WEBVTT - Do lifestyle habits really affect skin health?

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<v Speaker 1>Hey there, welcome to Healthy Ish. You are tuned into

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<v Speaker 1>the daily podcast from Body and Soul. I am Felicity Harley.

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<v Speaker 1>Now have you always wondered how much your lifestyle habits

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<v Speaker 1>affect your skin health? Well, to help clear it up today,

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<v Speaker 1>I am joined by dermatologist doctor Stephanie Ria. She's going

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<v Speaker 1>to explain the impact of your daily habits, your diet

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<v Speaker 1>and stress, and a few other things on the health

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<v Speaker 1>of your skin. Plus she shares some valuable tips. If

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<v Speaker 1>you do like what you hear from let's call It

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<v Speaker 1>Doctor Reha, tune in to Extra Healthy Ish, where she

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<v Speaker 1>talks about how to maintain healthy, glowing skin despite being

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<v Speaker 1>right in the middle of the winter vortex. If you

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<v Speaker 1>want to listen to that one, search for Extra Healthy

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<v Speaker 1>Ish wherever you eat podcasts. Stephanie, thank you for joining

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<v Speaker 1>us on healthy Is today.

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<v Speaker 2>How are you good? Thanks for having me. I'm very

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<v Speaker 2>excited to be here.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'm excited to well, I'm always excited to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about And by the way, listeners, Stephanie's skin is glowing

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<v Speaker 1>through the screen at me. It is just a beautiful

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<v Speaker 1>So we'll get to what you do to maintain good

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<v Speaker 1>skin health. But let's talk about the impact of lifestyle.

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<v Speaker 1>How does it affect our skin health? Does it?

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<v Speaker 2>Is there a big impact here, There's a huge impact.

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<v Speaker 2>So obviously genetics play a role in our skin, but

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<v Speaker 2>the environment and what we're exposed to throughout our life

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<v Speaker 2>plays a really big role. UV is probably the biggest

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<v Speaker 2>impact that we see on our skin. So UV obviously

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<v Speaker 2>contributes to photo aging, It contributes to pigmentation and also

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<v Speaker 2>pre cancerous and cancerous lesions. Sun exposure from other things

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<v Speaker 2>like solarium use can contribute to aging, and then things

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<v Speaker 2>like smoking. Poor diet, specifically a high GI diet we

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<v Speaker 2>see as a factor that contributes to aging in our skin.

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<v Speaker 2>So lifestyle is extremely important when you're trying to maintain

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<v Speaker 2>good skin health.

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<v Speaker 1>It's interesting, is it, because often we just turn to

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<v Speaker 1>products and we think, oh, that's going to help, But

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<v Speaker 1>really by examining your lifestyle that perhaps should be our

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<v Speaker 1>first stop when it comes to looking after our skin.

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<v Speaker 1>Can you talk more about the impact of stress. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean this is a big one. I mean many of

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<v Speaker 1>us live such crazy, busy lives, you know, I feel

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<v Speaker 1>like our stress levels are heightened well, particularly since COVID.

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<v Speaker 1>I just feel like they've never gone down. What impact

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<v Speaker 1>does stress have on our skin?

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<v Speaker 2>I think the way stress impacts our skin is multifactorial.

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<v Speaker 2>So we know that if we're stressed, we sleep poorly.

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<v Speaker 2>Poor sleep can contribute to poor skin health. We also

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<v Speaker 2>know that if we're not sleeping well, we make poor

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<v Speaker 2>dietary choices. If we're stressed, we're grabbing whatever's around, so

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<v Speaker 2>we might be grabbing highly processed foods rather those that

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<v Speaker 2>are unprocessed and high and antioxidants, which are beneficial for

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<v Speaker 2>our skin. And stress also increases our cortisol, and we

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<v Speaker 2>know cortisole can contribute to both aging but also things

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<v Speaker 2>like acne.

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<v Speaker 1>Speaking about my personal experience, you know, I get psoriasis

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<v Speaker 1>here and there, and it's interesting now, you know, I

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<v Speaker 1>know if I've had a stressful week and then it'll

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<v Speaker 1>I might get a little flare up on my on my.

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<v Speaker 2>Elbows one hundred percent. So we know that lots of

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<v Speaker 2>inflammatory skin conditions, So, like you pointed out, zariasis, exma,

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<v Speaker 2>even autoimmune conditions like loopus, which we treat a lot

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<v Speaker 2>as dermatologists, all have a relationship to stress. So stress

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<v Speaker 2>impacts the inflammation in our body and our skin is

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<v Speaker 2>really a representation of what's going on inside. So I

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<v Speaker 2>see quite regularly patients come in and they might have

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<v Speaker 2>had a major lifestyle upset, relationship breakup, a loss of

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<v Speaker 2>a job, and their skin flares quite significantly with that.

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<v Speaker 2>So we do know and we can't underestimate the impact

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<v Speaker 2>that stress has on our skin.

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<v Speaker 1>Do we realize this at the time or are we

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<v Speaker 1>just questioning, oh, I'm having breakouts or this is happening

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<v Speaker 1>with my skin, or many of us aware of this

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<v Speaker 1>link between stress some skin health.

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<v Speaker 2>Look, certainly some people are very clued up, certainly my

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<v Speaker 2>patients that I see with chronic inflammatory skin conditions like psoriasis.

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<v Speaker 2>So you're a prime example. You know your skin really well,

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<v Speaker 2>you know that stress will flare it. But I think

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<v Speaker 2>for other people, when they're in the midst of that stress,

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<v Speaker 2>whatever that may be, they don't necessarily see the correlation.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's only after dealing with that stressful event that

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<v Speaker 2>they then start to pay attention to themselves, including their

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<v Speaker 2>skin health.

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<v Speaker 1>When you're in it, you don't really think about the

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<v Speaker 1>impact you know that's having on your skin. You're thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about just getting through whatever you trying to get through.

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<v Speaker 1>Talk to us about some important lifestyle habits for healthy skin.

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<v Speaker 2>So I think first and foremost is photo protection. So

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<v Speaker 2>we know, as I mentioned earlier, that UV exposure significantly

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<v Speaker 2>contributes to aging and also increases our skin cancer risk.

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<v Speaker 2>So there's a couple of things you can do. The

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<v Speaker 2>first is staying out of the sun when the UV

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<v Speaker 2>indexes three or more. There's lots of really good apps

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<v Speaker 2>around now, so checking your phone the app looking at

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<v Speaker 2>what the UV index is. Ideally it's staying indoors between

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<v Speaker 2>ten am and four pm is the general rule, but

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<v Speaker 2>we do know that the UV will change depending on

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<v Speaker 2>the season, and it will also change depending on your location.

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<v Speaker 2>UV can also penetrate through windows, and specifically it's a

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<v Speaker 2>longer wavelength which is called UVA, and that can contribute

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<v Speaker 2>to aging and photo damage as well. So yeah, sunscreen

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<v Speaker 2>all year round, and that's partly the reason why even

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<v Speaker 2>on cloudy days. So the clouds can stop visible light,

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<v Speaker 2>but they don't stop UV radiation penetrating. And we know

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<v Speaker 2>that sun damage is cumulative, so it adds up over time.

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<v Speaker 2>So when you're looking to protect your skin, to protect

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<v Speaker 2>you from photo aging, we recommend broad spectrum SPS, so

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<v Speaker 2>ideally with a factor of at least fifty one that

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<v Speaker 2>covers uva UVB and then things like physical blockers so

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<v Speaker 2>zinc oxide and titaning dioxide, other things you can do

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<v Speaker 2>for your skin. So avoid smoking. We know smoking is

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<v Speaker 2>a major contribution of aging, and it also contributes to

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<v Speaker 2>other conditions like cardiovascular disease and lung disease. Avoiding solariums.

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<v Speaker 2>Fortunately in Australia they're now banned. And then as I

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<v Speaker 2>mentioned earlier, having a healthy diet where you can, so

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<v Speaker 2>specifically focusing on a low GI diet. We don't necessarily

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<v Speaker 2>recommend restricting certain items of food, there's really not significant

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<v Speaker 2>evidence for that, but low GI and fresh produce where

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<v Speaker 2>you can.

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<v Speaker 1>What are some of your go tos? What do you do?

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<v Speaker 1>I mean obviously all of the above, but what is

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<v Speaker 1>there anything extra you do or anything you've tried in

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<v Speaker 1>the name of good skin health.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so I think you'll be surprised to find that

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of dermatologists actually use really simple skin care.

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<v Speaker 2>So I think the first thing is working out where

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<v Speaker 2>your skin fits in, what type of skin do you have,

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<v Speaker 2>and what are your your skin complaints? Do you have

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<v Speaker 2>dry skin? Does that skin change with the season, in

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<v Speaker 2>which case you need to change your products according to

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<v Speaker 2>the season. Do you have other medical comorbidities that might

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<v Speaker 2>be affecting your skin, like low thyroid or medications that

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<v Speaker 2>can be drying at your skin as well, So I

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<v Speaker 2>think understanding at base where your skin's at, then recognizing

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<v Speaker 2>what your concerns are. So what you want to address,

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<v Speaker 2>is it acne, is it pigmentation? For all of us,

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<v Speaker 2>that should always be sun protection, and then finding products

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<v Speaker 2>which you know are reliable. So for sunscreens as an example,

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<v Speaker 2>there's no one sunscreen that I recommend. The best one

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<v Speaker 2>is one that you're going to apply every day, and

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<v Speaker 2>having a routine that is sustainable is really important. So

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<v Speaker 2>just like you brush your teeth every day, you want

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<v Speaker 2>to apply your sunscreen every day. For cleanses and moisturizers, again,

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<v Speaker 2>it's really just according to your skin complaints. So for

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of us, you know, our barrier can become

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<v Speaker 2>quite dysfunctional if you're applying multiple different harsh products all

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<v Speaker 2>the time. Start with active. An example would be you

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<v Speaker 2>know a product that contains a retinol, rettinou or prescription retinoid,

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<v Speaker 2>and then slowly build that into your team. When we

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<v Speaker 2>see people adding in lots of different products all at once,

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<v Speaker 2>that's when we actually see a lot of other problems

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<v Speaker 2>with our skin. It starts to cause barrier dysfunction. So

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<v Speaker 2>going slowly and just adding in one active at a time,

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<v Speaker 2>should you choose so interesting?

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<v Speaker 1>Simple is always best when it comes to health, wellness

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<v Speaker 1>and absolutely yeah, Stephanie, thank you for joining us today.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks very much. Well.

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<v Speaker 1>Friends, I hope you got some useful wisdom and advice

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<v Speaker 1>out of that one. If you did jump on, tell

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