Welcome to The Mirror Project

Christine: 00:00:11

Hello, and welcome to The Mirror Project.

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We are your hosts, Christine.

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Alexandra: And Alexandra.

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Christine: And we are so

glad you're joining us.

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Today we'll be talking about who

we are, why we're here and what

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we hope to do with this podcast.

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Alexandra: So kicking us off, let's talk

about our friendship and how we met.

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We met in 2014, we were both at

university and we decided to join

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the club dance team the same year.

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And why don't we go into

our first impression?

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So Christine, what was your

first impression of me?

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Yeah.

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Christine: So my first

impressions of you definitely

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came later than one might think.

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Even though we were on a team together

for almost a year, We really didn't get to

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know each other until the end of the year,

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and over that summer, you had reached

out to me, you had texted me what

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felt like kind of out of the blue.

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And shared how much you were looking

forward to next year and for us

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to get to know each other better.

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And I just thought, this girl is so cool.

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I hadn't had anybody sort of reach

out to me in that way before.

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And I thought, wow, we're, we're

really going to be good friends

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and, you know, cut to 2024.

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We've been friends for almost 10 years.

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I can't believe it.

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It flew by.

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Alexandra: Wow.

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That, my gosh.

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I remember when you were like 20 and

you'd say, Oh, 10 years is half my life.

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So, my first impression of Christine was

My first day at dance practice because I

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remember I met somebody and the girl who's

gonna join out there for the team And I

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don't think she ended up staying on the

team So I think it was like your second

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or third practice And I remember seeing

Christine and a bunch of the other girls.

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We were all stretching I think we were in

the with the fourth floor atrium of the

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education building on these slick white

floors and All the girls seem to have so

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much more dance experience than I did.

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I was like, oh gosh, they're all

gonna, they're gonna know I'm a fraud.

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Very much up in my head as you

will get to learn and know me.

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I am very much a serious internal thinker.

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So, I think my first impression of

Christine from that day was, okay, wow,

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she's got so many years of experience and

I think you might have fell or slipped

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or tripped or something that day and I

just remember you like bounce back up and

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you're like, I'm good and she laughed it

off and it was like, That's so cool to me

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because if I did something like that, I'd

be like, Oh my gosh, everyone's staring.

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Probably not, but like, what have I done?

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And yeah, so I think we didn't

really know each other well that

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whole year until that summer.

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And I just remember Christine being like,

she's one of the older girls and she was

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very sweet, very kind, very warm, always

there if you needed something, and was

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definitely The one to be careful of.

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Like, she always had her knees or

her ankles wrapped at ice packs.

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She was always, but she

was always good about it.

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She was like, jumped up.

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She's like, no, I'm fine.

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Everyone's like, no, please go sit down.

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Christine: I think people would,

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wrap me in bubble wrap if they could.

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And it's so funny, right?

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Like I said, I had all

these years of experience.

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I hadn't danced since before high school.

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Alexandra: But you had definitely

danced longer, so I was like, okay.

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And to be honest, I really don't remember

reaching out to you, which is great

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because I feel like that's a form of

confidence I was trying to work on,

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like just, Hey, reach out there, put

yourself, but also because I feel like.

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There, to me, it's like there was no

beginning to our friendship, right?

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Because I felt like I've known you

for so long that I was just like,

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no, I've known Christine forever.

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So yeah, that was kind of, I think,

my first impression of you and how

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we met and we did continue to go

on for the rest of the time that

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we were undergraduates on the team.

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Christine actually became

the captain our senior year.

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So that was really cool.

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And yeah, I just I remember always being

friends and that was like the thing that

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really connected us and then it grew out

into Oh wow, we like similar TV shows or

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we like similar books and music and I also

learned so much music wise from Christine.

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Christine: Yes, I would say I could

not imagine what my college experience

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would have been like without you in it.

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You were, especially once you

joined the team and we got to

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know each other a lot better.

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You really became an huge part of

my life and still are to this day.

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Alexandra: Aw, same friend.

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Definitely couldn't imagine my life

without our friendships through the

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high moments and the low moments and the

times where Christine had to definitely

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say, Alexandra, what are you doing?

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You have got to pull yourself together.

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Christine: There were plenty of

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moments where you did the same for

me, so we definitely check each other.

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Alexandra: Yes.

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Yes.

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And I think that's a great segue

into our next topic, right, where

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we want to talk about what is

our why in doing this podcast.

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So Christine, why don't you kick us off?

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So why do the Mirror Project podcast?

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Christine: happy to.

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So I've always known that you would

be a wonderful creative partner,

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and a little over a year ago, I had

reached out and asked if you would be

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willing to start a project with me.

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I didn't know what it would be at that

time, but I knew that You would be a

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great person to build something with.

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And you amazingly said yes, even

though you are, were, and still

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are doing a million things.

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And then shortly after I came to you

with the idea for the, for the podcast.

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And it just, that was the spark that

ignited this whole process up until today.

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Alexandra: I do remember that.

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I think it was what, January

: 2023

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You had brought up something like, hey,

we would do it, and I do remember back

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in college that we had talked about,

like, oh, maybe we would open a book and

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tea shop together, which could still be

in our cards for the future, who knows?

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But I'm really glad we're doing

this project, and as Christine had

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mentioned, I know who I was and still

feel like I'm doing a million things.

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I work full time, and I've decided

what fall: 2023

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school for my second master's.

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And so this time I'm pursuing an MBA.

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So I was doing that.

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And at the same time, I was also

working on a, another podcast with

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a group of thin friends, which.

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I really thought would be a

conversation based, creating

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warm and embracing community.

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And it didn't turn out to be that for me.

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I wasn't all that passionate about it.

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I wasn't excited for it.

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And so I, it was around, I think, February

of last year that Christina came back.

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Oh, I'm thinking a podcast.

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And at first I thought she was like,

Oh, she's just wanted some advice.

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Like what had I learned from.

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My time doing a podcast and

she started talking about it.

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She's like, I think we should do this

together and, and the conversations

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and what it would be about.

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And I got really excited.

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I'm like, this is the joy and passion

I want to feel when doing a project.

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And so I have since left that other

podcast, which was really good for me.

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Also give me a little space to breathe

and all the things that I was doing.

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And cause I'm also, as we've talked

about started my own business, which is.

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Slowly on the back burner.

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It's simmering.

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It's working.

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And then I think it

was we talked about it.

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We're like, okay, we're going to do this.

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We're going to, it's going

to be the mirror project.

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I think we started to kick around

some ideas, throw some things out.

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And I think for a few months,

cause: 2023

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ups and downs for both of us.

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So.

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I think it was about what September

that we really started to get

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into the nitty gritty of planning.

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And I remember, I think we spent

like two hours on the phone one

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night kind of planning out some

topics, what we wanted to do.

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And I just remember feeling so excited.

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I'm like, I cannot believe

that we're doing this.

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Like it's going to be great.

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I'm excited to start

like, let's get going.

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And we, we both have a tendency towards.

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Well, I'd certainly do.

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I won't speak for Christine

towards perfectionism.

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So it's very nice to also have

somebody who also wants to plan ahead

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and think about things, which was

different from my last experience.

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And I loved that.

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So we've really connected

and here we are doing it.

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So yeah, that's, I mean, that's

my why I'm doing this podcast

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with you and I'm so excited to

see where this grows and becomes.

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Christine: Me too.

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I think, you know, at the heart of it,

we, we have interesting conversations.

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At least we think we have

interesting conversations.

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So, we thought that it would

be fun to share them and see

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who else connects with us.

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Alexandra: I think at the end of the

day, we were also looking for an excuse

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to have more conversations together.

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We are best friends and we love to

talk about that and well, talk about

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each other's lives and things we see

anywhere in life on social media.

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And I hope that those listening out

there will also enjoy these chats

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and would like to join us in these

conversations and connect with us.

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.

Christine: And so if you're wondering why we chose the title,

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the mirror project, I'm happy to

give you a little insight into that.

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So when I was sort of thinking about

what I wanted to call this podcast, I

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wanted there to be an element that was

actionable and actionable and actionable.

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You know, encourage us to

continue learning and growing.

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And so I liked the idea of project.

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You'll probably hear us use that

word a lot because we're always in

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progress and we both love projects.

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And then I was thinking about all of the.

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Information I was being inundated with

at the time when I was sort of thinking

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about what I wanted this podcast to be.

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And I just was feeling very overwhelmed

and bogged down with negativity

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that I was seeing on social media,

in the news, in conversations

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that were happening around me.

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And I just wanted to Provide a

little corner of the world for

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people to feel safe and feel as,

like, they could be heard and have

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conversations that were meaningful.

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And so, I started thinking

about this idea of a mirror.

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So I believe that we reflect and are

reflections of the people around us how

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they act and move through the world.

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But I also think that we can slowly change

our, our world around us by reflecting

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what we want to see in our environment.

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So I just really loved bringing

together Mirror and Project , and

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thus the Mirror Project was born.

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Alexandra: Yeah.

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And I, to build off that, I love, I think

that is one of probably our strongest

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points in our friendship is that we

both have that core value of always

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growing and always changing and always

thinking and reflecting and bringing

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moments of levity to that, right?

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Because transformation is.

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Often messy and you know change is messy,

but if we're not changing if we're not

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growing Essentially, we're dead, right?

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Because there's nowhere else to go.

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So I think that is a beautiful

part of the word project.

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And I totally love the mirror, and I

remember when we first started talking

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about this, I was like, Oh my gosh, all

these high flow metaphors about mirrors.

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And I was like, okay, but we're also a

reflection of ourselves and each other.

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So, I hope that our listeners can hold up

the mirror for us, and we can hold up the

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mirror for them to be seen and heard in

this crazy world that we all exist in now.

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It's beautiful, but crazy.

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Christine: yes, yes, indeed.

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Alexandra: Okay, so we've talked about a

friendship, we've talked about the why in

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our podcast, what drove us to start this.

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But why don't we introduce

ourselves to the people listening.

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So, Christine, who are you?

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What is What makes up Christine?

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Christine: Well, okay.

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Where to start?

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So, I have grown up and

currently still live in Jersey.

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That's where we met when

we went to university.

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And I would consider myself an old soul.

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I think you and I both can relate to that.

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And I tend to see the humor in life.

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I don't know if I could move throughout

the world without laughing at myself

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laughing at the world around me.

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Because we need we all need levity

in our life and that definitely

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helps bring balance to me

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Alexandra: And she really

lights up the room.

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I mean, she is the warmest, kindest

person you will probably ever meet.

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So,

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Christine: That's very, thank you.

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And then also I love having

meaningful conversations.

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That's what inspired me to start this.

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project with you and they

are truly my bread and butter

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.

I like to break through to the heart of why people feel the way they

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do and talk about how that impacts

the actions and decisions we make.

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And I'm really looking forward

to exploring that here and then

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a little bit about my family.

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I'm the oldest of three girls.

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And My family is one of the most

important things in my life.

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Probably the most

important thing in my life.

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As well as my friends, which

I consider my found family.

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They help me feel inspired, motivated,

and excited to You know, attack

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every day with, with positivity.

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And I don't know if I would be

who I am today without them.

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And I'm very grateful and

blessed to have them in my life.

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And that includes you, my dear.

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Alexandra: Oh, I love you too.

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And I love your family.

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They're very much like second mom and

dad, and your sisters are so sweet.

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Christine: So why don't

you tell us about you?

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Alexandra: oh gosh.

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Okay.

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I was like, I think we had talked

about this before, but it's

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like, ah, icebreaker moment.

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Who are we?

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So I'm in my late twenties and probably as

you'll discover, we both like witchy, you.

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metaphysical stuff.

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So I will say I am a Pisces sun

and I am learning to jump into

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the unknown because as we have

established, I tend to be very serious.

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And so sometimes, and a bit of a

perfectionist taking leaps, not really

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my forte, but I'm working on it.

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So I grew up in Southern

California and I went to university

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in New Jersey where we met.

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And I have since moved to North Carolina.

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I seem to stick to the coastal states.

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I think being near water is

very important for Penelope.

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I think, I know, I know being near

water is very important to me Um, yes.

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So, also another point of our

friendship that we've connected on.

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And I do remember the time that

we went to the beach and I had

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the most righteous sunburn.

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Oh, it was so bad.

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Anyways, I digress.

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But yes, I would agree

that I'm also an old soul.

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I do have this.

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My mom loves to tell the story of

when I was less than a year old, I was

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standing up at my crib and she walks

in the door and she sees my bright, big

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brown eyes and goes, and she's like,

it's almost like you said to me, what

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are you here to teach me this time?

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And I was like, Oh, okay.

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So I've always been friends with people

who are older than myself and had.

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A bit of difficulty relating and

connecting with people my own age.

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So it was very enjoyable to

meet a friend who was about my

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age, who also had similar views.

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I think sometimes we like to joke

that we're 80 year old women trapped

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in late twenties year old bodies.

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Yeah, so I've really learned

to do that and I'm starting to

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make friends of my own age now.

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And sometimes I

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feel like, Ew.

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You're like, woohoo!

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Way to go Alexandra!

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She is really rocking it.

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Anyways.

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But yes, we also share this love of

deep conversations, and I would say

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that I love the ones that come from

a random thought, where we'll call

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each other up and say, Hey, have,

did you see this video I sent you?

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And what did you think?

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And it'll turn into that

conversation for 30 minutes.

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And then we'll jump to something

else for about an hour.

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And by the end, we've had like

these four hour long conversations

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that have been wonderful,

beautiful, and very, very random.

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But they're amazing.

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And we talk about everything from,

you know, health wellness of the

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planet and sustainability to our

own health and wellness, beauty, and

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of course, metaphysics, which is a

huge part of my life right now and

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hopefully for the rest of my life.

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So, and then most of my life

I've had a large acquaintance,

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a circle of acquaintances, but

a handful of very small friends.

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Not small friends.

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A small handful of very close friends whom

I would almost no longer consider friends.

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They are a family to me.

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Growing up in Southern California, both my

parents families were on the East Coast.

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So I was really taught to make

my family where it went and to

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be honest, those people are the

people I cherish most of all.

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And I would almost say Christine

is less of a best friend, even

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though she is, and more of a sister.

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: 00:17:16

I will say that I am an only child.

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But probably throughout this podcast,

you'll hear me refer to sisters

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and they are the people who are

just I hold so near and dear in my

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heart and our family at this point.

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: 00:17:28

So yes, if I confuse people, that is why.

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But yeah, that is that

is a little bit of us.

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: 00:17:34

And so why don't you tell us,

Christine, what are our shared

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: 00:17:39

hopes and dreams for this podcast?

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: 00:17:41

But more importantly, what is your

like, top two hopes and dreams?

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: 00:17:45

Christine: Okay.

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: 00:17:46

Wow.

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: 00:17:47

So I think at the heart of it and

what really inspired the both of us to

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: 00:17:52

create this is we wanted to create a

safe place for ourselves and for others

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: 00:17:58

who may want to join in and chat with

us and be a part of this process of

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learning, growing, and spreading light

instead of negative thoughts and ideas.

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: 00:18:14

Alexandra: that part of what, you

know, going back to what you said

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: 00:18:18

about why you chose the word project.

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: 00:18:20

I would definitely say that one

of my biggest hopes for that, this

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: 00:18:23

joint passion project of ours is

that we see it grow and change and

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: 00:18:28

evolve from this first recording.

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: 00:18:30

And I'd really grow with the community

that we're creating because you guys are

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: 00:18:35

so important who are listening and we

want you to feel like you have a place

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: 00:18:39

And people who hear and see you, and

so that's really my goal, is to create

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: 00:18:43

this community of amazing, like minded

people who have the idea that everyone's

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: 00:18:48

opinions have a right to be heard and

respected, whether or not we agree,

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: 00:18:52

and we can have honest, kind discourse

about that, and I hope that we touch the

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hearts and minds of many, many people.

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: 00:18:59

Christine: And while this is a

podcast and we are talking, we

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also understand and want to.

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Allow people to be heard and

know that listening is more

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important than speaking sometimes.

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So that's definitely the idea.

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I I'm embracing with this

and we'll continue to carry

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: 00:19:26

through as we continue to grow.

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: 00:19:29

So on that note,

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Please connect with us on our social

media and share with us Your thoughts

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: 00:19:36

and hopes for the year ahead.

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: 00:19:38

Thank you all for listening and since this

is launch day, we have dropped a second

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: 00:19:43

episode diving into our first topic.

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: 00:19:46

So we hope to see you over there.

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: 00:19:48

Alexandra: Alright guys, we will

catch you over there and we look

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: 00:19:51

forward to talking with you soon.

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: 00:19:53

Bye.

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: 00:19:56

Enjoying the conversations we're

having and the topics we're discussing?

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: 00:19:59

Consider supporting us through

our Buy Us a Coffee page.

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: 00:20:01

We greatly appreciate any help in

creating this podcast we love so much.

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: 00:20:05

Link in our show notes and link tree.

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: 00:20:07

Before we end, don't forget to

like, subscribe, or follow us on

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: 00:20:10

your preferred listening platforms.

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: 00:20:12

And we'll catch you next time.