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Speaker 1: You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast.

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Speaker 2: Mama Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters

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Speaker 2: that this podcast is recorded on Hello future Builders, and

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Speaker 2: welcome to She Built That, the podcast where we discover

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Speaker 2: incredible women who didn't just dream big, they built their futures.

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Speaker 2: Each episode we celebrate extraordinary girls who turn their big

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Speaker 2: ideas into real change, one step at a time. I'm

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Speaker 2: your host, Annals Todd, Mamma MEA's lifestyle writer and for

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Speaker 2: today you're cheerleader with the really bright shoelacers. But before

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Speaker 2: we lace up for today's inspiring story, can you guess

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Speaker 2: which brilliant builder we're focusing on? Mom and Dad Switch

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Speaker 2: on now you don't want to get shown up here.

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Speaker 2: Clue number one. This young advocate started a project with

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Speaker 2: nothing but rainbow beads, a big heart, and a simple

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Speaker 2: idea to make every kid feels safe being themselves. Clue

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Speaker 2: number two. She launched her movement from her kitchen table,

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Speaker 2: and now her message of pride and inclusion has reached

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Speaker 2: schools across Australia and beyond. Clue number three. She believes

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Speaker 2: that kindness doesn't always have to shout. Sometimes it's quietly

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Speaker 2: tied on in the morning before school. Got a guess.

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Speaker 2: If you said Abby Jane, then your pride flag is

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Speaker 2: waving high. Today we're talking about teen advocate and founder

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Speaker 2: of the Rainbow Shoelace Project, Abby Jane, who's helping thousands

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Speaker 2: of kids walk proudly in their own shoes. So pull

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Speaker 2: on your brighter's laces and after the break will step

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Speaker 2: into Abby's world of kindness, courage, and color. The hallways

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Speaker 2: buzzed with morning chatter, shoes squeaking on thenleum floors. But

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Speaker 2: Abby Jane, heart knocking like a tap shoe, checked her

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Speaker 2: shoes one more time, rainbow lacers shining bright. It took

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Speaker 2: courage to show up like this, particularly in a country

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Speaker 2: town like Broken Hill. Would her friends notice, would teachers understand?

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Speaker 2: Would anyone care that the colorful beads threaded onto her

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Speaker 2: shoelaces meant the world to one girl and secretly to

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Speaker 2: so many others, And in classic schoolyard style, would someone

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Speaker 2: tried to swap her veggie might sandwich for it at lunch?

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Speaker 2: Pictured this a creative kid in Australia, loving stories, games

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Speaker 2: and color, never quite seeing families or friendships like hers

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Speaker 2: in posters or on TV. Abby noticed early on that

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Speaker 2: not free classroom or soccer field welcomed kids equally, so

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Speaker 2: she asked, what if there was a simple way to

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Speaker 2: show someone that they belonged, no matter what socks or secrets.

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Speaker 2: They showed up with.

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Speaker 1: The rainbow flag. I mean, it's mainly known as the

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Speaker 1: Pride flag because it is the lgbtqiplus flag, But in

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Speaker 1: my opinion, I think my rainbow beads were a symbol

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Speaker 1: to anyone who had ever felt different that they could

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Speaker 1: be safe and they could be who they are with me.

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Speaker 1: I had originally had rainbow colored beads on my shoelaces

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Speaker 1: because it was just a small way to show who

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Speaker 1: I was to the world, and others could identify seeing

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Speaker 1: those rainbows on my shoes and know that they were

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Speaker 1: supported by me, And my hope was that I would

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Speaker 1: make people feel less alone.

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Speaker 2: From the get go. Abby was a builder of bridges.

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Speaker 2: While some were building lego castles. Well, Abby was doing

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Speaker 2: that as well, but also building connections, sometimes with literal

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Speaker 2: knots and bows, asking questions grown ups still haven't figured out,

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Speaker 2: like if my lasers a rainbow, will people know I

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Speaker 2: like rainbows? Or just think I'm really into unicorns. Why

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Speaker 2: isn't there a club for kids who make friends by

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Speaker 2: sharing their stationary at lunch? Or can kindness go viral

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Speaker 2: if you leave cookie crumbs on the Instagram photo.

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Speaker 1: When I first started the Rainbow Shelace project, I was

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Speaker 1: really lost as to how I would spread my message

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Speaker 1: because I was so far away from the rest of

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Speaker 1: the world in such a tiny town. I felt really isolated,

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Speaker 1: and I had such huge ideas but didn't know how

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Speaker 1: to make them a reality.

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Speaker 2: At first, rainbow lacers seem like a tiny thing, a

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Speaker 2: quiet way to show support for LGBTQIA plus classmates or

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Speaker 2: kids who felt different. But soon friends were swapping out

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Speaker 2: their regular lasers too. Teachers ask questions, parents noticed to

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Speaker 2: that parent at the schoolgate, thinking I just bought new

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Speaker 2: shoes yesterday. Before long, the Rainbow Shoelace project was more

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Speaker 2: than a local crace, it was a movement. Abby Hand

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Speaker 2: wrote notes, packaged beads, shared stories, She posted on socials,

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Speaker 2: and the colors spread.

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Speaker 1: And big help was social media. Starting a social media

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Speaker 1: page spreading not only the Rainbow Shoelace project but my

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Speaker 1: own personal story really connected with people and also reaching

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Speaker 1: out to celebrities and influencers who had a high following

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Speaker 1: so they could promote my project, so then more people

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Speaker 1: could know about it. That in itself is enough to

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Speaker 1: help people see that no matter who you are, how

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Speaker 1: old you are, where you're from, you can make such

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Speaker 1: a huge difference. But I think my biggest help throughout

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Speaker 1: all of that was my mum. She listened to my

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Speaker 1: crazy ideas and made it happen, and she believed in me,

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Speaker 1: and that is all I could ever ask for.

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Speaker 2: It Soon her idea reached new towns, new schools, and

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Speaker 2: even the media. Abby joins me today. She is the

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Speaker 2: founder of the Rainbow Shoelace Project.

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Speaker 1: Abby's rainbow shoelaces and now worn in almost every country.

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Speaker 2: From Broken Hill, she has electrified the world. Turns out,

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Speaker 2: there's nothing more contagious than kindness with a poff of color.

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Speaker 2: But building isn't always easy. Some days it felt like

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Speaker 2: nobody noticed, or worse, there were whispers in the hallway.

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Speaker 1: There are been a lot of times in the Rainbow

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Speaker 1: Shoelace Project where the road has been a bit bumpy.

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Speaker 1: I think the most important to remember when making a

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Speaker 1: change is that it's not always going to be sunshine

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Speaker 1: and rainbows. There are going to be difficult parts of

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Speaker 1: changing the world, and for me, I think my biggest

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Speaker 1: challenges have been getting negative feedback from people from my school,

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Speaker 1: and quite badly, that was really difficult. Trying to maintain

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Speaker 1: your confidence and your passion to keep making a change

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Speaker 1: while people are trying to tear you down is really difficult.

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Speaker 1: But I think, as much as it might be scary,

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Speaker 1: the best thing you can do to help yourself feel

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Speaker 1: better in those situations is to never stop being who

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Speaker 1: you are.

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Speaker 2: But Abby kept going, hanging signs, sending out packs, talking

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Speaker 2: to principles for the grown ups. Imagine trying to explain

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Speaker 2: the postage bill for five hundred rainbow lacers to the

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Speaker 2: family accountant. Still, at every turn she found new allies,

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Speaker 2: friends who wanted to stand tall, parents who cheered her on,

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Speaker 2: even teachers trying to remember how knots work. Step by step,

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Speaker 2: lace by lace. Her project grew school assemblies dedicated to kindness,

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Speaker 2: sports teams swapping in rainbow laces for pride rounds, a

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Speaker 2: classroom full of feet proudly mismatched but united in.

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Speaker 1: Color, seeing people in the wild, as we call it,

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Speaker 1: wearing rainbow beads is one of my favorite parts of

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Speaker 1: having the Rainbow Shoe Lace Project. That is the biggest

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Speaker 1: indication to me that my hard work has actually worked.

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Speaker 1: Seeing people who I don't know just casually wearing rainbow beads,

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Speaker 1: I think about how far my message is spread from

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Speaker 1: the tiny town of Broken Hill to the rest of

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Speaker 1: the world. And even though I'm the founder of the

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Speaker 1: Rainbow Shoe Lace Project, it still makes me feel so

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Speaker 1: safe and seen and reminds me to look up when

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Speaker 1: I see other people wearing rainbow beads.

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Speaker 2: Today. Abby Jane is still a high school student, but

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Speaker 2: also a founder, mentor, and inspiration. She didn't wait to

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Speaker 2: be a grown up build something bold. She was just

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Speaker 2: twelve when she created her own rainbow walkway, one person,

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Speaker 2: one story, one pair of laces at a time. So

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Speaker 2: what would Abbey say to anyone who feels invisible or

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Speaker 2: too small to make a difference.

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Speaker 1: My advice for anyone who has an idea that they

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Speaker 1: are passionate about that they want to pursue is to

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Speaker 1: never dull down your personality. People who are going to

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Speaker 1: support you. Find so much joy in seeing people be themselves,

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Speaker 1: being able to give something for people to relate to

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Speaker 1: is super beautiful and accepting that things won't always go

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Speaker 1: your way. But as long as you continue to keep

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Speaker 1: your passion and your love for what you believe in,

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Speaker 1: that's when it all will become true. Anyone who is

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Speaker 1: feeling different or left out, except that your difference is

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Speaker 1: your super power. Your difference is what makes you so beautiful.

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Speaker 1: When a person shows who they are to the world,

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Speaker 1: the world becomes a better place because being different isn't

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Speaker 1: something that you should be ashamed of. It's something that

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Speaker 1: you should embrace and is something that is going to

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Speaker 1: help change the world.

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Speaker 2: So remember, the world doesn't change because one person runs

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Speaker 2: the fastest. It changes because ordinary people put their best

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Speaker 2: foot forward, literally and figuratively. So next time you tie

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Speaker 2: your shoes or see a rainbow in an unexpected place,

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Speaker 2: think of Abby Jane, the girl who built a brighter

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Speaker 2: world one not at a time. Building kindness is something

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Speaker 2: anyone can do and you don't even need matching socks.

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Speaker 2: And as parents out there, no mismatched socks are a

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Speaker 2: sign of genius failure. Just trust us, don't ask questions.

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Speaker 2: Your challenge this week, find one small thing you can

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Speaker 2: do to make someone else feel noticed, supported, or celebrated.

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Speaker 2: Tie a note to a friend's bag, share a favorite song,

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Speaker 2: or just offer a smile to someone having a rough day.

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Speaker 2: The biggest ways of change start with one small, intentional ripple.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to she built that. And remember, incredible

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Speaker 2: girls don't just dream big, they build their futures. Today's

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Speaker 2: episode was written by Tom Lyon, who also did our

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Speaker 2: sound design. Our executive producer is Courtney Ammenhauser. The producer

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Speaker 2: is Tina Mattlov and I'm your host, Annalie Todd. See

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Speaker 2: you next time when we meet a woman whose path

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Speaker 2: quite literally launched her into the stratosphere. Bye.

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Speaker 1: But as long as you keep being who you are,

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Speaker 1: you will be unstoppable and you will be able to

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Speaker 1: change the world.

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Speaker 2: Okay, well you just made me cry so wow, thank you.

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Speaker 2: I actually can't even see right now. Okay,