WEBVTT - Branding While Black ft. Bridget Todd 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.520 Hey, y'all, Eve's here. I know you're ready to get 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:05.600 into this episode, but really quick. We have been loving 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:09.080 connecting with y'all over black storytelling, and if you've really 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.600 been loving the show, then we would really appreciate it 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:14.200 if you would leave us a rating and review, subscribe 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:16.840 to the show, and share it with your friends. Thanks y'all, 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:22.239 Now time for the episode. On Theme is a production 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:37.040 of iHeartRadio and fair Weather Friends Media. 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:41.560 I'm Katie and I'm Eves. 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:49.080 Today's episode Branding While Black, So Katie, I have a 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:52.600 fraught relationship with personal branding. I am not the most 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:57.520 comfortable person on social media, but I understand the pressures 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.880 of feeling the need to personal brand. And when I 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:07.360 say personal brand, I'm thinking create a very molded and 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:12.040 shaped and crafted story about ourselves on social media and 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.520 on the Internet. And I know that it can feel 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:18.240 like a part of marketing, but too honestly, it's a 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:22.280 part of storytelling because we are telling stories about ourselves. 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:27.280 And I just wondered, does that look different for black 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:29.720 people than it does for everybody else? How do you 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:31.120 feel about personal branding? 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:36.240 I find it more of an evil than a necessary evil. 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:41.440 I try not to do it at all. I try 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:44.399 to resist as much as possible, especially I think with 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:45.600 online personal branding. 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:50.560 Yeah, I think there are a lot of downsides to 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:53.520 personal branding and to having to do it and having 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.280 to be visible on the Internet in a way that 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:02.280 is compartmentalized. But I know that there are also upsides 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.480 to it. It's a very complicated topic and for that reason, 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:08.040 we wanted to talk to Bridget Todd of the podcast 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:09.760 There Are No Girls on the Internet. 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:13.280 My name is Bridget Todd, I you shee her pronouns, 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:15.679 and I am the creator and host of iHeartRadio's techn 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.360 culture podcast called There Are No Girls on the Internet. 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:21.760 Someone with a great personal brand. I'd say yes, definitely. 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:31.200 So let's get into our conversation with Bridget. Hi, Bridget, 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:33.400 welcome to one theme. We are so happy to have 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:34.120 you here today. 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:37.720 Uh Eve's my podcast play Cousin. I am so excited 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:38.160 to be here. 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:41.440 So I have a lot of feelings about social media 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:44.760 and about what branding means, and I definitely rub up 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.079 against some friction a lot of the time when I'm 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:50.560 thinking about what branding means and kind of feeling compelled 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:53.920 to come up with the brand and do the active branding. 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:58.360 But I am wondering, since you're very in tune with 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:04.680 social media and digital media strategy, what exactly does personal 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:05.760 branding mean to you? 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:10.880 To me, personal branding is very powerful. It's a necessary 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:14.840 way to show up online. It is a necessary way 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:17.040 to make sure that the people that you want to 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:20.160 be in conversation with, the people that you want to 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.360 give you money to make things that they think of 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:25.160 you when they think of whatever it is. 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:27.080 That you specialize in. 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:31.960 However, I would also say personal branding is really exhausting. 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:35.560 I think that it's something that we are forced to 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.480 do because we live in a capitalistic, white supremacy society 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:43.680 that kind of forces us to be not just making 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:47.040 the thing and excited about making the thing, but selling 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:48.119 how we make the thing. 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:49.720 And yeah, I just don't. 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:52.640 I think that any conversation about personal branding also has 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:56.160 to be rooted with the fact that sometimes it feels 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.200 like we are forced to do that kind of work 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:00.240 in addition to the work that we want to be doing. 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:03.400 So, given your stance on personal branding, give us your 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:04.520 personal brand a bio. 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:05.560 Tell us who we are? 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:09.000 Oh man, so who I am? 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.760 And as it pertains to my how I've branded myself personally. 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:15.040 Or like yeah, like if we were if I was 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.200 a big shot in an elevator who had the money, like, 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:19.880 what would you say to get some off of me? 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:22.920 First of all, I would say, if you're a billionaire, 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:24.600 you probably didn't get that money ethically. 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:26.560 So you want to say it funds. 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:29.120 Your conscient No, no, no, no, well no. I did want 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:30.960 to get drunk at a party with very rich people 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:33.320 and I asked somebody how much their house costs. 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:36.240 My friend was like, that's such a rude question. 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:37.720 We'll do that when I'm not drunk. 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:42.880 So if I was in an elevator with a big 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:47.000 shot media professional, I would say that along with my 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:51.640 amazing team, with folks like Tari Harrison and Joey Pat, 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:56.080 I make conversations about technology and the policy and the 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.320 people that run it. I make those accessible, and I 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.800 make those in ways that highlight the reality that it 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:05.240 is traditionally marginalized people who make technology what it is. 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:10.640 And so we're fostering and curating conversations that really deepen 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:14.480 the perspective of black folks, queer folks, black women, trans folks, 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:17.159 working people, all the kinds of people that are often 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.279 left out of conversations about technology, the Internet, social media, 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.080 what it means, and the policy. 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:22.280 That shapes it. 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.440 We start there, like that is our starting point for 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:26.400 those conversations. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:29.080 I can tell you've done that before, Bridget. 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:30.000 I give you some money. 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:36.200 I'm just gonna know, right, money please, So when you 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:40.640 are thinking about personal branding, like because I've went to 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.240 your website and I was and I listened to your show, 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.640 I'm like, I truly don't know anything else about you 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:50.000 besides what you like put out there that's pertaining to 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:51.920 your professional career. Like I don't know if you've got 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:53.480 a man, you got a woman, you got kids, I 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:55.080 don't know nothing. I'm like, I'm nosy and I want 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:56.880 to know those things. But I feel like you personally, 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.320 like purposely, don't put those out there. So like, what 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.599 story are you focused on telling? And what story are you? Like, No, 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:06.280 that's a distraction for why I'm trying to get at Katie. 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:08.599 That is a very like that is you're good with 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:12.160 your Internet sleuthing because you would have to dig pretty 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:15.839 deep I think to find out personal information about me, 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:18.640 And that is very much with intention and by design, 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.560 and I think It goes back to what I personally 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:26.120 have found about my branding is that because I find 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:31.279 personal branding and sort of storytelling about myself online, I 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:33.279 find it kind of exhausting and I don't really like 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:36.280 participating in it that much these days, but I know 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:38.359 I kind of have to because of the career that 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:38.720 I'm in. 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:40.919 I am very intentional about it. 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:43.320 I almost would use the phrase like, you know, kind 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:44.960 of neutrally manipulative. 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:49.040 I don't want any I only want someone. 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:50.520 To be able to say like, oh, well, she does 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:52.600 x y Z kind of work, she's interested in x 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:54.800 y Z kind of projects. And part of it is 0:06:54.839 --> 0:07:00.159 because you know, I care quite a bit about my 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:03.880 work and my professional identity, but my real identity, the 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:07.320 people that I love, my community, my values, all of that. 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:09.159 I kind of hold that a bit closer to my 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:11.880 chest because I don't want that to be something that 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.360 is a personal an exhaustive personal branding exercise. Right like 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.920 when I'm spending time with my family, I don't want 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:22.360 to feel that I have to be digitally curating a 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.400 story about that time. Otherwise it doesn't count. That's just 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:28.280 like not a not a dynamic. I'm really interested in 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:30.760 bringing into certain parts of my life. But I'm happy 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:32.080 to talk about it. 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:34.680 With you all. In terms of how I brand myself, 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:35.880 it doesn't really show up. 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.800 Yes, I've no zy, I want to know. I'll talk 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:39.720 about that after Katie. 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:42.840 Well, I'm curious how is it shown up for like 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:46.680 how do you two as creatives and hosts and people 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:48.560 who have platforms and make things like how do you 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.640 How have you found that dynamic? 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:52.280 I think we approach very differently. 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:53.840 Say more about that. 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.040 I think cause like I don't have like a website 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:01.360 about myself or anything I've taken into like also not 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:05.560 like really posting anything about my like family, and I 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.280 used to I felt like people would ask me questions. 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:10.920 I just felt like I had to answer, like and 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:12.320 it's like so silly to say it was like you 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:14.240 actually don't have to tell people things just because they 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:16.640 ask you that, Like, oh, guy Ross is asking me 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:18.440 about my grandpa, I have to tell him and I'm 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.600 just like, oh no, I don't. So like I've tapered 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:22.360 off of that. I feel like I've grown into like 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:26.960 cause like in my personal life, I'm very like to myself, 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:29.840 like I don't even be telling my friends like every 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:31.480 single thing. So I'm like, why am I telling the 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:33.439 internet every single thing? And I think I got to 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.160 that very quickly. It's like, actually, I don't like this, 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:40.120 Like I feel like I don't really have a curated 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:42.880 personal brand. Maybe my personal brand is like not having one, 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:48.960 like being mysterious, I would like think. I was like, yeah, 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:50.640 my agent was like, you need to have a website 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:52.480 and you need to do this, and I'm just like, hmm, 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:54.320 I hear you, but I'm not going to do that. 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:56.280 So yeah, they tried to do the same thing to me, 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:59.520 like back in like years ago when I first started 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:02.800 hosting pop they were like, you should probably set up 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.120 a Twitter. I mean, and look how that's gone today, 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:09.480 you know. But I mean, I have felt compelled to 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:12.520 be to have a public presence, but that that feeling 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.680 of being compelled has never actually led me to do 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:17.079 anything that I'm uncomfortable with because at the end of 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:19.520 the day, I know that I have control over what 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:21.720 I choose to share with people and how I choose 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:24.800 to share it. So I have found myself telling myself 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:27.280 that I want to share more, but if that doesn't 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:29.440 show up right in my body, then I don't do it, 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:33.080 so I have shared more in the places where I 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.600 feel most comfortable, which for me oftentimes that is if 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:39.000 it's on social media, then that's in the Instagram space. 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.400 But if that's outside on the internet, like you know, 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.200 just the articles that I write in the podcast that 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.000 I produce, those are spaces where I know that I 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:53.880 have creative more creative control, and they're subject to scrutiny 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:56.719 in different ways, or at least more measured scrutiny. I 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:58.920 don't think I have a personal brand either, but I 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:01.679 think maybe one has been construct it for me and 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:04.920 my chosen interest. Actually, speaking of this bridget we've talked 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:07.960 about this before in the title of public intellectual and 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:11.120 how that's something that is like I would be labeled 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.400 as regardless whether or. 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:15.080 Not I would choose to call myself that. 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:16.640 I mean, you are one. 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:18.760 I don't think somebody comes down from the sky. And 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:22.200 as like Eves, I w a public intellectual. 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:22.840 You are one. 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:26.200 You publicly opined and have good takes and good opinions, 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:28.920 and you're part of the public conversation and people look 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:31.240 to you. The people who are listening to on theme, 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.000 they listen to the both of you to help them understand, 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:36.640 you know, what they should be help shape their own opinions, 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:38.040 and so yeah, I think. 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:40.239 You are a public intellectual. 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:42.360 Even if you don't feel like you would ever call 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:44.440 yourself one, you both definitely are. 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.160 I feel like I'm getting a therapy session right now 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:49.920 for helping me work through some things. 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:51.280 Well. 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:54.560 Also, think about all the kinds of people who wouldn't 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:56.880 feel like I just know a lot of people who 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:59.599 are like, oh, I'm a X Y Z expert, and 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:01.280 I'm like, oh, I feel like experts the kind of 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:03.280 thing that other people have to call you. 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:05.280 It's you're calling yourself one. 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.480 That's interesting, and I think more people who have actual 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.520 good things to offer the world should take ownership of 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:12.840 those labels that mean so much. 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:15.800 So, what would you say you're an expert in? 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:24.320 Oh? God, nothing, No, that's not true. I am an 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:30.120 expert in this is a good question. I am an 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.400 expert in curiosity. I know that's kind of a cop 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:37.120 out answer, but you know, like, that's one of the 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:39.880 reasons why I love podcasting is that you really just 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:42.920 get to poke and product people. And you know, Katie, 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:44.640 you said something earlier and Eves was like, Oh, tell 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:46.640 me more about that. If there was a question that 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:50.200 animates my entire existence in this world and is probably 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:54.199 tell me more about that, because I am just genuinely 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:58.640 very curious about who people are, what motivates them, their values, 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:00.720 where they see themselves, how see the world. 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:03.600 So I think I'm an expert in curiosity. 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.920 So you have your own personal experience with personal branding, 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:10.240 but when you see other people and the ways that 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.320 they choose to personal brand in public, what are your 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:15.600 feelings about that? Like, do you have any sort of 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:18.080 initial emotions that come up when you think of the 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:21.400 ways that people have to personal brand on the Internet. 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:23.920 I don't know if anybody can relate to this feeling, 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:26.680 But lately I have made a lot of intentional efforts 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:28.600 to sort of step back and be a little more 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.120 selective about my how my own brand shows up online, 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:34.520 and also I've made the choice to care a little 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:36.960 bit less about it and say, like, if I want 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:39.920 to be a kick ass podcaster, I'm going to lean 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:42.800 into podcasting and the personal branding stuff can come second, 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:46.400 and that's okay. However, lately I have felt like when 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:50.119 I scroll social media, I am just constantly being bombarded 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.000 with the ways that I'm getting it wrong the ways 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.840 that I'm like, oh, you're not making reels, you should 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.920 be making tiktoks like this. You should be offering your 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:01.720 your audience. If you want to grow, do that. And 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.120 I think part of that is just the nature of 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:07.800 social media algorithms. It seems like every other month at 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:10.640 a mos Aria, the head of Instagram will be like, oh, well, 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:13.920 last month we told creators if they wanted to use 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:15.920 Instagram to the best of their ability, they should be 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:16.480 doing X. 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:17.560 Now it's why. 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:21.439 And I realized that I just have no interest in 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:25.120 being on this hamster wheel while where I have to be, 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:30.080 you know, responding to the whims of billionaires who run 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:33.120 tech platforms who I will never meet, right, And so 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.760 I've made that decision for myself. But I don't feel 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.760 like it's very easy to sit in that choice all 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:43.360 the time, because constantly I'm bombarded by people who are 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:45.640 doing it right or have the answer, or want to 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:49.280 sell me the answer. I often find other people's personal 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:53.040 branding a little bit exhausting, and it's so just like 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:57.880 me projecting my own insecurities and anxiety around it onto them, 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.760 like they're not doing anything wrong. But it sometimes it 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:05.240 seems hard to just exist online without constantly branding yourself 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:08.200 and constantly selling people on who you are. Like, whatever 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.559 happened to kicking it online or having fun online or 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.760 finding community online in a way that wasn't like just 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:18.640 intentionally branding yourself as some sort of expert in your field. 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:23.359 Yeah, but that also makes me think about how corporations 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:29.080 and commercial institutions, how their anxieties and their issues have 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.640 been projected onto us, and how we've kind of had 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:36.800 to co op them in our own efforts to survive 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:40.800 and live in this world. And I'm wondering if you 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.920 see any differences in the way that Black people have 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:49.040 had to operate in that space of being forced to 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:53.760 personal brand to live, and how people of other races 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:55.760 have operated in that space. 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:58.000 Do you feel differently about them? Do you see a 0:14:58.000 --> 0:14:59.080 difference between the two. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:01.960 I do see a difference. I think the stakes are 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:05.000 different for us, you know. I mean, I think historically 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:07.360 we have a lot less access, So we have a 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:11.880 lot less access to platforms and spaces and traditional media outlets, 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:16.280 and we've really had to build our own platforms and 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:19.000 spaces and media outlets. If you want to be heard 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:20.480 and want to be able to show up as our 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:21.360 authentic selves. 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:22.600 That is a gift. 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:25.040 That is a gift that we as black folks have 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.520 always had, is building our own tables when we're not 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:30.880 invited to other people's stables, Right, So I want to 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:34.200 honor the fact that that is a truly a gift 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:35.000 and a legacy. 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:36.120 So I'm not knocking that. 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.840 However, I think that because of that, we kind of 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.320 always have to be doing that, and like there's a 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:44.880 feeling that if you stop doing that, you'll cease to 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:47.040 exist or you'll cease to get those opportunities. And I 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:49.440 actually really do believe that. I think that if I 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:54.320 were to take a year off of social media or 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.080 a year off of making my podcast, I think that 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:59.840 it would be that much harder for me to come 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:01.760 back because people will be like, oh, what, like, in 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:04.360 that year, I didn't see you constantly posting what awards 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:06.960 you were winning, or constantly and posting what content you 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.120 were making, So I guess you didn't exist, right, And 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:11.920 So I think that because of these because of the 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:14.600 way that historically we have been shut out of that 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:17.440 kind of access, I think it creates this kind of 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.400 need to be doing something that luckily we're quite good at, 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.640 which is building our own platforms, And I just, yeah, 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.160 I just want to make sure that when we talk 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:28.840 about that, we're talking about it in a way that 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:33.800 both honors how great that is, but also is tuned 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:35.880 into how tough that can be, that feeling can be, 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:37.400 to be like, oh, I can't even take a break 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:39.320 for a moment, I always have to be branding. 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:43.440 Yeah, if we're already black people, is the way I'm 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:47.120 talking about already subject to so much scrutiny because even 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.840 when we're visible in the very smallest of ways. So 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:53.240 what do you think that kind of loop of visibility, 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:56.600 of having to be present at all times just by 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.800 nature of the Internet, but also because we're black, How 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:04.080 does does that affect like how we are treated in 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:06.520 terms of our visibility and hyper visibility. 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:10.479 Hypervisibility is a good word for it, because it's like, 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:14.440 as black folks who show up online, we're both hyper visible, 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:17.280 but in a lot of ways erased or overlooked. And 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:19.320 it's just very interesting to me how you can sort. 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:20.199 Of be both. 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:23.800 I've had accomplishments in my life where things happen in 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:25.639 my life that I don't put on social media and 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:27.639 people act like they don't exist, and so I'm really 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:31.840 challenging myself to sort of resist that internally. And I 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:35.800 really think about this quote from MICHAELA. Cole when I 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:38.720 think she won an Emmy, and she said, in a 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:40.960 world that entices us to browse through the lives of 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:43.800 others to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves, 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:47.000 and to in turn feel the need to be constantly visible. 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:50.440 For visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success. 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:53.240 Do not be afraid to disappear from it, from us 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:55.240 for a while and see what comes to you in 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:58.719 the silence. And I have always found so much power 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:03.520 in that quote, because when you have that silence and 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:06.480 that space where there aren't eyes on you, for me, 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:10.040 that has equated to really making something I'm proud of, 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:12.040 or really being able to lean into something right. 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:13.800 And so I think that in a. 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:18.000 World that tells us that visibility is success, not being 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:21.280 afraid to step back and go invisible, go dark for 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:24.440 a little bit, you know, I think it's really powerful 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.919 to be able to do that and understand what the 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.840 power in that in a world that tells you always have. 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.680 To be showing yourself and branding yourself more. 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:42.760 With bridget after this break. Have you ever taken a 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:43.680 social media break? 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:46.320 Oh? All the time? I mean I'm not. I'm not 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.400 somebody who will be like, hey, guys taking a. 0:18:49.280 --> 0:19:00.920 Break, Like like, nobody cares, my girl. 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:04.320 You could have kept that to yourself'll take a nap, right, Like. 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:06.199 We wouldn't have known if that was the algorithm or 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:07.440 them taking a break anyway. 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:11.000 I definitely take long breaks, short breaks, all the breaks 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.119 from social media, and I don't feel the need to 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:15.760 announce it. But isn't it so weird that you would 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:18.240 even feel the need to announce it, Like there's like 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:20.480 how many other things in your life. If you stop 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:22.200 doing it for a week or a month, would people 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:23.440 be like, oh, are you okay? 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:24.320 What's going on with you? 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:27.280 Like if you didn't play a certain game for a month, 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:28.720 do you think that you would feel the need to 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:31.520 like announce that to the world. I just think that 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:34.879 that really, to me illustrates how we're so caught up 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.639 in this idea that everybody, everybody has to be on 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:40.840 social media all the time, and that you know that's 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:43.720 not true, Like you can dip in, dip out, do 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.200 it as it feels comfortable and right to you, and 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:47.960 truly nothing will happen. 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.840 I think that also goes to the difference between personal 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:56.600 branding online versus personal branding like IRL, because I don't 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:58.919 think people paid that much more. People pay more attention 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:02.480 to the online then like there in person presence. So 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:04.800