Hello, travelers. My name is Grace
Simmons, and this is the Random and
Wonderful podcast. Settle in and listen
to stories of wanderlust and
transformation as you gain tips to
inspire your next travel experience. The
Random and Wonderful is brought to you by
the Amethyst Palaba Hut, LLC. All
right. Hello, everyone, and welcome to
the Random and Wonderful. Today, my guest
is Annika Jackson, who I met
at Podcast Movement. As you all would
have noticed, there's been a wonderful
stream of people, wonderful people that
I've met and amazing stories that I've
been able to collect and share with
people that I've met at Podcast Movement.
So, Annika, welcome. Please tell
everyone a little bit about yourself, and
then we'll get started. umm Thank you so
much. Yeah, you are one of my favorite
people I met at podcasting, I have to
say. Gosh, I don't even know where to
start. I have so many twists and turns in
my story at this moment in time.
I am a single mom,
multifaceted, ADHD,
fully present, realized it as an
adult and realized that, yeah, it's a
superpower. It also can hold me back
sometimes that now I understand like, oh,
this is the way my brain works. So I'm
trying to figure out how to work with
that. As I'm a college professor
teaching digital media management,
podcasting, sometimes PR and branding.
As I am going back to school myself to
get an MBA because I can't teach full
time unless I have a master's degree. I
have a podcast with USC Annenberg.
Inside Some Digital Changemakers. I have
my own podcast, Your Brand Amplified,
that's almost four years old and 400
episodes in. And I have a,
you know, I do a little bit of coaching
here and there for people on either
nonprofit stuff, podcasting,
brand strategy, public relations. I have
a very organic career.
And so I I know how to do
things in a way where I'm like, how do we
save money?How do we get the best bang
for our buck?Because I'm always
in that phase of reinventing and being
that small entrepreneur who needs to
maximize resources. And so that's really
what I have a heart for, working with
people who are in that same space.
Yeah. You mentioned, like, a lot of what
you do has an organic flow to it, which
is really neat. But like, how do you even
know where to start?Like, what started,
and then these different pieces kind of
connected?Ooh Well, I think part of it
is in our blood. We
have, whether it's you have generational
trauma, I think there are other
generational things that also pass
through us. What is that my family is
a long line of entrepreneurs, a long line
of professors, educators, you know,
and also people really involved in
servant leadership. So helping other
people, giving back, pouring into other
people. And that's really what I
realized. When I work with people at
any level, I always take them through
branding exercises andis you need to
understand your own brand. And my brand
is really about amplifying people's
voices, making sure everybody understands
that they have a voice, they have a story
that needs to be told, that their story
is unique and will inspire somebody else.
And so that is a lot of where it started.
My mom was an immigrant from Thailand.
She came here for college and ended up
staying. And I saw a lot from her example
of how she would-- we lived in Kansas,
Lawrence, Kansas. She became a single mom
when she, my dad got divorced and I saw
how much she poured into us, how much she
put her work. You know, she'd get up,
make a hot breakfast for us every morning
before she went to work and we went to
school. I still do that for my daughter.
My daughter can make her own breakfast,
certainly, but it's something that like I
she's going to be in college soon. So
yeah, you know, and then she would come
home from work and she would play games
with me and my little brother every night
and just the love and care she put into
us. To make sure that we knew that she
was there, even if she was time was
something that was really important. For
me, everything started organically.
I was asked when I was in high school, I
was in the club scene, music, DJs.
So a friend was like, hey, this DJ wants
you to start promoting for them in Kansas
City and you'll get in free. That was the
keyword, right?Done. Yeah, right.
During that. And then I got a job at a
coffee house when coffee houses were very
first becoming a thing. I'm aging myself
in the early 90s. And then I got another
DJ asked me to move to Chicago and be his
assistant and work in a club there. And
then he got me another job in a marketing
firm. And then I was tired of Chicago in
the snow and I moved to LA and that job
got me another job. So it just was this
whole cycle of being in the right place
at the right time, people believing and
not being afraid to ask. Umm
And so that's been and then, you know, I
did take a few years out of my career. I
did a lot of other things, took a few
years. Got married, had my daughter,
was a stay at home mom. I mean, I was
good for her, but I also was like, I
always had to keep busy. You need to do
stuff. But when I got divorced, I
realized I had to get back into the
workforce. I had to make money because I
wasn't gonna get, you know, I wasn't
gonna be supported the same way by any
stretch of the imagination. And that led
to me working for companies, starting my
own businesses in Houston. And then when
I moved back to LA, I knew I had kind of
started over and I just. was
tenacious. I I was like, I just
want to do PR and branding and that stuff
again. And I sent out resumes. I got
interviews. I was like, maybe I need to
do nonprofits, not getting any jobs here.
And I think a lot of it was like, I was
in my 40s. I had a little bit of a break
in my work experience, so people didn't
see that linear career path that
used to be the norm. You know, I'd spent
like every dime moving back to LA. So
that I could-- because my sister lived
here, my brother lived here with his
wife. My daughter wanted to come back to
LA where she'd been born. My ex-husband
wanted to come back. So I was like, OK,
I'm going to make this happen, move back.
Had to go on food stamps. I mean, I had
to like-- I went from having a lifestyle
in Houston, married to somebody who owned
part of his company, being able to donate
lots of money, tens of thousands of
dollars a year to different charities,
fashion, art. That whole thing,
being in the papers, you know, getting my
picture taken, chairing galas, that
kind of lifestyle. And moving back
here, I had to sell a lot of stuff. I had
to really start over. I didn't have a
safety net. You know, I had a few friends
and some family that would give me money
here and there. But a pivotal moment for
me was when I was in a Walmart, buying
food at like the Walmart grocery store in
our neighborhood, dropped my daughter off
at school, went to the Walmart, and my
card was denied. umm And
I was like, ooh, what am I gonna do?I
don't have any food for my kid. So I was
panicking. You know, something had gone
through before I realized it was going to
go through. So it was being on the other
side of the coin from what I was used to.
I was used to being the one who helped.
Yeah. And the manager pulled
me aside and said, I don't know what it
is, but God is calling me to help
you. I got what you need for you and your
baby to get you through the next few
days. and let me
pay for it. I'm going to call you right
now. Chills, yes. And you know
that really humbled me and made me
realize, like, I need to also accept
help. I need to be, I need to admit
whatever's going on with me and not, I
think I was so used to being in that
place where you, you know, what you see
on social media, like, everything's
perfect. You have, you're going out to
all these events, you're dressing in all
these cool clothes. doing all these cool
things that you forget that you actually
are a person. You have to-- Yeah. Yeah
And then I kept applying for jobs. I got
a little bit of work here and there. And
then I'd been in LA about six months.
And it was a full moon,
December, right around my birthday.
I went out, looked at the full moon,
and I just put my hands up. I said, OK,
God, I've done everything-- Jan, I have
applied for every job. I have put out
every resume. I don't know what else to
do. It's just in your hands. And at that
point, I was going on a trip back east
with my boyfriend. He had bought his
tickets to see his parents to go back to
Philly. And I got a call on the way to
the airport with somebody who said, Hey,
I have a new client coming in. I think
that it would be great for you to work
with them. Yeah. I interviewed during
Christmas, got the job. That started a
new trajectory for me. And here I am,
five years later, I'm now teaching grad
school at USC, which is crazy to think
about. Wow, yeah. I've had a
business. I had a PR business during the
pandemic. I moved over to a couple
agencies. I have a, you know, I love
podcasting. I found this amazing network.
And I've just been consistently
rebuilding, rebuilding, and it's all been
faith and justbeing in the
right place at the right time and being
willing to learn whatever I needed to
learn at that moment. Yeah.
How do you even-- so like, yes, you have
that moment of like realization, yes, I
am a human, and yes, I need to ask for
help. How do you even transition to then
saying, like, what does asking for help
look like ohh in that moment?
In that moment, it was going well.
Somebody else saw that I needed help, and
they were willing to help me. And, you
know,Benefits are there for everybody.
It's not a bad thing if you have to go
on food stamps or get other help.
You have to be willing to ask. And it's
not easy to do. They ask for a lot of
paperwork and meetings. You
know So they don't make it easy on people
to get help. So you have to really want
it. But I was like, I don't know what
else I'm going to do right now. I know
this will be temporary, but this is what
I need. And so I had to be willing to let
go of my own ego and
be in that moment, right?And then
it's it's a continuous process. Over the
past five years, part of my journey has
very much been realizing I have to put
myself first. So I have nonprofits I
work with. I have one particularly in
Ghana. We built an orphan home. You pay
for kids to go to school. We have organic
farming that our partner in Ghana owns so
that it can pour back into jobs,
you know, fresh food. Money to pay for
the orphans to get to school and
for them to have people in the house who
will take care of them. And I had to
go, you know what, I've given so much and
I feel horrible because people's
situations are worse than ours in the
United States. But I had, you know, I
just go to things like that, that mean a
lot to me and say I can't give what I was
giving before because I'm
actually paying my bills, taking care of
my kid. So I've had to make a lot of hard
decisions. and really find that strength
inside myself to
use my voice and say, this
isn't a no, but this is a no right now.
Yeah. Do you-- so
that's a part of my own like travel
journey as well, is learning how to use
your voice, going from a place of not
speaking so that other people feel more
comfortable, and then realizing that you
needed to speak up. Either to make the
changes that are necessary or just to
actually declare what it is that you're
actually feeling, right. So just to be
present versus just, you know, being a
participant or like a viewer or something
like that, using your voice to be able
to establish those different
boundaries, is that something that?You've
had practice in or did you have to kind
of grow to using that, especially after
this transition of like, you know, big
and fancy, you have this humble moment
and now you're going back. How has that
voice continued with you?Yeah,
that's such a great question. Like I
said, it's a constant struggle because
when you are in that fancy world, you
don't have to worry about it as much. And
there are there are probably things
looking back that I would change. I think
I got really caught up in that, the
external validation. versus internal
validation. And so,
funnily enough, moving back to LA, where
there are celebrities, right,
next to Hollywood, nobody cared if I went
to any events, nobody cared if I had
perfect makeup every day. I could just
sit at home and I'm like, wait, people
are gonna hire me just because they know
that I'll do quality work, not for the
trappings. And it's still
taken me, I've taken on clients that were
not the best clients because I thought,
oh, I need this money to pay my team. So
it's constantly learning to go with your
gut. And as I'm saying that, I'm feeling
that, like, feeling in my gut of, yeah,
that was a lesson you were supposed to
say no to. But you also learn, right?You
take the lessons. And at this point, I
think I've gotten a lot better at it. It
really is true. Also, which I
hate to say, and this is why I want
younger people to really find their
voices earlier. But as a woman,
when you turn 40, there is a difference.
I'm almost 50. And I feel like I've just
found my stride. And there's a whole
bunch more life ahead of me. Oh, that's
happy. This year.
Oh my goodness. Yeah,
and it's about having the maturity of
having lived life, even if I'm younger,
'cause Asian. You know, so even just
having that, like, that little bit more
experience and feeling like giving
lessAttention, time,
energy to the things that are not going
to propel me forward. OK, yeah,
say it that way. Yeah, yeahAnd it's a
struggle, but I have been really working
on it. I've been actually working with a
former Zen monk who I met through like we
were both, you know, just different
network referral coaching groups.
And I realized that the way I teach
branding to students and to people I work
with is this is kind of the same way he
was teaching his work. But I didn't
have that, that was he was the missing
piece. Because when I talk about
branding, I always want people to be
authentic to who they are. Think about
who you are, what your mission, vision,
values are. Everything can come from
that. That makes it much easier to say
yes or no to things, if you're very clear
on that. Because it aligned with where
you wanna be, who you are, or is it not,
right?But he teaches about connecting
with yourself, connecting with your past,
connecting with your present, visioning
your future. Mm-hmmGetting
comfortable in that space, doing a lot of
work. And then that's where you find your
voice. That's where the inner becomes
outer and where you feel
comfortable and confident in that
voice. Hmm
I'm curious about how do you make that
like a teaching lesson to other people,
especially maybe people who haven't
experienced what you've experienced?Oh,
that's such a great question. One way is
modeling it. You know, my daughter is,
she's 16. She's always interested in what
meetings do you have?Who are you talking
to?What are they about?I love that she
has that inquisitive brain. And another
thing that we love to do together is
travel. So this year I will
have traveled at least
three to four months of the year. Yeah,
crazy. I I wanted to travel more this
year. I just didn't realize how much more
it would be. And
some of it's been in the US. So I've been
to Vegas for an AI conference. I'm going
down just down the street to Orange
County for a few days for another AI
conference. I've been to DC twice
for a podcast movement and also I'm on
the Intuit Small Business Council. So we
go once a year to talk to Congress
members about the needs of small
businesses throughout the United States.
Wow, OK, I traveled with my
daughter over. Spring break, we
did West Coast. So we started in
Seattle, looked at college there, went to
Oregon, looked at University of Oregon,
then ended up at Palo Alto, looked at
Stanford. And then I went to a
wedding in Mexico. This
past week, I took a little hooky trip and
went to Red Rocks to see a concert.
That's in Colorado. Never been there. It
was a quick flight. Got there, had you
know comp tickets to a band called Arcade
Fire's 20th anniversary of their first
album. Super fun, super beautiful
venue. Flew home the next day. So I tried
to incorporate a little bit of both kinds
of trips. A little bit of fun. I
went to Philly for 10 days to do some
in-person classes for my MBA. Went to
Canada for 10 days with my daughter to
look at a college, but then see family
that we have up there. Went and spent 10
days in Greece, 10 days in England.
And we're going to Thailand for about two
weeks for my birthday and Christmas in
December, and probably a couple other
little trips in between. But
what I think that's important
about that is maintaining those values no
matter where you go, but really getting
to know the people where you are, doing
things that locals do, right, embedding
yourself. So when I was in England,
meeting up with people I'd metAlong the
way, I'd met actually a woman that I'd
met at Podcast Movement Evolutions.
Oh, cool. We met for dinner. One of my
best friends lives there. I have some
other people that I know from different
things who live there. So I was able to
go experience things the way that people
would experience them who live there, go
to their favorite pubs, restaurants, get
their recommendations. I think that's
something that you love to do too, right?
Because travel really helps you.
understand, appreciate, and feel more
acceptance in the world of other people.
Yeah. What they do, but then also
hopefully not come across as the ugly
American and know that we're not all like
that, right?So So
yeah, so those are some of the places.
And then I'm part of a group called
Influence Hers Foundation. I'm on the
board, and it is a group of women of
color and allies. We do
mindfulness, wellness activities, online
and offline, get together for brunches.
Most recently, we went to an amazing
brunch at a Michelin star Asian
woman-owned restaurant in downtown LA.
And we had different people talking about
different charities that they worked with
and different mission-driven
opportunities. And then we are going to
take trips also to
Central and South America, to Africa, to
show that volunteers aren't
just white women.
Yeah, right. Like that people who look
like the people that we're helping serve
want help and that we are going to be
there. And so that's something that I
think is really impactful because it's
not on one hand you're coming in, you're
helping, but we're really trying to work
within the ecosystem of what's there and
what's going to be not bringing all the,
you know, that's what you hear a lot
about like people bringing in and
donating all the stuff and then that
kills the local economy. We don't want to
do that. So we want to say, what are your
needs?What are you doing here?How can we
help support?What you already have in
place to help you grow in your own path,
right. So that it's not just needing
depending on other people, outside
people, because nobody wants to do that.
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right, back to the episode.
I enjoy that your story has a mix of
like, yes, you do travel for work as
well, but also you're mindful about
including like fun
into the trips, right. And so even if
it's visiting family or there's a place
that you want to check out, Red Rocks is
definitely on my list and I'm so sad I
didn't get to do it last year. Let's meet
there because. Honestly, I can fly to
LA, from LA to Denver, go to a
concert, and it might take as much time
as it would take me to drive into LA,
find a parking spot. Nice. All right.
RightAnd yeah, deal with all that mess.
That's
true. Then yeah, all right, well, we need
to add that to the list because that's
definitely, definitely like on the list
of places. And I remember one of my
favorite artists was there and I was
like, How did I miss this?What in the
world?Anywhere. So now I need to go back,
but like incorporating that joy into it.
And even when you're working and helping
other people, I think it's also important
that sometimes we tend to whore all of
ourselves right into other people. And
not that you shouldn't enjoy your your
work or you shouldn't be, you know, self
sacrificing, but I think there's a really
unique balance of. Being able to have a
community where you're sharing these
different stories of how other people are
helping others around the world, you
mentioned like that image of the ugly
American where there's a temptation to be
like, I am a representation and let me
show you how some of us can be really
great. But then there's also like, yeah,
yeah but I know I'm Grace. This is what I
have to offer to these other people.
And so, yeah, I like that there are
touches of intentionality behind how you
help other people, but then also how you
get to explore the world with what you do
and as you're still helping others. Yeah,
that's very well-rounded anyway, is what
I'm trying to say. Yeah, I think you I
try, and I think part of that is one of
other things that my mom did when we were
growing up is when immigrants would come
from Southeast Asian countries to
Lawrence, Kansas, she would help
them. She was paid by the local churches
and the people who helped bring people
over. So she would take me with her. And
I would sit and play with the kids, and
she would go in and teach, Here's how you
actually wash dishes, or, Here's how you
don't discipline your children in the
United States. For all the things,
because there are these nuanced
differences in every culture. And
so I got to see a lot of that in
action, and that really made my
perspective open. Also, the fact that my
father was an Air Force brat, if
you will. My grandfather built Air Force
bases all over the world. So my dad spoke
a lot of different language. He went to
high school in Morocco. He did
construction in Turkey when he was 19. He
lived in Italy, he lived in France, he
spoke these different, but he was really
culturally aware. And so they instilled
in me this value of also we're like, we
are a global community. And that makes it
really fun, right?How can you not have
joy in like meeting people and learning
about who they are?Yeah. Yeah
There's a complete difference, I think,
between being like a tourist and a
traveler. It doesn't seem like it's on
purpose, but there is a strong
restriction if you're a tourist from
involving yourself with the people that
you meet when you're traveling or getting
to understand their, like,What a day in
the life of a local looks like. And I
think if you get in that mindset of like
a traveler, you want to ask those
questions. You want to, you know, maybe
you'll see a video of some type of food
and you want to ask the locals like, is
this really what you guys like to eat or
what does it mean?Why?You know, like
there's so many other questions. I think
more meaningful questions that can come
up if you do have that open heart and
interest in other people. I just love the
nuance of what you said because.
tourist, you do think about people who
want to find restaurants they're familiar
with. Right. They do want a
different experience. Or we hear about
places that are beautiful cultures, but
you can't leave the resort or you never
leave the resort. Right. RightAnd that's
another kind of experience I want to
have. Even when I've been a
tourist, and I I don't remember if I
connected you to the animal
rescue resort in Costa Rica. Did we talk
about that?No. Oh, OK.
Well,So there is this
group of people that moved from Israel to
Costa Rica a long time ago. They brought
80 animals with them. They were very
peaceful, kind of hippie, vegan. You
know, they didn't want to live-- like,
they didn't want to have the same lives,
like corporate lives, all that stuff that
they'd have if they had stayed in Israel.
They just wanted to be peaceful. And so
they bought a resort in Costa Rica that
was up for sale. They brought all their
animals because they love animals. And
then people started realizing, oh, they
love animals. We can just abandon our
animals to them because there's no
national system in Costa Rica.
They have so many animals now, dogs,
cats, horses, ducks,
chickens, like so many things that you
wouldn't even expect. And they have done
a campaign where they've just invited
people that they think would be animal
lovers to come down and experience the
resort. You have to buy your flight
ticket. You have to take care of
transportation from the airport, but then
you get to stay there for free. All your
meals are free. They're vegan, but they
have some really good vegan meals there.
Okay, yeah. Zip lining, river
rafting, horseback riding, all for free.
And you also tour the animal rescue to
see the animals and play with the cats
and the dogs. We learn. And
that can be really overwhelming. I have
pets, I love animals, but I'm not, that's
not my big cause. Yeah, yeahBut I
was invited. So I took my daughter there
one year, actually last year, for
like her midwinter break from school.
And it was just really lovely. And there
were other people who had much bigger
followings and were really actual
influencers. There were people who'd been
on reality shows, like Too Hot to Handle
and things like that, who were there. OK.
We just-- that's the way that they're
pouring back. And so while I was
confined to this one resort, I still got
to see a lot of talking to people who
worked there who were locals, talking to
people who had found their home there,
even though they weren't from there
originally, learning about the good that
they're putting into the world to see how
I could help. And that that was like,
that's the experience where you feel good
about going to a place, staying
in one area, right?Because that really
was a travel experience, not a tourist
experience. Yeah, like the
entire that space was the experience
versus hiding on the resort, right,
from other places. Yeah. They still reach
out. We've done contests to get people to
donate money and they've given a trip to
a friend, right?If they have a very
serious animal situation, they'll say,
hey, can you repost this on your stories
or can you share this because this dog
came to us and this is what happened and
we need to raise X amount for their
surgery. It's-- they're just really
beautiful, kind people. And those are the
kind of people you want to meet. And
you're like, yeah, I want to keep helping
them. Yeah. I'm like, OK, I have to
choose Grace to Asaf. So if you can get
that trip and go down, yeah. That
would be really cool, actually. Nice.
Yeah. All right, so you know I have to
throw like a random travel question in
here. What is-- do you have a favorite
travel story that you like to share?Oh,
my gosh-- Even though you just told a
really good--I
have to think about that, because
I've had weird travel stories
where-- I mean, weird in the context of I
wanted to go to St. Bart's for my
honeymoon when I got married to my
daughter's dad. Mm-hmmI think that's very
posh and fancy. We was involved
with a charity-- I'm still involved--
called Junior League of Los Angeles. And
somebody had given a certificate for a
stay at their place in St. Bart's or
whatever. I really wanted it, so we've
been on it. We get there. It's like
mosquito infested. I got like so many
mosquito. It was not a
she she by any means. OK. Sometimes you
have to reset your expectations. Yeah.
You have to be willing to be flexible
when you go someplace. It might not be
exactly what you think it is. It might be
better. Or you might have to pivot. We
ended up leaving and going and checking
in someplace else and finding just a tiny
little place, but it was perfect. So I
thinkThe experiences where you learn
something, where you're willing to be
adaptable, where you
aren't as rigid, right, are the best
ones. Like my daughter is one of my
favorite travel partners. We travel the
same way. My boyfriend is one of my
favorite travel partners, because he does
set things up where he's like, OK, if
we're driving somewhere, let's take this
much time to drive, and let's go see this
really cool thing. So it's really the
whole journeys and experience. Right?And
I think that's, I mean, when people say
the journey is the destination, it really
is true. So I would urge everybody to to
think about travel as a great way to
learn about yourself, to make yourself
open to new experiences, new people, and
also find yourself along the way. Yeah.
Yes. You better advertise for
this travel experience. I love
it. Have you found that travelI know like
it's helped with development or kind of--
travel's been a part of your experience
as you are growing and learning. But do
you think it's been a lesson?Or
has it just been like a part of that
journey?It has definitely been a lesson.
I'm thinking, too-- this is 20 years ago,
so I'm aging myself still. Well, I
already did that. But my now
ex-husband-- I think this is even-- this
is before we were even married. He had
some work in Johannesburg, South Africa.
And I had dropped out of college to
work. And then I went back, and I
graduated in 2004. So he's
like, well, why don't you meet me there?
So I met him in Cape Town, one of my
top favorite cities anywhere in the
world ever, ever, ever, ever. Nice. OK.
But apartheid had just been a thing.
People were still very
eggshelly about it. And I had these
experience where I'm considered colored
there because anybody who's like Asian,
Indian, mixed is colored. And
so I brought tour guides who were white,
like almost be apologizing to me.
We'd go to restaurants and it was
interesting that both among the
Afrikaner, the white community and the
black community, it was very much more
of men are high, high, high above women.
So we went to a restaurant that was like,
you know, native foods from South Africa,
from different villages. It was an
amazing meal. But then I was paying for
the meal, and the waitress was completely
taken aback that I was paying
for a man. And so
that was-- seeing how people were
reacting to me, being a foreigner in this
country, but them putting their own
constructs was really an awakening
experience. And it's one that will stick
with me for my whole life and
gave me a lot of things to think about, a
lot of lessons. and how to approach
people, how to approach situations, how
to appreciate people from where they're
coming from and not just my own views,
right, and hope that they would do the
same for me. But sometimes they do,
sometimes they don't. So that's a place
where I experienced a big lesson. Hmm So
like in that scenario, then, first, have
you gone back?No, I want to.
OK. I want to. I also want to get-- I've
been working with a nonprofit in Ghana
for over 15 years.
And I've never been, because every year I
was like, I can either pay for a plane
ticket, or I can put more money into the
nonprofit. Me too. More kids. And so I've
always done that. Oh, yeah. The other
thing is, if you're going to go, it's a
long trip. So I think if you're going to
go make an investment, I want to go to
Africa for like three weeks, a month.
Yeah. Really be able to experience. Have
to. Yeah. Mm-hmm,
mm-hmmMy question to your experience in
Cape Town was, soDo you feel so now that
you've understanding like how people
would see you, do you feel like you then
need to adjust in a certain way?
Like is there some sort of adaption that
needs to happen or are you still
going in with like, I understand this is
how people are gonna think and then I
need to be a certain way. Yeah. OK. I
think you said it very eloquently
earlier. You said, I'm Grace, I'm not
gonna worry about, you know, So I think,
yeah, I'm gonna come in as myself, but
I'm also going to be cognizant of. When
I'm in Thailand, yeah, if I'm going to go
into temples, I'm not going to wear coats
and a tank top, right?I'm going to be
covered appropriately when I'm in
different cultures, because that's
respectful to the people that I'm
visiting. And that that is also my
culture. But there are a lot of other
examples you can give. But yeah, so I
think it's keep being true to yourself,
but also be mindful of where you
are and being respectful of somebody
else's culture. HmmI like that.
It's a good mix and a good balance. You
mentioned that you have, or you're
working with two podcasts, at least. I
don't want it associated with the school,
but then you have your own. Could you
describe the two?And then how do you
manage two podcasts?
One is Mediascape Insights from
Digital Changemakers. That is the one
with USC Annenberg. And it's through the
program that I mostly teach for, which is
the Master of Science in Digital Media
Management. SoThat one is
once a week. You know It's It's
great. Mostly I interview professors, I
interview people who I think would be
interesting for the students to listen
to. The other one is called Your Brand
Amplified. And I had
had two podcasts for clients before it,
and that just didn't work out very well
'cause they didn't have the budget to
sustain it, they weren't using them as
marketing tools. And then my boyfriend's
like, I'm in the film industry, why don't
you just do your own and I'll do some
editing for you, help you get it set up.
Then it got to be bigger, and he teased
out on that. But that one,
and this is something important for
anybody, whatever you're doing, if you're
starting a business, you're starting a
podcast, where you start is never where
you're going to end up. So I was like,
Drive time in the United States is 27
minutes on average. I'm going to keep my
podcast to under this time frame. I'm
going to ask these five questions, and
I'm only going to interview publicists.
That wasn't my personality, though, and
it did not work, didn't feel natural.
I tried it. So I quickly pivoted to, I'm
going to interview brands. And And then
now it's, I interview a wide range of
people talking about life strategies,
business strategies. I interview people
who have created the technologies that we
use, like who have the patents for Syria,
you know, that Syria and Alexa are based
on. I talk to people who are at the
forefront and like have worked on
billion dollar deals for businesses. But
then I also talk to people more like me,
who are small business entrepreneurs,
who've had,ups and downs and want to
share their journey and share some
tricks, tips that others might find
helpful, whether it's work and life,
one or the other, you know, or both. So I
bring on a large variety of guests, which
I know is not probably what I
should be doing as a podcaster, right?I'm
not used down, but it makes it
more interesting for me as well.
And I think it makes it more interesting
for my listeners becauseThey're also
people and they want to hear, sometimes
they want to tune in and hear expert
advice, and sometimes they want to tune
in and hear me talking to somebody about
coaching or
manifestation or feng shui for your
office. So it's worked well.
I have a good sized audience and,
you know, advertisers and things like
that. So it helps me fund. So how do I
manage it all?That's a really good
question. I release five episodes a week
between the two podcasts. Oh my gosh. So
four for mine, one for the university.
The reason I do that is partly because I
had such a backlog of guests and content
that I I don't have that as-- well, I
have a backlog of guests. I have guests
booked out through the middle of next
year. But I want guests to not have to
wait a year to get on my podcast, which
many of them do, but then have to
wait another three to six months for
their episode to be released. So now,
episodes release about two weeks or so
after we record, and I try to batch them.
So like this week, I did eight episodes
between Wednesday and Friday. Hmm
So I have to do it when I have the space
and the time, because I know that they're
going to be really busy moments. I have a
really great team. I did work with a
US team when I had my agency, but I
couldn't sustain the cost because it's
all me paying for stuff. So then I
approved too. a team. I have an admin and
an editor from the Philippines. They're
amazing, the quality of work. I've worked
with them for a long time, and that has
just helped me so much. And then we use
tools like Simplified and other tools
to, you know, help the process,
post-production process move along
seamlessly. Nice, okay.
So it's manageable. Yeah,
the big thing is if you're gonna start
it, be consistent, know what your brand
is. understand how to set it up as a
business entity, if it's your bread and
butter, or how to use it as a tool to
promote your business, right?There's so
many things and and that's, I really want
to help people. So that's a program that
I'm launching is Pod Pro Launchpad to
help people like me, but not take the
many years and the amount of money I
spent figuring out that this was actually
business and just start with this
foundation and help them understand, here
are monetization methods, here are growth
methods. You know, here's what you need,
but it really is just be consistent,
minimize your expenses. You don't
need a $20,000 studio and a $1,000 mic to
get started. Right. Yeah.
Nice. All right, so before we wrap
up, I'm curious, what is your
go-to self-care practice?
Mm-hmmOoh, I have a few. I listen to
subliminals when I went to sleep.
I do a lot of self-reflection during the
day. This is going to sound funny for
self-care, but I try to take breaks
between meetings when I can so that I can
do something for myself, read a little
bit of a book, listen to a podcast, walk
the dogs, just get a little refresh
mindset. And then I'm working with Alan
Knight, who's a former Zen monk. His
program is the Zen Activation Program,
and I'm I'm going through and training
under him to eventually become a
certified coach and help
You know, coach other people and train
other people who want to get certified.
And that has been a really big help
because that holds me really accountable
to am I pointing to myself enough?
What are my levels on the wheel of life?
Like what are you focus on?Are there some
things that I need to work through that
are going through my brain and making me
like freeze?And then sometimes it just
means I sit on the couch and read a book
even when I have a ton of work to get
done because you have to listen to your
body, you have to take a break. Last
year, I was getting sick all the time.
And it was because I wasn't taking care
of myself. So first and foremost, you
have to listen to your gut. You have to
listen to your heart. You have to make
sure that you're going-- even if you have
to make yourself take time for self-care,
if you don't, you might not be there
anymore. Umm Reality. And your
body is
is for sure going to give you warning
signs. Yeah. And that's the thing, right?
Like, you start getting sick. You start
getting a little bit sore. You realize
there's some tightness that you didn't
really expect or you've been working
through. And yeah. And then,
yeah, your body definitely gives you some
good warnings. You mentioned subliminals.
Yeah. What is that?Oh, I love
subliminals. So it's music
with-- the words are sped up
underneath. So they're chants, mantras,
affirmations. OK. And you can't hear them
under the music. And they're sped up
really fast so that it'll-- you might
listen to something for 20 minutes, but
the message will have come through maybe
several hundred or even a thousand times.
Yeah. And I have a whole app, an
app from this woman, Stephanie Keith.
She is the Manifest It Now, Law of
Attraction Tribe. She has a podcast.
And I love it because there are also
different exercises I can go through.
There are meditations, there are
interviews she's had with people to walk
through certain exercises, workbooks,
and then the subliminals. They really
help me at night. Or the Calm app. I'll
alternate between like brown noise and
something else. And then like
subliminals. Nice. Okay, cool. I don't
think I've heard of it. Ohh Yeah, no, I
don't think I've heard of it. You know
what, 'cause I put them on at night when
I'm going to sleep, you're supposed to
like... Ideally, you're listening, you
have the headphones on, and it's playing
in the background of whatever you're
doing. But for me, that helps me fall
asleep. And then I wake up feeling better
in the morning. Right. Yeah. And
motivated. Yeah, that's
nice. Awesome. OK.
Annika, this has been awesome. I'm so
glad that we got a chance to do this. But
before we go, please let everyone know
where we can find you and what's next for
you. Ohh Thank you, Grace. I love talking
to you. I'm so, so happy that we met at
Podcast Movement. Me too. So excited for
what we're both doing and how we can work
together in the future. The easiest way
to reach me, I'm just going to give one
link, because otherwise I'll start
sprouting off a whole bunch.
yourbrandamplified.com. You can find my
podcast there. You can find links to
schedule time with me, find out about
some of the programs that I offer, my
bio, you know, just all the things. And I
love giving people a free half hour
on my schedule to talk aboutliterally
anything. If you want to talk about PR,
brand strategy, digital marketing,
media, podcasting,
nonprofit work, just
being a single mom, whatever it is,
there's no right or wrong. And I'm just,
that's something I can do to help people
hopefully like continue on their journey
and feel inspired. Mm-hmm
That's wonderful.
Oh, okay, cool. That's such a sweet note
to end off. All right.
Well, thank you again for joining me and
I hope you have a wonderful day. Thanks.
You too, Grace. Hey there,
Grace here. I hope you enjoyed today's
episode and gained some useful takeaways.
Thank you so much for listening and
staying until the end. Don't forget to
rate the show or share it with some
friends. Have a wonderful week. Take
care. And remember, be bold, be
curious, be ready to tell your story. You
never know who needs it. Bye. Bye.