Speaker 1: Hello Sunshine, Hey fam Today on the bright Side, we're
Speaker 1: joined by dancer, actor, Emmy Award winner, and now author
Speaker 1: Julianne Huff. She's out with the brand new book, y'all,
Speaker 1: and she is getting real about her healing journey and
Speaker 1: the moment she reconnected with her body again. Trust me,
Speaker 1: this is a story you have to hear. Plus, the
Speaker 1: new season of Dancing with the Stars premieres tomorrow and
Speaker 1: Julianne is sharing the secret to success on the show.
Speaker 1: It's Monday, September sixteenth. I'm Simone Boyce.
Speaker 2: I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Speaker 2: Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together to
Speaker 2: share women's stories, laugh, learn and brighten your day.
Speaker 1: On My Mind Monday is brought to you by missus
Speaker 1: Myers Clean Day, inspired by the goodness of the garden.
Speaker 1: Simone Happy On my Mind Monday.
Speaker 2: This is always our opportunity to start the week with
Speaker 2: something that motivates us, inspires curiosity, or provides a fresh perspective.
Speaker 2: So I want to know what's on your mind, girl.
Speaker 1: Okay, I can't stop thinking about this experiment that I
Speaker 1: came across in this British newspaper or The Sunday Times,
Speaker 1: and it's about a group of kids that went on
Speaker 1: this month long smartphone detox and the results are wild.
Speaker 1: So the writer for the piece, Decca Ekenhead, decided to
Speaker 1: ban her sons from their smartphones for four weeks and
Speaker 1: then she sent them on an unsupervised camping trip with
Speaker 1: their friends who had also been detoxing from technology. And
Speaker 1: you know, Danielle, she came up with this idea after
Speaker 1: interviewing social psychologists and author of The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Height,
Speaker 1: who we've talked about a lot on our show, and
Speaker 1: in this book hepe points to the increasing rates of
Speaker 1: teenage depressions, self harm, and anxiety, and he says that
Speaker 1: smartphones and social media are to blame. He's also always
Speaker 1: been this staunch advocate of more free play, independence, and
Speaker 1: unsupervised time for kids. So sounds like this writer really
Speaker 1: took Height's words to heart.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. Well, this sounds like a really interesting experiment.
Speaker 2: I'm curious to hear more. You said the kids were
Speaker 2: unsupervised in the woods. What happened?
Speaker 1: Yes, So they're in the woods, no phones, they haven't
Speaker 1: had phones for several weeks, and they struggled at the beginning, Danielle,
Speaker 1: but one fourteen year old said that he started to
Speaker 1: see that whatever's going on on his smartphone doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1: He said, quote you'll never say on your deathbed, I
Speaker 1: wish I'd spent more time on my phone. And several
Speaker 1: kids had similar reactions. They said they felt less tired
Speaker 1: after the experiment. They also learned that screen times went
Speaker 1: down even after they came home for some of the participants.
Speaker 1: And then another fourteen year old said he felt more
Speaker 1: focused and efficient and even younger, like he was able
Speaker 1: to embrace his inner child again. That's cool.
Speaker 2: So the only comparison I can make to this in
Speaker 2: my own life is that I went to overnight camp
Speaker 2: every summer when I was growing up and there were
Speaker 2: no phones allowed, and it is still to this day
Speaker 2: one of the best memories of my life. Like all
Speaker 2: of our camp friends feel the exact same way, and
Speaker 2: part of it is that you are just so present
Speaker 2: with the people there.
Speaker 1: I get it.
Speaker 2: It just seems so much harder to do today than
Speaker 2: when I was a kid. You know, we're just so
Speaker 2: like kids are so attached to their iPads and stuff.
Speaker 1: It's tough. Yeah, I think it can start small, though,
Speaker 1: I think that actually everyone is craving connection without screens.
Speaker 1: And so if you're the first to say, Hey, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna I'm gonna have my friends over tonight for dinner,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna drop our cell phones in a bucket
Speaker 1: when we walk in the door, I actually think, even
Speaker 1: though it sounds intimidating, I think people would be so
Speaker 1: receptive to it. And it's like the kids in this experiment.
Speaker 1: They were resistant to it at first, they struggled at first,
Speaker 1: but by the end they felt totally transformed by it.
Speaker 1: You know, I went on that retreat a few months
Speaker 1: ago and there were no cell phones. It was jarring
Speaker 1: at first, but the people that I met on that
Speaker 1: trip are probably probably the closest friends that I have
Speaker 1: right now in my life. And I don't think that
Speaker 1: we would have formed such deep lasting bonds if we
Speaker 1: had been on our phones the whole time. One last
Speaker 1: thing I want to say about this experiment is that
Speaker 1: every single team said that they would have hated doing
Speaker 1: this experiment alone. Well, yeah, it would be like torture
Speaker 1: to be in the woods without any connection to anyone
Speaker 1: for you know, an extended period of time. But this
Speaker 1: really proves another one of Jonathan Height's points that collective
Speaker 1: action instead of just individual family rules, is the most
Speaker 1: effective pathway for change. And this is something that I've
Speaker 1: thought about, you know, as I look to the future
Speaker 1: and how I'm going to handle smartphones in my own home.
Speaker 1: I really want to align with like minded parents and
Speaker 1: see if we can form some kind of like clan.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like this for you, very very cool. How
Speaker 2: would you describe your relationship with your phone and social
Speaker 2: media now?
Speaker 1: I think I need to build in social media and
Speaker 1: smartphone detoxes into my life every three months because I'm
Speaker 1: totally addicted to my phone. I find myself trying to
Speaker 1: escape from the daily stress of life, and sometimes that
Speaker 1: just looks like mindless scrolling when I know deep down
Speaker 1: in my heart that is not what I want to
Speaker 1: be doing. But it's such an impulse at this point
Speaker 1: that it's kind of hard to control. How about you, Danielle.
Speaker 2: Well, I find it hard to not be online because
Speaker 2: of our job, so it's like important to know what's
Speaker 2: going on, what the trends are, what people are talking about.
Speaker 2: So I almost feel like I bake it in almost
Speaker 2: like an hour a day is like part of my work.
Speaker 2: But other than that, I don't feel so connected to
Speaker 2: my phone, Like I've always been a person who's happier
Speaker 2: not on devices.
Speaker 1: I wish I could put my phone away, Like I
Speaker 1: don't subscribe to this belief that you have to text
Speaker 1: or email everyone back instantly. I think that's how our
Speaker 1: society is now. I agree, but I think that that's
Speaker 1: too much to an expectation to put on people. Like
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm partly attached to my phone because
Speaker 1: of the expectation that other people have from me to
Speaker 1: respond quickly. Glennon Doyle talks about this all the time. Really, okay,
Speaker 1: what does she say about it. I haven't heard her
Speaker 1: talk about it.
Speaker 2: She just made this hard and fast rule or boundary
Speaker 2: for herself because she was like, I can't be beholden
Speaker 2: to my text messages. I actually heard Ashton Kutcher say
Speaker 2: one time that your email is somebody else's to do
Speaker 2: list for you, which really resonated with me. It's true.
Speaker 2: Everybody emailing you really is asking for stuff, and when
Speaker 2: you're emailing, you're asking for stuff.
Speaker 1: This is a topic that we don't really talk about publicly,
Speaker 1: Like I don't really even talk about this with my friends, Danielle.
Speaker 1: So it's interesting that we're talking about this and what
Speaker 1: I've learned today from this experiment and just from our
Speaker 1: conversation is there's a different way to do things, like
Speaker 1: we get to choose our own journey with this stuff,
Speaker 1: and we can make our own rules.
Speaker 2: I love how you put that, making your own rules.
Speaker 2: I agree. And that brings me to our guest today
Speaker 2: because she has an inspiring story of her own, one
Speaker 2: of making her own rules and owning her healing journey.
Speaker 2: Julianne Huff is a dancer, actor, singer, entrepreneur, and now
Speaker 2: she's adding author to her resume with her new book
Speaker 2: titled Everything We Never Knew. It's what she calls a
Speaker 2: factional book, but she's inventing this genre. It's a fictional
Speaker 2: story based on her real life experiences.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're going to ask her all about that and
Speaker 1: the new season of Dancing with the Stars. This will
Speaker 1: be the thirty third season of the competition show and
Speaker 1: Julienne made her debut on season four in two thousand
Speaker 1: and seven when she was just eighteen. Gosh, I feel
Speaker 1: old now. I remember that like it was yesterday. Can't
Speaker 1: wait to chat with Julienne, and she's joining us right
Speaker 1: after the break.
Speaker 2: Thanks to our partners at missus Myers, you can learn
Speaker 2: a lot about a person by their dish soap. Missus
Speaker 2: Meyers's collection of household products are inspired by the garden
Speaker 2: and pack up punch against dirt and grime. Visit missus
Speaker 2: Meyers dot com.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back, y'all. Julianne Huff, Welcome to the
Speaker 1: bright Side.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much. I love the bright side.
Speaker 1: You say everything with a smile. You are the.
Speaker 3: Bright side, you know. Actually, somebody said that to me
Speaker 3: the other day. They're like, even when you're talking about
Speaker 3: like heavy things, you still say it with a smile.
Speaker 3: And I was like, I do. And then I looked back.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, I do, I do the same thing.
Speaker 2: I think it's maybe like a trauma respond. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: smile the whole time to get through it.
Speaker 3: Hey, I'd rather be smiling, right, Yeah, I don't know,
Speaker 3: I think so.
Speaker 1: Julianne, this is a big year for you. You're releasing
Speaker 1: your book Everything We Never Knew. I can't wait to
Speaker 1: get into this book a bit more with you. In
Speaker 1: addition to the release of your novel, what Are You
Speaker 1: celebrating in your life right now?
Speaker 3: My goodness, that's a really good question. I think I'm
Speaker 3: celebrating the fact that I feel really I know this
Speaker 3: sounds so broad, but I feel really whole. I feel like,
Speaker 3: you know, the last few years, I've really unraveled a lot,
Speaker 3: which is part of what this book is about. And
Speaker 3: I really feel so content, which is a word that
Speaker 3: used to scare the crap out of me. Yeah, and
Speaker 3: I love that word now and I feel so content
Speaker 3: and happy and very like consistent and stable in my life.
Speaker 3: And I could not have said that a few years ago.
Speaker 1: That's huge.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it feels really good.
Speaker 1: What do you think was the key to unlocking that contentment?
Speaker 1: Because that's it's so much easier said than done.
Speaker 3: It is. And by the way, I am a high
Speaker 3: achiever and I'm very ambitious, so those two things with
Speaker 3: content usually is not a formula.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm looking in a mirror right now.
Speaker 1: I feel personally attacked.
Speaker 3: Right yes, But I think, honestly, it was a lot
Speaker 3: of healing and like a lot of just like owning,
Speaker 3: because I think when you own and accept your wounds
Speaker 3: and all that kind of stuff that gives you so
Speaker 3: much power, whereas if you avoid it and move away
Speaker 3: from it, then you're just on survival mode and just going, going, going,
Speaker 3: And then you're like, wait, it's been fifteen years and
Speaker 3: I missed my whole life, you know. So I think
Speaker 3: like finding that content and just reframing what that means
Speaker 3: is like, oh no, I'm really content and happy with
Speaker 3: my life and I get to do all.
Speaker 1: These things such a flex.
Speaker 2: Well, we started this interview off with celebration, so I
Speaker 2: want to talk about another celebration, which is the premiere
Speaker 2: of the new season of Dancing with the Stars. So
Speaker 2: you're back as co host along with Alfonso Robera. You
Speaker 2: were a dancer obviously, nana judge, now a co host.
Speaker 2: I think you have probably the most unique perspective on
Speaker 2: this whole competition.
Speaker 3: The show has been a visual representation of my journey too,
Speaker 3: because it's like you're on that show and you're just
Speaker 3: trying to survive and be the best and win, win, win,
Speaker 3: you know, and then you're an expert on the show
Speaker 3: as a judge, and you're like, but it's still a performance,
Speaker 3: you know, like, are you kidding me? You're still like engaged, right,
Speaker 3: and it's still what you have to say. As a host,
Speaker 3: it's like, how can I hold the space for all
Speaker 3: of these people to shine? And like I'll talk to
Speaker 3: them beforehand and watch the rehearsals on Monday, and I'll
Speaker 3: see things because I'm like, ooh, when you're dancing, Like
Speaker 3: they're really struggling with this moment, and I can see
Speaker 3: why because I've been the dancer. And then as a judge,
Speaker 3: I'm like, ooh, they're probably gonna pick up on this.
Speaker 3: So I'll talk to them and be like, hey, what's
Speaker 3: going on with the dance, Like how are you feeling?
Speaker 3: What was your week? Like I'll talk to them before
Speaker 3: and I'll kind of get an understanding, and then I'll
Speaker 3: be like, what do you want to say in the
Speaker 3: skybox with me? Because this is your thirty seconds to
Speaker 3: share your heart, like sell yourself so people vote for you,
Speaker 3: like what do you want to say?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 3: And so so that for me is like I hope
Speaker 3: that they trust that I'm on your side and this
Speaker 3: is about you. And so that's the journey for me
Speaker 3: for the show has been like it's been myself and
Speaker 3: then it's been like, you know, I need to be
Speaker 3: an expert and have great things to say, and this
Speaker 3: one yeah, and then this time it's like, how can
Speaker 3: I pull the space enough so that people feel safe
Speaker 3: enough to be themselves? And like I always say, Dancing
Speaker 3: the Stars is Yes, it's a dance competition show, but
Speaker 3: it's a transformation show. And like the reason why it's
Speaker 3: been on the air I think for so many years
Speaker 3: is because people see themselves in these contestants, that they
Speaker 3: are watching them grow. And so the more authentic people
Speaker 3: can be on that show and share all of their
Speaker 3: ups and downs and in betweens, that's what people root for.
Speaker 3: And that's just a big metaphor for life. Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1: They're so lucky to have you as a host, because
Speaker 1: I don't think every host is as invested as you are.
Speaker 3: So too, I need to give him credit. We talked
Speaker 3: about it a lot before last season, and we're like,
Speaker 3: this show is not about us, This show is about
Speaker 3: the show. This show is special, and like we want
Speaker 3: to give it the life that it deserves to have
Speaker 3: and so it can continue on. I was just at
Speaker 3: their house last night for dinner, and like, we're so
Speaker 3: in love with each other in the obviously most platonic way.
Speaker 3: We just care and like I think because we've gone
Speaker 3: through so many things and dancing has meant so much
Speaker 3: to us and it's given us such an amazing like life.
Speaker 2: Literally, I literally gave him a whole other career completely. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And that's the thing.
Speaker 3: It's like that show has been really special for so
Speaker 3: many people, and I'm so grateful to be a part
Speaker 3: of the show.
Speaker 2: You have always had just the factor, whatever that is.
Speaker 2: And so I'm wondering, as you're hosting or even judging,
Speaker 2: are you able to tell who's going to win, because
Speaker 2: it's really like who has that intangible thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you can definitely feel it. I mean
Speaker 3: we all can hand you know, like you can just
Speaker 3: feel it, you can see it. It's about the journey.
Speaker 3: Though sometimes the best dancer doesn't win because they're not captivating.
Speaker 3: I remember I was told this as a young girl competing.
Speaker 3: It's like the person that is the full package that
Speaker 3: like is dedicated to it, works really hard, has the
Speaker 3: gratitude and the appreciation for it, you know, and like
Speaker 3: also like a little fiery sassiness to him too, you know,
Speaker 3: like it's about the wholeness of it all.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see my guy, Steven Nedoshek a horse guy. Honestly,
Speaker 1: he's competing.
Speaker 2: He is.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and by the way, like what a babe, like
Speaker 3: just like the sweetest human on the planet. Like already
Speaker 3: people are like, Okay, I know who I'm voting for.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's true.
Speaker 2: He's going in with like a few extra points already.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, I'm excited to see what happens.
Speaker 2: Well, I heard you say in another interview that you
Speaker 2: thought your energy was your superpower and then you realize
Speaker 2: it was your anxiety. What do you feel like is
Speaker 2: your su power now?
Speaker 3: I think by superpower and I don't know if it's
Speaker 3: just mine or I think it's within everybody, but I
Speaker 3: think it's being a reflection in a mirror for others
Speaker 3: to see themselves. I think like sometimes yeah, when you
Speaker 3: just are you, and you feel like you've been able
Speaker 3: to delayer all the like protective mechanisms and you can
Speaker 3: just be and like people can then feel themselves and
Speaker 3: like what's possible for them? And so recently, I mean
Speaker 3: recently and not recently. When I was like twelve, people
Speaker 3: would come up to me and I would never give
Speaker 3: them advice, but they would always ask for it. But
Speaker 3: somehow I would just keep conversations going and then they
Speaker 3: would come up with the answer. And so, like, I
Speaker 3: think that's kind of my superpower is I can kind
Speaker 3: of just be a presence for people to also like
Speaker 3: trust their own intuition.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know how to explain it fully, but
Speaker 3: I've experience that through my life where I see it
Speaker 3: with my family and my friends. They call me doctor Huff.
Speaker 3: I got doctor huffed. But they'll come in and then
Speaker 3: I just won't really say anything. They'll just talk and
Speaker 3: then they'll figure it out.
Speaker 1: You know, really are like a therapist. Then, Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: exactly right, because that's what the best therapists do. They
Speaker 1: don't they create a container. And I think a lot
Speaker 1: of times we have this impulse to try to fix
Speaker 1: and solve, you know, and that's not exactly what people
Speaker 1: want to hear in that moment.
Speaker 3: Yeah, or what they need to do. And I think
Speaker 3: I'll also I'm pretty good at being very open and
Speaker 3: sharing after I figured it out. I'm not as good
Speaker 3: at like being vulnerable in the moment. I'm working on that,
Speaker 3: but sometimes I'll share my experiences and then people will
Speaker 3: be able to feel the universal theme that's thread through it.
Speaker 3: And so that's why with the book, I wanted to
Speaker 3: go fiction because I was like, I want people to
Speaker 3: see themselves in this book. I don't want them to
Speaker 3: read my story and just see my story.
Speaker 1: Well, when you were talking about wanting to be a
Speaker 1: mirror that people could see themselves in, it made me
Speaker 1: think of this quote that's been circulating recently and I
Speaker 1: don't know who it's attributed to, but we become the
Speaker 1: person that we needed the most when we were children. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it kind of feels like you're doing this, actually
Speaker 1: doing it through this book.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I actually I wrote my dedication to my younger self
Speaker 3: because I was like, you did what you needed to
Speaker 3: do to survive and go girl basically. Yeah, And also like,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm going to get real woo woo here
Speaker 3: time and space doesn't exist and we go through healing.
Speaker 3: So I am showing up for my younger self right now.
Speaker 3: And because I am creating safety for her, it is
Speaker 3: becoming a ripple effect energetically in my life. And that's
Speaker 3: why I feel so safe now.
Speaker 1: There is the power and nobility in that right that
Speaker 1: feels very good. But there's also the element of that
Speaker 1: that feels very raw and vulnerable and exposed. And I
Speaker 1: know that recently, as a part of this press story,
Speaker 1: you've shared a lot of really very personal events that
Speaker 1: have happened to you. And how are you feeling on
Speaker 1: the other side of that, because that is like, that's
Speaker 1: a big turning point to be really open about it.
Speaker 3: It is, and you know, I've been talking to my
Speaker 3: mom and my friends and people about it, my therapist,
Speaker 3: and I was like, headlines are going to pick up
Speaker 3: whatever they're going to pick up, and I have to
Speaker 3: remember that and remember the people that are actually listening
Speaker 3: to the full interview or the context, they're going to
Speaker 3: receive it, how they're going to receive it. But it
Speaker 3: is quite vulnerable because I didn't share the abuse because
Speaker 3: I was like, this is what happened. I'm ready to
Speaker 3: express myself of this is what happened to me. I
Speaker 3: was sharing it based off of Because of what happened
Speaker 3: and how it was taken care of, there was a
Speaker 3: lot of pivoting versus dealing, and so that created a
Speaker 3: pattern within me to pivot and not deal. And so
Speaker 3: as I'm going through my healing journey, I am learning
Speaker 3: how to move through things instead of pivot, and by
Speaker 3: sharing it, it was obviously like for anybody who needed
Speaker 3: to hear that to feel seen. Obviously that is an
Speaker 3: amazing intention to have, but it was really to show
Speaker 3: that we are a product of what happens to us,
Speaker 3: and we create belief systems and conditions to protect us
Speaker 3: which actually get us further away from who we are.
Speaker 3: And it's not to blame anybody. It's really to show
Speaker 3: the growth of the journey. And so as that happened,
Speaker 3: I'm so glad I got to share that and have
Speaker 3: these conversations which I've had multiple times with my family,
Speaker 3: and every time you have there there's a new opening
Speaker 3: and a new layer discovered. But I will say I'm
Speaker 3: in my most vulnerable state. As I said, I feel
Speaker 3: very whole. I was talking to Jamie kern Lima about
Speaker 3: this and she was talking about the butterfly and when
Speaker 3: you go into the cocoon and you literally liquefy into
Speaker 3: absolute nothing. That was my death whole pit of shit era.
Speaker 3: I never quite heard it described that.
Speaker 1: I like it.
Speaker 3: It's a clinical term. I'm going to trademark that that's
Speaker 3: book too, But yeah.
Speaker 1: I see future under that name. I mean too.
Speaker 3: No, I'm serious, that's book too. But but you know,
Speaker 3: like the butterfly is the most vulnerable when they first
Speaker 3: you know, come out, when their whole, when they're beautiful,
Speaker 3: when they've gone through the transformation, but their wings are
Speaker 3: still wet, they don't know if they have the ability.
Speaker 3: So through all this transformation, I feel like I've got
Speaker 3: to that place. But I do feel very raw and
Speaker 3: exposed and vulnerable, but in a good way, like finally
Speaker 3: my heart's open. I'm not protecting it in a way.
Speaker 1: But congratulations.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean trust me, I'm like weaving. I'm like, okay,
Speaker 3: keep it open, keep it on, you know. But but yeah,
Speaker 3: it's it's exciting and different.
Speaker 1: I imagine you've also used work as a way to
Speaker 1: kind of protect yourself.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, And you know, distractions are distractions, whether they're healthy
Speaker 3: or unhealthy. And fortunately I've had healthy distractions, but they've
Speaker 3: also just been distractions too, So you know, finding that
Speaker 3: time and space to actually just be still is something
Speaker 3: that I hadn't really work for.
Speaker 2: We mentioned your book, yes, but I want to officially
Speaker 2: yeah about the thing we never knew. Like you mentioned,
Speaker 2: it's fiction, but it's based on storylines from your life.
Speaker 1: So I've heard you call it factional.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we love that totally. Yeah, Lexi, our main character,
Speaker 3: she has these supernatural experiences that start happening where her
Speaker 3: senses are activated, and you know, she starts seeing things
Speaker 3: and tasting things and hearing things. And as that's starting
Speaker 3: to happen, she's like, what is happening to me? And
Speaker 3: if you look at it, like, you know, life is
Speaker 3: like this. You you live in this box where everything's good,
Speaker 3: everything's perfect, and then you start expanding. You're like, whoa,
Speaker 3: this is amazing and all the light and all this
Speaker 3: magic is starting to happen. And then all of a
Speaker 3: sudden you're like, wait, it has to expand this way too.
Speaker 3: So you know, that's what happened to me. It was
Speaker 3: like this activation that like opened up for me. And
Speaker 3: so I was like, I want to tell this story,
Speaker 3: but I want to heighten the experiences so people can
Speaker 3: have more permission to dive into a world that might
Speaker 3: feel a little intimidating with self discovery and healing, and
Speaker 3: heighten those senses so that people can really, like I
Speaker 3: don't know, just relax into.
Speaker 1: It, yeah and get lost in the story.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: So I'm so curious where does Julian end and your
Speaker 1: main character Alexis begin.
Speaker 3: I mean, I called my mom the other day because
Speaker 3: she was like, man, this mom is really you. You
Speaker 3: wrote me really mean. I was like, Mom, this mom
Speaker 3: is not you, This mom is not you.
Speaker 1: This is why I didn't make it a memoir exactly.
Speaker 1: Now I know the real reason. It's smart.
Speaker 3: I know. I was like, it's a combination of this person.
Speaker 3: This person's a very So I will say that for
Speaker 3: anybody who's followed my personal life, which I definitely put
Speaker 3: on display for you know, many years, will be able
Speaker 3: to see a through line, but there's definite things that
Speaker 3: are not in there. I pulled real estate as her
Speaker 3: job because my sister's a real estate agent, and I
Speaker 3: can see parallels of that. A type personality. I'm a
Speaker 3: type personality, but in a completely different industry. I made
Speaker 3: Shane Lexi's husband a structural engineer because that is very
Speaker 3: grounded and rooted in like analytics, and like my ex
Speaker 3: husband was very analytical and grounded, which was like a
Speaker 3: beautiful foundation for me to be up here. So there's
Speaker 3: little themes like that. Obviously, I don't want to give
Speaker 3: too much of the book away but Lexi. It says
Speaker 3: it in like the first page, Lexi has a miscarriage.
Speaker 3: And I didn't personally experience something like that, similar but
Speaker 3: not like that. But I did lose my dogs and
Speaker 3: that feeling of loss and grief was something I've never
Speaker 3: experienced before. So there's like little pieces, but it's not
Speaker 3: direct from my life.
Speaker 2: I have another podcast that I do and it's very booky. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and the first person I ever interviewed it was for
Speaker 2: a book it was called The Likability Trap, and she said,
Speaker 2: I'm so glad this book found you, because I think
Speaker 2: books always find people when they need them most. And
Speaker 2: so my question for you is whose hands are you
Speaker 2: hoping this book gets into, well.
Speaker 3: First of all, full chills, because that's the whole point
Speaker 3: of this book is like for this to find whoever
Speaker 3: is going to resonate with it. And I mean my sister,
Speaker 3: I think, was the first person that read it. And
Speaker 3: she looked at me and she's like, did you write
Speaker 3: this about me? And I was like, yes, I did.
Speaker 3: I was like no, but I'm so glad that you
Speaker 3: feel that way. And I've been getting the same, you know,
Speaker 3: messages and dms from people being like WHOA, I feel
Speaker 3: so like this is what I'm going through right now.
Speaker 3: Even though it's not like my personal experiences, I feel
Speaker 3: seen in this. So it's that whoever it does fall
Speaker 3: in the hands to is what it should be. In
Speaker 3: the past, I've always like wanted my music or Beyondiancing
Speaker 3: the Star is to like represent how hard I worked,
Speaker 3: and like this book for some reason, like I'm cool
Speaker 3: if it gets on a best seller's list, which it did,
Speaker 3: that's awesome, you know, But I only want that best
Speaker 3: seller's list so that more eyes can see it, so
Speaker 3: that more people can experience it and read it and
Speaker 3: feel connected to it.
Speaker 1: So I think that's how you know you're on your
Speaker 1: soul path.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, just see what happens. But I feel like
Speaker 3: it has a long life and whether it hits now
Speaker 3: or later or somebody can read this twenty years from
Speaker 3: now and it will still resonate, Like that's really cool.
Speaker 3: That's really cool.
Speaker 2: Cool. That's the coolest thing about books is the outlive Yeah, eternal. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we have to take another short break, but we'll be
Speaker 2: right back with more from Julienne Huff.
Speaker 1: Stick with us. We're back with Julianne huff.
Speaker 2: As a dancer, you're so connected to your body, and
Speaker 2: I've heard you talk about the obsession with it. Even
Speaker 2: you said you're a creative, but you're also an athlete.
Speaker 2: Dancers are athletes, and so you're sitting in front of
Speaker 2: the mirror and like picking your body apart, and it
Speaker 2: becomes this obsession. I feel like, through the ether of
Speaker 2: following your career, I've felt pieces of your healing journey
Speaker 2: with your body, but I actually don't know the story.
Speaker 2: Where are you with it now?
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, I've never felt better. It's interesting. Even
Speaker 3: though I was a dancer, I actually wasn't as connected
Speaker 3: to my body as I thought I was until I
Speaker 3: started going in and like doing the work and realizing, wow,
Speaker 3: I dissociated from my body a lot because my body
Speaker 3: was the thing that just went and like I was
Speaker 3: burning my adrenals like it was a lot. And so
Speaker 3: when I actually started paying attention to my body, I
Speaker 3: had to rest and like the inflammation that came up
Speaker 3: and like all sorts of things, and that was hard
Speaker 3: because I was like whoa super inflamed. And then and
Speaker 3: then I started getting more consistent and like I did
Speaker 3: Carnivore for like three months.
Speaker 1: So you were like pounding beef flivver and tallow and
Speaker 1: you're kind of diet rotein that's even more dream.
Speaker 3: I'm pretty stream. I was doing like just beef and
Speaker 3: butter and like I did that for a couple of months.
Speaker 3: I hadn't I know, right, So I just I needed
Speaker 3: that also for my mental clarity because I was I
Speaker 3: was protein deficient all sorts of things. I had a
Speaker 3: marker for an autoimmune and I was just like, hang on,
Speaker 3: I'm anything that I do I'd like really commit to.
Speaker 3: So I was like, I'm just going to do this
Speaker 3: for a couple of months. Yeah, and then I'll ease
Speaker 3: back in. And after I did that, like my life
Speaker 3: force energy came back because I realized my brain fog
Speaker 3: and my clarity and my mood was just like all
Speaker 3: over the place. Yeah, the help me.
Speaker 1: Thoughts really help with that. Okay, now I'm actually really curious.
Speaker 1: I might need to get on this front of our
Speaker 1: right well offline about it. I don't know what you're done.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And by the way, like I that's basically my
Speaker 3: diet now I just add other things to it.
Speaker 1: But yeah, do you remember the moment when the disassociation
Speaker 1: ended and you felt like reconnected to your body again.
Speaker 3: I don't know if there was like actually I lie,
Speaker 3: I totally remember when it was wow wow, Okay, so
Speaker 3: we love it on lot, Yes, I love it. It
Speaker 3: was it was all during this time. So it was
Speaker 3: like early twenty eighteen. I started going and taking Tai
Speaker 3: Chi and Chi goong, and like, I knew the body
Speaker 3: was going to be my form of expression. So as
Speaker 3: I was going through this, I met this person who
Speaker 3: was doing he called them fire sessions, and I'm so
Speaker 3: connected to the elements that just like hit me. I
Speaker 3: was like, oh, I want to go take this class.
Speaker 3: And I remember we did this class and there was
Speaker 3: like twenty of us in there and it's all visualization
Speaker 3: through the elements. And as we were like visualizing like
Speaker 3: this fire coming through our body and then connecting to
Speaker 3: the water, it was like it was kind of like
Speaker 3: a Kundalini awakening. It was like all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: I was like whoa, Like I was like touching my body.
Speaker 3: I was like, oh my gosh, like I like I
Speaker 3: feel my oh and I was like this is incredible
Speaker 3: and like I just felt my body. It wasn't just
Speaker 3: this thing that like made myself perform, and it was
Speaker 3: an athlete. It was like whoa, like I feel and
Speaker 3: all of this energy rushing through my body. And I
Speaker 3: was like, literally for like seven hours, this is this
Speaker 3: is this is BTMI and watch this big clickbait. Here's
Speaker 3: the clickbait for everybody who's ready. I went to dinner
Speaker 3: with my mom. I stepped out of my brother after
Speaker 3: this session and it ha'd been like seven hours. I
Speaker 3: was like, I feel like, like not quite a climax yet,
Speaker 3: and I was just like I can. I was like,
Speaker 3: what is happening? It was like fully, you know, like
Speaker 3: melting in the chair. And I remember I took a
Speaker 3: picture of the fountains behind me, yeah, and I sent
Speaker 3: it to the person who did this session. I was like, Yo,
Speaker 3: this is how I'm feeling inside of my body with
Speaker 3: the fountains like exploding, you know, and I was like,
Speaker 3: what the hell? He's like, Well, just you know, just
Speaker 3: realize that you've been so shut off and dissociated to
Speaker 3: your body. Just imagine like first person ever on Earth
Speaker 3: discovering their body, like you're feeling that right now, Just
Speaker 3: that permission to feel pleasure, not from someone else, but
Speaker 3: just within my own body. I'm like buzzing right now.
Speaker 3: You guys, Okay, here's the best part.
Speaker 1: You're at dinner with your family, So explain how this.
Speaker 3: Goes like this, I'm like, what is happening? Like, guys,
Speaker 3: I gotta go home, and they're like looking at me,
Speaker 3: like what is going on.
Speaker 1: I'm picturing all the Midwestern moms and dads who are
Speaker 1: visiting LA for the first time, and they say, Julia
Speaker 1: at dinner, that's such a good story, thank you so much.
Speaker 3: Eighteen Yeah, twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: Chef probably thought it was his sushi. But there we go. Now,
Speaker 1: there you go, Julianne, We've had such a wide ranging conversation,
Speaker 1: I feel like I have to ask you a wide
Speaker 1: ranging question to just wrap it all up. So I'm
Speaker 1: going to ask you, what crossroads are you at right now?
Speaker 3: What crossroads? You know? I think, how do I explain
Speaker 3: this what I was saying about the butterfly of like,
Speaker 3: I'm in this new whole feeling, but I'm quite vulnerable.
Speaker 3: I get to intentionally create my life because everything that
Speaker 3: I had created to that point it all came undone,
Speaker 3: and so I kind of have a clean slate and
Speaker 3: even wrapping this book up, and like a lot of
Speaker 3: projects that I've had kind of surfacing. They've kind of
Speaker 3: like finished a cycle. And I'm open right now, and
Speaker 3: so I won't really have a plan. I just know
Speaker 3: I love what I do. I'm really happy with where
Speaker 3: I'm at in my personal life. And I think the
Speaker 3: only thing I would say is I probably want to
Speaker 3: be a little bit more rooted. I've been going back
Speaker 3: and forth between New York and LA and I can
Speaker 3: get a little exhausting, and I just want to be
Speaker 3: in one place and like create more of a routine.
Speaker 3: So that is so basic, but like I mean, I
Speaker 3: just crave routine. Yeah, yeah, thank you, Thanks so much
Speaker 3: for having me. This is such a fun conversation.
Speaker 1: You're so wonderful. Thanks for coming here and for coming
Speaker 1: in person.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I love people.
Speaker 1: Thank you, doctor Huff, the doctors in the Doctor's out.
Speaker 3: You guys are awesome.
Speaker 1: Thank you so fun.
Speaker 2: Juliet Huff is the author of Everything We Never Knew,
Speaker 2: and she's hosting Season thirty three of Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 2: premiering tomorrow night.
Speaker 1: That's it for today's show. Tomorrow, we have a very
Speaker 1: special guest, d One, the only Ev e. The iconic
Speaker 1: Grammy Award winning rapper Eve, joins us to talk about
Speaker 1: our new memoir, Who's That Girl.
Speaker 2: Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Join the
Speaker 2: conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect with us
Speaker 2: on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram and at
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Speaker 2: tag us at Simone Boys and at Danielle Robe.
Speaker 1: We'll see you tomorrow. Keep looking on the bright side.