I think it’s stuff like that has always resonated with me, but especially this year with my goal of finishing imperfectly, I love hearing other artists and other, hearing or seeing people, creatives and other areas where it feels like you’re not just going back and editing something so hardcore that then it just ends up sounding terrible because you can overdo things.

Michelle: 16:28 Yep.

Brandi: 16:28 So I love, I love that vibe.

Michelle: 16:30 Me Too. Um, so today’s episode is good stuff. I’m trying to make sure that I wrote down everything there it is. Today we’re talking about how important it is to have someone supportive in your life. Someone’s supportive in your life.

Brandi: 16:47 A spouse or a circle of friends or family or all the above.

Michelle: 16:52 All of the above would be great.

Brandi: 16:54 But really I feel like, um, and I kind of wanted to talk a little bit about like spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, like whoever it is that like

Michelle: 17:06 A significant other.

Brandi: 17:08 You’re significant other is, um, because that dynamic can be really empowering or really discouraging.

Michelle: 17:17 It’s kind of like if you have a set group of friends that you love and then you start dating so and so and so and so, and your group of friends just don’t jive. Who are you going to, like, then you have to choose,

Brandi: 17:33 You have to choose one.

Michelle: 17:36 Yeah. It excludes people, it makes you really stressed out and unhappy. And so it’s important that these two things in your life work together. And so we wanted to talk about that a little bit today.

Brandi: 17:48 Yeah, so just in, in, in regards to like having a supportive spouse in general for like the dreams and goals that you have. I think I’d like for you to speak to that and then I can talk more on the like pursuing like personal big-time goals, like having your own platform to speak and things like that. So like how what are your thoughts on that?

Michelle: 18:14 `Well, um, I actually can speak to this may be more than you thought I could. Um, because when I first started out in the creative side of my life, because I, I mean I started out when I was when I got married, I worked at  childcare which I loved. It was cool. It wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. And then after that, I went into reception work. So cool. Not what I wanted to do. Um, shortly after that I got hired in more of a creative media field in the radio station and then move to a creative office. Um, and when I started that radio job, and I mean even a little bit before that when I was pursuing music a little bit more, um, my husband was not 100% onboard and it was really, really hard because I felt like he wasn’t on board and I’m speaking for him right now, but I felt like he wasn’t on board because it’s what he wanted to do and it’s, he wasn’t getting to do it. And also it took a lot more time away from him that. And he didn’t understand why. And it was just like a really, really hard time to be in this life that I loved so much and not have the person who was supposed to be there for me not being there for me.

Brandi: 19:44 And how did that change over time?

Michelle: 19:46 Um, well, it took a lot of conversations. It took a lot of, it took a lot of time. It took a lot of tears honestly, to get him to understand that this is what I want to do, this is what I’m good at, this is what I love and I really just communicating. I really need your support. So even with the podcast even starting out the podcast, he, it was really hard for him to grasp the time that it’s going to take and it’s. And it’s not like in all these things it sounds like, wow, Michelle, do you even go home to your family? And it’s like, yes I do, but I also need to pursue these things. Even if for a short time, like I don’t know how long any of this is going to last, I hope forever. Um, but I need to do that to say that I did and to grow in areas that I want to grow and I just need him to. It’s not like I’m like going out and doing anything like illegal.

Brandi: 20:50 Are you sure? Just kidding.

Michelle: 20:51 As far as I know I need him. I need his support and I need him to communicate with me when he is feeling like I’m spending too much time away.

Brandi: 21:00 Is it easier for you because he’s also creative as we’ve talked about on here before he makes albums and music and does things like that. Is it, do you think easier for you to

Michelle: 21:12 To allow him?

Brandi: 21:13 Yeah. To kind of go the other way and be like, Oh man, you want to make an album? Do that thing.

Michelle: 21:18 100% easier for me because I know the time it takes and I know that when he’s home, um, there’s gonna be times where I’m going to be like, hey, just be home. But also when you’re home and that hits you gotta do it right now.

Brandi: 21:32 Yeah.

Michelle: 21:32 You have to do it.

Brandi: 21:33 Yeah.

Michelle: 21:34 Um, that doesn’t, creativity and inspiration, they don’t wait for you to be at work or working on that moment. Sometimes it just happens and you just got to go with it. Although sometimes you’ve talked about it, you have to force those times and you have to just get into it.

Brandi: 21:49 You have to. Yeah, I mean it is, it is. It is work, you have to put yourself in that place. If you have the opportunity to sit down, like if I, I’m going to have some time in a couple of, in a week or so to like have some time to myself

Michelle: 22:02 And you’re going to make it happen.

Brandi: 22:02 I’m going to have to make some things happen during that time because that’s when I have.

Michelle: 22:06 And that’s okay.

Brandi: 22:06 Yeah, no I get it. It, it, it’s both.

Michelle: 22:09 Yeah, it is. It is both. Um, so it’s been 100% easier for me to tell him to go do that. And also my husband is a really gifted speaker, um, and I know over just like the past seven, eight years that he has been pursuing that, how long it takes to put together whatever he’s doing, whether it be, um, a speech or going to a school and putting together a curriculum for the day or whether he’s speaking to a bunch of students within a church setting. Like I know how long that takes. Um. So I’ve always tried to be really aware of that and give it, give him the time. It’s just a little different coming back from him I’ve noticed.

Brandi: 22:50 Yeah. So, so I think that when it comes to trying to get support from your significant other, I think

Michelle: 22:58 Communication

Brandi: 22:58 Yeah, the communication of like, okay, well what does that look like?

Michelle: 23:02 Especially for me

Brandi: 23:02 What does that mean for me and you together? Like how is that going to affect us? And I think the majority of, of like when you’re not being supported by someone around you is, is just, um, ignorance.

Michelle: 23:16 Its ignorance, it’s a communication, um, miscommunication because he might, there have been times where he might’ve felt like he was supporting me, but it’s not how I needed to be supported and I need to, like if I were to go home or if I were to like call him on my way home and say, Hey, I’m coming home, just finish the podcast. And he said, why did it take so long? Not going to be cool with me.

Brandi: 23:43 Even if he didn’t even mean that way.

Michelle: 23:45 Yeah, he probably didn’t.

Brandi: 23:46 Like, oh my gosh, wow. That was a long time.

Michelle: 23:48 That took a while.

Brandi: 23:49 Is Everything okay? Like, but yeah, it’s definitely in how you and how you approach it.

Michelle: 23:53 And it’s for me specifically. So if, if, um, I feel not supported in those ways that I’ve communicated to him, then it, we can have another conversation, but if I have not communicated that to him, then it is what it is. And that’s my, that’s, you know, that’s on me.

Brandi: 24:11 Yeah. And it’s good that it’s something, it’s good to take responsibility too, because when it, when a lot of times when, when your significant other or your family or your friends aren’t supportive, it’s not miscommunication, but realizing that maybe I didn’t communicate this all the way. Um, so this thing that we’ve been talking about with the city, um, I obviously talked to Kenny about it when it kinda came across our desk so to speak. Um, and I, I didn’t have a full understanding of what this would entail until yesterday. And um, when I, when I told him everything about it, his response to me sounded a little bit of like a downer and like, I’m not what I wanted to hear it. It wasn’t, it wasn’t anything like, oh, I don’t want you to do that. But it was like, oh, well that sounds like a lot more work than you said it was going to be. And so we kind of had this conversation about like, okay, well I committed to, communicated to you what I knew, which was very little and even still at this point, because it has yet to get the green light, we still don’t even know exactly what that’s gonna look like. And so it, it did feel at first, like he was just being unsupportive, but he was actually just trying to help me talk through what is this actually going to mean for you? Like, how much of your time is this going to take up? Um, what’s your involvement going to be? And I think that’s like having support, you need to have someone that’s going to ask those questions because sometimes we just go, I want to do that, I want to do that thing. And I liked the sound of this thing too.

Michelle: 25:51 And I know totally, totally because I am the person that doesn’t say no. Um, and so I need to have someone in my life saying, hey, you shouldn’t do that, but I also need but maybe not like that.

Brandi: 26:06 Right. I need them to talk me, talk me through it. And then let me make my own decision.

Brandi: 26:11 Right. And usually, especially with my husband when I’m talking through things, one, let me just say he’s basically supportive of virtually anything that I want to do and he’s like, how can I help you with that or whatever. But when there is something I’m really struggling with, he’s, he’s really great at sitting and doing that. Like, okay, I need to make a decision, let’s talk. And he basically asks me leading questions that lead me to my own answer. It’s not like

Michelle: 26:41 He’s a good interview.

Brandi: 26:41 Here’s, here’s what you should do. Um, unless, you know, there, there are definitely things like in this case, I’m on the way home today after we got some coffee this morning after I got coffee, he got hot chocolate. Um,

Michelle: 26:55 He doesn’t like coffee.

Brandi: 26:55 No. I was talking to him about some things that have, that have come across my email or my DMS about some opportunities. And he’s like, so make sure you’re not taking on too many things. Because you also said that you’re tentatively accepting the president of the AIGA chapter in June. Which ps, thinking about doing that, we’ll see. Everyone wants me to do it. I just have to decide if I have the bandwidth for that. So I was like, okay, you know, and if you have to prepare yourself to in those conversations to make sure that you’re receiving what someone else is saying and like not just taking offense to it right away because on the surface it’s like why are you doing so many things? But I know I’m assuming positive intent, I know that he knows me, I know that he knows what I can handle and he just wants to meet me to be able to like double check those things.

Michelle: 27:50 So I think that in regards to having a positive spouse or significant other or friends or family is also, it also pairs along with knowing them and whether or not and how they communicate.

Brandi: 28:06 Right. Knowing their intent. Like knowing how they say things to you.

Michelle: 28:10 Yeah. Um, but also communicating that you might need to explain to them, hey, when you say this, it makes me feel like this. Um just. Because that’s like basic, you know, one on one communication.

Brandi: 28:25 Right, when your friend says, why are you doing the podcast again? Why can’t we hang out? Like, Hey,

Michelle: 28:31 Yeah.

Brandi: 28:32 Um, I’ve committed to this thing

Michelle: 28:34 Fighting for what you love.

Brandi: 28:34 Can you tell me? You know, can you maybe rephrase that? What do you mean by that?

Michelle: 28:41 Yeah, and I mean, I wouldn’t even go as far as saying, can you maybe rephrase that? I know that people would and I’ve experienced that myself, like people saying that to me and I’m just like, Whoa, I totally did not mean it like that. But I, I’d be like, well, I really love doing it and I think it’s a really good experience. And we talked about really cool things. So it’s okay with me.

Brandi: 28:58 Yeah. Yeah. And it, it is, it is really hard. Um, but I think that the more that you show your passion too, for what you’re doing and the more you show your commitment to things, um, I think that, that, that makes you, your significant other, your friends, your family want to support you because they see that it’s not like just this whim. Like, oh, well you said you wanted to do that other last five seconds.

Michelle: 29:22 Remember that one time, you really wanted to go swim with dolphins for the rest of your life. You’re just like, okay, that’s not what this is.

Brandi: 29:27 And I think in the creative field it’s hard and we have the question now that we’re asking people that we interview, what does your mom say you do or whatever. And that kind of comes back to this in a way because it’s like, it’s really hard to explain one what we do, but then like, why do we feel it’s important.

Michelle: 29:45 The purpose.

Brandi: 29:45 Why are we passionate about it?

Michelle: 29:46 Yeah.

Brandi: 29:46 Like my dad knows I do a podcast and he’s super proud of me, but he’s never listened to it.

Michelle: 29:52 No, totally.

Brandi: 29:52 And my Mom’s not listened to it. Not that they don’t care and not that they’re not supportive, but it’s like, you know, it’s just one of those things. So, um, I think that we could probably have another. Like I would love to have our husbands come on with us and we can go into this really deep. But um, I was just, I was thinking about it and thinking like the, like how much I value that in my husband.

Michelle: 30:20 If Kelly, my husband had not grown in the support for me and showing support for me, I would not be able to be where I am today. He still has a few things that I’m just like, well, it’s not a big deal, but to him it is. So, I mean, we’re still not perfect.

Brandi: 30:37 Yeah, no, of course. I mean in Kenny has times too and I have times where I’m like,

Michelle: 30:41 Totally.

Brandi: 30:42 I say I support him, but anytime he wants to go do something, I’m pouty about it.

Michelle: 30:47 No, seriously,

Brandi: 30:47 And that’s not okay.

Michelle: 30:49 And that’s, I struggled with the same thing where I’m like, oh, can’t you just like not do that right now? Like, do you really need to. And I’m just like, you’re an idiot Michelle.

Brandi: 30:57 Double standard

Michelle: 30:58 Double standard. So like we still work through things and he’s grown so, so much and it wouldn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do or be where I am if he hadn’t grown to support me and show me that support.

Brandi: 31:13 Absolutely. Um, so I think that there’s lots to be said about this sharing duties and parenting and all the things that go along with this that we can dive into more, but we have a couple of other really cool thing to talk about and we wanted to make sure we made time for that. Um, so we talked about doing books. We’re going to do more book reviews, possibly more book author interviews in regards to those. We’ll see what that, what happens with that. But this month book, if you guys want to follow along, we’re going to start reading. It’s called, Called to Create by Jordan Raynor.

Michelle: 31:44 Yes. Um, this one I’m really excited. I actually like literally just bought it and the reason we’re kind of able to focus on it right now is because I got a message from Naomi. She left us a, she left us a review on iTunes a few months back. So she like messaged me on Instagram and we talked for a little bit and she’s like, well this is also a really good book that you should listen to. And Brandi’s like, wait a second, I have that book, so we’re going to read it and we’ll be reviewing. Please read along with us if you want. I’m excited to dive into it and see.

Brandi: 32:15 It’s basically embracing entrepreneurship and creativity and using your gift to create as a created with purpose person.

Michelle: 32:26 Perfect.

Brandi: 32:26 So I’m excited to read it. I think it’s going to be an easy read and I think it’s gonna really inspire

Michelle: 32:31 Blow my mind.

Brandi: 32:32 Yeah.

Michelle: 32:33 I love reading books because it means I get to go to a coffee shop and I can’t read books at home.

Brandi: 32:39 Yeah, I dunno, I just, I don’t know when I just read

Michelle: 32:42 You just read anywhere and everywhere. So that’s a gift of yours. I do not have.

Brandi: 32:46 Well I’m glad I have it because I don’t think that I would be able to get away just to read. So I’m glad you have that.

Michelle: 32:52 I have that

Brandi: 32:53 Um, so there you go. Um, so the other thing we did launch our Patreon.

Michelle: 32:57 Yes. And we already have our first Patreon supporter.

Brandi: 33:00 Yes. So, oh my gosh, I want to say no surprise, but I was surprised.

Michelle: 33:04 It was fast.

Brandi: 33:05 Because he supports us in so many ways. He supports me personally and professionally. I’m on an ongoing basis now. Hugh Weber is our very first Patreon supporter.

Michelle: 33:14 Thank you @HughWeber, can you explain what the Patriot system kind of is?

Brandi: 33:20 Yeah. So if you don’t know what pay up a Patron is like back in the day when people like in the medieval ages and you know from then on a patron was someone who would find an artist and pay them to create. Um, so Patreon is this platform where basically you can set up a platform for people to support what you do monetarily. In our case, we wanted a place for people to be able to give us money to support this podcast.

Michelle: 33:53 Because this podcast, you might not know, this is not free to create, you love doing it, but there is a few dollars that go into it every single month.

Brandi: 34:04 Yeah, I mean full disclosure like we have to pay for the podcast

Michelle: 34:08 Hosting sites

Brandi: 34:09 Hosting site. We have to pay for, um, transcription like Joelle volunteers her time, but we have to pay for the transcription software that we use.

Michelle: 34:17 Um, I buy music, uh, most of the time I’m purchasing the music off of iTunes so we can have the best quality for the, for us as well as the artists. We don’t want to downplay the artist.

Brandi: 34:28 Yeah. We have subscriptions to the editing software that we use. We have subscriptions, obviously, all this is creative cloud to do the graphics and the, you know, all the things that we do. We want to pay the photographers that are going to take our promo photos. Um, there’s, you know, there’s just all these weird little things that like

Michelle: 34:48 They add up,

Brandi: 34:48 It’s free-ish, it’s free to you, but for us, it’s like, you know, there’s definitely been some months when we first started this, that it’s like, oh my gosh, $15 this month, but we got to do it. And so

Michelle: 35:01 We’re not, we’re not NPR, we don’t have a huge right bunch of people working behind us and we can’t thank them at the end of the episode.

Brandi: 35:08 Right.

Michelle: 35:08 Although we’re getting there

Brandi: 35:09 And we’re, we’re wanting to, I mean we, we, we want to be able to hand pick our sponsors and we are on the road to doing that. We were in talks with some really cool people, but we want this to be also driven by you, our listeners. You guys are very engaged, you’re very passionate

Michelle: 35:27 And so if you go to Patreon, that’s p a t r e o n Patreon.com/designspeaks. You can find out more information. We’re going to go over the tiers

Brandi: 35:38 As our patron, you will have access to behind the scenes stuff. Get to vote on show topics, be given a heads up on potential guests and a lot of cool other things we haven’t thought of yet, but

Michelle: 35:48 Don’t worry we will.

Brandi: 35:49 But we do have some, some support tiers so,

Michelle: 35:52 So you can give as little as a dollar a month, which is awesome. And for that, you’re just going to have our eternal gratefulness.

Brandi: 36:01 Yeah, our gratitude forever.

Michelle: 36:02 Thank you. For the next tier is

Brandi: 36:05 $5

Michelle: 36:06 $5, high five for $5. So from that point on, we gave you a good old Gif of us giving up, giving you a high five or each other, a high five

Brandi: 36:16 Each other

Michelle: 36:17 And also shout out.

Brandi: 36:19 Yeah.

Michelle: 36:19 On Design Speaks. The next one is the value of a thank you for $10 or more per month. Um, you will receive a handwritten snail mail. Thank you note. Who doesn’t love snail mail?

Brandi: 36:30 I know. It’s like a really. It’s like a treat.

Michelle: 36:32 I go, I’m not going to lie. I go check the mail every day. Just hoping that there is something handwritten in there and it never, never is.

Brandi: 36:40 I know. It’s the junk mail that looks handwritten.

Michelle: 36:43 You know what pisses me off is when it’s like the junk mail. And I’m like, Oh, what oh you jerk.

Brandi: 36:46 You sneaky marketing person.

Michelle: 36:49 Realistate agent.

Brandi: 36:50 Yeah, I know.

Michelle: 36:50 The next tier is behind the podcast video for $25 or more. You can receive a, an exclusive video of us recording an episode of this podcast.

Brandi: 37:01 So this is.

Michelle: 37:02 We’ll make it fun for you. Don’t worry

Brandi: 37:04 We’re, we haven’t recorded it yet. We’re trying to figure out how this is going to go. So, Hugh, I promise this is coming, we usually edit out a certain amount of things and so this is going to be just unfiltered 100 percent and you get to see whether we’re might make up. I don’t know.

Michelle: 37:20 Whether or not we cuss. I don’t know

Brandi: 37:24 If we’re wearing shoes or wait, you know, you probably won’t see our feet.

Michelle: 37:27 Generally. I don’t wear shoes. I am today.

Brandi: 37:29 I usually take mine off too, but I’m wearing lace-up boots today.

Michelle: 37:32 And there are so many more. Well, there’s actually a few more tiers.

Brandi: 37:35 Yeah. So another one is my poster for $35 a month. There’s only 20 of those available. Um, because I only printed so many.

Michelle: 37:43 And for $50 or more a month we will have you ask us anything on a phone call and we would love to have you to be a part of that. So you’ll have the opportunity to have a 30-minute phone call with both of us where we’re going to attempt to answer any question you can, you know, throw our way. Um, if you ask a really great question, we might even use it as a bonus podcast content in the future.

Brandi: 38:08 So those are where we’re at right now. We have ideas for other things that we would just have to plan out a little bit more before we can kind of throw those up as rewards. But for right now we want to just kinda see what you guys, you know if you have ideas for things that you would like from us, shoot them our way.

Michelle: 38:26 Patrion.com/designspeaks, go support us and then also share

Brandi: 38:33 The podcast on reviewing it and sharing with your friends and all that good stuff. Michelle, where can people find us?

Michelle: 38:39 You can find us on all forms of social media, Instagram, twitter, facebook, via, @brandisea spell your name.

Brandi: 38:45 B R A N D I S E A

Michelle: 38:48 As well as @designspeakspodcast on Instagram. It looks beautiful and it’s a great way to stay updated with us. Um, you can also email us if you have any questions or whatever via brandi@brandisea.com. And again, if you get any value out of this here show, it would be amazing if you could just give us a review, maybe five stars and a shout out.

Brandi: 39:13 Seriously, my favorite part of this show sometimes is reading people’s reviews.

Michelle: 39:15 Yeah. It’s so much fun.

Brandi: 39:16 I love it.

Michelle: 39:17 Not trying, not trying to be like narcissistic.

Brandi : 39:19 No, I just

Michelle: 39:20 Love.

Brandi: 39:20 I love to hear from you guys

Michelle: 39:22 You’re feedback. So please go do that. Share it with a friend. And uh, yeah,

Brandi: 39:28 That’s it for now.

Michelle: 39:29 Huge thanks to Vesperteen for allowing us to use his song Shatter in the Night as the intro and outro to our show.