Speaker 1: It's the Flavor podcast network.
Speaker 2: Island Roots Auckland Ways.
Speaker 3: This one's for the Brown brothers and sisters who want
Speaker 3: to be one with themselves, their culture, their identity, their roots.
Speaker 2: This is Island Roots, Auckland Ways.
Speaker 3: Can I start this episode with an impression of you?
Speaker 1: Yes, of course? What it is?
Speaker 3: What it be?
Speaker 2: Okay everyone? That was my impression of.
Speaker 3: Marina to start out this week's episode.
Speaker 1: Wow, I mean, I must say, I think I sound
Speaker 1: more annoying than that. I don't like the sound of
Speaker 1: my own voice.
Speaker 4: Are you serious? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I listen to mine, it's like uh, nails on chalkboard.
Speaker 3: But when I listen to yours, I'm like, Wow, someone's
Speaker 3: really changed.
Speaker 2: At Aaron's end, you can.
Speaker 1: Tell welcome to the podcast this week, gir, how are you?
Speaker 2: I am good? I am good.
Speaker 3: I am so excited because today.
Speaker 2: We have on the beautiful Zaria Yoka.
Speaker 3: And she's such a freaking beautiful angel, such a nice
Speaker 3: presence to be around, Like I just want to be
Speaker 3: around it all the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah. She's calm, she's flowy, she's beautiful, she's beautiful, she's Astana.
Speaker 1: Before we get into the episode, I have three shout
Speaker 1: outs to make two girls that I meet in Wellington
Speaker 1: and my mom graduated. Mia and Sarifa, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for coming up and saying hi. They seen that
Speaker 1: they love to you and Lissa, they say that they
Speaker 1: love you girl. You're the Queen. Miya and Sarifa second
Speaker 1: year law students.
Speaker 4: I believe Good Girls is.
Speaker 1: A third shout out from Milly, who listens every single week.
Speaker 1: Shout out from the germ and actually one of one
Speaker 1: of the gems and REWA.
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh my gosh, okay, I'm gonna try to find you, Milly.
Speaker 2: What jim are you at?
Speaker 4: Girl?
Speaker 1: I'll tell you off the mic after the episode begins.
Speaker 3: Now, welcome back to another episode of Island Routes kan Ways.
Speaker 3: Let's hear it from our favorite TikTok queen Mom full
Speaker 3: inster and style. I can't Zaria your guy?
Speaker 4: Sorry?
Speaker 5: How are We're feeling great this morning? A little bit
Speaker 5: nervous but feeling good.
Speaker 1: She's feeling nervous, but it's okay. You have nothing to
Speaker 1: be nervous.
Speaker 3: Actually nothing, well actually nobody.
Speaker 2: Like no one must girl.
Speaker 1: Oh Zaria, did you get it all right? You're west, saida,
Speaker 1: aren't you? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah? How is traffic it was actually there was no traffic.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it was really good.
Speaker 1: You know how Auckland be Saria. Every episode we share
Speaker 1: what we love about home, So where you currently live,
Speaker 1: maybe that time where you were born, where you feel grounded,
Speaker 1: whatever feels to you as home. What is home and
Speaker 1: what do you love about it? We'll start off first,
Speaker 1: and what I love about home this week is being
Speaker 1: able to actually go home because I now flat. I've
Speaker 1: gone flaring so moved out of home. I actually don't
Speaker 1: live that far away from my family home. I live
Speaker 1: like two streets away. So the benefit of that is
Speaker 1: going from the flat to home.
Speaker 2: And your papa cooked for you last night.
Speaker 1: Yes, I had oca roast garloor. It was just so
Speaker 1: it just yeah, it just hit different not having to cook.
Speaker 5: Yes, yes, doing your shopping from your parents' cupboard.
Speaker 1: Yes, definitely. Yeah. I took a whole bunch of stuff,
Speaker 1: took that old glass contained meal. Prepping at the moment
Speaker 1: because we're trying to get into seventy five hard girl. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's all going on. What do you love about home, Melissa?
Speaker 3: What I love about home is my dad. I had
Speaker 3: a different answer, but then I just remembered something that
Speaker 3: my dad seemed to me last night. And my dad
Speaker 3: and I we've had a journey. It's been a thing.
Speaker 3: And if you're if you know me personally, you know
Speaker 3: what I mean.
Speaker 2: But he sent me.
Speaker 3: This picture of like a old book he had and
Speaker 3: I had laminated a bunch of prayers and put them
Speaker 3: in this book, and a lot of the prayers speak
Speaker 3: to like peace and justice and love and joy. And
Speaker 3: I just realized, like, damn, I've always been this way.
Speaker 3: I've always been a love of girl. I've always been
Speaker 3: had the sense of like like urgency for peace, you know,
Speaker 3: all these things. And I was like, it just gave
Speaker 3: me so much I don't know. I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: everything's going.
Speaker 2: To be okay.
Speaker 3: Little me knew the things she wanted to value in life,
Speaker 3: and it was just a reminder of how how much
Speaker 3: if it and work my dad and I have put
Speaker 3: into building this really cool relationship that we have now.
Speaker 3: So I love my dad and I love the way
Speaker 3: our relationship has taught me to value things like peace
Speaker 3: and justice and love. So yeah, that's what I love
Speaker 3: about her. This way we love your uncle. Yeah, he's lovely.
Speaker 1: Zaria has been thinking about what she loves about home, girl,
Speaker 1: What is it?
Speaker 5: I am born and raised in west Auckland, so you
Speaker 5: will always have my heart.
Speaker 2: West is best.
Speaker 5: When I think about home, west Auckland, no matter where
Speaker 5: it is, will be my home.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Always.
Speaker 1: Whereabouts are we talking and we say I do Yeah.
Speaker 5: As of recently, I've moved Toto Peninsula and that is
Speaker 5: a vibe. But I was born and raised in Hindo,
Speaker 5: so from.
Speaker 1: Hando to tat Okay. I put this on my Instagram
Speaker 1: the other week because we were is it we study?
Speaker 1: Oh we're city and wow.
Speaker 5: You know you know Hindo is meet up central that
Speaker 5: all the meetups went down back in the day.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, what are like three words you would
Speaker 4: use tobscribe Hindus for people like myself who are unfamiliar.
Speaker 2: I would say Hindo is special.
Speaker 5: I would say, honestly it probably couldn't think of any
Speaker 5: other words Hindosindo says you got to experience you.
Speaker 1: Ratchet Okay, Okay, I do agree with that. Ratchet homely
Speaker 1: though in that way, like I truly felt like I
Speaker 1: was back home in South Okay because sometimes when you're
Speaker 1: in some parts of West it's giving us like you
Speaker 1: feel like you're in a different country. It's so big
Speaker 1: and it's so spacious. Yeah, so many suburbs.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: We did go to new Land recently and that was
Speaker 3: an experience.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I feel like New Learner is a bit different.
Speaker 5: But I would say Hindo, like Hindo is a type
Speaker 5: of place you can rock up if you don't feel
Speaker 5: like seeing anyone or being dressed a certain way, like
Speaker 5: if you just want if you just want to go
Speaker 5: and have like when we want butter chicken, or just
Speaker 5: go over to Hindo in any old thing, rock up
Speaker 5: and whatever.
Speaker 2: It's just comfortable.
Speaker 5: It just feels like you're just no one's judging you,
Speaker 5: like everyone's on.
Speaker 1: The same level. Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2: It's great.
Speaker 1: Great is my favorite.
Speaker 2: I can't do it because it's it's done so much
Speaker 2: for me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, It's built you grow.
Speaker 1: I was talking about this on my radio show because
Speaker 1: I was talking about the occasion that I went out
Speaker 1: to we City and someone from we Stalkland was like, man,
Speaker 1: you're judging so hard. And I'm like, I'm literally from
Speaker 1: the getto myself. It's not act like I live in Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm from Yeah, I'm well, you stalk yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm did. I never take it personally.
Speaker 5: I always felt it's crack up it is, but I
Speaker 5: feel like, yeah, it is what it is, but it's
Speaker 5: it's special.
Speaker 1: So I want to try the butter chicken from Slaps.
Speaker 3: Yeah, can you take us on like a tour around side?
Speaker 1: So this is where meet up.
Speaker 5: Were being happy to do meet ups at hindos. So
Speaker 5: we've like got certain spots around that more that signify.
Speaker 1: It's so good.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: Okay, well, I guess the place that most people would
Speaker 3: know you from is TikTok.
Speaker 2: So let's talk about it. Girl.
Speaker 3: You create like these iconic daily blog videos, share your
Speaker 3: beautiful family with us, and your medicine studies because soon
Speaker 3: to be ductor how did you get your start on TikTok?
Speaker 3: Like how did you decide that? Yeah, I'm gonna start
Speaker 3: posting daily blogs.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I feel like I've always I know everyone says this,
Speaker 5: but I've always liked making videos. I used to make,
Speaker 5: you know, like what's it called music videos and skits
Speaker 5: on windows?
Speaker 2: Movie making?
Speaker 5: Yeah, like film on my mom's camera and then upload
Speaker 5: it and then edit and everything. So all my close
Speaker 5: friends and family, I'm a video girl Love. I think
Speaker 5: it was when me and my husband got married. I
Speaker 5: just ended up posting a couple of snippets, and then
Speaker 5: I think that's when I started getting a little bit
Speaker 5: of a following, which made it easier to launch, and
Speaker 5: followed you yes yes, commenting on one of my videos,
Speaker 5: and that's when I think I started posting. When I
Speaker 5: found out I was having my son, and I started
Speaker 5: posting more vlogs. Yeah, but I did actually post a
Speaker 5: couple of years ago when I did first Year, but
Speaker 5: they were so cringe and I deleted them. But I
Speaker 5: actually I had previously vlogged, but they were so cringey.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, So you followed me on Instagram and I
Speaker 3: was like instant follow back ter I had seen you
Speaker 3: on my for you page, and then I think we
Speaker 3: followed each other on TikTok. But I treat my TikTok
Speaker 3: like a close friends, like the friends only goes off
Speaker 3: for me, And that was one thing that was really
Speaker 3: I was like, sorry, I was gonna see I'm a
Speaker 3: fucking freak. She's gonna see all my lane videos. Who
Speaker 3: is this girl?
Speaker 1: So it's comforting to.
Speaker 3: Know that you also think some of your old content
Speaker 3: is a little bit cringe.
Speaker 2: No, I think we all treat our tech talk like
Speaker 2: a close friends.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I know I feel that way about myself as well.
Speaker 5: But no, I think I love following so many different
Speaker 5: people on TikTok, especially if I see people make effort
Speaker 5: to make content. I really try my best to follow
Speaker 5: back regardless because I feel like I've been shown so
Speaker 5: much kindness in the industry. I do my best to
Speaker 5: try and yeah, give it back.
Speaker 3: Are there some people on TikTok who you really look
Speaker 3: up to?
Speaker 2: Like who like TikTok icons for you? Yeah?
Speaker 5: I love Jane Ju and she recently followed me back,
Speaker 5: and I was like fangirl moment because I've loved her
Speaker 5: for years. But she would be my favorite, I would say,
Speaker 5: and then Sam, but she's one of my friends. Also,
Speaker 5: Miss Richard's oh teacher.
Speaker 2: I think she's so we're both swift.
Speaker 1: She's the school teacher.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's so cool. Oh my god, what an icon?
Speaker 2: He yes she is. That's crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Man, you're so personable and friendly. I feel like
Speaker 1: you're like the You're the happy girl, lucky girl of TikTok,
Speaker 1: because you know TikTok if you like and we know
Speaker 1: from putting our show videos on our page. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: kind of liked and we kind of not, like, are.
Speaker 2: You guys not liked? I didn't know that.
Speaker 3: I think it comes. I think people hate to see
Speaker 3: brown people winning. Yeah, I think there is a lot
Speaker 3: of what it is and not an elitist, but sometimes
Speaker 3: I'm like, you just fucking wish she had a podcast.
Speaker 3: I think that's the problem. Or you just kept someone
Speaker 3: in a bad day and they like, I don't know.
Speaker 3: Oh no, I feel that biggest haters for me. I
Speaker 3: feel like the ones that hate or that I felt
Speaker 3: like have hated on me is because they want to
Speaker 3: start a tech talk and comfortable enough in their own
Speaker 3: skin to do it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's on them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. I remember I remember following you when you
Speaker 1: got married, when you're still zaria Fa. Yes, yes, I
Speaker 1: think I might be related to you because we've got
Speaker 1: some related Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's hard. Yeah, that's so. Yeah, that's my dad's side.
Speaker 2: Wow offers.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that was a big one for me changing my
Speaker 5: last name, but happy to rip my hobby.
Speaker 1: How did you disc that medicine was the right study
Speaker 1: route for you? Was it always medicine going into Uni.
Speaker 5: So in high school I did science and and year
Speaker 5: ten I did Wow. So I was like, oh, I
Speaker 5: always wanted to be a forensic scientist growing up because
Speaker 5: my mum used to watch CSI her shows.
Speaker 1: I want to do that, that's me.
Speaker 5: And then I did science, did well in that, and
Speaker 5: I was like, oh, you know what, maybe I might
Speaker 5: try and be a doctor. And yeah, that was my
Speaker 5: moment of realization.
Speaker 1: And that was it. When did you enroll into university?
Speaker 1: And how was that first year of met? Because I
Speaker 1: had that's quite hard.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's traumatizing. I came back when I was twenty three.
Speaker 5: I came back, so I had live life a little bit,
Speaker 5: had my daughter, worked a full time job, and then
Speaker 5: I hated my job so much. I was working at
Speaker 5: Winds working in pump Wow. And it was because I
Speaker 5: hated my job. No, I was like on the phones.
Speaker 5: I was a CSR.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, but it taught me a lot.
Speaker 5: That job taught me a lot. And so my husband
Speaker 5: actually and that. Yeah, so he went back and I
Speaker 5: was like, hey, like, how can you go back when
Speaker 5: we have like a kid.
Speaker 2: That's strange. But then he got interesting decision making.
Speaker 5: I was like, okay, like because you know my family,
Speaker 5: my mom's like, you know, being a mom is you know,
Speaker 5: really important? That should be priority. So I was like, yeah,
Speaker 5: I'd ridden off my dream. And then yeah, I saw
Speaker 5: my husband do it, and I was like, you know what,
Speaker 5: why not give it a crack. So I went back
Speaker 5: the year after him and then got in as well.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I was happy about that.
Speaker 1: Awesome. How is studying medicine I imagine it would I've
Speaker 1: studying hid in the box?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, yeah, I think it is.
Speaker 5: It is a hard degree, I would say, but I
Speaker 5: would say it's doable. Like I think people have this
Speaker 5: real idea of medicine that you can't have a life,
Speaker 5: you can't do this and there, and it's just all
Speaker 5: your head in the books.
Speaker 2: It's really not.
Speaker 5: If you look at me and my husband and we
Speaker 5: are very relaxed with it. And I think if you're
Speaker 5: just smart about approaching the degree and knowing what you
Speaker 5: need to study, I think it's fine.
Speaker 1: Maori Pacific mid students.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I think I believe about each of the
Speaker 5: cohorts have about twenty percent Maldi and PACIFICA.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, that's good. Does it feel nice to have
Speaker 1: some sort of camaraderie and amongst the cohort.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it does. I personally am not on campus much
Speaker 5: to know. I've personally just want it more efficient for
Speaker 5: me to study at home because of pick up and
Speaker 5: drop off of my daughter. So I'll just go on
Speaker 5: when I have like labs or something compulsory.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 3: I also found that when I was on campus, because
Speaker 3: I'm such a yeaper girl, I just want to know
Speaker 3: what everyone else is up to, and then by the
Speaker 3: end of the day no energy to do my own
Speaker 3: work because I just spent the whole day talking socializement.
Speaker 3: Buy meal, you love a budget meal? Can you meals
Speaker 3: so they don't existing women? I think that is what
Speaker 3: we're so in first year when we went howling, like
Speaker 3: twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen was our first year, six dollars
Speaker 3: fifty from any spot on campus got you a budgy meal.
Speaker 3: So we always go to Gorilla Dumplings and get six
Speaker 3: doors fifty and it was like ten dumplings.
Speaker 1: Yeap leather with chili oil, soy sauce, have it and
Speaker 1: Albert Park breakfast.
Speaker 3: Lunch and dinner quite literally anything.
Speaker 2: But to be fair, I'm on Grafton, so I don't
Speaker 2: know the rules.
Speaker 5: It's different and we don't have we only have like
Speaker 5: one cafe and then Saint Pierres across the road.
Speaker 2: Which also takes out to pay. Did you know that
Speaker 2: I did not?
Speaker 3: Sames takes after same per takes after pay.
Speaker 1: Now, I'm sorry if you're needing to after pay sat
Speaker 1: prs walk girl.
Speaker 4: Have you after paid ps? One day I did after paid.
Speaker 4: I bought okay, what I bought lunch for everyone?
Speaker 3: It worked okay, and I after paid the whole lunch,
Speaker 3: mother to mother to resard myself. No, I think I
Speaker 3: after paid like a booty band once that was like
Speaker 3: twenty bucks, like five bucks. I definitely after like because
Speaker 3: the warehouse takes after paying.
Speaker 2: I deal to pay something.
Speaker 3: Put it on the on the payment is like adult
Speaker 3: put that out.
Speaker 1: Actually for the for the plot, let's get into this
Speaker 1: love story. Girl, did you and your husband meet? What
Speaker 1: is the tea from? After paid?
Speaker 5: We met playing under sixteen tag, so we played all
Speaker 5: met at the World Cup, both ripping ins in but
Speaker 5: no it was yeah everyone that child made the team
Speaker 5: so and he just he was on crutches, so he
Speaker 5: was injured. After our final against Australia and he just
Speaker 5: crushed up to me and asked how it went.
Speaker 1: And the history together.
Speaker 3: How did you know he was like the one? Because
Speaker 3: I think this is something I'm struggling.
Speaker 1: With because you were married, that's like nick level.
Speaker 2: I'm going to be honest.
Speaker 5: I think I loved him from the go. I was
Speaker 5: like you are you are my guy. But I think
Speaker 5: for us to mutually agree on that was like a process.
Speaker 5: So yeah, so yeah, lovers lover is love.
Speaker 1: Love is wild, especially young love while you're trying to
Speaker 1: come to terms with your guys individual identities and through
Speaker 1: high school and stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think I think what people see on tektok is
Speaker 5: only where we are now. But I feel like it
Speaker 5: was definitely a journey and we did have to navigate
Speaker 5: things that you do go through when you're young. Yeah
Speaker 5: my hand, when you're a twelve y Yes, I mean
Speaker 5: looking back now, what do seventeen year olds know about
Speaker 5: being together?
Speaker 2: It's a massive commitment.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so yeah, I would say that it took me
Speaker 5: a lot of years of maturity to understand that. But
Speaker 5: I think trying to find your independence and mature when
Speaker 5: you're in a relationship is different, Like takes a different
Speaker 5: type of like when you're as opposed to when you're single,
Speaker 5: you don't. You kind of have to really prioritize that
Speaker 5: if you want to get there. Yeah, so that's been
Speaker 5: a journey as well being more independent and yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah that's something that I feel like I'm almost too
Speaker 3: independent now.
Speaker 2: Like that's great.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's also a really great thing. But then like
Speaker 3: I'll go on dates with people and I only ask
Speaker 3: them questions about themselves, and they like, I don't often
Speaker 3: give them the space to ask me anything, which is
Speaker 3: not a thing. But then also like I'll be with
Speaker 3: a guy and he'll go to open the door for me,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, what the what the.
Speaker 2: Fuck do you think you're doing?
Speaker 3: And I'm like, oh, I'm actually being rude because I
Speaker 3: need to let him show me that care and attention.
Speaker 3: So I'm almost flip side of that. Yeah, but two
Speaker 3: single ladies with it.
Speaker 5: But I think when you work so hard to get
Speaker 5: everything you have, you're not just gonna let some dusty ass.
Speaker 3: It's also very, very, very true because.
Speaker 5: I tell my sister the same thing. She's on the
Speaker 5: same journey. She's so accomplished, she's studying full time working
Speaker 5: full time, got her own apartment, she's she's a dog
Speaker 5: mom and I that's what I mean. And I see,
Speaker 5: I'm like, why would you lower that standard for anyone period?
Speaker 5: So yeah, but I do feel for you guys, because
Speaker 5: I think that some of the males here and orkand
Speaker 5: are just trash.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna be honest, and you would be correct.
Speaker 2: I've heard as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of that is a very accurate opinion.
Speaker 1: And lucky for you, you don't got to worry about
Speaker 1: all of them. Being a young mama, what advice would
Speaker 1: you give to other young moms. What were the emotions
Speaker 1: you were going through, and how's your experience being a mom?
Speaker 1: First to your daughter, Shiloh.
Speaker 5: I think with Shy, because I had her when I
Speaker 5: was nineteen, I think I was navigating being a teen mom.
Speaker 2: And also I lived at home.
Speaker 5: I still live at home with my parents, so and
Speaker 5: my parents they're so hands on, like they love their grandbabies.
Speaker 5: They're very like they're the apple of their eyes kind
Speaker 5: of thing. So I think for me, I didn't really
Speaker 5: grow up when I had Shy. I was still kind
Speaker 5: of like it's like we're sisters. And I think to
Speaker 5: this day sometimes I find it tricky navigating her world.
Speaker 5: So I went on a school trip with her recently,
Speaker 5: and I think I just felt like a teen mom still.
Speaker 5: Even though I am like an older mom, you still
Speaker 5: kind of against the moms that of, you know, the
Speaker 5: kids that are her age group. I think I still
Speaker 5: feel young and incompetent sometimes.
Speaker 3: But yeah, that's something we were talking to Jordan with
Speaker 3: the WI about, is the sense of like imposter syndrome.
Speaker 3: Do you almost get in post syndrome as a mum?
Speaker 2: Definitely, Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 5: I think with Houston, because I was older and it
Speaker 5: was obviously expected, Yeah, I was like, you know, I
Speaker 5: know what I'm getting in for, and as he's gone
Speaker 5: through his milestones, I grew with him. But with Shiloh,
Speaker 5: honestly me, I was taking her out to the driving
Speaker 5: range with me and my friends at like two am.
Speaker 5: We were making the track out south from West Yeah.
Speaker 2: I love it. No carsie, We're just being in the
Speaker 2: back seat jamming.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 5: That's the thing I feel like when you're young, you
Speaker 5: don't really know. Well, me I was, I was really immature.
Speaker 5: So I feel like I have grown up with her,
Speaker 5: like as we've kind of been like sisters. So I
Speaker 5: feel like I'm learning to navigate, to have more confidence
Speaker 5: in myself and just yeah, that's why I went on
Speaker 5: her school trip to try and you know, connect with
Speaker 5: her and get more into her world.
Speaker 2: And those parents.
Speaker 5: Word, it's a bit scary, but what a courageous Yeah,
Speaker 5: it is really scary. It's not so it's as scary.
Speaker 5: It's not so much to go. I meant like, you
Speaker 5: feel like the small talk with other parents. I don't
Speaker 5: know if that's common knowledge, but I feel like I
Speaker 5: find that so like I roll my eyes every time
Speaker 5: I have something like I have to if I have
Speaker 5: to take her somewhere.
Speaker 2: I feel like you don't know that you have to
Speaker 2: actually talk with other parents.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and when your social battery is gone after a
Speaker 5: long day, all you want to do is just go
Speaker 5: and watch your cad, like when I took her to
Speaker 5: dance and everything. But you're chatting on the sideline with
Speaker 5: like other parents who are nosy a if, so you know,
Speaker 5: you're kind of almost like if you don't know how
Speaker 5: to navigate those situations, you're almost just giving.
Speaker 2: Your life story to them. Yeah, just because they're so
Speaker 2: nosy where we live.
Speaker 3: Yeah, anyway, now, I think that that sounds like a
Speaker 3: pretty accurate description of a lot of parents out there.
Speaker 3: And I think also people love to gossip and they
Speaker 3: just want to know what's happening in your life, so
Speaker 3: they can probably feel bit about this.
Speaker 2: You're perfectly honest, definitely.
Speaker 3: But like I can imagine that the small talk, even
Speaker 3: sometimes when I have small talk with that older people
Speaker 3: just like, oh, you really don't understand what it's like
Speaker 3: to be me, and I also don't understand what it's
Speaker 3: like to be you, And that is totally fine, but
Speaker 3: why are you coming up with my girl talking shit?
Speaker 5: Like Yeah, a hundred percent. I think our generations like
Speaker 5: a bit different, So trying to connect with some of
Speaker 5: some of them are great, the ones that are willing
Speaker 5: to like come down and meet you where you are.
Speaker 5: But the ones that are just set in their ways,
Speaker 5: I feel like it makes it a bit hard to
Speaker 5: connect with, you know. Yeah, and parenting styles also have
Speaker 5: changed a lot, Oh yeah, I feel so they're probably
Speaker 5: like I don't know, people just have a lot of
Speaker 5: very intense opinions about how you should parent your child,
Speaker 5: for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, on there have people tried to give you unsolicited
Speaker 1: parenting advice before.
Speaker 5: No, honestly, only from only my mom my heart. I
Speaker 5: will take it from her any day because she has
Speaker 5: done so much for me and especially my kids.
Speaker 2: I don't I could.
Speaker 5: I wouldn't be able to get through mid school without
Speaker 5: the support of my parents. So she can have all
Speaker 5: the opinions she wants. We've gotten into it many times.
Speaker 3: But yeah, would you say you're more of a gentle
Speaker 3: parent or a bit more direct?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm a gentle parent.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think I always get told that I could be
Speaker 5: a bit stricter and discipline a little bit more. But
Speaker 5: I definitely believe my daughter and I have conversations. We're
Speaker 5: very conversational, and she's very much me. Starts like parenting myself.
Speaker 3: So what role has your cultural background like played in
Speaker 3: your journey? I guess, you know, with the whole parenting thing,
Speaker 3: you really it's not going to be like a lot of.
Speaker 5: I would say, honestly, I would say that when I
Speaker 5: went to UNI and learned about you know, how they
Speaker 5: kind of teach you about racism and how it can
Speaker 5: look differently, I think I started to look at take
Speaker 5: a hard look at myself and see where I gotten
Speaker 5: some of these ideas from and then I think I
Speaker 5: started shifting my mindset to start admiring and looking up
Speaker 5: to brown women and seeing them as cool. And then
Speaker 5: I think ever since then, I felt like I felt
Speaker 5: most confident in myself or more comfortable in my skin.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I'd say that was a big one for me.
Speaker 3: I love that going to UNI was a huge part
Speaker 3: of my journey as well, like studying Pacific studies. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I think even just during one class really just opened
Speaker 3: up my mind and I had had to learn to
Speaker 3: be proud of my son wornness through experiences of racism,
Speaker 3: so to go to UNI and finally learn to be
Speaker 3: proud because of the epic things that our ancestors went through,
Speaker 3: like that was that was so affirming. Yeah, and I
Speaker 3: like I will always be like education is really important,
Speaker 3: Like going to UNI, especially as a Pacific person, to
Speaker 3: break those cycles is really important. It's not for everyone,
Speaker 3: but if you are academic minded or into that, I
Speaker 3: really do want to push people in that direction.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree completely.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you do so many You do so many things,
Speaker 3: being a mom, being a wife. East to see you
Speaker 3: to see what are some of the things that you
Speaker 3: do to show up for yourself and really feel like yourself.
Speaker 3: I was actually thinking of this question, and I think
Speaker 3: every day, one thing I do, like it's a non negotiable.
Speaker 3: It's the only thing I do that's non negotiable every
Speaker 3: day is have a morning shower.
Speaker 5: I'm a morning shower person always, so I was thinking
Speaker 5: about it and realistically, it's the only thing that will
Speaker 5: be reliable for me every single day.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 5: So yeah, that would be my way of showing up
Speaker 5: for myself realistically.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And its taking a moment to just like really
Speaker 2: clean yourself.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and being real like when you have like just
Speaker 5: normal life, it's hard to try and set self care time,
Speaker 5: even though that is important. But for every day, definitely
Speaker 5: having my morning shower, I think about the day, are
Speaker 5: head and just even just it feels nice. Yeah, And
Speaker 5: it makes me feel clean to start my day so fresh.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: What is your non negotiable, Melissa?
Speaker 2: Every Day my non negotiable.
Speaker 3: I really love. I mean it's not always a non negotiable,
Speaker 3: but I do love to be in bed for like
Speaker 3: at least an hour before I actually have to go
Speaker 3: to sleep. Like there's something about like settling down, like
Speaker 3: closing the day, cleaning my room, rotting jing out and
Speaker 3: the bed and like just watching something. It could be
Speaker 3: like one or two episodes of any show and I
Speaker 3: don't even actually have to be watching it. I could
Speaker 3: be on TikTok. Yeah, but that is the non negotiable,
Speaker 3: I think, Yeah, what.
Speaker 1: About you morning shower? Yes, okay, I.
Speaker 3: Would say night shower. Then that's a negoiable, A night shower,
Speaker 3: A night shower girl.
Speaker 2: Wait, so do you feel clean when you wake up
Speaker 2: in the morning.
Speaker 3: Well, I do, but there are times where, especially in summer,
Speaker 3: I'm like, let's just have another shower.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 5: I always feel just grows when I wake up in
Speaker 5: the morning, like I need a shower. Yeah, I don't know,
Speaker 5: but I've always wandered with the nighttime girlies, the ones
Speaker 5: that prefer and don't need a morning shower.
Speaker 2: Do you just feel fresh when you wake up? I
Speaker 2: think I do.
Speaker 3: Just feel fresh when I wake up, brush my hair,
Speaker 3: and then I'm good to go obviously make up and
Speaker 3: out everything else.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I have to do both.
Speaker 2: Yeah, do you shower both?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, stinky book, But.
Speaker 1: When you go to an all boys high school, like
Speaker 1: You'm got to make sure your ass is clean. I
Speaker 1: don't want any of that coming back to you. I
Speaker 1: would have to say a really made bed, like I
Speaker 1: can't leave home without my bed having been made, Okay,
Speaker 1: I just feel incomplete.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I am definitely like a Sunday reset person or
Speaker 3: like a Yeah, I would say, like a Sunday night reset,
Speaker 3: get a hit for the week, and then that's when
Speaker 3: I like, change my sheets, oh yeah, make my bed properly,
Speaker 3: clean up my makeup area, and then the room was
Speaker 3: like sit up, all good for the week. Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 3: that's nice.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Do you feel like it stays kind of set up
Speaker 5: until the next Sunday or do you have a lot
Speaker 5: to do?
Speaker 4: Nah?
Speaker 2: I don't think it stays set up.
Speaker 3: And I'm also such a fashion girly that I have
Speaker 3: to try on like outfits at least four times that
Speaker 3: I was for the day. So there's just ship everywhere. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that's my room.
Speaker 1: And on that note, let's go to Our Rapid Fire.
Speaker 1: Our Rapid Fire a game that we have for you, Zaria.
Speaker 1: We don't have enough time to load on the audio,
Speaker 1: so we.
Speaker 3: Can sing it for you. Yeah, three two one.
Speaker 1: These are a few love my favorite things, basically just
Speaker 1: your favorites.
Speaker 3: From these different categories. Okay, so rapid fire, think of
Speaker 3: whatever your favorite clothing brand is.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, I've got it. Yeah yeah, okay, girls, I
Speaker 2: do love girls. I want to be an Earl's girl.
Speaker 5: I just want to say I from their first collection,
Speaker 5: like okay, and when they had only a couple of
Speaker 5: hundred followers of that, I was like in their comments
Speaker 5: tagging hobby, I think they did like a giveaway American brand. No,
Speaker 5: I think they're Australian. But I think Louis or Lewis
Speaker 5: the guy cut that out. Well, he was like from
Speaker 5: he played in n r L and then he went
Speaker 5: over top.
Speaker 2: I think he was a key with appeared a partner.
Speaker 3: They did the Essex Yes Essex collection. Yea, I love
Speaker 3: those shoes, but they were so expensive.
Speaker 2: I die for a period of those literally.
Speaker 5: But yeah, I feel like to have like a strong
Speaker 5: shoe game, you got to have supporting clothes and budget could.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It was from the shorts, yeah, like everyone's copy them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it was only through your tiktoks that I found
Speaker 1: out that it was actually did other pieces of clothing.
Speaker 5: It was just sure, yeah famous through their shorts a way.
Speaker 5: They one of the first to do that basketball short vibe.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I remember this gray jumper with the matching
Speaker 3: shorts that I really wanted. It must have been in
Speaker 3: twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2: I think everyone had it, but I was like, I
Speaker 2: want that jumping up.
Speaker 5: Yes, yeah, I think I went to a six sixty
Speaker 5: concert and they're earl shorts and it wasn't when it
Speaker 5: was mainstream.
Speaker 2: Year, and I was like, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1: These are my favorite. It's from the set of music.
Speaker 3: It is, Yeah, your favorite, mum essential. It could be
Speaker 3: a thing, it could be a routine.
Speaker 5: Probably the Swiss ball. That's how I rocked my kids
Speaker 5: to sleep. It's very bad, but the house when you
Speaker 5: don't want to rock them stands because you get them
Speaker 5: used to doing that, to like being bounced.
Speaker 2: You set them up and.
Speaker 1: Then they weren't going to sleep. Yeah any other way.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was a joke when my second one came
Speaker 5: that we were going to throw the Swiss ball out Poppet.
Speaker 5: It didn't get It's still on my blogs.
Speaker 2: You'll see it on the back of my love that
Speaker 2: I love that. That's the purpose of that.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, wow, I didn't know that. It's like
Speaker 3: I have to listen to as full of sleep. It's
Speaker 3: like one of those things you have to do stuff regulate.
Speaker 2: Okay, are a.
Speaker 1: Few favorite things, and we really don't need audio.
Speaker 3: Your favorite sum one food gallow for sure, you girl,
Speaker 3: not funny noll? Yeah, no, no, gallow for sure. Yeah,
Speaker 3: my dad's big on the bananas, but it's just not
Speaker 3: really for me.
Speaker 1: The sweetness I can taste.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what about you? Yeah, I like.
Speaker 1: Hang out.
Speaker 3: My favorite coffee order. Okay, yes, this is what I
Speaker 3: wanted to ask you about.
Speaker 2: Wet.
Speaker 3: You're a nice letter and you just have regular milk
Speaker 3: up with it.
Speaker 2: I know.
Speaker 5: I used to do the whole oat milk and stuff
Speaker 5: to be special. I did, and then I was like,
Speaker 5: you know what, I love regular milk, so.
Speaker 3: You don't have tummy problems like me.
Speaker 2: No, I love it for you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm a dairy girl. I love cheese milk cream.
Speaker 3: There is such a flick to be like, yeah, just
Speaker 3: regular milk. Thanks, it's as the cheapest.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I love regular milk, so yeah, I'm jealous.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: Last one my favorite and things. Okay, we don't know
Speaker 3: if we've phrased this correctly, but meat specialization. Oh yeah,
Speaker 3: because there's something in the medicine area that you're like, Nah,
Speaker 3: I think that's the one I want to do.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I want to be a GP So I like
Speaker 5: the idea of having my own little clinic and actually
Speaker 5: talking with my patients and building relationship.
Speaker 1: I've always wanted to.
Speaker 5: Do that, so I hope that that stays with me
Speaker 5: after I do my placements and everything.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Watch, once you start up your little I will enroll
Speaker 1: me too.
Speaker 2: Love it. Please take good care of you guys. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you've been Thank you so much for coming on. Queen.
Speaker 3: We are with you, and we were saying before you
Speaker 3: came on, we really do feel like we already know you,
Speaker 3: but this is just the first time we've met, so
Speaker 3: this is so exciting.
Speaker 5: Thank you so much. You guys are welcome. I feel
Speaker 5: like I know you guys. Honestly, just been cackling before.
Speaker 1: The podcast your heroes as Luscious in your life appears
Speaker 1: so long.
Speaker 2: Day five. Don't look closely. Oh my gosh, wait.
Speaker 1: Before we go, do you naturally have straight hair?
Speaker 2: No? No, no, no is crazy.
Speaker 5: It's it used to be curly, but with all the
Speaker 5: heat I've applied over the years, I've just damaged it.
Speaker 5: And I also used to bleach at hard Out like
Speaker 5: color a lot. Yeah, I see those photos.
Speaker 1: One of them, one of them. It's Relic.
Speaker 3: I love, I love. But where can the people find you?
Speaker 2: Huh?
Speaker 5: TikTok at my TikTok a Yeah, oh Saria Yoka underscore,
Speaker 5: I think maybe Yeah, the same on Instagram. Yeah, the
Speaker 5: same love, and you can probably also find her on
Speaker 5: the West side somewhere. You always probably won't recognize me though.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Soria, We love you. We'll catch you next
Speaker 1: week on Island Talkland Ways we must have some drinkings
Speaker 1: and Houston being babysit.
Speaker 2: I'm so excited. Okay, find us on TikTok Instagram.
Speaker 1: Leve you guys, Bye bye,