The following podcast is a dear media production.
Oh, so we're getting deep, huh? I really cried for 12 days straight. Why do I want to be perfect? There's nothing in my life that is perfect. Every week, I'll bring you honest, unfiltered, and eye-opening conversations to help uncover the real in all of us. I crave the type of content that you're talking about. I actually felt insecure. Oh my god, am I going to cry? Let me just unload everything. New episodes every Wednesday leave those filters at the door because it's time to get real.
Hello, everybody. And happy new year. I cannot believe it. It is officially 2025. I am just so excited for what lies ahead. You know, every single year I like to do a touch base with my two best friends, Aubrey and Natalie. And we reflect on the goals both work and personal we set from last year and the ones we are setting in the new year.
I think it's really meaningful to take some time to slow down and look at your life and look at yourself and think about what's working, what you're proud of yourself for, what's going well, and then also think about, hey, what do I want to invest more time into? What do I think could be better? Where do I think I can grow?
I live for that kind of stuff, and I love those types of conversations. So today, Obs and Nat are back on the pod for our annual New Year's Eve episode. We do this. I think this is the third year. I think we did it in 2022, 2023, and this is 2024. So we are going to touch base on the goals, both work and personal. We set for 2024 and how that went. And then the three of us are each going to set goals for the new year. And then if you mark it in your calendar in 365 days, you can check back in and figure out how we did.
I encourage you to set your own work and personal goals as you listen along with us and join us. We would love to have you be a part of this. Without further ado, here are my best friends, Aubrey and Natalie.
Rob's in that. Welcome back to real pod. Thank you. We're excited to be here. We're on Aubrey's couch right now and wood is setting up the camera. There's like a lot going on. It feels like we're in a studio. We wish you were here with us. I wish I was here with you guys. Anytime you guys are together, I have FOMO. I'm so excited. This is our annual New Year's reflection and goal setting episode. It's become a fan favorite. Literally my mom says it's her favorite episode of the year. Oh my God. That's so cute.
She knows all of us so intimately. She's like, who are these awesome, actual famous people you're bringing on? Bring back these two losers. That's what I want to hear. I want to hear, I want to hear about your friends from high school. Yeah. That's, that's what I'm here for. Just to kick us off. How are you guys? How's your day going? Where's our energy at? How's your spirit?
I've had a success. How's your spirit? I feel like I'm going to cry. Don't ask for that. She hasn't been to therapy. I wish you asked that, Vic. I've had a filled coffee and I'm working through a Diet Coke. My energy levels are supreme. My energy levels are just at my baseline, which is pretty high to the average person, but low for me. I just recorded my own podcast, demoted. So I'm just trying to like get hyped up, get here. I also have a Diet Coke. How is your spirit? That's your spirit.
My spirit is good. I feel like yapping today, which is great on the days I have podcast recordings when you're in a talkative mood. It's great. And I'm super excited for us to reflect on some of our past goals and check in. So I already kind of know the vibe because lovely Sasha, who helps produce real pod, did go back and do some homework for us, which was so helpful. But you guys probably don't remember anything you said.
No, I blacked out. I don't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday. Like, are you kidding me? I can only look ahead. So you really, if I said, what was your goal for the new year? Nothing comes to mind. I remember soft launching me in wood, getting engaged.
Yeah, you said I hope to get engaged. I said I hope to get engaged. I probably said something about a corporate job. Maybe I said something about taking ownership. Yes, Aubrey, that's what you said. So Aubrey's 2024 goal for work. So we both did a work in personal and we're going to do them again. But Aubrey's work goal was that you just got a new job and it felt very results driven. And so you said that your goal was to learn how to be more present and enjoy the journey and be less focused on the outcome. God, that's so crazy.
Because that's like what you did. That's what I did. Yeah, kind of elephant in the room. A lot has changed last year since last year. And I'm not just talking about my hair extensions. You're waiting to drop that in. Aubrey's an influencer now. Like, what's up with that? I like give the back story because it's just something I've never posted about. But like, basically,
We posted that one best friend's dictionary video that blew up. And like, what did I see you guys doing this? We're like, I think we can do this. So we leaned in and I was never ever planning on leaving my job. Like I felt like maybe when I have kids, like then we can take it more seriously. And my company got acquired.
by a big corporation that works like seven AM to seven PM. And I was like in hysterics, like that's just not where I'm at. I like called Vic. I was like, do you think I can do this full time? And Vic was like, yes, I called Natalie. I like, I probably blew up your guy's phone. So wouldn't I were like, okay, it's fine. What has a stable job? The day after I commit to like, okay, we're going to leave real estate. And then the day after I commit to leaving my full time job, what gets laid off?
And we were like, this is a sign from the universe. I was literally freaking out. Like I can't describe the anxiety I had doing this, but I did it. And here we are. And I don't know why this always happens with Aubrey in particular, but the universe is so communicative with her. Like it is literally it's there's the spirit connection with Aubrey, the way that I put a poll. And I was like, who's most likely to have seen a ghost and all my followers voted Aubrey just because they just know she has though.
I've seen so many go. So many go. The universe speaks directly to me. I'm sorry. And so I don't question it. What about like lives in this purgatory kind of in between where every spirit of everyone's past is also living. It's so weird. It's so weird.
Listen, purgatory. You guys know Aubrey in her bedroom from high school, a little man who was a ghost lives in there, factually. He lives in there. And my mom thought I was crazy for so many years. I refused to sleep with the lights off. And then finally, like last year, my mom slept in there and she was like, oh, my fucking god, your room's haunted. I was like, I told you.
Aubrey's also witchy former babysitter when Aubrey finally said that to her, her name's Mariselle. She was like, oh, yeah, I didn't want to tell you, but a little man lives up there. Yeah, I was like, I knew it. Thank you, Mariselle, for validating my feelings. But all that to say, I think it's divine timing that Aubrey basically was put in a
go with this new company and this acquisition and really be unhappy and have my schedule and work life drastically change or lean into the success I'm seeing on the internet. And I'm so glad that you did. You now have a hundred thousand Instagram followers, over three hundred thousand TikTok followers. It's insane, especially because two years ago when we did this episode, Natalie's goal was to have a hundred thousand followers.
On Instagram. So wild. So great. And also, for everyone listening, there are two types of people in this world. Those who have one viral video and sit and stare at that one video for the rest of their lives saying, I did it just one time. And those who grab life by the balls and make a career out of it. And that's Aubrey Gavallo sitting right here. So pick which person you want to be in this world, right? Are you a doer? If you watch life happen, be a doer.
staying on the work topic. We'll go to Nat. We'll go to your goal from last year. Your 2024 work goal was actually starting demoted. You were really excited about that. Wow. You know, cancellation was on the horizon, but yes, canceled one for the tally this year. It was actually nothing offensive for those of you hearing this for the first time. I said to go into a meeting at 8am, which I didn't realize is cancelable these days, but alas, this corporate bootlicker survived.
Natalie was canceled for nothing, for nothing. She was giving advice on how in a hypothetical scenario from an anonymous person who listens to her podcast, she views a situation objectively. Totally, totally fine. Totally great take. I agreed with your take. And then someone did a skit pretending that they were the person completely blown up for proportion. No. And there are legitimate reasons to cancel people and like,
take their platform away and do all these. I don't think an 8 a.m. meeting by someone who's a sketch artist is one of them personally, but alas, here we are. So yes, the podcast, very exciting. We've grown. It's definitely a grind, Vic, as you know, from real pod. It's the podcast life is tough. It's a lot of hours. It's minimal reward. It takes so long to grow, but it's been really fun. The podcast is called demoted. If you haven't listened, if you're a corporate guy or gal, give it a listen.
I'm so happy for you. So exciting. And what, how cool that literally coming into this episode today, you finished recording a devoted episode. And that was your goal of last year. Amazing. I have a fever, but it's good. Just caffeine coursing through my veins. I'm like.
Hivoting from AI to goals. Here we go. So before then we move on to me, I'll quickly recap your guys's 23. So Aubrey's 23 was shipped out of the bottom of the ranks mindset and take more agency for what she offers in her job. And then 2024 was to focus less on results. And then 23, 22, 23 work goal was corporate Natalie events, having more fun on stage. Hmm.
Interesting. Well, I don't know her. So God, that was her goal. And then my goal from 22 and 23 was to level up my career. And that was the year I signed with UTA. And I really do feel like I leveled up that year. And then last year's goal for me for work was to be more on top of my business and less riding the current of the industry, building out the aspects I wanted rather than being on someone else's terms.
And I really feel like I did that the way that I honestly feel like my work and like exists in a different orbit. And I honestly like barely ever get in the current of the industry. It's, it's kind of wild. I feel like the ship that that I was thinking about your two things. One, how you approached like.
influencer events like for the Golden Globes for example and like you were just so like stressed and like oh my god who are we gonna meet like are we gonna network and not in like a malicious or bad but just like it was a work event it is and like you were kind of stressed going in and then we just went to the wicked premiere we're like so chill left before the afterparty like it just it's just another event like it's you know it's life and then I think separately with the calmness with your work like you used to be I was I was reminiscing with
Katrina about how you literally worked up until like the day of your wedding, like actually probably on the day of your wedding you were working. Like you were, I just, I'm thinking about like planning wedding season and you were such a grinder. And I can't imagine being in that mindset. And then you like worked on your honeymoon and like, you just have never rested. And now I feel like this year you've actually taken some rest a little bit.
You've gotten so good at setting boundaries. And I feel like just because I'm just coming into this, I'm taking a page out of your new book and being like, oh, I remember that story, Vic told me where she got me email at 7pm and she was like, Victoria, we're going to sit here. And we don't do that after this time. And I'm like, I'm going to try and do that now. And now I do nothing.
I appreciate that. Never forget that Golden Globes moment. We were literally at the after party. We were around all these celebrities. It was crazy brushing shoulders with Heidi Klum, Jennifer Coolidge. And I remember going into the night, I said to Natalie, I don't want to give desperate energy. I just want to enjoy this night with you. And then literally at that after party, I think you've grabbed me by the shoulders and you're like, Vic, you are giving desperate energy.
energy. This is not fun. Like, can we just go to the bar and get a drink? Like stop looking around and like seeing who's here. And I was like, you were just looking through me. You didn't even like look at that. I'm like, I don't care what that random tick talker does or why they're here. Like, can we just enjoy each other's presence? Like, I honestly needed that. I love that you did that. We're close enough that you can be like, Hey, this is not fun for either of us. And yeah, then to snap into wicked and like be so not interested in that side of things. I will say though, all this stuff takes time.
It takes time to be an industry, go to a handful of things, meet a handful of people, get confidence in yourself to feel like you don't need to go everywhere to network. I'm such a networker. I feel like networking can have a negative connotation and be very close to social climbing. I want to stick up for myself and say, I don't think I'm a social climber at all.
I'm a strong network of like, I'm a networker. I'm so close to the professors from USC, the deans at USC, like I really value making relationships with people who I'm interested in and who I think can teach me things. So I love that. And that's always the intent. Yeah, I really feel like now I don't
It's really hard for me to go do something I don't want to do. Actually, I was at dinner last night and the question around the table was, what are you a snob about? And I was like, I'm a snob about my time. Yeah, you are to apply it to the corporate sons a little bit for any of our like corporate girly listeners, maybe like early in career. I was just thinking the same thing.
I do think there is beauty in showing up early in your career and like going to all the things and showing up in person for a few events and like we with COVID have gotten so used to being home. And I think while we're ripping on Vic right now for like this one Golden Globes thing or whatever, but it's she has built this beautiful network from that point in your life where you were going everything and meeting so many people. And so now it's afforded you when you're 27, 28, the time to step back and be like, I don't need to go to every event.
We don't want to say stay home, don't go out. I think us all three of us would say do the thing. Also, you said social climbing, and when you say networking in a corporate sense, no one ever pairs the two words of networking and social climbing, but I could totally see how in your industry those two words can seem like the same thing.
Okay. The other night, Max and I had the most delicious chocolate chip cookies ever. It was one of those nights where you're like, Oh, I'm bummed. We don't have any dessert. And then I was like, we, we have wild grain. Wild grain is the first bake from frozen subscription box for artisanal breads, pastries and pastas. We had the giant chocolate chunk cookie six pack. They're 30% chocolate crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I seriously think it might have been the best chocolate chip cookie I've had all year.
Wild grain takes the hassle out of baking. Since all items bake from frozen in 25 minutes or less with no mess or cleanup. We also have the cinnamon rolls. Max has just been loving it and I'm loving it too. So if you are ready to bring all of your favorite yummy and delicious carbs right to your doorstep, be sure to check out Wild grain so you can begin building your own box of artisanal breads, pastas and pastries. For a limited time, Wild grain is offering our listeners $30 off the first box. That is a major discount.
Plus, free croissants in every box. When you go to wildgrain.com slash real pod, you can get that offer and start your subscription. So you heard me, that's free croissants in every box and $30 off your first box when you go to wildgrain.com slash real pod. Make sure you get the chocolate chug cookies. Just trust me. Trust me. That's wild grain.
dot com slash real pod or you can use the promo code real pod at checkout. Enjoy. No bull is a training brand created to support you in your daily pursuit to be your best self. No bull has footwear and apparel for anywhere and everywhere life takes you.
Max loves no bull. He just ordered a new pair of shoes that he's obsessed with and no bull celebrates a no bullshit approach to wellness and this time of year especially can be overwhelming with messaging around how to move your body how your body should look and the way that I always get in touch with that is by slowing down and being still and really listening to my own intuition. No bull is best known for their footwear and
They have the industry's best-in-class trainer called the Outwork. That's your go-to strength training shoe. And they have so many fun colorways and options. And if you're on the go like me, I recommend the Noble Drive. It's a hybrid shoe, which is comfortable enough for your day-to-day, but also supportive enough if you hit that berries class or that high intensity workout. I think it's so great to have a shoe that can do it all.
Noble has options for everyone, no matter their activity level or workout preference. So maybe you don't even want to work out, but you just need a comfortable everyday shoe that will support your feet in a fun color because that brings you joy. Noble is the right choice. Exclusively for real pod listeners, Noble is offering a 30% off your order. Visit www.notableproject.com and use code realpod30. That's 30% off. That's a major discount. Head to www.
N-O-B-U-L-L-P-R-O-J-E-C-T dot com and use code realpod30. NobleProject.com and use code realpod30.
Should we get to the crying and the personal goals? Okay. Let's do it. What were goals? Okay. So I'll go back to Obbs. So Aubrey's personal goal for the year was to be intentional with her. Yes. You felt like you were saying lots of yeses. You weren't home for a weekend for three and a half months straight. And you were realizing that you could say no to things like concerts, trips and time with friends.
I feel like I've taken that and I've run with it. Like, I can't get you to say yes to anything. I don't say yes to a single fucking thing now. No. No, I love the word no. I'd be here if you need me. And I'm so happy. Like, I think that
I think that applies to what you were just saying about being intentional with your time. I'm a snob about my time now. When I got that offer from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., I was like, no, I will not spend my life in this office 12 hours a day. I'm not going to do it. So I think I carried that with me and I was like, this is my one life. I'm not going to do this.
the year of no, the year of no, which to say, Aubrey's saying it eloquently and concisely now, but that was a really tough decision for you. And I feel like you had a lot of other people's opinions. And you've always been someone who has wanted to have a really strong work ethic and show that. And this was the first time you were like, okay, people might judge this. They might not get it.
But I can't keep chugging along and doing something to uphold opinions of other people. Yeah, like, yeah, I don't want to get it twisted. I was a mess for like four months, like trying to do both at once because I felt like I needed a quote unquote real job.
And then I don't know, it all hit the fan. I was like, okay, I need to do this for me because I can trust myself. And like, we can't make this work. So I remember I kept saying to you, like, who do you care about knowing that you do this full time? Yeah. Like who are you picturing? Some random dork from high school, like some who in your network, are you worried about seeing you at a bar and you saying like, Oh, I'm actually influencing full time. Yeah. I kept being like, who is it? Who is it? Yeah.
I think it was yourself. I think it was me. I think it was me. I saw myself doing real estate for the rest of my life. And like, I never saw myself doing content at all. And like, even you just called as influencers. I was like, well, I don't know if I really am, but like, I love that for you guys. It's been nice to have my own opinion and like, trust my gut.
Well, then that's great. You had that goal and you've really embodied it and it was success. Great. Did it? Natalie's personal goal was to have a better relationship with alcohol. At that point of recording, you said you had been not drinking for about a month and feeling so much better and wanting to carry that into the new year.
I love that. I've only been cut off from one bar this year. So I think things are like going really well. No, I forgot about that piece of my life. I forgot about that phase two. I have been drinking for like three months. And I think I just reached a point where I was partying so much. And I just like it got out of it got out of balance. And I think I've found like a really healthy balance. And I still like have, you know, fun, crazy nights, but like,
I'm always going home with Matt and I'm like, wait, hi, Matt. Yes, for the real pod listener is my boyfriend's name is Matt. Oh my gosh, you guys are boyfriend for like over a year, really long time. That's been a secret. It's been two and a half years. That's too crazy. It's actually crazy because I didn't even mention him on last pod, right?
No. Also, I feel like you were always like, I'm going to keep my personal life off of the internet. And then just slowly I'll see him like soft launched in some content and I'm like, wait, what? Hello. Hello. Who is that? I do think like having a partner has helped me like chill. Obviously everyone says it. He's helped me like.
in so many ways, but just be calmer, more present, like put my phone down, you know, tune in with my family, both our families actually live like five minutes from each other. So we're down in the suburbs a lot, hanging out with them. And yeah, I love him very much.
Oh, I'm so happy for you. I think Matt is a 10 out of 10 human being. And I think that's so great. I do feel like I would also say like as someone in your life, I definitely think that's been a change. Like I don't, when I think of you, one of the things I don't think about is like party girl. Yeah. I don't think about that anymore. Not that that was a bad thing at the time. Like it's more like part of my identity. Me and Natalie both kind of so yes, in a much better place than that. I forgot about that phase of my life.
Well, success, both of you. Successful. Mine was to be more chill girl, not going to save and fight for other people, get in their business, and get out of autopilot of trying to fix everything. What? I know. I'm so proud of you. Thank you. I was always made of honor. This will be the true test of your chill male spirit.
Well, I love that all of Aubrey's bridesmaids are people who I know intimately. So I literally can be my own one. You can be yourself. Let your freak flag fly. You know, we are so proud of you that that was your goal last year. Like, I feel like you carried that this entire year.
Thank you, honestly, never not achieved a goal. No, I forgot about that. No, that's not true. But I wait till we get to the wait till we get to my other goal, then there's another personal goal that I did not quite achieve. But as far as being chill girl,
I definitely, yeah, I feel the shift in myself. I feel like I catch myself not getting invested in things and getting in the weeds. So God bless my therapist and CBT because I think that really did wonders. I'm so proud of you. CBT your book.
CBT is a form of therapy. What does that mean? Cognitive behavioral therapy. It's like a type of talk therapy that you basically will talk about like, what's the thought? Then what was the feeling? And then what happened? And then how do we change the behavior? I just like, it works really well for my brain.
What happened to rub some dirt in it? I'm kidding. You're on the wrong Natalie. I am the worst, most non therapy person. And I'm, I'm probably the most broken inside. No, I'm not. But like, I just have never gotten into it. Vic has bought me self help books for years. I also don't know how to read. So I don't know where I would, what I would do with those. I've just never, I've never worked on myself.
Everyone's on their own path. And I think it's beautiful that we can be so close and the best of friends. And like you don't go to therapy and I live by it. Like I think it goes to show for people you can be on your own journey and you can still appreciate each other and like support each other and not be the exact same. Totally. Totally. And I love that for you guys. No, it's it's I get therapy through through you too. You guys are my therapist. So thank you for that.
Natalie's very self-aware and you continue to grow as a person and get deeper, you know, but I definitely think you continue to evolve and not everyone needs therapy or the same method as someone else to, to do that. And there was one goal that I didn't totally keep. I had another personal goal that was to have a phone charger out of the bedroom and not be on my phone. When I go into that, when I wake up, the phone charger is back in the bedroom. I will say that. But I do think the doom scrolling, the way that I was like,
looking at things online and feeling like bad about myself and waking up and working on my phone. I don't do that anymore. So when I am on my phone at night before bed, it is a, I'm scrolling TikTok, but it's fun and I don't have the negativity. Like, I definitely think that while I am using the technology more than I, my goal was it's in a healthier way than how I had used it last year. I think as long as you like,
got to the intention of that goal, then it's still a goal achieved, you know? Yeah, I agree. My phone charger is like inched ever closer. Now it's just under my below. It's right there. Yeah. But I had the same goal. I do it. I do it one night a week at least, but like that's not enough. I've never done that in my life. It is time now to set our new goals that we will continue to reflect on next year. So who would like to start?
Aubrey. Okay, you want me to start. Okay, I have one goal and it's kind of just an overarching goal with work and personal and it's staying true to myself while also leaving room to grow and I feel that with like.
wedding planning, I feel that with content now. I feel like last year I set such a specific goal about, you know, my real estate career and like what I've been shown this year is that it's so hard to plan for anything. So like as long as you're just going with your gut, like you're going to make the right choices. And so I don't know, like limiting the outside noise and like trusting myself.
I love that mantra, staying true to myself while leaving room to grow. Did you come up with that? Obviously would help me. I chat GBT it.
It literally was like word vomiting and he's like condensed it into this beautiful statement. I was like, great. Thank you. I love that one. How do you think that will manifest itself with work? Cause this will be the first true year you embark on the content creator life. Yeah. I think it's really scary putting yourself online. Like I commend you guys for have been doing this for so long because like it's really scary and like, I don't think the internet fully knows me probably as much as it knows you guys. So like,
When we first started posting, I was overthinking everything. And I'm like, I don't know if I necessarily need to do that. I need to trust that I'm a good person. And I'm not going to get a bunch of hate comments if I post something that feels authentic to myself.
I love that goal, too. I think it's great. And I'm excited to see how it goes. And I love the idea of how the wedding planning plays in on the personal side of it. That can be stressful. You can feel pressure to do things. I've already loved the way you've been like, well, that doesn't feel like us. We want our picture to be this, or we want our font to be this. It's fun. And I think that that's super important. Yeah. Thank you.
Yay, okay, Nat. So I wonder a little more tactical. Sorry, I'm kicking it, Natalie. Sorry, I didn't have like a theme. I didn't realize we were awarding these that way. I'm like, hit 200k on LinkedIn. Okay, let me think. No, wait, stick to yours because Aubrey, I love you, but she did not follow the rules. I didn't follow the rules. She blended work in personal. Like, who is this ball? It's all too new. It's all too new to me. She blended work in personal in a way that can't be measured.
Like, okay, what are the KPIs on that? All right. So I want to hit 200 down LinkedIn. I'm very bullish on LinkedIn. I think TikTok might go away. Sorry, Aubrey, I know it's your bread and butter. No, it's okay. But I'm doubling down on LinkedIn, and I think it's the future. I'm
I'm launching a clothing line in January, work where it's in collaboration with 12th Tribe. I'm going for my photo shoot tomorrow actually. I'm flying to LA and sorry, Vick. I'm only staying for six hours. Of course, I'm in and out quick and real dirty. And then so yeah, seeing if I like kind of being in this fashion space,
And then we're looking to hire a third member of our team and sort of grow out the brand a little bit. And I think with that, my goal is to have a distinct company culture and really know what are our values as a company. I know it's silly and there's just three of us and it feels like that's unnecessary work, but
How do we want to show up to work every day? Like, what do we value? What are our success metrics? Of course, we have like, we want to hit this many followers and this, but like, what are our personal metrics like me, Annie and this third person to feel fulfilled. And I think management and like establishing a company culture is exciting to me and like something I've learned and taken from corporate America. So I'm excited to like, establish that and hopefully grow the team. I love those. Those are great.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. The New Year is upon us, and that has me thinking about how every January brings us 365 blank pages waiting to be filled. It's such an exciting time of year. You know that I do my New Year's Eve reflection episodes with OBS and NAT.
And I think it's a time for all of us to be excited about what lies ahead. Maybe you're ready for a plot twist or maybe there's part of your story you want to revise. Life is not about resolutions that fade by February. It's about picking up the pen and becoming the author of your own life. Putting energy in the direction you want to be headed.
And you can think of therapy as your editorial partner, helping you write new chapters and create the meaningful story that you deserve to live. I'm a huge believer in therapy. I've experienced firsthand how helpful it can be in so many aspects of life. I really feel like 2024 is a milestone for me and the work I've done in therapy. And I'm excited for what is to come and how I'm going to grow and learn in new ways with therapy.
in 2025. So if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. All you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire and get matched with a licensed therapist. Plus, you can switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. Write your story with BetterHelp.
visit betterhelp.com slash real pod to get 10% off your first month. That's better help better. H E L P dot com slash real pod to get 10% off your first month today. Today's episode is also sponsored by Quinn's. Oh my gosh, I just love Quinn's. They have luxurious items, clothing, jewelry, you name it, but for an affordable price. It's the perfect time of year to treat yourself or your loved ones to everyday luxury.
And quince has something that everyone needs in their closet. In my personal opinion, quince's iconic Mongolian cashmere sweater, which starts at $50, is a must have. And I recently also got this beautiful black cardigan with these gorgeous big tortoise brown buttons. I just think it's so cute. You might have seen me wearing it. I brought it on my trip. And it's from quince.
Whatever you are looking for, all quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. So in my opinion, quince is on the nice list for that reason. And because also they only work with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing practices, which is very important. Just trust me, go to quince.com slash real pod and look at their website. There will be something you fall in love with once again.
Don't sleep on the 100% organic cotton cropped cardigan. That's the one that I got in black. It's so adorable. It's a great staple piece and is very comfy gift luxury this holiday season without the luxury price tag. Go to quince.com slash real pod for 365 day returns plus free shipping on your order. That's quince Q U I N C E dot com slash real pod to get free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com slash real pod.
You want to do your work goal and then we can like, we can just like on work. I'll do my work. Yeah. No, I'll do my work. Actually, my work is very similar to yours. I have two work goals. The first one is to be farther into a business venture initiative that I'm passionate about that. I feel like expands my career for the future. I don't want it to be like a one off thing or a random product drop. I know what I want this to be and I don't want to get ahead of myself and reveal too much, but
I don't want to be like relying on like brand deals and I want to build this to be something bigger and I am really grateful for the way that my content and podcast has helped women with their mental health and their body image issues. So that's kind of a preview of what I'm hoping to create is something like that that can.
help people and also be kind of an extension of just creating content daily and weekly. So that's one. And then the second one is not being afraid to be a leader. And I think for me, what that means is my team did just expand. So we did hire our third full-time employee, the lovely Sasha, who's here. So it's me, Jenna, and Sasha. And
That was not something I thought would happen this year. I didn't even think I'd have it a second employee. It wasn't even on my radar until a random night with Max where we were talking about content in my business. And I was like, you know, oh my God, there actually is like a whole their position. But I think anytime you hire, you're like, is there a position? And is there enough for them to do? And like, we do it now. And it, and then you have them. And you're like, wait, how did we get by without having that third person? So that's been great. But I think like,
As much as I'm confrontational in my real life, and I mean that in a good way. Like, I struggle in a work setting. It's hard for me. Like, I don't like to have disagreements. I don't like to get upset with people. I don't like to call out mistakes. Like, it's uncomfortable for me. And I've been really learning how to
give factual feedback. That's not personal. And it's just part of if you pay someone to do a job, there's the job that needs to be done. Like, and it's not emotional. I think I carry a lot of like the people please saying being a woman. And I really struggle with that. I'm like, so we were talking about giving feedback and like,
how consistent feedback is better. You read a book actually on management, of course, because you bring receipts and actually study things. And you were saying, it's actually better to just give real-time feedback in the moment. I find myself writing down in a notes page things that I let stew and then build up. And then we have our monthly performance review. And I'm barfing up all this stuff. It's like, you could have told me about that one minor thing two months ago.
Yeah, that's, that's literally that has been a huge shift in itself. Just like, I used to do the same. Keep a notes page, bring it up the one time we meet every month or two months. But then it's like, I'm building up some frustration and I'm like, it's simple and I'm getting used to emails. It doesn't say you're a bad person. It doesn't say I'm a stickler or like, and also I sometimes I'm like, oh, I feel bad that I am like, no.
This is the company I'm building. This is how I would like it to be done. These are amazing women who I believe in and who believe in me. And like, that's okay. That's well, once again, the culture we're creating. So yeah, I want to just feel like I have more autonomy in that. I think to like.
I always like to almost play the mentee role in my life. Speaking of the networking, I'm always like, what can I learn? What can you show me? I might not know. And now it's like, OK, I hired a CEO for the nonprofit.
I did that with Jenna and Leanne who are incredible. And I was a part of that. Let me not like dig at myself and like dequalify my insight here. So that's like high level, but I think be a leader and step into that role more is the second goal. I love that.
I love that. I have such an issue like establishing my own credibility because I'm so self-deprecating that it just it pulls away from the feedback I give. I'm like, I know I'm just a lazy piece of shit. But you know, it's like, you don't have to start with that. You can just give the feedback. Like that diminishes it.
And then also I'll be on stage and I'll be self-deprecating because that's my shtick. And I'm like, wait, this is an audience of 50-year-old men. I should probably sit here and establish my credibility as a speaker, why they paid me thousands of dollars to be here, and then get into the jokes. So I'm meeting with a speaking coach, trying to figure that out, because it's really an area of growth. I think you could also meet with a therapist about that.
Aubrey, that is a ridiculous suggestion. I also think it's like, to Aubrey's point of being true to yourself and allowing room to grow, I don't want to be a boss, like someone else is a boss. I want to be the boss that Victoria is supposed to be. Yeah, I love that. It's true.
Okay, personal goal, Natalie. Aubrey, just feel free to chime in. I feel like you're being boxed out. And I'm sorry. Oh, no, not at all. We talked about the work of the wedding. I think it's like, I was going to expand on my personal. I feel like this is important for 2025 brides to hear is like, just do shit because you want to do them that way. Not because there's some book out there that says like, this is how your invites are supposed to be or like, this is how the
sequence of events is supposed to be like, I feel like when I first started wedding planning, I was so wrapped up of like, well, what's the right way to do it? What's the right way to do it? And like, the reality is like, there's not one, just like, do it because you like it. And that's all go off of vibes. I love a lot of vibes. That's my life. Just go with that.
interest for a girl. Like I've never dreamed about my wedding. I have no idea. No, I have no idea. And like, that's not fun for me. Like I don't enjoy that. I have no thoughts. Yeah, I have no thoughts. And I like, it's not to say I don't care because like when a decision is like put in front of me, like, of course I care, it's my wedding, but like, don't do things because you feel like you have to, like just do them because like, yeah, that's what wedding wedding is supposed to be. Like it's supposed to be fun. So I love that. That's my two cents.
I love it and I'm excited to be alongside the process and see it all unfold. It's going to be the best. I have some preferences. I love that. Okay. Natalie, what about your personal goal? Real pot exclusive. My personal goal is I would like to get engaged.
Yay! That's crazy. That's crazy. I think it might happen. I don't know. We've fully talked about it. We're moving in together. Another goal was building a little life for ourselves, our own space, our own...
world just the best. I know I'm so excited. I'm so excited. So that's just like a big, I don't know, I'm just very excited for what's to come. I can't even like process. I'm so excited. We were sitting, I was sitting in Natalie's living room the other night and Matt comes in and Natalie and I are just having a full conversation and he's just sweetly braiding her hair while we're talking. And I was like,
That is the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. I came home and I was like, do you know how to braid? He was like, no, I was like, okay, never mind. Sorry, that was just this thing. I was going to eat up. That's so Natalie's love language, just like awkwardly, like touching people in that way. I love awkward touches. Do you want to tell the walla story or whatever? What did I think you called be in bed?
Vick and I have a little sleepover. Max is out of town. The old ball and chains gone. So we slept together and serve her big master beds. So fun cuddles, whatever. So funny. This was after the wicked premiere after the wicked premiere. We took an edible and Vic maybe felt it a little more than I did. We get in bed and I hear
What do I hear you say? Natalie, first of all, the stuffed animal's name is Walla. Natalie and I get into my bed. It's dark. It's pitch black. She thought that I said, I walla.
And she was coming closer to me with her arms as if trying to touch me. And I said, hang on, this is no, no, don't consent, whatever is about to happen, put it away. I don't like this. I'm not ready to experiment in this way. I, I were just friends. I looked at you as a friend and nothing more. I know my silk PJs are adorable. Please don't touch me.
Okay. What I really meant was hand me walla. No, I never said I walla. I said, can you give me walla? And it's totally normal voice because it was up above not at least head. She was on my side. It was. No, not now. I'm too young.
I have so much more life. So anyway, that was a good little sometimes your friends touching you cool other times after nettable not know get away. I'm not ready to touch. I'm literally crying. I have actual tears going on. So let's finish a big personal goal. What is yours.
Okay. Before I say that, both of you have manifested getting engaged on this podcast. Well, Aubrey's came true. So, Natalie, I would not be surprised if next year. People need to come on real pot and then okay. It's for sure happening. Let's hope. Okay. My personal goal, and I'll be honest, I took a while and I came up with this today. I think if there's something that I need to do that maybe I'm not ready for and I'm scared of, it's this.
I want to mind less what people think of me. And I'm saying mind instead of care because Aubrey and I were listening to something Eckhart Tolle recently and he said how if you say, I don't care or like I don't care what people think of me, it almost does have ego in it because it's like, oh, I'm above it. I don't care for it. But when you say, I don't mind, you're on the same playing field. It's just simply like that's not coming into my energy. It doesn't register for me. I don't mind it.
So I wrote mind less what people think of me. I want to just push my boundary to be disliked. I feel like speaking of what you said about social media, Aubrey, I've definitely been afraid to be disliked, been afraid to get negative comments, been afraid to be unfollowed. I think with the election and losing 10,000 followers in two days and standing my ground and for what I believed in was hugely cathartic for me. I was just losing the followers and thinking, and I,
don't mind because I don't want to keep them and not be true to who I myself. So that was a really good experience for me. I'd like to mind less what people think of me. I love that.
Well, I love you guys. I'm so grateful for our friendship. This is so fun. I love that we do this and I'm excited to be a part of this next year and you guys in my life too. And so many fun things. I mean, this is the year Aubrey is going to get married and Natalie is most likely not trying to jinx going to get engaged. What a year.
What a year. This is my favorite hour of the year. Yeah. Thank you for this. Yeah. Time. We do this for Laney. We do this for Laney. If we have one listener, it's her. Thank you for listening, Laney. We love you. I love you guys. Thank you everyone for listening. Love you. Bye.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of RealPod. If this hit home or helped you in some way, send it to a friend, a teammate, roomie, share the love, share the realness. New episodes of RealPod come out every single Wednesday. So make sure you are subscribed to this podcast so you never miss an episode. To leave a reading or a review of the show, head to iTunes and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you. Not to mention, you can stay connected with RealPod throughout the week.
Seeing behind the scenes info and sneak previews of upcoming guests by following the at real pot account on Instagram. All information about today's show and guests will be linked in the description of this episode. Thanks again for listening. I love you guys so so much. Let's go dominate the day. And as always, keep it real.
Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.
