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outofcontrix · 4 years

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Everything has changed.

10 years ago, you, who used to write your name as ‘Aina Trixia Carmela’, would always complain because you have such a long name, and it’s tiring to write the whole name for a 2nd grader. Eventually, they corrected it as ‘Ainatrixia Carmela” which you are still using up until now, Oh! My bad, you just write ‘Aina Lazaro’ now, don’t you? You, who recently just learned how to use the computer, how to type on keyboard, how to open the system unit and the monitor. Remember when you were so mesmerized whenever the screensaver appeared on your monitor? You could even change that, you know? Also, You, who always plays the mouse’s ball underneath and would blame your younger cousin if it gets stucked or worse, if it breaks. You, who just knew Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, and One Direction at that time. You, who would jam to Katy Perry’s ‘California Gurls’, ‘Fireworks’, ‘Teenage Dream’, ‘Last Friday Night’, and of course, ‘The One That Got Away’, you used to listen to those songs, as if you understand their meaning. Heck! You didn’t even know that time that most of the songs you used to bop are sensual songs talking about making out, having sex… You were 8 years old! Also, to Queen Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’ and ‘You Belong with Me’, you were listening to those songs non-stop until your grandmother scolds you for playing it over and over again for the nth time. (10 years later, you’re still playing it non-stop.) You, when given a 20 pesos bill, it was such a huge amount, and would flaunt it to your childhood playmates, who are also your neighbors. With that 20 pesos bill, you already bought your favorite ‘tsitsirya’ Vinegar Pusit and Sweet Corn, bonus, you also could buy sago juice that cost 5 pesos back then. Remember how you would search the web for GTA San Andreas cheats and hacks, you’d write it down on a piece of white pad paper (You don’t use Yellow Pad Papers yet, but soon.) for you to use it and would later on ask for your Grandma to give you several ‘Mamesus’ (one peso coins) because you’ll go to that “piso-net” computer shops not far from your house to play the said game, and then you’ll lose track of the time and your strict aunt would fetch you holding her right sandal that’s ready to smack the hell out of you if you still don’t stop. Also, whenever you hear the “PSSSSSSST!” of her, and you see her standing in front of your gate, remember how you almost lost your shit and peed your pants, as you ran as fast as you can just to avoid getting lectured and eventually getting spanked using clothes’ hanger or her sandals if you did not go home immediately. Those times that scratching your knee and even letting it bleed until you go home, the smell of sweat after playing outside from 4 pm to 7 pm, and your “madungis” look. Remember how your grandma used to threaten you to lock you outside if you didn’t stop playing outside, playing ‘bangsak’, ‘patintero’, ‘langit-lupa’, tumbang preso, and hide-n-seek. Those games are tiring as hell, but it seems that you neve run out of energy, you’re always game whenever your playmates start shouting, “TRISH!! LARO NA TAYO!” Outside your house’s sari-sari store. POV: You just came home from school, your schedule, 06:30 am - 02:00 pm, you haven’t even got your afternoon nap yet, still tired from school, but you’ll immediately run towards the gate. Playing outside somehow is your favorite past-time as a child. Whenever you play you forget all your responsibilities, by responsibilities, I mean your homeworks that is due tomorrow. Life then was really much easier, and fun.

But as One Direction said in one of their songs, “Just how fast the night changes…” You grow older, and even your playmates. Your usual workload then eventually gets more and more as you age. The things that you used to enjoy, suddenly became uninteresting to you. Your urge to go out and play decreased little by little; you now rather stay indoors than play outside below the scorching hot weather, you don’t like feeling hot, you don’t like how sticky your sweat trickled on your skin, you find playing outside a childish thing, because you were older, and they said big girls don’t play game on the streets anymore. Yes, you still play, but you hardly do it then. If you’re really just bored, and you would come out, you’d watch other kids play, laugh when someone makes a mistake and even get irritated whenever they play the game wrong, you would think, “HINDI NAMAN GANYAN LARUIN ‘YAN!!!!”, but would rather stay silent and just watch them foolishly play the game wrong. Back then, You were eager to be a grown-up person, to be an adult, because you see how adults are living that time, they can go out whenever they want despite the time, they have their own money, and the likes. You, who at a young age, I think you were around 9? Or 10 that time, you learned how to commute, how to ride jeepneys and other public transportation all by yourself. You learned which color of Jeepney in Angeles you should ride if you’re going to a certain place. Gray and Purple Jeep to Balibago, Green if you came from Marisol and you want to be dropped off at the Market, Blue if you want to go to Pandan, Yellow if you want to go to Telebastagan, etc. Also, At a young age you learned how to cook yourself a meal, Your Grandma and Aunt are great cooks, you often hang out in the Kitchen whenever they are cooking meals, So one day, you asked them if they could teach you, which they gladly did. They first taught you the basics, like fried foods and as time passed, it got complicated like adding onions and garlic to the pan, and even measuring condiments.

Days, and Weeks, and Months, even Years passed. You and your family need to move out of the house where you grew, where you spent your whole 13 years, where you learned to walk, to think, where you met people that you considered as your own family, where you met your friends who were with you ever since you stood up on your 2 feet. In a blink of an eye, you were gone, and here you are in a new environment, a new house, new neighbors and people you need to get along with. You didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye to the people who were with you ever since, and with that, you were forced to move on and focus on the things that were present at that time. Aside from that, you are now in highschool, in 7th grade to be exact. You first met your Biological father. After 13 years of no communication, he suddenly reached out. You didn’t know what to feel so you were awkward with him. You don’t even like talking to him, whenever you two would voice call, you’ll just answer with ‘yes’, ‘no’, ’opo’, Which I totally understand. You were still a kid back then. Again, you’re a high school student now, new environment and people again. You spent almost 7 years in your last school, and the school you went to in your 7th grade wasn’t really your first choice right? You don’t even want to study in that school because your dream school was Chevalier School and Angeles City Science High School. Remember how you almost dropped out after the first week of high school? Your mother just forced you to attend that school, but deep inside you really don’t like that said school. First week as a 7th grader has passed, and you didn’t really enjoy it at all, you felt... left out. Despite your classmates, other students and teachers being friendly, you just feel like you didn’t belong there, You didn’t have a friend, you were practically a loner for the first week. So after a week of staying in that school, you practically begged you Grandma to drop you out, you were in a private school, you told your grandma that you didn’t like it, that you’d rather go to a public school than stay in that school.Your Grandma gave you a condition. “Please bear it for one more week… After that, I’ll transfer you to other schools. Just please try and bear it for one more week, Trixia.” So you did. You forced yourself to get up, and go to school, you were even counting down, you were eager for the week to end because you couldn’t wait to transfer schools. But, an unexpected turn of events happened. During the course of that one week, you met these people, they were your classmates, 6 girls to be specific. They just started talking to you, and somehow… you felt comfortable talking to them, being around them. So they started asking you to join them during recess and lunch… and then boom… You went to your Grandma one day, after you came home from school, and these words came out of your mouth, “Ma, I don’t want to transfer schools anymore. I will stay in Holy Fam.”

No one expected it at all. Not even you. So now, those girls were the sole reason you are still here in HFA. They’re the reason you stayed, and also the one of the reasons why you grew to love HFA. until now, you are still friends with them, they’re your best buddies. Then, in terms of school, There were many hardships, culture shock, sudden change of the environment, change of subjects that are more complicated than the ones taught to you during elementary. You weren’t used to this type of setting. So you struggled a lot, in academics, you got low grades, and even had failed grades back then. The ‘7’ never left your report card, your mom’s disappointed in you. That was a hard time for you back then, but you learned your lesson, you were never an academic achiever, so you tried to improve, gladly it worked. Anyway, it ain’t big but still, I’m proud of you for making an effort, at least you wanted to become and strived to be a better person, you are learning from your past mistakes. For your interests, Gosh how much have you changed over the years! You went from being a die-hard ‘Directioner’, a Louis Tomlinson’s girl, from being a KPOP fan, you liked EXO, and then you changed your ultimate group to Super Junior, which until now, you’re still a fan and they're still your main idols. You, who doesn’t like spending money back then because you’re a one stingy person, now… spends money on albums, on merchandise, to concerts and even a small piece of cardboard with their idol’s selfie in it. You have over 30 albums and 80 photocards (and counting) on your collection. You used to fangirl over One Direction, Daniel Padilla, Big Time Rush, and other western artists, now you simp over one korean guy in his 30’s named Kim Ryeowook. Just… What happened? If only you knew you were going to be a kpop fan, You should’ve saved up money 10 years ago so that you’re not broke at the moment. Not a wise choice, but if you’re happy, then so be it.

You thought everything’s going well and fine when suddenly, the biggest anchor in your life, your life support, the one who was with you ever since you came out to this world suddenly… left without notice. Everything shattered, your walls, your heart, your mind, your body, yourself crumbled when she suddenly left you. What hurts the most is that there’s no way that you could reach her now or even go to her, or hear her voice. You were at the rock bottom at that time, you felt like it’s your fault that she’s gone, you blame yourself, and you started to think that you have no sense in this world now, you don’t feel like living anymore because what’s the point now? She’s already gone. But thankfully you overcame that, you started to accept it, you started to forgive yourself for what happened, and you are still in the process of accepting and forgiving yourself. Small progress is still a progress. It takes time. Though you lost this person, please remember that she’s guarding you, she’s still looking out for you. Also, all your efforts and hardwork through the years, I’m actually glad that you made it, that you didn’t give up, and that you’re still here. I’m very, very proud of you for fighting, for holding on, for staying strong despite huge waves of problems that come in your way. I know that sometimes it’s so hard, and you feel like you don’t have the strength to carry on, and you’re thinking of giving up and ending it all, but even all of that, you didn’t do anything. So please, thank yourself, thank you for not doing that, for not giving up, for being strong. I know things aren’t well at the moment, you have so much worries regarding your future, and things aren't going in your way, but all will be well, and they will all pass. Please be strong. At such a young age you somehow learned to be independent, and that’s something to be proud of, even the one above would be proud of you, very much proud of you. You also became mature in your own way, you learned things in your own way, you have responsibilities now, you tried things, you risked, you failed, you succeeded. You are now really becoming an adult, it’s just that… You were so excited to become an adult back then, you badly wanted to be a grown up at a young age, and I know that now, you’re wishing that you just want to turn back time, where you have no responsibilities, without thinking about life, and such. You just want to enjoy things again. Whenever you come across kids playing outside, you can’t help but to reminisce those times, those times that you were the one playing that on the streets, with scratched knees and dirty hands, Oh how you wish that time can turn back it’s arms and just become a kid again. Everything has changed, from the way you dress, the way you talk and converse, the way you think, understand, and rationalize things, the way you prioritize things and decide. So much has changed. You’re not even a real adult now, you’re just beginning, you are just entering the adulthood phase. I know that you would make it. Next month, you’re finally graduating High School, and soon you’re venturing the College life, and then you wouldn’t even notice that you’re already working. I suggest that never make the same mistake again, don’t be so eager, don’t rush things up! You’ll eventually make it. I am rooting for you, Aina! The only thing that I’m looking forward to and is eager to see… is you being successful and finally reaching your dreams in the near future. Best of Luck, Aina!

— Aina, 210321

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lanaisnotwool · 4 years

Video

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404 From Teacher to Investor - Interview with Todd Dexheimer

http://moneyripples.com/2020/06/22/404-from-teacher-to-investor-interview-with-todd-dexheimer/

Chris Miles, the "Cash Flow Expert and Anti-Financial Advisor," is a leading authority on how to quickly free up and create cash flow for thousands of his clients, entrepreneurs, and others internationally! He’s an author, speaker, and radio host that has been featured in US News, CNN Money, Bankrate, Entrepreneur on Fire, and spoken to thousands getting them fast financial results.

Listen to our Podcast here:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/moneyripples/2020/05/31/404--going-from-teacher-to-investor-with-todd-dexheimer

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Chris Miles (00:00): Hello, my fellow Ripplers. This is Chris Miles. Your Cash Flow Expert and Anti-Financial Advisor. Welcome you out for a wonderful show. Show that's for you and about you. Those of you work so hard for money and you're ready for your money. Start working harder for you. Now! You want that freedom. That cash flow. That prosperity. Today! Not 30, 40 bazillion years from now, but right now, so you can live that life that you love doing what you love being with those that you love, but it's so much more than you guys. Than just having a lot of money and being comfortable and, you know, driving flashy cars and that kind of thing. Because if you're following us, we're not those kind of people. We're real people. We're sincere. We're authentic. And the truth is that you're a Rippler. That you, yes, you can create lots and lots of money create the life of your dreams, but your life is much more than that. You want to create a ripple effect through the lives of those, around you, whether it be your family, whether it be your community, the country, or across the world. And that's ultimately what this ripple effect's about. And I appreciate you guys allowing me to create a ripple effect through you because without that, we couldn't do it. And you guys have been bingeing on these shows. You've been spreading the word you've been sharing it. And I love seeing these numbers grow every single day. So thank you for being a part of this.

Chris Miles (01:20): Hey, as a quick reminder, check out our website MoneyRipples.com. You've got the great ebook on there called Beyond Rice & Beans. Seven Secrets. Free up cash today, and you can check out other information on there as well. So check it out.

Chris Miles (01:29): Alright! Today, guys, I'm bringing on another great, great investor on our show here. This is actually a guy by the name of Todd Dexheimer here. Now, Todd, like Todd's been doing real estate. He got in right during the last recession. Like he was born out of the fire, right? He was born out of those flames when everybody says real estate stinks. And that's exactly when Todd said, alright, let's do this. He actually started as a high school industrial tech teacher. Then went to real estate in 2008. Now, interesting thing about him is that he's the CEO of venture properties, LLC. Yeah. He's also been, has purchased and renovated over 800 units guys. Has focuses on syndicating value, add multifamily and emerging markets, as well as coaching other inspiring investors. He's the host of the Pillar of Wealth Creation Podcasts that actually I've been on as well. He's also been doing contributing things like Bigger Pockets. And he's been on various shows, whether it's like, you know, big real estate investing advice ever, or the Michael Blank show and many, many more. And so he lives in Minnesota, his wife, and two kids love skiing, hunting, camping, hockey running. Of course he's in Minnesota. He's got to love hockey. Right? So anyways, Todd, welcome to our show.

Todd Dexheimer (02:41): Yeah. Appreciate you having me on, I appreciate the introduction, man. I'm like, I'm pumped up. I, that intro was awesome! I'm pumped up to hopefully add some value to the show and yeah. This is, this is an exciting community. It sounds like we got here. So...

Chris Miles (02:58): Absolutely. No, these are good people. These are the best ones you'll ever, ever witness. I'll tell you that. So, you know, tell us like, how did you even go from, you know, high school teacher to real estate? Like what even sparked that because everybody's freaking out in 2008 and you're like, Hey, why not? Right.

Todd Dexheimer (03:14): Yeah. I've been, what was I going to lose, man?

Chris Miles (03:16): That's right!

Todd Dexheimer (03:18): I was making you know, not very much as a high school teacher. And I think there was, I don't, I don't know exactly what sparked it like it was, I don't know if it was just a spark, but I've always, I think had this entrepreneurial spirit with me. I actually built shipping crates for my dad's company that he worked at. He was a manufacturing engineer and they're making these vises and I built shipping crates for these vises. So I had my own decks, custom crates business that my brother and dad kind of formed and along with me, and then I took over and did that. So that was fun. And that was when I was in high school, I had the lawn mowing business, you know, but then I decided to be a teacher and just, just quite frankly, it just didn't click. Like I thought it was going to be great. And there was parts of it. That was, was great, but it just didn't click. And it wasn't for me. And I bet within like a month or two, I was telling my wife, I gotta figure out what I'm going to do when I grow up because this aint it. And so...

Chris Miles (04:26): It, wasn't a scary moment for her to say, wait, all of this to now say you want to get out. Right?

Todd Dexheimer (04:31): Well, we just started our life together, you know, as like all this. So it was kind of crazy, but at the same time I knew it wasn't for me. So it was just exploratory and just trying to figure out and real estate made a ton of sense. And like you said, it was right during that like firestorm, right. Everything was crashing. Everybody was running in the opposite direction. And I got in a little bit about, you know, I was naive. I didn't really understand a hundred percent what happened cause I wasn't involved. Like I didn't lose anything. Right? So it was a little bit of maybe me being naive, but also seeing the opportunity. Understanding like that real estate will go back up in value, even though some people sat and I heard this a lot of times real estate will never go back up to where it used to be. Never. And that's very shortsighted. And I knew that it was like, yeah, see, but these are people that got, just got burned. Right? And so it just made so much financial sense and I understood the industry being an industrial tech teacher and you know, doing construction through the summers too, work my way through high school and college. It just made sense.

Chris Miles (05:44): Yeah. So what was your first deal? Like what'd you start out doing?

Todd Dexheimer (05:48): You know what, I did three deals pretty much at one time, which is, which is crazy. And I didn't have any money, by the way. My wife and I had probably like $30,000 saved up, maybe $25,000 saved up. And so we bought a single family that we ended up living in, but it was a foreclosure. We did this 203K loan. So you can get in for very little money. And then we did the renovation ourselves, big renovation. I mean, when we moved in, there was no plumbing, water wasn't working. So like the first, like, I shouldn't say when we moved in, like probably the day we moved in, I just got it going. I can still remember working on some, we didn't have heat, which is fine. Cause we moved in in August, but we had to get heat because at Minnesota, by end of September, you need heat. So I, they like get around is we're on a time deadline. Yeah. But so that, that was one of them. The other one was a flip that I partnered with a guy that had money and we did the fix and flip. And then the other one was a single family rental house. I bought that out of foreclosure. For like 60,000, somewhere around there stuck another 10, 15,000 into it. Did all the work myself with my wife and a couple of friends came and helped me in, but that was it. And then was able to then refinance that house actually in that snowball, from there. Fix and flip, actually ended up being a flop. I bet I made a thousand dollars on it. I did all the work

Chris Miles (07:27): You got to learn pretty quickly. Like it's probably better that happened because in some people's case where they hit really big on that first flip, they think that's the way it's always going to be. Right?

Todd Dexheimer (07:35): Oh, this is easy!

Chris Miles (07:37): Yeah, exactly. And you're like, okay, that wasn't as cool as I thought that was, that was like a dollar an hour. Gosh.

Todd Dexheimer (07:43): But it probably wasn't even that much.

Chris Miles (07:47): Well, that's great. And you've done. I mean, you've done flips, you've even done mobile home, parks and you did a ski resort, is that right?

Todd Dexheimer (07:53): Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Miles (07:55): Tell us about that.

Todd Dexheimer (07:55): Well, I bought a defunct ski resort, so it was just a ski resort that, you know, we had some really bad winters in the early, the late 90's to early 2000's where there just wasn't a lot of snow. And so when that happens, these little skiers are just can't handle it. And so they ended up shutting it down. Somebody got hurt really bad too. And so there was a big lawsuit. And so it was just shut down. The guy that owned it originally passed away, handed down to his kid and grown adult, but yeah, just didn't want to do it anymore. So they ended up shutting it down and we stumbled upon it. Actually the business partner at the time was actually hunting nearby and he was seeing all these deer trails. And they all led into this property.

Todd Dexheimer (08:48): So we went and talked to the owner and then was like, Hey, what's going on here? And we ended up striking a deal. Then we ended up getting the property and we got it for such a cheap price that we had a bank that financed it a hundred percent.

Chris Miles (09:01): Wow!

Todd Dexheimer (09:02): It appraised for a million dollars and we were buying it for $450,000 and they fund us to a hundred percent of the deal.

Chris Miles (09:10): That's incredible.

Todd Dexheimer (09:12): Yeah. It was incredible. And that was 2000, maybe 13 or 14. So things, I mean still were a little iffy, you know, probably 13. Yeah. We're still a little iffy. There is banks. Weren't being super friendly. Yeah. Not like that, but...

Chris Miles (09:29): But the numbers made sense. It said, all right. Go for it.

Todd Dexheimer (09:32): Yup. Yup. So we ended up just taking that. We did some work to it. We were thinking about doing something with it, but it ended up just being more of a distraction to try to get it up and running. So we ended up selling it. So I basically flipped the ski resort. You know, I tried to convince my wife to move down there. She said, no.

Chris Miles (09:50): I'm saying it as a skier. You were probably really tempted weren't you?

Todd Dexheimer (09:53): Yeah, it was great. It was. And it's amazingly beautiful piece of property and it's just amazing.

Chris Miles (09:59): That's great. What kind of deals are you doing now? Like what kind of multifamily stuff are you doing? Cause I know with different people I've had on the show, some were kinda like, you know what, I'm getting so strict with my underwriting. Like I am almost refused things left and right, right?

Todd Dexheimer (10:13): Yup. Yup. And kind of the same actually. Things were heating up quite a bit, obviously that was pre-COVID. Things were heating up quite a bit and it was really tough to find a deal that made sense. Now people were just buying these properties for crazy amounts and we weren't willing to. So I'm buying, you know, value add, B class multifamily, typically a hundred plus units. So we can have some scale. We can have the onsite staff and, and we're buying those in a few markets cross country that are kind of emerging or markets that have some, the, all the right fundamentals that we're really looking for and we're doing the syndication. So we're raising the funds for down payment, all that kind of stuff. So that's, that's kind of our bread and butter. And I anticipate that to still be our bread and butter as we kind of emerge through this whole COVID deals will probably come out of this. You know, we don't know exactly the future yet, but I think there'll be some opportunity down the road.

Chris Miles (11:24): Yeah. I mean, not that I, I glory in people's pain right? Or do something bad, but I definitely foresee that there's a lot of deal operators that really weren't operators. They were just greedy people wanting to get in on the, on the ride. Right. And buy these properties even probably have investor's money out there. And, but they've never done a deal before and they don't know how to operate something. And I imagine that's where there could be some good opportunities coming up.

Todd Dexheimer (11:47): I think so. I think so. And like you said, we don't like for me, it's you, when you look at it and go, Oh, I really, so some people are excited. They're like, Oh, it's great. I can't wait for people to start losing their properties. It's like, well you do you understand like that, that actually only hurts you as well. Like I've got properties. So if the guys around me guys and gals around me lose their properties, those value, my property pretty value is going to go down. Right. And so it's, it's it's yeah. Well, do I wish ill will upon anybody? No. But the matter of the fact is exactly what you said, likely there's going to be people that are gonna end up maybe not losing the property, but be told to sell. Lenders have low incompetence and you are going to be told to sell if you're not hitting your numbers. And so you're going to be forced, basically forced to sell and yeah, you're right. A lot of those people had no clue what they're doing or even if they did have a clue what they're doing, they were just going about it the wrong way, or they're going after these properties for fees. I think that's a lot of things. A lot of what was happening is people are going, wow, I can do this deal. I can syndicate it and I can make $300,000 right up front on this deal. That's a great payday Al's I need to do is one to two of those each year. And I'm doing really well. And some people are doing two, maybe three deals a year, they're making 600 to a million dollars, man. They didn't care how good the deal was. That's, Unfortunately I think what was happening.

Chris Miles (13:21): Yeah. No, there's, there's definitely, I've seen that. I have definitely seen that out there and you're right. Like we don't want people to have to sell off, like in a sense of just being, you know, selling off for dirt cheap or anything like that, you know, I would more see like where's the opportunity of increasing profits and it's something that's already there. Right. It's like, you know, where they just didn't operate it well, and yeah. In your opinion, like right now, I mean, what are you seeing? Are you seeing like good deals or you see in most everything's just junk currently?

Todd Dexheimer (13:50): Yeah. So currently I would say we haven't seen much adjustment. The sellers aren't quite ready to take a discount and yeah, I don't need the salaries to take a bath. Like I don't need, in order for me to feel comfortable with the buy. It's not like I need the sellers to sell for 40% discount or something like that now would that be great? Sure. You know, I need the sellers to come off of their, their price by let's call it 10%, maybe 15% and then, okay, I'm ready to, I'm ready to start buying. For me, my company. We don't need to buy Properties, dirt cheap. Now will we? If that happens. Absolutely. But all right. It's still about the fundamentals of the piece of real estate and how the numbers work and can we get our business plan to be able to take any, can we execute it? And so that's what really important part. So...

Chris Miles (14:43): Yeah. What kind of cash flow or NOI can you get from it? Right?

Todd Dexheimer (14:46): Yup. So I've been talking to a lot of brokers that deal in my space and they're kind of the same, most sellers are looking for right now between a 10% and a 20% discount or sorry, most buyers are looking for a 10% to 20% discount. Most sellers are well expecting to sell either at the previous high or within at least 10%. So they, I have heard from brokers, but a lot of sellers are understanding. They've got to come down 5% to 10% and but most buyers are actually even more than that. So we've got a gap there eventually that'll close.

Chris Miles (15:22): Yeah. It's got to take some time before they start adjusting and believing the numbers and say, okay.

Todd Dexheimer (15:27): Real estate. It's not the stock market. I mean, you're right, Chris. I mean the stock market goes like this and actually overreacts quickly. Where real estate actually Under reacts and takes a while for those, those drops to happen.

Chris Miles (15:41): Isn't that the beautiful thing about real estate? Is that it doesn't happen overnight. Right. Where people are used to, if they'd been watching the stock market, it's, it's painful to watch. You can't watch it, you know, without freaking out, you know. Where at least the real estate there's slow adjustments typically. I mean, whether the price go down or up, usually there's there's time involved.

Todd Dexheimer (16:00): Yup. Yeah. I mean, right now I've got a property on the market and I have priced at about the 15% below where I would have expected to sell it just a few months ago and I'm kicking myself because I should have sold it in January, but I didn't know this was happening for some reason.

Chris Miles (16:16): Of course.

Todd Dexheimer (16:17): But I still want to sell the property and I'm happy to take a 15% discount because quite frankly, it's still gonna, I'm still gonna do really well on it. And I see there's opportunity potentially coming. So I'd rather take that capital, be able to have it, be able to do it. Okay. Put it out there when better deals do come. So right now, if you're wanting to be a seller, it's Still sell because real estate slowly, as you said, it's going to take awhile.

Chris Miles (16:43): That's a good point, too. Like you said, you don't always have to find bad deals. It could be someone just like you, who already bought a great deal. It's appreciated, you know, you've add value to it. And of course now price is great. Even if you have to take a discount, you're still gonna make good, good money on it. So there's plenty of those deals too.

Todd Dexheimer (16:59): Yup.

Chris Miles (16:59): Well, great. Well how like, like tell us more about your show, the Pillars of Wealth Creation Show. Tell us about that.

Todd Dexheimer (17:05): Yeah. So Pillars of Wealth Creations, mainly a real estate show, but we're, we also talk to a lot of people that not aren't necessarily real estate investors first and foremost. So we're, the show is kind of more catered towards the business side of the real estate. Like not necessarily talking the nuts and bolts of real estate. I can learn that in a book for the most part. And there's a lot of other podcasts that talk about nuts and bolts. But one of the big things that we like to focus on is how do you really build a business the right way? So how do we take cause so many real estate investors are transactional, right? They think they think about real estate as just buying a piece of property and that's it. And then we're going to, we're going to be passive, right? We're going to buy this piece of property. We're gonna buy this a hundred unit apartment. And then we're going to be able to sit back on the beach and relax. Cause now we got all this cash flow. Well, that's not how it works. If you want to do that, then you need to passively truly passively invest in real estate.

Chris Miles (18:05): That's right.

Todd Dexheimer (18:07): But, if you're going to buy the piece of property and that you're going to be a part of that deal, you've got to be an active business owner. You've got to learn how to make a business plan. You've got to learn, you know, how to set up systems and processes. And you've got to learn how to build teams. You've got to do all the things that a regular business owner does. And so many real estate investors have no clue that that's even part of what they should be learning.

Chris Miles (18:28): It's so true. Like I'm in a kind of a high level mastermind group where you usually have to have at least a hundred doors to be in that group. And it's so common even with those guys, those guys who legitimately do have a business, right. Even for them to say, Oh, like I am getting up at 4:00AM, 5:00 AM to basically get to work and just hammer this out. And I'm trying to manage everybody. And I don't know if I should have a CEO or not, or a COO or, you know, they're like going nuts. They went from just trying to make money on a few flips and deals like that. And now they're like, man, like just to make these millions of dollars, I have no life like no real passive income. And, and that's a big difference. There's a big difference in lifestyle between that active investor, right? The person that is a business owner versus those that are just passively investing in. Like some sort of what you offer.

Todd Dexheimer (19:14): Yup. Yup. Absolutely.

Chris Miles (19:17): Yeah. Well, great. So obviously like if people follow your show, you, when you talk about syndications, you're probably talking about your syndications and deals you're doing right then too. Right. If you're, if people are looking for passive investments, you've got to, you've got your own funds as well, right?

Todd Dexheimer (19:30): Yeah. You know, on the show, I try not to, I don't probably talk too much about the deals as are going, but if we, when we close on a deal, I usually will give kind of a, Hey, here's what we did. Here are the lessons we learned along the way, you know, here's maybe some things we, you know, found in due diligence and why we made adjustments. And so we'll talk about, yeah, there's a lot of mistakes and lessons learned even along active deals, I've been doing this for a while, but I still make mistakes. I still learn a lot of things on every single deal that I feel like it can bring to my audience and allow them to hopefully learn as well. From what I've learned from my mistakes. So...

Chris Miles (20:13): Well, the thing I love is what you do is you're not the kind of guy to say, Hey, this deal looks awesome. Like you're not just, you know, running around like a monkey with a machine gun. Right. You're actually like, Hey, this deal doesn't fit my parameters, next. Okay. Like takes me 30 seconds. See this, this one's a no, like you just keep passing and passing. And those are like the best investors in my mind are the ones that say no to almost everything just like Warren Buffett did. He would always say, I say no to almost everything. And yes, the very, very few things, you know, and then you have to, you have to right. Like, there's, you can't be successful if you're just chasing after every little deal, you're going to have big, you're gonna have losses and maybe some gains, but you're gonna have a lot of losses. You won't be in business very long.

Todd Dexheimer (20:52): Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. I mean, Warren Buffett's obviously a pretty smart man. And you know, there, he says that for a reason, there's so many deals out there and those are deals for everybody else. Not for me.

Chris Miles (21:06): Yeah. I actually remember him. He said a quote. And he said that to one of my friends in an interview, he said the difference between the successful and the ultra successful is that the ultra successful say no, almost every time.

Todd Dexheimer (21:16): Yeah.

Chris Miles (21:17): You know, I know it's true. And I know you're that kind of guy too. So same way as you know, listeners, you guys, those who are following this, like check out his website, for sure. What's, do you have a website that people could follow?

Todd Dexheimer (21:30): Yeah. A couple of websites, Pillars of Wealth Creation. They can get to my podcast and then just my general website, which should, they can actually still get to my podcasts or that is at VentureDProperties.com. So it's venture and then D as in dog or Dexheimer properties.com.

Chris Miles (21:49): Awesome. Yeah. I'll definitely make sure we get to get those links in the show notes. So if you can follow you, follow your show or even check out your site and get to know you more, obviously, especially if people are looking for investing in opportunities and things of that nature, because obviously you're looking right now, you're actively looking for the right deals. Not just any deal.

Todd Dexheimer (22:06): Yeah. Looking for the right deals and there's opportunities that are going to come down the pipeline. And I think the important part for people that right now to be just thinking about is, what are the paradigms that are going to be shifting through this whole event, right? People's paradigm shift. Consumers, thoughts are going to shift, workers habits are going to shift. So there's going to be different things that are going to come out of this. And how can we make sure we're positioning ourselves to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that are in front of us. And it's not necessarily take advantage of other people. It's take advantage of the people's wants and needs that, you know, the consumers wants and needs out there. If you can best serve them. I think you're going to have a lot of success. And that's what I'm working with. Multifamily with real estate in general, I consider myself a value add real estate investor multifamily. I love a lot, but I also look at other asset classes. So we look at, you know, what are the strengths and weaknesses? What are the trends? Where do we, I think that things are going to be going, and we're trying to make the best decisions obviously for ourselves and our investors on that.

Chris Miles (23:06): Yeah. Working to improve upon something and make it better, you know, for everybody. Right. And that's...

Todd Dexheimer (23:10): Absolutely!

Chris Miles (23:12): What cooler way to make money than actually bettering people's lives and making money from that? I mean, that's the way life and that's where the world should be in my opinion. Yeah. Well, great. Hey, I appreciate your time so much Todd. Like this is awesome. Again, everybody check out the links in the show notes, you know, follow his podcast or check out his site. So everybody, you remember, it's all about patience. It's all about looking for the right thing. Not just anything but the very right thing. So follow Todd and everybody, I hope you make it a wonderful and prosperous week. We'll see you later!

#Chris Miles #Anti-financial Advisor #Cash flow #Cash flow Expert #Debts #Entrepreneur #Financial Freedom #Money Ripples

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hannahstarshade · 4 years

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Pride month has come and gone, but we are still here

Gif credit: @bisexualdonatello

I don’t talk about it very often (mostly because I am not officially out) but I’m bisexual. I am attracted to those who identify as my own gender (female) and those who identify as an opposing gender. It has taken a few years of rationalizing and actually sitting with myself to come to accept this. In fact, very recently I had contemplated the legitimacy of my sexuality again. This is due to a few things: I have never had a relationship of any kind, I live in a conservative community, and I am still learning about the terminology and culture that comes from the LGBTQA+ community as a whole. Popular media—visual media specifically—has been a great influence in this regard. The older I got, the more access I had. The more access I had, the more I was able to learn. I grew to have a better understanding of the world around me and could explain how and why the media I consumed resonated with me personally. It took a while, but this is how I got here:

Bi Awakening (Film)

It was the late 00′s when I saw Van Helsing for the first time. I was immediately hooked. It has all the things I loved and still love to this day: monsters, a gothic aesthetic, an anti-hero with a heart of gold, bad-ass women who are immaculately dressed and fight hard, and a tragic ending. I had always been interested in Hugh Jackman ever since I watched him play Wolverine in the X-Men films. This character was what did it for me. Van Helsing was brave yet troubled. He had a knack for fighting evil and finding good where others couldn’t see it. This is a character I would daydream about going on long adventures around the world with. After watching the movie several times, my eyes also followed Anna Valerious, played by Kate Beckinsale. She was determined and a fighter through and through. Her skills and her dedication to her family drew me in. I wanted to hug her and fight monsters by her side. Oh, and did I mention they were both highly attractive? Because they are, just look at them, oh my gosh!! I took a while, but I finally admitted to myself that I like both men and women. Despite never acting on these feelings, I felt content with the conclusion I’d come to. This went on for a few years. It wasn’t until this year that I started questioning it all again.

Bi Confusion (YouTube)

I’ve watched my fair share of ContraPoints videos. In her video Shame, Natalie explains how she came to the conclusion that she is a lesbian. Throughout the video she explains how she was in a heterosexual relationship that, while loving and nice, was not fulfilling. She brings up the topic of compulsory heterosexuality, the feelings some women experience due to the norms of our society. I went in search of the “Am I a Lesbian” article mentioned in the video and read through the whole thing in one sitting. I came away from it feeling like I had unlocked some secret. Maybe I had been confused and conditioned all this time. Often my fantasies with women are more detailed and complex than my fantasies with men. That must mean I'd been avoiding one and embracing the other, right? And since I’ve never been in any kind of relationship, maybe I’d just been conditioned to include men in the equation from the start and couldn’t let it go? I had been entertaining a man I’d met online and had felt the relationship was forced on my end. Maybe I’m just not into men? After much consideration, I decided to give the lesbian label a try. That sounds horrible in retrospect, but I did it. I said the word to myself in private. I thought about spending my life pursuing only women. I excluding men from my fantasies. That didn’t last long. It just didn’t fit me. I learned through that exercise that my feelings for one gender don’t outweigh my feelings for another gender. The reason my fantasies vary is because of limited experience, not lack of interest. The reason I cut things off with the guy I’d been speaking with wasn’t because I was a lesbian, but because we just worked better as friends. I wasn’t a lesbian. I had just overthought my feelings. I’m attracted to people, not just their genders.

Bi Confirmation (Video Games)

My first exposure to Resident Evil was through several LP’s on YouTube. I have managed to play through a few games myself, though. The past few years have been really good for the Resident Evil franchise, the most noteworthy additions being the remake editions of Resident Evil 2 & 3. Leon’s a bad-ass super cop who just wants to do the right thing. Claire is an amazing person who cares so much about the people closest to her. Jill’s the most OP character in Resident Evil and just wants to save the world. Carlos is a genuinely good guy who wants to help. These people are heroic, bad-ass, and hot? Excuse me, I need a minute...Basically, I want to be these characters and be with them. I can confidently say that I am bisexual. There are other fictional characters I can point to that I would say affirm my sexuality—Casey Jones and April O’Neil from TMNT, Diana Prince and Steve Trevor from Wonder Woman, Markus from Detroit: Become Human, Harley Quinn from Birds of Prey—but Resident Evil has the most characters I love in a single franchise. When I was questioning my sexuality, I looked at these video game characters I had come to like and realized there was no denying myself. It’s okay to like both. Both is good.

Bi Acceptance (TikTok)

In conclusion, sexuality is weird. You might think you’re a young straight when all of a sudden you realize you find both a dashing monster hunter and a beautiful cursed princess attractive. Then, years later, you might watch a YouTube video that has you questioning yourself all over again, only to realize you are who you though you were after playing a game about fighting zombies. Basically, visual media helped me discover myself. But that’s not the end of it. I’ve found myself on TikTok a lot since the pandemic started. It’s nice seeing people in the LGBTQA+ community having fun and making the most of a shitty situation. I rediscovered Sarah Schauer, which was a nice surprise. Come to find out, she’s bisexual too. Seeing this community band together in times like these has been a heartening experience. So many positive vibes. There may be people out there who say you should only like one or another, or that being in a heterosexual relationship diminishes your sexuality, but those people are wrong. The bottom line is that you cannot tailor how you feel to fit the expectations of others. This post is kind of weird and out of nowhere, and a little very self centered, but I had to get this off my chest. This will likely never be read by anyone. However, if you are reading this and you have had a similarly weird experience, know that you are not alone. You may have just realized your feelings, you may have known for a long time, or you may still be trying to figure things out. That’s okay. Your feelings are valid. Your experience is valid. You are valid.

TL;DR Whenever I am questioning my sexuality I remember Resident Evil and I am at peace. Also through all this I’ve learned I have a type: bad-ass hero with a kind heart.

#bisexual #bisexuality #bi pride #pride #lgbtqa+#personal #fandom #van helsing #contrapoints #resident evil #hannah speaks

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vspideycaptain · 5 years

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Meeting Tom

Reader x Tom Holland (Feat. RDJ, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon)

A/N: This story lives within ‘The Real War’ series I have written. This is one of three Tom centered Prologue entries. You’re the newest addition to the Gaurdians cast and as a MCU actor you obviously have to meet RDJ and through meeting him he decides you have to meet the other younger actors in the MCU circle so he sets up this lunch to do exactly that. Its surprisingly easy, except between you and Tom Holland….

This was not written well. I found it hard to communicate the scene I was picturing in my head so I’m sorry and I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Warnings: Fluff and mini angst maybe? WORD COUNT: 2347

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I had met Robert Downy for lunch the day before I started shooting for Guardians of The Galaxy vol. 3. It had been the second time since I got the part that he wanted to meet with me as a from of welcome into the family and this time was already feeling much different than the last. The first time I met him it was at an office on Marvel property and this time he asked me to meet him at a burger bar in the center of LA. I had just moved to Los Angeles and I was quickly realizing that I had packed for much cooler weather than what the city had to offer (I kind of thought the idea of LA always being hot was an exaggeration but I was wrong,) So I strolled up to the boujee casual restaurant in the only warm weather option I had: My green and white tee shirt dress with matching stan smith sneakers.

I half expected Robert to be waiting for me at the door as I was clearly susceptible to getting lost so when I entered the restaurant and I don’t spot him in the hostess section I start to question if I went to the right place. Just as I go to reach for my phone to call him I hear him shout for me from the other side of the bar. When I spot him I also realize who he is with: Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, and Tom Holland…. Now Robert left the detail about other people joining us out of his invitation but even after knowing him for a short period of time it wasn’t much of surprise to me. He did mention that I should friend the “youngins’” as he called them.

Robert meets me halfway and brings me into a round of air kisses and a hug before guiding me over to the group. Zendaya gets up and comes in for a hug first, “So nice to meet you! I’m Zendaya but Zen or Z is fine too.” She gushed to me. She was even more stunning and charmingly awkward than I had ever imagined. Then Jacob met me with a handshake and a kind smile as Robert took the reigns in introducing us, “Jacob this is (Y/N), (Y/N) this is Jacob. And finally this is Tom..” Jacob cleared the way for Tom to step forward and as we both went in for air kisses we somehow picked to go the same side and for a split second our lips pecked before we drastically aborted. “Oh my gosh I-I’m so sorry! I Didn’t- I didn’t mean to do-“ Tom started to panic as the rest of the group all just froze watching the awkward unfold. I put my hands up to calm him down, “It’s okay! I went the wrong way too! It’s okay” I was just word vomiting back to him before we were rescued from the others. “Way to go, Tom.” Jacob laughed and Zendaya chimed in, “Real smooth.” The both teased him and Robert wasn’t far behind them, “That’s one way to break the ice I guess…” He said and gestured me to take the empty seat between him and Zendaya at the booth.

In any other instance something like that would have thrown me into a panic attack but there was something about this group of people that made me feel comfortable and at ease. At least on the outside. On the inside I was definitely shouting expletives and praying to God I wasn’t blushing. I turned my attention to the menu as I tried to shake off the awkward interaction that just happened. I couldn’t believe Tom Holland, spider-man, just kissed me…. And by accident.

“So (Y/N), when do you start shooting?” Jacob asked and snapped me back into reality. I put down my menu and picked up the conversation with a new state of coolness than five minutes prior, “Tomorrow, actually!” From the corner of my I see Robert nodding as this was information he already knew. “Oh wow! How are you feeling? Excited?” Zendaya leaned in fully invested in the moment. I took a breath in to respond but once again RDJ jumped in, “She’s nervous” He exposed and I turned to him mouth agape and he instantly realized his mistake, “Dude! Don’t make me sound uncool!” I pestered him and the whole group laughed. “What are you nervous about?” Tom finally speaking, clearly having calmed down from our misstep. I looked at him directly catching his deep brown eyes. Who could lie to those eyes? So I let my guard down, “Well this is my first big thing, you know? My first movie, even!” I confessed and then watched the three of respond in shock.

“The first movie you landed is this one? Not even like indie projects or anything?” Jacob questioned. I nodded, “This is the first movie I even auditioned for. Before this I was strictly stage acting.” I informed him and Zendaya reached for my arm, “Damn. You must be good!” She complimented and again I saw Robert nodding out of the corner of my eye. He was part of my auditioning and hiring process so it was because of him that I even got the job. “Yeah,” I continued, “So I kind of have this pressure of the unknown and I really don’t want to let anyone down.” Tom had a big reaction to this, “(Y/N) don’t worry, darling. We’ve all been there and yeah its intimidating but the people who work on these movies are so helpful and welcoming. And you’re clearly well matched to the ‘big leagues’ you’ll being starring with to get the gig so you’ll fit right in.” When he finished speaking he smiled at me in such a way that I couldn’t help but return it. “Thanks. That means a lot.” I said sheepishly right before the waitress came over to take our order.

Moments later Robert excused himself for the bathroom and told us that it was our moment to talk about “young” things. The second I turned away I addressed the group, “Why does he act like he’s 80 years old?” I asked and Jacob cackled, “I don’t know. If he’s 80, he’s the chillest 80 year old I’ve ever met.”

“He does have a point though,” Zendaya starts, “Now that he’s gone this is my chance to ask…. What’s your star sign?” I laughed and looked at the guys across the table who both rolled their eyes but still seemed interested in my answer. “Guess.” I dared her and she sat back and got a good look at me. “Hmmm” she analyzed. All this staring and attention made me pretty self-conscious so I fussed with my hair and darted my eyes again to Tom who as soon as I caught his eyes darted his away. Before I could question his actions Zendaya announced, “(Y/Z/S)!”

“Wow… You’re good!” I told her. “I was right?” she clapped her hands together then brushed her shoulders, “I am good”

The rest of the lunch was pretty normal and as time progressed got less formal. I really felt like I was becoming friends with all of them and what happened as we all got up to leave only confirmed that. “Hey (Y/N) are you doing anything right now? Tom, Z and I were gonna head back to my house and go swimming if you want to join?” Jacob asked me and I immediately deflected. I didn’t want them to invite me out of pity. As much as I had a good time I still had a hard time thinking they all actually thought I was cool. “I have two suits, you can borrow one! If that’s what’s holding you up” Zendaya offered and I shifted uncomfortably. That was one of the reasons…. But it wasn’t until Tom pitched in that I became fully onboard, “You have to come (Y/N). I’m not done hanging out with you yet.” He said with dare in his voice and he sent another charming smile my way and with t hat I was in.

We bid Robert goodbye as he had other meetings to attend the rest of the day before piling into Zendaya’s car. Jacob called shotgun leaving Tom and I to sit in the back together and because of all of Zendaya’s bags and miscilanious objects in her back seat we had to squish together with me sitting on the middle seat. “Are you sure you don’t want to switch?” Tom offered kindly but I waved it off, “I’ve been small my whole life. I’m used to the middle seat.” I said back before the car was flooded with the sound of 00s bangers. The whole way to Jacobs the four of us jammed out classics like “Teenage Dirtbag” by Weatus, “Disturbia” by Rhianna, and “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne.

As soon as we arrived at Jacob’s place Zendaya and Tom made themselves at home while I pretended to settle in just as naturally. Zendaya lead me to one of his bathrooms and held out the two suits she brought for me to choose from. “Pick either one. I honestly couldn’t decide this morning and packed both so you’d actually be helping me out by making my decision for me.” She said and passed me the two suits. One was a pink blue and white paint splattered high necked two piece with spaghetti strings to tie it on and the other was a classic triangle bikini with blue and white stripes and a ruffle trim on the bottoms. I chose the latter as it looked like it would fit me better and be more comfortable in.

I let Zendaya change first and as soon as she was done she had a phone call she excused herself for and she left me alone to take over the bathroom and change. I was amazed as I slipped the suit on how myself and Zendaya were the same size and I was even more impressed with how amazing the suit looked on. The one problem was that I couldn’t seem to get the hang of tying on the strings so I did what any girl has ever done in this situation and sought out for female help. However when I peeked my head out of the bathroom Zendaya was nowhere to be found. Instead I was met with a spaced-out Tom waiting for his chance to change. If I had gone unnoticed I would have just quietly shut the door again and tried my luck with the suit myself but unfortunately for me Tom picked his head up toward me as soon as the door clicked open causing me to panic a little inside as I held the top of my suit to my body.

“Oh, hi!” Tom said as he stood up from the arm of the couch he was sitting on. Very nervous and very conscious of my newly exposed body I kept the majority of my body still tucked behind the door as I asked, “Hey. Is Zendaya around?” I asked him and I could tell he sensed my uncomfortableness. “She’s on the phone in the other room. Everything alright?” He asked and I took a moment to ask myself if I should just be honest with him and ask him for assistance instead. I went with it, “Uh- yeah… Actually I just can’t tie the back of my bathing suit… Do you mind?” I asked him and gestured for him to come over. “Um sure…” He responded sheepishly and walked over as I turned my back to him. I stiffened up as I held my boobs in place and felt his fingers brush against my skin. We stood in silence as he fiddled around with the straps of my suit to tie it. He cleared his throat to alert me that he was finished.

I turned around to him and instantly realized how close we were standing. “Thanks…” I said shyly and tried to not reveal the blushing feelings I was feeling inside. Tom’s eyes were looking into mine with a twinkle I had not yet seen. “No problem.” He smirked. The space between us was slight but thick with tension as we looked into each other’s eyes. It was awkward yet comfortable in the moment. I couldn’t help but giggle, “Oh! You need the bathroom don’t you!” I said completely embarrassed for hogging the bathroom.

I whipped around to grab my neatly folded clothing from the counter. In the swift motion of switching places with Tom, I felt something from my arms drop to the floor but before I could reach down to grab it Tom picked it up for me. All at the same time, Zendaya was returning from the other room, “What is taking you two so long!-“ She started and then stopped in her tracks realizing the situation. Myself and Tom standing incredibly close and my thong in the hands of Tom Holland. We both looked at Zendaya and noticing her confused expression and causing us to look back to each other. The instant I realized what Tom had I swiped it out of his hands and tucked it under my dress. “Shit. Sorry!” I said in a forceful whisper and watched as Tom’s cheeks turned rosy. “Sorry” was all he could let out as well before locking himself in the bathroom.

With the click of the door my attention snapped back to Zendaya who was holding back her laughter and guiding me outside to the pool. “What the hell is going on between you two?” She bantered and Jacob overheard, “Oh are we talking about Tom’s crush on (Y/N)?” We both gasped and Jacob instantly tried to backtrack, “No no… Why would you be talking about that? Tom didn’t say anything to me! Monica just broke up with him. He’s not thinking about that right now? What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” As he rambled I buried my face in my hands as Zendaya tried to shush him. Seconds later Tom joined us and we all pretended like nothing awkward happened and went on with the rest of our day.

*This story has ties to ‘The Real War’ fic. If interested see Masterlist*

#reader x tom holland #reader x tom holland x chris evans #reader x chris evans #tom holland #tom holland fanfiction #mcu fanfiction #mcu #prologue #marvel #reader x spiderman #spiderman #reader x peter parker #peter parker #avengers #avengers fanfiction #the real war

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blondrichclosetwitch · 2 years

Text

11:12 catch a falling star —

it’s easy to forget them without trying

12:00 “Bring to life a vision in one’s mind”

“Can I tell you a story?”

12:12 true to life roxy music:

You've a thousand faces I'll never know

There are complications And compensations

If you know the game

“I’ll take you home again .”

“So I turn the pages And tell the story From town to town .”

Too much luck Means too much trouble

Til he sees the other side

1:12 New Year’s Day live u2–The newspaper

Say it's true, it's true...

2:12 open your eyes snow patrol: Tell me that you'll open your eyes

Get up, get out, get away from these liars

3:12 good girl/carrots: It's so lame that you could take my feelings

And make yourself feel like you're better than anyone else who hasn't heard

Listen in between your notes

There's something been going on while you were busy taking notes

Get your head out from those, mags

4:12 sometimes salvation—I don’t know if you actually heard me singing this today, but I saw you crying as I sang it.

512 a reasonable man—Pictures in resolute pain

But if it happens to you

The same kind of deal

I recommend fire

Instead of the fool

6:12 sexual healing—baby, I can't hold it much longer

It's getting stronger and stronger

It's not good to masturbate

7:12 the space between roxy music—“Close it up tonight.”

8:12 luck of the Irish:

If you had the luck of the Irish

You'd be sorry and wish you were dead

Was raped by…. (Goddamn, Goddamn)

9:12 boyz: turned 9:12 on “how many start a war”

(Oh gosh, it's the new warlord)

9:12 roads :

How can it feel this wrong?

From this moment

10:12 flying foxes

Spiritual meaning: “Flying foxes live in communities and each community represents a family. This totem animal teaches the advantages of living in a community. No matter if you have a large family, small number of people, a group of friends, classmates and colleagues. Socialization is an essential factor of human nature. The flying fox totem can certainly help in locating one’s position in the community. Some people are leaders, others are focused on action. Rather than just hollow words, some people help and maintain essential responsibilities. The flying fox helps find your exact role in society - which suits your personality.”

11:12 every hour: Sing 'til the power of the Lord comes down

12:12 Chloë

That story that continues to persist

Doesn’t loose your grip on me a bit

She and I, we were inseparable

Chloë

Her name is Chloë

And he's talking awful strange

Her soul is a pitch black expanse

12:12 ain’t together—Cut off all these Hoes.

1:12 don’t give up

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pokefan531 · 3 years

Text

[MMD Story] Iris Berserks in April Fools (Collab)

So before I share the story here, I did an April Fools joke in Pikapika-2000's Discord Server that my Dicsord account, even Youtube, Deviantart, Twitter, and Tumblr, got hacked by Iris. I uploaded the video last week of Iris taking over my channel (and my friends too), and has the courage to tell off others in Discord.

The Discord Story was with a couple of people:

-MovieMaker X

-Pikapika-2000

-Lillie is Cute UWU (Both Professor Alex and I'm Back - Lillie The Scientist)

-Certified Avery (Vincent Edgeworth)

-CayCee

-Sasuke lol

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: I now owned this account!!! For more explanation, watch my new video I just put up, dorks!) [8:11 AM] (Iris: I hacked over Pokefan's account!! Now I gotta talk with you guys!! I even took over Pikapika-2000, MovieMaker X, and CN100eg's YouTube accounts!!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Ummmmm, what are you talking about?

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 Who are all of these people?

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: I now have access to this discord! Pokefan is no more! Now I own this account!! Pokefan's so lame! He has bad taste in girls!! Konata Izumi, the red hair girl who painted me, and worst of all, he allowed Ash Ketchum to stay in his place!!)

Sasuke lol — 04/01/2021 Oh no evil Iris is back for revenge

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Evil Iris?

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: I came because I am looking for many of you! You need to watch my show, Best Wishes, not the one N edited!! Trust me, I'm gonna hack my way to Pokemon Journeys before the champ does!!)

Sasuke lol — 04/01/2021 :0

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Ummmmm, i'm not too sure about that. [8:16 AM] Then again, i don't know what you are talking about so.

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 Me neither

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Well, I just took over four channels! Now you guys will watch my content!! I need more views and likes so I can beat the Pokemon Studio's ratings and beat Ash Ketchum and that better me!! Dare I say "The better me" again! I mean, the champ!!)

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 Watch out, it looks like we have a hacker here

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Umm, i don't know wh--at---t----o-----sa--------y---------------

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 I am going to call my friend to take care of the matter [8:19 AM] OH NO

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 --------------"Ugh, come on laptop, function, AHHH--"-----------

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Oh yes!! Now I got you guys here into my trap!! It's April first and I must quickly get to Pokemon Journeys!! I bet you guys will see me there instead of the champ!!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 What the heck was that!?

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Evil Iris: And now I'm looking for Steven and Wallace to give A STERN TALK!! They never let me talk to MovieMaker X, but too bad for them! I hacked their channel!! No more Steven and Wallace, or Maxie, or Avery!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Avery? you mean that psychic boy?

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Evil Iris: I would rant the entire thing on Vent Channel, but I don't care enough about your own problems, so I'll do it here!! And yes, that blond boy!! He's kicked out of Pika's channel to which I now own!! He's still in this server though!!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Ummm, i don't see him. [8:24 AM] you must be seeing things Iris.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Evil Iris: Well he must be afraid of me then. I know Steven and Wallace come here regularly, so... Also you guys should hate Ash Ketchup and fries and all of Kanto, including the champ!!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Ummmm, why all of Kanto tho?

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Because of Ash Ketchum!! He ruined my life, and Misty and Brock act the same as him, so all Kanto people are like him!! I wanna destroy that region that day!!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 I don't understand, so you want to destroy kanto, but doing that also meaning destroying Johto because they are next to eachother.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Just Kanto! I don't give a farts about Johto! Also, I don't believe in Kanto Pandering!! They just want to put many Kanto stuff just to insult me and made me believe Ash Ketchum wants to rule over me, and that's his fault for doing it!!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 ...that's weird, because i don't remember that.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Well he certainly did!! He even decided to make that Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee game, and shoving ALL UP ON ME!!!! ENOUGH WITH KANTO ASH KETCHUM!!! STOP REMINDING ME HOW SUCCESSFUL YOUR SHOW WAS!!! Anyway, I plan to capture him one day without anyone else knowing)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 You are making no sense Iris!

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris! Yes I am!! He also helped the Pokemon Studio to ban me and I HATE IT!!! The people I beat up, they all deserve it!! I don't see what's wrong with that!! ASH KETCHUP IS THE ONE WHO HELPED LOOKER FIND THAT CHAMP!!! WORST THING OUR OF EVERYTHING!!! I GOTTA BREAK SOMETHING!!!!!)

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 Oh dear... someone has to break this argument up!

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 I'm not surprised they hate you, you are so very mad Iris!

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Breaks the window) [8:38 AM] (Iris: Finally! I'm back!) [8:40 AM] (Evil Iris: Anyway, I hope you guys start watching my new videos and even my show that is not edited by N! And no, all the hate I got is because of Ash Ketchum and Konata Izumi!) [8:40 AM] (Evil Iris: And don't watch the videos where Konata filmed me to make me look bad! She's so good at it!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 I can't.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: You better be! I'm just waiting to meet Steven and Wallace and even Avery here!! Oh, and I heard Maxie is here, but he's not on that often here, but he has a twitter account, and I have Pokefan's account there, so I'll trash talk him there)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 I'm from another world.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: I've been to different worlds, I went to Skinny Zach Films, David Militello, CN100eg, and MovieMaker X! I couldn't hack Skinny Zach's youtube channel or David Militello, but I successfully did to the latter two!! No more Maxie video, and no more Steven and Wallace videos, and best of all, more videos from me on four channels!)

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 And it seems like my tech expert friend cannot do anything about it...

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: That's right! By the way, I remember someone's photo where the girls had fun and I wasn't allowed there!! Darn it, Champ!!)

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 yaaaaaaawn And I'm up, must have missed a lot lol

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 Be careful MovieMaker X

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Yes you did!! Watch my video because I hacked Pokefan's channel and discord server!)

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 This Iris person has ill will against you

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 ------STOP-------HER-----------STOP-----HER------------------------------------------------------- [8:51 AM] .......

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: So where's Steven and Wallace? I gotta give them a talk, after that whole thing with Cilan!!) [8:53 AM] (Iris: Oh, look who's here, Sordward and Shielbert!! You both know where Avery went? Also I took over Pikapika's Youtube channel! I have proof!)

Pikapika-2000 — 04/01/2021 No way you didn't >:( Evil Iris, stop taling over other people's channels >:(

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: I have proof! I just made a video about it!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Proof!? [8:55 AM] What Proof!?

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 How is mine still intact, then XDDDDD

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: My new video I just put on your-works channel) [8:56 AM] (Iris: You got it back?!?!?!? Who restored it?! Better me?! Gosh, why do I even bother saying the better me?!)

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 Perhaps my Hoenn buddies themselves already found out someone hacked the channel and reverted it as fast as they could XDDDDD

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Why is Steven wearing glasses?

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Those dorks!!! I gotta give them a talk right now!!)

Professor Alex Why is Steven wearing glasses?

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that's part of my headcanon design of him, lol

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Why Iris!?

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Both of them got Cilan to join them, a guy who now betrayed me, and now I have Bianca left all thanks to those two!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 ------Bianca never------wanted to---------work with-----------you! [9:00 AM] -----She------Only-----Pretended!------

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Yes she does! She helped me find where those channel's live! Yes, Bianca can be a fool, who did nothing but celebrated with Team Skull and even hanged with Galar idiot like Piers!)

Pikapika-2000 — 04/01/2021 Maybe Avery and Leon reverted mine as well LOL

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 XDDD

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: What?!?! Darn it!!)

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 All of these people are much more competent than this friend of mine [9:02 AM] He never talks, only communicating in coughs despite being healthy as far as I know

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 ---------------------Iris------------Stop Lying!---

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: You mean Red, that Kanto idiot!! He's just like Ash Ketchum! Well at least I have Pokefan's and CN100eg's channels left!)

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 Red? [9:03 AM] Are you speaking to me, Iris?

REPLY:[@Iris (Pokefan531) (Iris: You mean Red, that Kanto idiot!! He's just like Ash Ketchum! Well at least I have Pokefan's and CN100eg's channels left!)]

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 Nope XDDDDDDDD

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 --------------I'll------Return----Soon----Iris!!!-------

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: I can't believe it?!?!?!? I had proof, and showed it in my video!! Darn it Maxie, the brown hair guy, and that robot freak!!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 ----Hey Iris----Can you hear me!?---

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 Iris.

REPLY:[@Iris (Pokefan531) (Iris: I can't believe it?!?!?!? I had proof, and showed it in my video!! Darn it Maxie, the brown hair guy, and that robot freak!!)]

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 (I dunno, maybe Steven and Wallace knew this was going to happen and the moment it happened, they told everybody to revert their channels lol? How would I know, now they're busy sleeping XDDDD)

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 You did not answer my question. And that is not very polite of you... [9:07 AM] As if you were even polite to begin with.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: I hear you, guys! Also, yes, I assumed you mean Red. He does not speak at all, and he's the third worst person I ever met, behind Ash Ketchup and the champ!

REPLY:[@MovieMaker X (I dunno, maybe Steven and Wallace knew this was going to happen and the moment it happened, they told everybody to revert their channels lol? How would I know, now they're busy sleeping XDDDD)]

Pikapika-2000 — 04/01/2021 Pretty sure they're tired after so much work they had to revert it no? xD Could be that :P

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 That could explain it lol

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 --------*Connection Stabilized, connection returned to...Earth*

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 I do not know who this Red you speak of is [9:09 AM] Let alone consider the possiblity that he is my friend

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris:.......WHY?!?! Steven and Wallace ruins everything!!! First they took Cilan away from me, and now they took my progress away?!?!)

Professor Alex — 04/01/2021 Ugh, I finally got it back, tho now I need to fix the profile.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Because everyone knows that dork doesn't speak. He's just ............ That's it. It's so lame!)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Well well well, look who's back Iris!

REPLY:[Iris (Pokefan531) (Iris:.......WHY?!?! Steven and Wallace ruins everything!!! First they took Cilan away from me, and now they took my progress away?!?!)]

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 Listen, if you're gonna try to storm into their bedroom to try and wake them up so you can beat them up, maybe... maybe don't? .w.

Vincent Edgeworth — 04/01/2021 At least Winston coughs. I guess that counts as saying something...

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Good idea, X! I'll do that after venting here about my stuff!) [9:11 AM] (Iris: Oh...)

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 I SAID MAYBE DON'T, you're really gonna regret it if you wake them up from their nap .w.

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Even after all this time, you still don't realize who i am do ya Iris!

CayCee — 04/01/2021 IRIS MOVIEMAKER WILL DESTROY YOU IF YOU LAY A FINGER ON STEVEN AND WALLACE SO FOR YOUR OWN SAKE DON'T TOUCH THEM XD

REPLY:[@MovieMaker X Listen, if you're gonna try to storm into their bedroom to try and wake them up so you can beat them up, maybe... maybe don't? .w.]

Pikapika-2000 — 04/01/2021 And even then, it's not like they wouldn't notice. Iris stinks xD

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: And let's speak about this whole Iris stinks thing!! Guess what! I like the way I smell, and don't tell me to take a shower!! I'm tired of having everyone to tell me to take a shower!! Don't change my hygiene habits because I don't want to have one!! I'm tired of getting hygiene products every Christmas!!)

REPLY:[@Iris (Pokefan531) (Iris: And let's speak about this whole Iris stinks thing!! Guess what! I like the way I smell, and don't tell me to take a shower!! I'm tired of having everyone to tell me to take a shower!! Don't change my hygiene habits because I don't want to have one!! I'm tired of getting hygiene products every Christmas!!)]

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 You still ignore me huh, Typical Iris!

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: I saw it! Lillie the Scientist! Who are you?! Lillie?)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 I'm the one who plays as her yes.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Lillie likes Ash Ketchup so she's no good!)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Lillie:Oh yeah, Well we all hate you Iris! [9:17 AM] Lillie:And don't you dare try to get near me!

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 Iris, who's that behind you? (OH NO... Perhaps Steven and Wallace were sleeping OUTSIDE instead... XDDDDD)

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: You guys are supposed to be my fans!! I will get....... HUH?!?!?! Steven! Wallace! Now it's time to give a stern talk to you both!!) [9:18 AM] (Steven and Wallace overheard Iris's yelling)

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 And they are NOT happy lol

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:Not to fast Iris!

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Marlie?!?! Who are you?! Anyway, I got something to say about you dorks!!) [9:19 AM] (Steven and Wallace cracked their knuckles at her)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:And i'll join them in this battle, you won't escape this time Iris!

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: No way!! You guys aren't strong enough!!) [9:20 AM] (Iris uses her spin attack!)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:*Takes out her katana and Attacks Iris*

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 (Steven begs to differ and slaps her hard with a straight face lmao)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:Nice double Attack we did Steven!

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Wallace: I got this discord account! I believe it belongs to Pokefan!) [9:22 AM] (Iris: Uhhh........Oww.........Wait!! That's mine!!!!!)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:*Points Katana at Iris* You won't be getting it that easily!

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: I successfully hacked his accounts!!! You must give it back to me!!!!) [9:23 AM] (Wallace kicks Iris while she's in the ground)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:*continues to point at Iris* Give it back or i'll stab you in the chest!

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 (Iris somehow managed to tackle Steven but he strikes back with a Thunder Shock XDDDD)

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: AHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!! He's so...........strong................ Oooooooooooofffffffff)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 (Sammy, Marlie is trying to help you know)

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 (Yeah I know lol)

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Steven: You ruined our peaceful sleep Iris! You're so loud!!)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:Give the account back, Now!!!

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Group from Pokefan's Wacky House came back!) [9:26 AM] (Iris: Oww....... WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?!?!)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:Ah, there you guys are, hold her back long enough! [9:26 AM] Marlie:With help from Steven and Wallace of course.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Wallace: Iris has your account, Pokefan, and your youtube channel!) [9:27 AM] (Konata: Looks like someone's naughty! )

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:And if she doesn't give it back, I'll stab her, and I'm not joking around this time!

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Wallace hands Pokefan Iris's phone and remove the accounts from her phones) [9:28 AM] (Iris: NOOO!!!!!! I just got his accoun......) scratch from Marlie

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:Do you like that iris!? [9:29 AM] Marlie:Because i can do it again!

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Growl NO MATTER, YOU'RE UP NEXT, WALLACE!!!) (And Iris tackles him too, but then he uses Hydro Pump to wash her lmao) (Iris: EWWWWWWWWW)

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: Let me go!!) (Konata: I believe you no longer have any control of Pokefan's account, Iris) (Iris: Don't scratch me Marlie!!)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:Oh yeah? *Scratches Iris again* You can't tell me what to do Iris!

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Iris: ..........Ow....) [9:32 AM] (Bea: And here's a one kick for hacking our friend here, and waking Hoenn Mineral duos up!) [9:32 AM] (Kicks Iris to the sky and she lost contact here)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:She just doesn't know when to give up huh.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Bea: Definitely!)

MovieMaker X — 04/01/2021 (Lmao Steven and Wallace still aren't happy, so they walk back to where they were resting in a hammock and go back to sleep lol)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Marlie:have a good rest you two, hopefully iris doesn't wake you two up again/

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Konata: Same, and thanks got being here, Lillie and Marlie!)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Lillie:No problem. Marlie:If it weren't for Lillie getting the stabilizer working, we wouldn't be here to help you guys.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Bea: Totally ladies!)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Lillie:Say, do you know where that strange signal was coming from anyways?

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Konata: No. Not sure how Iris hacked to our channels)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Lillie:Strange, as we were getting strange signals too, tho they seem to be coming from another universe.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 (Bea: Yeah)

I'm Back - Lillie the Scientist — 04/01/2021 Lillie:But atleast i was able to get the Stabilizer to work.

Iris (Pokefan531) — 04/01/2021 Konata: Nice!!

[Twitter's Conversation with MovieMaker X, Pikapika-2000, and CN100eg] [On Twitter's chat:] [Link to the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkleJp… ] (Iris: Watch it!! Youtube is an idiot for not choosing the right thumbnail!!)Iris (Pokefan531) Apr 1, 2021, 8:08 AM

Gemini Man: Oh no.... Iris took our channels!! Maxie: We're being hacked again?!? CN100eg Thu 9:34 AM (Iris: That's right you two!!) Iris (Pokefan531) Thu 9:35 AM Greece: First it's Ash... Then Sordward and Shielbert... And now Clone Iris?! CN100eg Thu 9:36 AM (Iris: Yep! I got kicked out from Discord because Steven and Wallace and Lillie and Blonde Marnie (Marlie) got me! Now Pokefan got his discord back, as they again ruin my life) Iris (Pokefan531) Thu 9:37 AM They had every right to kick you out because 1. Marlie knows how bad you are already, and 2. You woke up Steven and Wallace, and interrupting their nap is never a good idea lmao MovieMaker X Thu 9:39 AM

(Iris: The beginning of this convo) Iris (Pokefan531) Thu 9:44 AM

(Sammie proving CN100eg's channel is normal XDDD)

Maxie: That's right, I reported to Steven Stone about this! CN100eg Thu 9:48 AM Iris: Seriously, those freaks are always stopping me from doing something good for me! Iris (Pokefan531) Thu 9:50 AM

(Iris: The start of Steven and Wallace appearing in front of me!)

(Iris: Steven and Wallace just showed up behind me!) Iris (Pokefan531) Thu 9:52 AM Greece: Also, this is what you get for what you did to us back at August! CN100eg Thu 9:52 AM

(Iris: Me trying to fight all those fools, but they just beat me before I could)

(Iris: The last time I was seen before Pokefan got his account back!) Iris: All I did was to get them to see my videos and tell them to not support Ash Ketchum Iris (Pokefan531) Thu 9:57 AM Maxie: Too bad. CN100eg Thu 10:00 AM (Iris: At least I still have this twitter account. No one else knows about it yet) Iris (Pokefan531) Thu 10:02 AM

Credits/Ported By:

Iris - Darkliger01 (Modified by me)

Marlie - Arisumatio (Modified by MegaNep)

Lillie - MikuMikuKnight & New3DsSuchti

Steven and Wallace - MovieMaker X

Pokemon SM Stage - Jakkaeront

#mmdmikumikudance #pokemon #iris pokemon

0 notes

orbemnews · 3 years

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COVID-19 and stroke survivor looks back on the year that changed his life COVID-19 and stroke survivor looks back on the year that changed his life A New Orleans man who had a stroke while battling the coronavirus discusses the difficult early days of his recovery and how far he’s come in the past year. Updated: 2:00 PM CDT Mar 29, 2021 Hide Transcript Show Transcript I try not to concentrate on the things that I can’t do, but concentrate on more what I can do. I’m not complaining because I could be dead. I called it twice, and I’m thankful for just just being alive. Keith Carter and his wife, Stephanie. I actually met through mutual friends. People in the community, they say, Hey, Christina, you really need to cover the story. This is a man who is well known throughout the community. He does a lot of construction work and he randomly came down with Covid and is having this terrible, long lasting reaction to it. I think you should tell his story. We were We were. We were freaked. We were doing a lot of traveling, healthy, healthy, healthy, energized bunny. Just go, go, go! But here in New Orleans, you know, you would see them out a jazz fest. They were hanging out for Marty Girl going to all the balls. He was traveling all the time. Life for them was, as they told me, pretty magnificent. Mr. Keith tested positive for Covid early March 2020. He had just gotten back from being out of town for a work trip that he went on, he went to Texas. He wasn’t feeling well, and so he’d are already quarantined himself in his room. I was weak. I had a headache. I had my temperature. April 1st it got so bad that I didn’t think I could shake it. And I was trying to call for Steph, but Steph couldn’t hear me, but my daughter happened. Nicole at the same time. Thank God for that, because she called. Um what I found out later was that I was in the midst of a stroke. E m s came, took into the hospital. It just had a ripple effect on him. And keep in mind, this was a as his wife described him perfectly healthy man who did not have any prior health conditions. So this definitely caught that family off guard. Everything was acute from kidneys, the lungs, the heart, things that he never had because he he was never in the hospital, never going in the hospital. So when this happened, it was like a bomb went into his body from that covid and a stroke. Um, I had to have dialysis. Um, I couldn’t eat, So they put up a tube in my stomach. One day we got that call in the middle of the night. My daughter got says, like, you know, he’s in ICU. His coded. What do you want us to do? And she’s like, do whatever you can to possibly saving. And, um, he got to I c u two days later after that, and he was in a stroke ward. So the recovery period started from there, But it was a monster. It was. They told me it wasn’t an easy time for him because he was so used to doing everything on his own. He had never been in a hospital before. I see I’m gonna get up and I’m leaving. And I got up and I fell face down. Wow. You know, and then that helped me to see that what was wrong with me was a little more serious than I thought. You know, the toughest part you couldn’t see your loved ones like that was really hard. Miss Stephanie wasn’t able to hold his hand, not being able to see him not being able to figure out how he was doing, how he’s feeling, or to calm him down and ease some of his frustrations that he had when he was first in there. You know, when he was released, he wasn’t sent home just yet. He had to go right to rehab and start learning the basics while he was there. Brush my teeth. How to clothe myself, my vocal cord was they diagnosed as being paralyzed on one side. So I took a surgery. At the time we had told so many stories of those who had beaten Covid, and that was it. It was just that they survived. And we’d also shared stories at the time of those who sadly, did not survive with Mr Keith story it was. He beat it, but he’s learning how to live all over again. And in an instant like that, his entire life changed. And then he was finally able to come home. That was his welcome home, Mr Keith Drive by parade celebration that they had. He sat outside. He had his balloons. He got to see a lot of his family members, many of whom he hadn’t seen a month. Man, that was amazing. My daughter, I was laying in the bed inside and my daughter let’s say come on, Let’s go outside. It’s nice and sunny in the scroll. Let’s go take a strong. And then when she strolled me out, the street was full. All of my friends and family, uh, he was so touching, Man, what I was able to see was all the people that had been praying for me. Miss Stephanie actually reached out to me first about his update. She sent me videos and said, Look, he’s walking by himself and I was like, Oh, my gosh, look at him Go. Yes, yes, yes. It was a complete 1 80 to see him the first time last summer up until now, with his his spirit, as well as just his attitude and his physical growth, because the first time I talked to him, he was just himself almost defeated at the fact that this happened to him and his family. It wasn’t just Mr Keith. It was Stephanie to who had to change her whole life around and become a caretaker for him. You can’t carry all this burden on your own or you get depressed. You give up. I mean, she’s an excellent caregiver, and I think I think I have for having her as a wife watching the recovery. It’s, uh it’s a blessing to see that it can happen. You know you can come back. A big thing Mr Keith really looked forward to was playing with his grandkids again. He’s got really, really young grandchildren and being able to hold them, throw the ball to them, catch them little things like that that he wasn’t sure he would be able to do again. My grandson, he called every night before he goes to bed. Goodnight, Papa Paul, I love you, Popo as the old man that makes me melt like butter, but it gives me the motivation to do better. Right now, he’ll speak in his false settle to rest his pipes and his vocal cords. But he’ll try and he’ll say, Yeah, you can see how I still have my voice. I’m pretty fluent. That’s doing the things that I need to do, getting in and out of bed, going taking a shower. I was using my left hand at first, but now I use my right and I can use my right hand much more than I’m a right handed person. Now I’m still walking with a bit of a limp, but at least I am balanced enough to do some walking. I’m at the point where they’re trying to get where I can raise one leg and stand on the other, and that’s been a little difficult. But again, that’s where the therapy comes in their biggest messages to just follow whatever guidelines may be in place, and the sooner everyone cracks down and does what they’re supposed to do, they said, the sooner we will be able to get back to what we love. Mr Keith is now vaccinated, and he is just overjoyed about that. He told me He’s even at his church right now, helping others who are just dealing with the mental weight of this pandemic. He’s using his story and his situation to help motivate and to inspire others who are feeling defeated. The key is to keep your life going like it was before, and I venture to do that now. Now that I had the shot, I’m, uh I’m looking at trying to start getting out a little more, get to Atlanta by the other grandkids, do the car shows again. The numbers are really coming down. I just hope that we will wait just a little bit longer for the numbers to stay down and, uh and then we can we can really start moving around and being free again. COVID-19 and stroke survivor looks back on the year that changed his life A New Orleans man who had a stroke while battling the coronavirus discusses the difficult early days of his recovery and how far he’s come in the past year. Updated: 2:00 PM CDT Mar 29, 2021 Before the COVID-19 pandemic, retired New Orleanian Keith Carter and his wife, Stephanie, were always on the go.But in early March 2020, Keith started feeling sick after returning from a work trip. A few weeks later, while still battling the virus, he had a stroke.”Everything was acute, from kidneys, the lungs, the heart… Things that he never had because he was never in the hospital and never gone in the hospital,” Stephanie Carter said. “So when this happened, it was like a bomb went into his body.”He was hospitalized for months before transferring to a rehabilitation center and eventually returning home.Keith had to relearn how to brush his teeth, clothe himself and even speak again. He had to have surgery on a vocal cord that was paralyzed on one side.Now a year into the pandemic, Keith is able to walk and has improved the strength of his right hand, which was his dominant one prior to the stroke.He’s now vaccinated and is excited about the world opening up again once it’s safe.”I try not to concentrate on the things that I can’t do, but concentrate what I can do,” Keith said, later adding, “I’m not complaining because I could be dead. I coded twice. I said, ‘I’m thankful for just, just being alive.'”We are living in unprecedented times with COVID-19 spreading across the nation and world, and the stories about how people are coping, battling, and persevering through the pandemic have become more important than ever.In each episode, “Field Notes” brings you a handful of stories about how coronavirus has impacted real people across the United States, and you can hear more about what it’s like to cover the pandemic from the local news teams that are committed to keeping you informed, no matter what. NEW ORLEANS — Before the COVID-19 pandemic, retired New Orleanian Keith Carter and his wife, Stephanie, were always on the go. But in early March 2020, Keith started feeling sick after returning from a work trip. A few weeks later, while still battling the virus, he had a stroke. “Everything was acute, from kidneys, the lungs, the heart… Things that he never had because he was never in the hospital and never gone in the hospital,” Stephanie Carter said. “So when this happened, it was like a bomb went into his body.” He was hospitalized for months before transferring to a rehabilitation center and eventually returning home. Keith had to relearn how to brush his teeth, clothe himself and even speak again. He had to have surgery on a vocal cord that was paralyzed on one side. Now a year into the pandemic, Keith is able to walk and has improved the strength of his right hand, which was his dominant one prior to the stroke. He’s now vaccinated and is excited about the world opening up again once it’s safe. “I try not to concentrate on the things that I can’t do, but concentrate [more on] what I can do,” Keith said, later adding, “I’m not complaining because I could be dead. I coded twice. I said, ‘I’m thankful for just, just being alive.'” We are living in unprecedented times with COVID-19 spreading across the nation and world, and the stories about how people are coping, battling, and persevering through the pandemic have become more important than ever. In each episode, “Field Notes” brings you a handful of stories about how coronavirus has impacted real people across the United States, and you can hear more about what it’s like to cover the pandemic from the local news teams that are committed to keeping you informed, no matter what. Source link Orbem News #Amplify2021 #changed #coronavirus #coronavirussideeffects #covidsideeffects #covidstroke #covid-19 #Covid19 #life #long-haulers #neworleans #Stroke #Survivor #wdsu #Year

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dylan38sanders · 6 years

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Event Cybersecurity Risks Every Event Prof Should Know

Is your event safe from major event cybersecurity risks? Are you doing everything you can to secure your online data from attacks? As event profs, we hold so much data within our registrations, software, and events. We have peoples addresses, credit card numbers, emails, phone numbers, even flight, and hotel information. If you aren’t protecting people’s information you are making yourself and your clients an easy target for a cyber breach. If event cybersecurity is not on your radar yet we guarantee you by the end of this episode of Event Tech Podcast you will be running to your computer to implement the tips we are about to share!

In today’s episode of Event Tech Podcast, Will Curran of Endless Events and Brandt Krueger are going to talk all about cybersecurity at events, why it will be the next big thing (and should be!) in event tech, and how you can take steps to improve your event cybersecurity. Will and Brandt will share their top three ways to protect your events information, how and what cyber attackers will look for, personal anecdotes and more. You cannot miss this episode!

https://www.podbean.com/media/player/8braz-aa52c7?from=yiiadmin&download=1&version=1

Audio Transcription

Intro: Welcome to the Event Tech Podcast were we explore the ever-evolving world of event technology every week. This show is brought to you by Endless Events, the event AV company that doesn’t suck. Now, let’s talk tech.

Will Curran: Hey ladies and gentlemen this is Will Curran from Endless Events, and joined by the lovely, as always, handsome.

Brandt Krueger: I was gonna say I like how I’m always the lovely Brandt Krueger. That’s not a moniker I get very often.

Will Curran: Am I the only one who calls you lovely Brandt Krueger?

Brandt Krueger: I think you are.

Will Curran: Does your wife not call you that?

Brandt Krueger: No. No. I don’t think she’s ever called me lovely.

Will Curran: Oh my gosh. It’s like man crush Monday over here, which is ironic because we publish this show on Monday’s too. All right. So good.

Brandt Krueger: With that being said.

Will Curran: That being said, everyone, today we’re talking about why cyber security is the next big thing in event tech, and why you need to be concerned about what apps you’re using, how the data is being handled, your wifi security, and just generally be a little more perturbed about how you’re doing your security.

Will Curran: Brandt and I have been doing a session, and let’s be honest, it’s Brandt’s session. I’m here just to add comic relief.

Brandt Krueger: Oh, no.

Will Curran: Brandt, and I, have been doing a session all over the interwebs, and all over the events industry conference circuit, about why you need to be worried about your cyber security. We figured, naturally, we should do a podcast about it. Should we dive right on into it Brandt?

Brandt Krueger: Should we do a podcast about it?

Will Curran: We should do a podcast about this rather than just talk about it. No, actually, let’s rewind. Something we don’t get to talk about when we do this session is why did you get interested in this. You kinda spurred me to thinking a lot more about it as well. I was kinda already there, but then you really helped me kickstart my interest in it. How did your interest in cybersecurity kinda get started?

Brandt Krueger: It’s been a few things. Part of it has just been my personal podcast listening that I’ve been doing pushing about 10 years now, probably more than that. I discovered podcasting when I was a new dad, and started trying to find things that I could listen to quietly while the baby’s sleeping, or while trying to rock her back to sleep, and stuff like that.

Brandt Krueger: I’m pretty sure I had a Blackberry Storm at the time listening to podcasts.

Will Curran: Whoa.

Brandt Krueger: Yeah, I know.

Will Curran: Whoa.

Brandt Krueger: By the way, that thing got a bad rep. That’s a podcast for another time. That was actually a halfway decent device. Anyway, I was listening to a security podcast, and have been for the better part of the last ten years called Security Now, and it’s by a guy named Steve Gibson who was the OG cybersecurity guy, like, literally coined the term malware, and spyware, and things like that, and was one of the first ones to kinda realize that viruses, and things like that, were really going to be an issue.

Brandt Krueger: I’ve been kinda steeped a little in that world for a while, and then more recently I heard an interview with one of the winners of kinda the hack-a-thon things that they do at the Black Hat type conferences. I don’t remember which one because there’s a couple of them. She was really good at doing the social engineering side of things, the get a hold of this person, get their email, then pose as this person on the phone, and then you get this information, and using very little information to start with, but then getting to the ultimate goal of finding something out from a top-level CEO. That kinda thing.

Brandt Krueger: In listening to her talk about how she was getting the access to this information it really started to dawn on me how vulnerable we are as an industry. The amount of information that we are the guardians for is really pretty ridiculous. We’ve got personal first and last names of executives, titles, emails addresses, phone numbers, personal cell phone numbers, travel itineraries, hotel reservations. All of this information is a gold mine for hackers because all they need is a couple of legitimate pieces of information to track … we can get into some of this stuff later, but to crack phishing emails, and things like that where they’re able to make it look like it’s a legitimate email coming from the registration when actually it’s gonna take you to a webpage that takes control of their computer, and all of a sudden you’ve got the keys to the castle.

Brandt Krueger: The information that we’re sitting on is a tremendous treasure trove for hackers. Combine that with some of the high profile hacks that we’ve seen over the course of the last few years, so think about Target, Home Depot, Equifax. Most of these big hacks, especially thinking about Target, and Home Depot, they came in through the side door. It wasn’t that Target themselves got hacked it was I believe in that case it was an HVAC company that they contracted with that they’ve given somebody access to something, so the hackers came in through the HVAC company.

Brandt Krueger: Home Depot, it was coming in through the company that built the credit card readers. It wasn’t even that these companies themselves got hacked, it was coming in through the side door. Well, guess what? We’re that side door. It’s not so much that somebody’s gonna hack me personally, and get my personal information, or my company information, it’s that they’re going to use me to get to my clients whether we’re a planner, or a vendor, some kind of registration supplier, we’re gonna be the soft target on the side that hackers use to get to our high profile clients.

Will Curran: Preach, oh my god, that was amazing. The first time we talked about this I had to agree 100%. I’m definitely not gonna debate you on this one for sure. I think that it’s just so obvious, and I think the warning sign has been already shot with the big Marriott hack, is that everyone realizes, they’re like, oh, well, oh my gosh, I can’t believe this just all happens. Like, guys, that’s one degree of separation from all of us.

Will Curran: I can’t say a single planner out there who doesn’t have a Marriott account that probably wasn’t by it. That’s just personal, but then think about it, all the executives that probably stay there. Oh my gosh, it just goes on, and on, and on.

Brandt Krueger: They weren’t even the [crosstalk 00:06:46].

Will Curran: I think the thing that-

Brandt Krueger: You asked me kinda where did they kernel come from, and it wasn’t any kernel, it’s been a roll. It’s been one thing after another, after another, after another. There were other high-end chains where the individual hotels were being targeted in East Asia countries where they were targeted specific executives accounts at these high-level luxury hotels, and I got to be honest with you, most of those just kinda got swept under the rug.

Brandt Krueger: There would be a quick little news announcement, I won’t say the names of the chains, because I’ll probably get them wrong, but it was all the big names of luxury hotels would get hacked, and then you’d never hear about it again, and then it would be another one. I think it was only because this Marriott one was so big they got stuck, and their name stuck in the news cycle, as opposed to kinda the onesies and twosies that were happening before.

Will Curran: I think you bring up a good point, too. I think you used the term, you call it like an attack vector, right? The attack vector is us as the events, and things like, for example, our registration systems, it’s our event apps, and it’s all just a starting point. It’s funny because you hear about it all the time, and I think one of the things that had made me more aware of it, at least recently, was when I signed up for Dashlane, and they notified me every single time there’s been a breach of data, and some of these things I’m like, wait, I’m a user of this. I didn’t hear about this in the news at all.

Will Curran: The only reason I’m getting notified is because Dashlane just does a really good job monitoring it. I just can’t believe on at least a weekly basis I think you joke about it because I just send you … I’ll be like, oh, by the way, did you hear XYZ got hacked, and you’ll be like, yep, just another one. It seems like it happens every single week. It’s funny because how much the news can kinda protect it, or if they do a good PR crisis management, or a crisis communication as our good friend Alex would say.

Will Curran: They can really sweep it under the rug, but this stuff is happening all day left and right. We have to really make sure that we’re being diligent in protective, otherwise, we’re gonna be in big trouble.

Brandt Krueger: Exactly. You mentioned the attack vectors, so it probably makes sense to spend a couple of moments talking about some of the ways that we’re vulnerable as an industry. One, I kinda mentioned a couple of times, and that’s the registration platforms themselves. We’re kinda just assuming that whoever it is we’re hiring has some kind of cybersecurity in place. When I hire registration platform X I’m just assuming they’ve got folks that are in charge of that kinda thing, and I don’t really have to worry about security.

Brandt Krueger: The problem is I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve been on site and registering for an event, and you look down, and you see the laptops that they’re using, and you can see the password has been written on the screen on a stick note stuck to the side of the laptop screen for whoever random temp worker X who’s coming to work the event, so they can log into the registration platform, or where the planner or someone else who needs access to that, and same kinda thing.

Brandt Krueger: You set it to something that you can remember, or you set it to something that you can get … we’ll get into what we can do about all this stuff later on, but for now just know that it’s not so much that the registration platform itself again is gonna get hacked, it’s more that we’re using insecure passwords, or we’re writing them down on little slips of paper, or those kinds of things.

Will Curran: I think you bring up a really solid point about just the fact that there’s also the temp workers. That’s something we talk a lot about, because how many times do we say that? You were a black polo, and black pants, and you can walk in anywhere and do anything you want. Far too often, just think about it, how often have you had it where someone just shows up and says, oh yeah, I’m here to show up for XYZ duty, you go, okay, cool, boom, and they have the keys to the castle.

Will Curran: Not only on the physical security side but just the fact that, yeah, they could easily get in there. I remember talking about registration platforms one of my clients is doing the whole Self-Reg thing, and I totally get it. Self-Reg, super cool, you can go up and do it real quick, save us on staffing cost, but I walked up one time I think it was before the conference even started, and they had the platform all up, and I just realized I could just export that list, and get in there right then and there, and steal all the information, and it wasn’t even that hard.

Will Curran: Granted, again, I wasn’t staff wearing a shirt, maybe someone from the hotel, or maybe someone from the event might’ve been weirded out when they saw me walk up to the laptop, but I doubt anyone would’ve. I could have totally made off with that data if I was just a random Joe Schmoe walking through the hotel.

Brandt Krueger: That’s one of the things that Steve Gibson the podcaster that I was talking about talks about all the time, is the balance between convenience and security. Convenience and security are kinda like natural enemies. The more you make it easy to access information and get to information, and register, same thing as physical security. If you make it really easy to get in and out of the room as in there’s no security. There’s no security. That’s the easiest level of access.

Brandt Krueger: If you have someone scanning a badge that’s better than nothing. If you have someone checking ID that’s even more than scanning a badge, but it’s less convenient for the attendees. While we’re implementing all this technology to make it easier to register, and easier to get in and out of sessions that also means we’re opening that technology up to be used and abused, and it can be taken advantage of.

Brandt Krueger: You mentioned on-site staff, and that’s a perfect example of another one of our vulnerabilities. Like you mentioned, yeah, I’m a 40 something-year-old white dude. If I put on a black polo I can go anywhere in a hotel. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been challenged in the 20 something years that I’ve been doing this walking down the back hall.

Will Curran: Once. Only once for me.

Brandt Krueger: You’ve been doing it a long time too. It’s one of those things where if you look like you know what you’re doing, and you’re wearing the right clothes, and look the right way, you can get access, physical security access to wherever you need to go. I can absolutely think, you know, now you start kinda extrapolate that out to temporary staff, or someone’s who’s … a lot of the kinda big news cycle stuff that we saw during the campaign, during the 2016, ’17, time was catering staff. People that were recording what was going on just tapping their phone, and putting it in their pocket, and recording things, and then releasing that information later, in what people thought were private events.

Brandt Krueger: That extrapolates out as well to audiovisual staff. You and I might trust the people we’re working with, but a lot of times the companies are bringing in local staff that they’ve never worked with before. You don’t know them from anybody, so you don’t know. Are you requiring your AV companies to sign confidentiality agreements? I’ve probably been asked twice maybe, maybe three times, to sign an NDA or a confidentiality agreement. Think about the stuff that we handle. I probably stomped on exactly what you were gonna talk about it, so go for it.

Will Curran: I was gonna say, I mean, yeah, the times that you get handed a hard drive with all this confidential information, but then I totally get it, like, let’s be professional, make sure you wipe the drives. That’s kinda the assumed thing, but no one ever makes sure that we do this. No one ever asked about the process. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that A. we’re a little foresighted in knowing that we should wipe them, but how many times that I’ve already pulled up rental laptops and it still has the PowerPoint from the last show still on it.

Will Curran: Guys, if it wasn’t for the fact that I think some of these laptops don’t get wiped, install a new OS, or whatever it is to keep them running new, I mean, I’d bet there’d be PowerPoint decks back to like 1999 on them.

Brandt Krueger: The other side of that is the number of times that someone’s trying to save a couple of dollars, and so they don’t want to rent a laptop either from the AV company, or from a rental company, so they’re bringing in, oh yeah, we’ll use John from marketing’s laptop, and he’s got all these files on the desktop, and pictures of his kids on the desktop, and stuff like that.

Will Curran: Totally, and probably all his saved password in the browser.

Brandt Krueger: Again, you’re then setting that up in a room that anybody’s got access to, or at the very least maybe you’ve got some temporary staff, or somebody who’s got access to it, and if someone had malicious intent that again would be a gold mine of information.

Brandt Krueger: If anything, like you, say-

Will Curran: How many are laptops are stolen from a show. A laptop’s been left our front of house, and you didn’t secure the venue, because you assumed the venue would take care of it, whatever it is. People have walked in stolen laptops right off our front of house. Imagine that’s the CEO’s laptop, or your laptop, oh my gosh, that’s just kinda the physical bridging the digital side of things. My god, the data. The data.

Brandt Krueger: The data.

Will Curran: The data.

Brandt Krueger: The data. Yeah. Like you said, maybe you run into a rental company situation where they forgot to wipe it or something like that, but more often than not I’d say it’s safer to either get a laptop through your AV company or through a rental company for that very reason.

Will Curran: For sure.

Brandt Krueger: They generally do have systems in place to make sure that information is being wiped from a show to show basis.

Will Curran: Oh, you’re back. I thought I lost you there for a second.

Brandt Krueger: Oh, no, I was gathering my thoughts.

Will Curran: Oh, man. There’s so many thoughts.

Brandt Krueger: Sometimes I get deep into thoughts.

Will Curran: And sometimes you never get out. I’ve been there with you before.

Brandt Krueger: To go back to it, yeah, we talked about the onsite staff, and making sure that is something that you’re looking into. Kinda the next big category is hotel WiFi. I knew you would.

Will Curran: I want to get in this one. This is my jam right now. For those who don’t know we’re preaching the idea of making sure A. you’re looking at better WiFi, but also all the things that come with it. Ironically, I was literally doing a webinar two days ago, and I then reference this exact presentation that we give, and say, hey, you need to know as much about cybersecurity as you do why you need fast WiFi. Oh my gosh, I can talk about this one for days.

Will Curran: The tips that I have. I think everyone knows WiFi needs to be secure. You wouldn’t leave your home WiFi wide open for anyone to connect, because A Johnny down the street is gonna like download illegal games on it, and here you get served with a huge penalty from the Recording Industry of America or something like that. But then, sometimes people don’t realize that the reason why you also secure it is because the information passing over the WiFi can be picked up at any moment from anyone at all.

Will Curran: We just talked about the presentations, and the data on these laptops, and physical devices, but also imagine the data flying across the airways at your event. Let’s just talk about reg, and credit card data, things like that, for example, that can be easily sniffed off the internet, but then think about all your attendees who might be doing online banking, or let me log into my corporate email account. It’s terrifying how open these hotel WiFi networks are. When was the last time you remember actually entering a password into the WiFi?

Will Curran: I think this is where we always make sure we clarify. A lot of times when we say password a lot of people are used, okay, I connect to the WiFi, then a web browser pops up, and says enter the password, Aruba2019, well, no, we’re talking about when you actually connect to the WiFi network it will not do anything at all unless you enter the password. On Macs it’s in the top right when you go to connect to the network has a nice lock on it, on Windows, it will say secured right next to it. When is the last time you saw one of those at an event?

Brandt Krueger: The good news is the answer for me is this week.

Will Curran: Oh my god, it’s amazing.

Brandt Krueger: It’s really is pretty rare.

Will Curran: Our preaching is working.

Brandt Krueger: Other than that, it’s been very few and far between, and for some reason we’ve gotten in this mindset that if you’re in public it should be open, so when you go to Starbucks, or wherever you go and you’re just supposed to be able to click on it and go, and I think that started because people didn’t understand WiFi. Oh. It’s so confusing and weird, and oh, what do I have to do? I have to click on this thing, and then what?

Brandt Krueger: At this point, most people understand the difference between an open network and a closed network. A closed network you have to put in a password before it’ll give you access to it, and an open network then yeah maybe you get some kinda splash page, thanks for coming to Starbucks, now you agree to the terms of service and click and go.

Brandt Krueger: If you are seeing anything that is branded, or it says welcome or says anything other than enter the password then it is not a secured WiFi network. If it’s asking you for a meeting code, or it’s asking you for your room number, or anything like that, that is a not-encrypted WiFi network.

Brandt Krueger: You mentioned things like banking, and things like that. Theoretically, that’s all being encrypted in the web browser, so that’s when you get the little lock in the upper left-hand corner and all that kinda stuff. Theoretically, if you’re connecting to your bank over those connections it’s kinda saying are you who I think you are, yes, okay great. Now, we’re gonna encrypt between the two of us, and then all of that information wouldn’t be sent in the clear.

Brandt Krueger: You and I have told a lot of people, and again, we’re gonna get to some tips and tricks here at the end for what you can do to do about all this. You and I have talked in the past about tell people look for the lock, look for the lock. We’ve been saying that for years, and then I ran across an article just a few weeks ago where it basically said that something like 60% of all of the fake malware website have the lock, so you can’t just look for the lock anymore.

Will Curran: Oh, no.

Brandt Krueger: It’s gotta be one of those things where … so what they’re doing is they’re getting security certificates. All that’s doing is saying hey we’re encrypted between each other. It’s not any kind of identity verification it’s just saying you’re encrypted, I’m encrypted, great. Let’s talk.

Brandt Krueger: And so, what they’re doing is they’re actually encrypting their fake website so that you’re sending your real information to their fake website, and it’s got the lock. Now, it’ll be BankofEmerica.com, or something like that, or Sorny.com instead of the actual address, but nonetheless, it is actually still encrypted. You can’t just look for the lock.

Will Curran: That’s terrifying too because Google made such a good effort with Chrome about three or four months ago to make it so now if your site is not encrypted it takes you to this big bright red page, and says warning, warning, warning. It made people like me who … like on my site there’s not a lot of really super private information we share. It’s like enter your email address and subscribe to the blog. Well, my site even needs to have an SSL. It’s called SSL or secure socket language. Did I get that right?

Brandt Krueger: I think so.

Will Curran: I’m sure you can fact check it while I continue on. Even my site needs an SSL certificate now. As Brandt said, yeah, definitely the lock doesn’t do enough.

Brandt Krueger: Close. Secure socket layer. Way to go.

Will Curran: Dang. I was so close. Rewind back to hotel WiFi, and why you want to make sure that’s secure. Big things are to make sure that it has the encryption on the WiFi obviously. One big thing too is now as Endless now we’re starting to provide WiFi for events is that also realizing that you need to put protections in place to also not allow your attendees to use the WiFi for malicious things as well. Ironically, because it’s not only the fact that they can get in to get the information, but also utilize it for nefarious things like I talked about.

Will Curran: You don’t want Billy Bob downloading the latest movie, and getting you in trouble for having him do that, so making sure that you have some sort of blocking firewall in action as well. If a lot of this sounds super duper confusing on the networking side of things Brandt’s and I’s biggest suggestion that we have is get a guy. Just find a guy who either knows network security, it’s the IT guy who set up all your networks at your office, like, you should have a person onsite just like you have an AV person to monitor all the AV and make sure it’s running well.

Will Curran: You should have a networking person onsite who not only is taking care of the security obviously, knows all the stuff, and can kinda talk jibber jabber to the WiFi providers but also as well can do as a bonus make sure that your speeds are good, and your quality of WiFi is really good, like, oh, if something has an issue they can help spot it and hold them accountable, so you don’t have to play tech nerd, which as much as I wish everyone knew everything about technology it just doesn’t make sense. With all this stuff moving so fast just get yourself a guy.

Brandt Krueger: Yeah. I’m a gender neutral guy, guy, by the way, so when I say guys I mean all kinds of people.

Will Curran: For sure.

Brandt Krueger: Just to clarify on that, because I know some really good guys that are gals. Talking about just the WiFi. For me, the ultimate thing that I want to kind of leave on this topic is just get that password. If you’re talking to the venue just set that password, because even if you set that password to 12345, and even if you put that password on every single piece of paper in the hotel including the toilet paper in the bathroom, if you put that everywhere, that is still more secure than not having a password on your WiFi and asking for a meeting code, or something like that.

Brandt Krueger: It automatically as soon as you put any password on your network itself that turns on encryption, and it just reduces the likelihood that someone’s gonna be able to sniff the traffic, and get information. If I can stress any one thing that’s probably my biggest thing. It drives me absolutely up the wall that we’re not securing our WiFi at our events.

Will Curran: Another bonus tip that I’ll add to this as well is as we start to provide this also create different virtual networks for different types of people who need to connect. For example, you need to make sure that you have a separate virtual network for all of your registration, your credit card processing. Attendees should not connect to that same WiFi in any sort of way.

Will Curran: Same with presenters. Presenters should be separate because they’re gonna have a lot of confidential information. I highly recommend if you’re gonna have any sort of executives from the team or something like, maybe they need to be on a separate WiFi, and exhibitors on a separate WiFi, and then attendees finally on a super simple, secure, separate WiFi that completely is completely secured, as Brandt said, have that WiFi password written on the toilet paper.

Brandt Krueger: Also, then if you’re able to if there is a problem start to narrow it down. On this event that I was just on from a setup standpoint, they did it properly. They had different networks for the attendees, the staff, for the iPads that were running the kiosk, they all had different networks, different logins for each one of those. We were actually able to isolate, hey, wow, the attendees one is actually running pretty well, but the staff one for whatever reason is getting hit, and so we were able to narrow things down for troubleshooting.

Brandt Krueger: When you’ve got everybody on the same network, well, maybe somebody’s watching Netflix, or maybe somebody’s … you’re able to start reducing the number of things that you need to check when there is actually a problem.

Will Curran: Preach. All right. Beat that one with a hotel router.

Brandt Krueger: What can we do to fix this? You’ve made me so sad. I just want to know. What can we do?

Will Curran: To fix hotel WiFi?

Brandt Krueger: What can we do to tell people to start making this better? We’ve scared the crap out of them hopefully at this point, so what can we do to start making it better.

Will Curran: Well, I think first thing is just be aware of the issue. I think that far too often ignorance is bliss. You think to yourself, oh, I’ll be fine, don’t worry, until your social security number gets posted by Equifax everywhere in the world. Now, you become an expert in data security. I think that’s one of the biggest things is like be willing to have the conversations about it, and ask the questions.

Will Curran: For example, when it comes to hotel WiFi, if you’re aware of the issue now you can also talk to it. For example, you’re going to your hotel you can ask them the hard question. What are you doing to keep me secure when it comes to your WiFi?

Brandt Krueger: I think that’s a great step, and I then I think the other thing is changing our mindset a little. That it’s not somebody else’s responsibility. It’s not gonna be the vendor’s responsibility. It’s not gonna be the AV person’s responsibility. It’s all of our responsibilities. We have to take whether you’re a planner, you’re a vendor, you’re a venue, all of us involved in this thing we do called events we all need to take personal responsibility for security.

Brandt Krueger: What I’d love to do is like I say step number one, for me, number one, secure your WiFi. The second one and I know you’re down with this as well, is a password manager. You mentioned it to Ashley, and why don’t you tell folks about password managers.

Will Curran: I’m a huge lover of password managers, and Brandt and I have different opinions on our favorites, but they’re still both very good. Brandt is a LastPass kinda guy, I’m a Dashlane kinda guy, and it’s kinda like the Galway girl kinda thing you can be from Dublin, or you can be from Galway, either way, I just say that because I’m in Ireland right now. When it comes to password managers just get one. They’re so easy. I can’t tell you how many people that I referred to signing up for a password manager, and they say this changed my life. I don’t hear that very often when I say here’s an app, and they go this changed my life.

Will Curran: When it comes to password managers it just automatically fills everything in. It lets you know when things are not secure. It makes sure that you can have super duper secure passwords that you can’t remember, instead you have one master password. You can Google why you should a password manager, and I think that will do a much better job explaining than us, but it’s really crazy how people just use one single password to manage everything, and how easy it is as soon as that one password is compromised, boom, they can go from, oh, they hacked Joe Schmoe’s let’s say … I’m just gonna use your Art of Frames website where you ordered that one frame for that piece of artwork, they got hacked, now they have that password, and then now what they do is they go and test all those sites.

Will Curran: They test all the major banking websites, all these things like that, with that one password, and boom, if you have the same password across everything you’re hosed. It’s scary how little secure passwords are for it, and I think the video that you show at the beginning of the presentation, like, it’s Jimmy Kimmel, but maybe if you want to get a chance to explain what that is, and then kinda give your two cents on password managers.

Brandt Krueger: Like you say, it’ll change your life. You go from having to remember every password for every site to never having to remember any of them. The things that password managers allow you to do is to set long, random passwords for every single site that you access. Like you said, if random website X gets hacked it’s no big deal, because they’re not gonna be able to use that same password on any of the rest of your stuff, because you’ve got a long, random, different password for every single site that you use.

Brandt Krueger: And so, if you’re using monkey123 as your password for your registration platform, and you also used monkey123 as your password for Gmail, or god forbid something else if they get that information like you said they’re gonna start trying every single thing, and then once they’ve got access to your email you’re pretty much cooked, because then they can start changing your passwords and using that email to receive those password change notifications, and things like that.

Brandt Krueger: The biggest thing is once you start entering in your information in password managers it’ll say, hey, whoa, just so you know you’re using this on another site. Would you like me to change that for you, and keep track of it, and do something different? Absolutely, password managers 100% change your life as far as what you can do about it.

Will Curran: Real quick. I was gonna say, the one thing that I think as far as … obviously, it’s really nice to be able to do that. You might be thinking to yourself I can do that on a spreadsheet, or whatever, well, the thing that I think that makes password managers really fantastic … I know LastPass and Dashlane both do this, and a bunch of other sites are doing this now as well, it gives you the ability to also share passwords securely as well. I think in the events industry I can’t tell you how many associations that I’ve been a part of where they say, hey, can you give me the Twitter password, hey, can you give me the MailChimp password, hey, can you give me the password to the bank account.

Will Curran: For my local ILIA chapter I made the big switch, and I pushed everyone, I said, we’re gonna use a password manager, we’re gonna have super secure passwords, and I’m never gonna actually share the password with you. I’m gonna share it via the password manager, and what is cool about it is it allows you to share passwords so they can login without ever seeing the password, which for temp staff, for volunteers, for that, hey, can you send me the password to XYZ really quickly, makes your life so much easier.

Will Curran: The best part is if you have employees this will change your life when it comes to it, because when they get done you don’t have to worry about changing the passwords ever you just revoke access, and boom, you’re all done. As a business owner, it changed my life as well.

Brandt Krueger: Well, yeah, that’s exactly it. The day after that event is done you can revoke access to all of those people, and they don’t have access to the passwords anymore, or if you as a business owner you got to let someone go, or they move on to a different job or something like that, you want to be able to revoke those passwords as well. I discovered accidentally that about three years after I left my previous employer I still had the username and password for their FedEx account.

Brandt Krueger: I went to go log in and it auto-filled the information because it was in my LastPass, and they hadn’t changed it. It was one of those things where I was like, oh, wow, okay, good, look at that. You mentioned the Kimmel thing. That’s just an example of the fact that we think we’re so clever coming up with these passwords, but the fact of the matter is the human brain’s just not capable of remembering a different password for every single site. I’m just curious. I’m gonna bring up the number of sites that I’ve got here in my LastPass.

Brandt Krueger: I’m gonna bring up the number of sites that I’ve got here in my LastPass.

Will Curran: Yeah, I’m gonna do that too.

Brandt Krueger: It’s got to be in the hundreds. It doesn’t show it unfortunately in the vault, but it’s definitely in the hundreds.

Will Curran: I think I got something up on you.

Brandt Krueger: Did you finally find a feature?

Will Curran: Yeah. Dashlane will show me. I’m logging in right now.

Brandt Krueger: Well, okay, I’ve got these categorized. Let’s see, there are 119 personal ones, 185 professional ones, 172 shared family ones, 63 shared financial ones, and 16 shared medical ones.

Brandt Krueger: That’s only in the course … I think I just hit my 10 year anniversary of LastPass a little bit ago.

Will Curran: They should give you some champagne.

Brandt Krueger: Yeah, something like that.

Will Curran: I’m gonna one-up you. You ready for my number of passwords.

Brandt Krueger: Yep. Go.

Will Curran: They had this health score app, but I have over 630 safe passwords. Technically, I have one that’s compromised. It looks like it happened literally a couple days ago. Whitepages.com got compromised, so I gotta change that one. I do have 12 reused passwords, but usually, it’s because someone else has shared the password with me, and I have it saved in there, and it’s used. For example, my dad refuses to use a password manager, so his Netflix password is the same as his HBO password.

Will Curran: Also, I just admitted freely that.

Brandt Krueger: So, you get the warnings.

Will Curran: Yep.

Brandt Krueger: Yeah. You get the warnings. Yeah. I’ve got a few of those as well.

Will Curran: And that I use my dad’s Netflix as well. But yeah, it’s crazy cool how it can help you stay on top of it. It just makes it so easy for you to manage your passwords.

Brandt Krueger: All right. I know we’ve got a lot of other suggestions for folks. I want to leave off some of the higher end stuff, and continue with the easy peasies that we’ve got, so the last one that I think is good to hit for this show is two-factor authentication.

Will Curran: Oh god, yes. Oh my god. I have so much more I want to talk to you about this. We’ve had a couple of process changes I’ve done for this since we last talked about it. Explain Brandt, what is two-factor authentication? Why does it matter?

Brandt Krueger: At it’s most basic level that’s when your bank says, hey, we just didn’t recognize this device, we want to send you a text, so then it sends you a code, and then you punch in the code. The idea being it’s not only a password, but there is a second factor, and it’s some other thing. Usually, the best way to do it is that it involves not only something you know, but also something you have like your phone.

Brandt Krueger: In that example, you go to your bank and type in your password. It says, oh, we don’t recognize this browser we would like to send you a code to your phone assuming that you have your phone, and so you’re able to then get that code, and punch it in. The other ways of doing that is using an actual two-factor authentication app, which is the same kinda idea where when you first log in, and they say, hey, do you want to set up two-factor authentication, and you say yes, it pops up a little QR code, you know, one of those little black and white dotted codes, and that is essentially like setting up a secret code between your phone and that website that’s unique to you.

Brandt Krueger: It’s not something that anybody else would be able to have, so as soon as you snap that code into your two-factor authentication app it starts generating these six-digit codes every minute, and so once every minute it’s gonna generate a new code, so when you go to login to that website it says, okay, what’s the code? You check your authentication app and punch in that particular six-digit code for that minute. And then, it’s gone, so it’s kinda a one time use kinda thing that is constantly revving these codes.

Brandt Krueger: Those are the two most basic ways, but then beyond that they actually have these physical USB key type things where that is essentially the same thing, where that USB key is generating a code once a minute, so you plug that in at the time you’re logging in, and you set up the two-factor authentication, it connects with the USB key, it says, okay, this is what we’re talking about. That’s you, great, okay, now I know that’s you when you’re punching in that code.

Brandt Krueger: And so, Google is doing this. A lot of the higher end kinda mail clients, and DPN clients are doing this. I think you’ve got one of those.

Will Curran: Yeah, I definitely have one that I totally recommend. Google actually released their own version of it. Just search two-factor authentication key Google, but when Google announced this product that they were selling they also made a huge announcement which is that they require all their employees to use physical USB keys plugged in, and since they’ve required that, they have had zero breaches in any accounts across … I mean, how many employees does Google have, a bazillion.

Brandt Krueger: Which is always dangerous when you announce something like that, but that shows the confidence they’ve got in that system.

Will Curran: Absolutely. It’s impossible to replicate because you have to have that physical key. Unfortunately, not every site is utilizing that yet. Even more, unfortunately, is a lot of them are allowing you to do the two-factor authentication app, which is nice, but I’m just so disappointed. For example, we have an industry-specific tool we use for scheduling our teams, and it texts you a two-factor authentication code. If you want to get nerdy with it technically you can hack a text really easily, spoof the cell phone, get the text, boom, good to go, whereas these apps technically they’re only on your one phone except for like my weird set up that I definitely want to talk to you about.

Will Curran: When it comes to this definitely push to use the app as the highly recommended thing. If you can go physical key as well. It makes it so worse comes to worse if let’s say one of your super secure passwords in your password manager gets leaked, or somehow your account still gets hacked because of vulnerability you’re still having that protection, because all of a sudden you’re gonna get a notification saying someone tried to log in your account, and either failed to do two-factor authentication, or you get that really weird message where all of a sudden it’ll say, hey, someone tries to access your account, here’s that code, and you go, I didn’t try to access that just now, and you go, oh gosh I should go lock up my account right away.

Brandt Krueger: Exactly. In kinda order of what we’ve talked about today the easiest thing, check your venues, and say, okay, let’s get a password on the WiFi. The next thing is definitely, definitely, definitely use password managers. There’s no excuse not to at this point. And then, the third is whenever available do two-factor authentication.

Will Curran: Definitely.

Brandt Krueger: Use one of these apps. Be careful, because once you set it up if you lose that information it can get really … bad things can happen. It’s a check against making sure that it’s you.

Will Curran: Can I talk, like, give that personal story about that, because this is where it kinda evolved recently. I just want to share this anecdotal story, is that okay?

Brandt Krueger: Yeah, go for it.

Will Curran: It’s like, no, Will, shut-

Brandt Krueger: I’m just trying to keep an eyeball on the time. I don’t want to go too long with it.

Will Curran: You guys, this is gonna be a special episode. It’s gonna be a little longer because we love it so much. Brandt and I love two-factor authentication. For the longest time, I’ve always used Google’s default two-factor authentication app that does the code recycling like he was talking about. I love that app because it’s super simple, easy to use.

Will Curran: The thing about though is the way to set it up is you have to scan the QR code. The idea is it’s not like a password manager where you enter your one master password, and boom, you get access to all your codes. It’s all local on your phone, so the idea is your phone is the only one in existence that has these two-factor authentication codes.

Will Curran: A long time ago I got a new phone, and I was smart that I ordered the phone, got it, and I kept the other one, didn’t wipe it, and re-setup all the two-factor authentications on the new one, because first, you have to log in to the accounts to get the new two-factor authentication out, so you still need those old codes, so I was smart about that.

Will Curran: Well, in let’s see, October, I was in Charleston, and I picked up the new Google Pixel 3, and I was just like, you know, oh, yeah, I’m good, everything’s backed up, and I just decided in the store wipe phone, and I had the other phone in front of me, and I handed it in, traded in, to get the credit, and about five seconds later I realized and went oh god all those two-factor authentication codes are local.

Will Curran: Oh my god. It was the worst thing in the world. What ended up happening is that I had to spend a serious amount of time going back into those accounts. Here’s what was scary to me, and this is where we have to pressure I think our software companies to think smart about this, it was so easy for me to get into 98% of my apps with either a … most of them, luckily, I had probably maybe half of them I had backup codes for, but so many of them were so easy to get into without a two-factor authentication code.

Will Curran: Like, oh hey, instead of using my two-factor authentication app you send it to my email or sending me a text. I’m like, no, I don’t want you to be able to do that. Turn that off. I made that mistake, and now I’ve been recycling phones so much that I got kinda perturbed with having to keep it locally on one phone, and also there’s a couple apps that require me to two-factor authenticate every single time I login versus, hey, remember me.

Will Curran: It’s so frustrating when I just needed to check something really quickly on the accounting software, or whatever it may be, or check a payroll number. My bonus app that I’ve been sharing with everyone, which I have to admit, and we talked about this very briefly, this is not as secure as technically only having it only on one device, but I’m utilizing an app called Offy, which is kinda like a password manager meets two-factor authentication codes.

Will Curran: The idea is that you can only log into it on certain devices, so I have it on my phone, and my computer, and my desktop. The reason why I like it is then I can copy the codes really easily on my desktop, computer, and my laptop when I need to re-go into the codes a million times versus where’s my phone, oh, my phone’s charging in the other room, let me go get my phone to get the two-factor authentication code.

Will Curran: Again, but that goes back to the convenience thing, right?

Brandt Krueger: I was just about to say exactly that. I don’t want to scare anybody off of using a two-factor authentication with that. It just means you have to think a little about things. That goes back to exactly that, the convenience is kinda that enemy of security, that yeah, it’s gonna be a little inconvenient to use a password manager at first.

Brandt Krueger: They really make it pretty painless, because every time you enter in a password it pops up a little thing it says, hey, do you want to save that? And then, you’ve got it saved. And then, once you start getting those saved you can run a check against it, and it will tell you how many times you’ve reused your passwords.

Brandt Krueger: And then, same with the two-factor. Yeah, it’s a little more annoying, and yeah sometimes it’s like, uh, god, I gotta get the app, but I gotta go get the number, but you are paying a price for our lack of security in the past, so now we need to start thinking about these things. We need to make it our responsibility. I think that’s probably a good way to wrap this all back up is to say that we as an event industry we are a target. It’s not a question anymore of whether or not we’re going to be a target.

Brandt Krueger: We are a target, and the Marriott hack shows that that people are actively starting to look at hospitality, and events, as a target. We need to start taking responsibility for it. We need to start, yes, inconveniencing ourselves a little from here and there, and taking responsibility for the security not only of ourselves but of our clients. That’s the biggest thing to me, is that, okay, great, if I get hacked, yeah, that’s gonna be a pain, but if something I’ve done enables one of my clients to get hacked that’s unforgivable.

Brandt Krueger: That’s something that you take with you possibly to your grave if bad enough.

Will Curran: Yeah, absolutely. I can’t agree more. You definitely don’t want this to happen to you, but if it’s ever happened to your clients, my god, the worst thing in the world. Real quick. I do want to mention, we talked a lot about this, but there is so much more to talk about. If you are fascinated, and you want to hear more, Brandt and I actually did a full webinar on this topic.

Will Curran: What we’ll do is we’ll leave that down in the show notes below at EventTechPodcast.com, so you can go check that out, and we’ll include that link, so then that way you can watch that webinar on your own time. It’s just like what we talked about here, but even further into details, more things you need to be thinking about, and some tactical tips on softwares, and tools, and all that jazz, all together in one.

Brandt Krueger: Exactly. I think that’s good enough for this episode. We wanted to kinda give you a teaser on why we think this is gonna be such a big issue. I think it’s gonna be a huge issue for the next year. Marriott’s just the tip of the iceberg, and we’re gonna start seeing some of the other big, whether it’s the registration platforms or things like that, do not be surprised as we start to see some of these things start to get hacked over the course of the next year.

Brandt Krueger: We hope you’re enjoying Event Tech Podcast. It’s been great for me. Will, I know you’re having a good time calling in from Dublin to help record these things, so I really appreciate that. We want to know what you think, so please do send us an email.

Brandt Krueger: If you’re on any of the social medias be sure to shoot us a note, #EventTechPodcast. We’re kinda still finding our feet here, and we want to know what you think, so if you want to hear more about subject X or subject Y please do let us know, otherwise, we’re just gonna keep talking about the stuff that we want to talk about in the show.

Will Curran: Absolutely.

Brandt Krueger: Which is just part of the fun of it.

Will Curran: Yeah, and absolutely make sure that you are sharing the Event Tech Podcast with your friends. If you know someone who would be interested in this help us help you by helping get the word out. That was a lot of helping all in one sentence, but basically, take our podcast, tell them to go to EventTechPodcast.com, and tell them to sign up.

Will Curran: That way, we can have awesome people joining the conversation, and so in that way, we can make some more awesome podcasts for you guys.

Brandt Krueger: Exactly, because a podcast without an audience is a phone call.

Will Curran: Did you just come up with that?

Brandt Krueger: I literally did, yeah.

Will Curran: Amazing, and that is the power of podcasting right there ladies and gentleman.

Brandt Krueger: Exactly. Without you guys we’re nothing. Guys. Let us know what you want to hear more about on the Event Tech Podcast, otherwise, we’ll see you next time.

Outro: Thanks again for listening to the Event Tech Podcast. Be sure to rate and review us on your favorite podcasting app. Also, be sure to head to EventTechPodcast.com and leave us a comment about this week’s episode. We’ll see you next week on the Event Tech Podcast.

Resources

Security Now Podcast

Steve Gibson

Dashlane

LastPass

Is Your Event Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?: The Good, the Bad, and the Really, Really Scary

Jimmy Kimmel, What is Your Password?

https://js.hscta.net/cta/current.js hbspt.cta.load(430132, ‘d9fe7e93-b235-439e-b0e4-b647f4c1349f’, {});

from Endless Events https://helloendless.com/event-cybersecurity/

0 notes

chillyjackal · 8 years

Text

The Red Sun Cycle

The sound of the alarm clock beside her bed signaled the start of another Friday morning. April slammed her hand down on the device to end its scream and slowly pulled herself out of bed, letting out a loud yawn and staring at herself in the mirror at the other end of the room.

"Morning babe, looking shitty as always I see."

The white cat joked to herself as she undressed and made her way to the bathroom, showering and brushing her teeth to complete her morning ritual.

"Sweetie, breakfast is ready!"

The voice of her Mom rang out from downstairs as she dried herself off and put on her clothes for the school day.

"Hang on Mom, getting dressed!"

She finished putting together her outfit for the day and stumbled down the old steps of her family home, heading straight to the kitchen and sitting at the dining table where her Mother was already putting down a plate of bacon and eggs. Her Father sat at the other end of the table with eyes fixated his phone.

"News says another person went missing."

"Oh no, who was it this time?"

April shoved her breakfast into her mouth as she listened to her parents.

"That boy from April's school. The uh..."

April sighed a bit.

"The gay one. Yes Dad. He was gay. You can say it."

He cleared his throat and grinned sheepishly as April gave him a smile of her own.

"I hope nothing bad's happened to him. He was such a nice boy."

April's Mother sat at the table and poured herself a glass of orange juice as April finished her meal.

"Oh uh, Mom. I'm going out tonight."

"What? Where?"

"To that party I told you about last night. The one at the Felt Club?"

Her Father looked up from his phone with a worried expression.

"You sure you really want to go to some club tonight? With all these kids going missing? Sweetie, I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Dad, I'm 20 years old and I carry mace everywhere, right now. I'm not going to let some random dude take me off the street. Don't worry about it, my friends will be with me anyways."

He shook his head and mumbled to himself as he went back to reading his phone. Her Mother gave April her own worried look as she kissed her goodbye and went out the door with her bag.

School went by without incident, a few students were talking about how their fellow classmate had vanished but other than that it was another Friday at the community college.

"Oh my gosh, April, you hear about Sam!?"

April looked up from her books at another chubbier cat girl who was fiddling with her glasses and looking upset.

"Oh no, Cass I heard. I'm so sorry, I know you two were really close..."

"He was like my brother April, why would he just leave without telling me?"

"Cass you know what his parents were like, he probably just had to go somewhere else for a bit. He'll be back, I'm sure of it. There's no way he'd just leave unless something really important was going on."

Cass sniffled and wiped some tears from behind her glasses.

"You're right April...I just hope he isn't in trouble. We...we had a fight before he disappeared."

"Oh my god, what about?"

Cass looked around before whispering to her.

"He was stealing from his work to help pay for a place to stay that wasn't his parents house. I told him he needed to stop and if he needed help I'd help him but he kept doing it, so I tried to confront him the other night and just... everything went wrong and he left."

April rubbed the back of her head nervously. This was the first she'd even heard of Sam doing anything really criminal outside of some vandalism or loitering. She decided to try to lighten the mood the one way she knew how.

"So, you going to that party tonight?"

"Huh? Oh. No, no, god I hate those parties. I'm more of a stay at home in my pajamas girl, you know what I mean?"

"Dude it's fine, I get it. I wanted to go and see what these were all about, never really been to a real party before."

Cass smiled and sniffled again.

"Ugh you're an even bigger dork th-than me sometimes, April... thanks for trying to cheer me up."

"Cass, everything will be cool, Sam's figuring out his shit and probably didn't want you to worry about him. Go home and do your pajama thing and he might even call you tonight."

Cass perked up a bit more.

"You really think so...?"

"I mean, I'm not like, psychic or anything, so don't take my word for it, but it's better than sitting around being worried."

Cass let out a sigh and nodded a bit.

"Alright I'll try it. You stay safe tonight okay? Clubs like that can be kinda icky."

7:00 Pm rolled around. Party Time.

April slipped into her party clothes and went down the steps of her old home again, noticing a note on the refrigerator as she walked through her kitchen.

"Went out with Dad. Have fun at your party. Don't drink too much and call me when you're done. -Love Mom"

She smiled a bit and made sure her phone was charged before shoving it in her jeans and walking out the door where her friends waited in their car.

The Felt Club was like any other bar in the small town where April lived. It was big enough to have large parties with plenty of drunk adolescents, but small enough that it still felt like you were hanging out in someone's basement. Tonight that basement aesthetic was still there even with the booming music and bright strobelights.

After some dancing and small talk with her friends April sat down at the bar and took a few minutes to get her thoughts together properly. It was all so much, especially for her. She needed to take all of this in a bit slower.

"I guess I should order a drink or something. That might help."

She sighed and waved the bartender over, just ordering a small drink and taking little sips when she got it. The taste of alcohol made her tongue sting a bit, but it wasn't the worst thing ever.

"This better help put me in more of a party mood. The taste sure as hell isn't."

She blinked when she felt something bump into her from behind, spinning around on her stool she was confronted with a small boy grinning up at her.

"Hey there lady! You okay?"

April was taken a bit off guard, this kid was way too young to be in a place like this. What was he doing just hanging around a club full of half-drunk people to begin with?

"Hey, did uh, did your mommy bring you here or something?"

She didn't know what else to really say at this point.

"No! My best friend did! He said he wants to meet you!"

April frowned. So some guy brought his kid here to pick up girls for him? Was this even a thing that happened?

"Uh, okay then. Can you take me to him?"

"Okie dokie! Come on he's over here!"

She stood up and followed the small boy, not noticing the larger man who'd been sitting beside her reach over and drop a pair of pills into her drink.

"Okay, we walked across the entire dance floor and I don't see him. Where's your friend kiddo?"

"Oh, he was at the bar! I just wanted to make you more excited by walking you here first."

April groaned a bit. She was awful with kids as it was, she didn't need to babysit one at a party where she was already feeling awkward as hell. She followed him back across the club, hoping no one was giving her weird looks as she sat back down at the bar and took a sip from her drink.

"Alright then small fry. Where's your friend hiding now?"

She suddenly felt a strange throbbing sensation in her head.

"Oh, he's right beside you! Hey lady, you okay? You don't look too good..."

April opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She felt her body give out under her as a large arm reached from beside her and stopped her from hitting the floor.

Then everything went dark.

"Oh no oh no did we give her too much? We gave her too much didn't we?"

"Oh my god will someone shut him the fuck up he's making it worse!"

"Talk to him like that again and we're gonna have a problem buddy."

"Oh fuck right off. If you and your little boyfriend need a fucking ass kicking I'll be sure to give you one."

April coughed and groaned as the loud voices echoed in her head, she could see blurry shapes above her pointing at eachother as the voices continued.

"Don't yell at 'im! He'll beat you up if you don't stop Stark!"

"Oh my god will you stop opening your little mouth for five goddamn seconds the fucking adults are talking!"

"Shuttup I'm an adult too you jerk!"

April tried to move her arms, only for the shapes swirling in her vision to hold her down and look at her. A draft across her body told her she'd been stripped to at least her underwear by these people.

"Alright she's coming to. Do we just do this now or?"

"Give it a bit more time gentlemen. The hour isn't upon us just yet."

She could just barely recognize one of the voices as the child from the party, the other three much older sounding voices were completely unfamilar to her, and a female voice soon joined them.

"Poor thing, you two seriously messed this up. One pill, one. She only needed one in the drink. We use two on people who can fight back."

"Whaaa... who, what's going on...? M-My arms hurt."

"Oh fuck me she's already talking. How much longer do we need to wait for this? She's already awake and we need to do this shit now."

"Mr. Stark, I'm not going to warn you again."

The quiet voice just out of her field of vision made April shudder.

"If it were up to me we'd be carving her the fuck up already and making her wake up, this is a waste of our fucking time."

"If it were up to any of us you wouldn't be here Mr. Stark, we'd simply convert her and end the ceremony without your assistance."

April's heart started racing now, the figures much more clear in her vision. They all wore some sort of hooded coats and glared down at her through some sort of goggles or glasses. They held down her arms and legs as one of them peered down at her with a stare that made her sick.

"Good, you are properly awakened now. It's time for us to begin."

"Wh-what!? Where am I..!? What's going on!?"

"Oh my god do we gag her or something I really don't want to listen to this crap again."

"I thought you liked when they screamed you freak."

"Not this shit, when you hear this shit 24/7 you get sick of it."

A few realizations started hitting April like bullets from a machine gun as she began to struggle and kick.

"Holy shit, oh god you-you're the ones who were taking people...!"

The figures held her down pretty roughly as the shortest one nodded.

"Uh-huh. We had to. It's all part of the plan lady."

She felt a pair of hand rest on the side of her head and tilt it backward, she screamed when she came face to face with a tall thin gentleman wearing the same clothes as the others, his goggled eyes looking right into hers as a gold cross hung around his neck just above her.

"My dear, do not worry. Through your suffering we are doing something greater than you could ever imagine. Though we can never tell you what it's for, your sacrifice will not be in vain."

She started crying now, still squirming as one of them crawled onto the table and got on top of her, holding a switchblade.

"God and I thought the little faggot cried a lot, this stupid bitch is worse than he ever was."

"Stark if you want to leave this chapel alive you'll shut your mouth and do your job. Last warning."

The figure on top of April glared back at the much larger figure holding her legs down before spitting on the floor and returning his attention to her as a thought sparked through her mind.

"S-Sam!? Y-You...You did this to Sam!? Y-You fucking monsters!"

"Oh no, we didn't do this to him, what we did to him was way worse. He's probably still crying right now in Hell where he belongs."

"You fucking bastard!"

April screamed and managed to free her leg, giving the man a swift kick in the groin that elicited howling laughter from a few of the other figures. The laughter ended when the man shoved the knife into her shoulder and twisted it, making her scream out louder as he panted and shook on top of her.

"Fucking bitch...you think you're tough shit or something do ya? So did the other one, and he ain't tough shit no more..."

Her eyes widened as he dragged the knife down and out of her body, leaving a horrible cut and laughing as the sound of metal scraping bone was heard.

"Hahahahaha! Oh man you hear that? Got her pretty deep with that one. Let's see if I can do the same thing to the other side."

April tried to struggle again, but the sound of her ankles snapping in two made her stop to cry out instead.

"Sorry, as much as I'd love to let Stark get another kick in the balls we need to get this over with."

The large figure growled as winced a bit before a sharp pain in her other side shook April from her confusion.

She had no idea how long this was going on. A few minutes, an hour, two hours? The figure on top of her cut and sliced into her with his knife over and over again, her entire body bloody and slashed as she stared up at the other figures trying not to look at her mangled form. She started to see something else, a red orb forming over her as the figure cutting her started chanting some kind of spell, words that sounded like a twisted lullaby but were too muted by the stinging ungodly pain wracking her body as she tried to keep screaming.

"It's time Stark. Please administer the final blow and end this."

April stared in horror as the blood covered man on top of her held the knife above her face and plunged down.

The sound of the alarm clock beside her bed signaled the start of another Monday morning. April slammed her hand on the button to silence the device before turning to her phone lazily to read some messages from Sam.

"hey U up?"

"Yeah dude. Rough night."

"U goin to the party friday?"

#Story #Text #Blood #Original Content #Writing #Anthro #Cat #Horror

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rueur · 4 years

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Morning Pages No. 54

Monday 17th August - 8:00 AM

I was up at around 7:25, but I didn’t start this right away. And I’m okay with that, I mean I realise I need to be a bit more lenient with myself when it comes to building this practice back up again. Fear of failure is something that I really need to address if I want to attain any level of meaningful success, I know that. It’s been two and a half or so years since my last morning pages, and from what I can tell after briefly reading over and then half-heartedly publishing my last entry, in the last few months of 2017 and that one month in 2018, I seem to only write up these pages if I felt emotionally volatile, like I needed to express myself. If I associated negative feelings with this practice, it’s definitely clear why it didn’t stick like I wanted it to. This isn’t supposed to be a form of therapy or an outlet where I get to vent, even if I do get to vent. This is just supposed to be an opportunity for me to be honest with myself, which is something that I’ve been struggling to do for the last three years, if I’m going to be completely honest!

It’s also worth saying that I didn’t start this up again of my own volition. Sarah’s put together a group on Facebook called ‘21 Days of Abundance’, where she’ll be setting 21 days of challenges which are supposed to aid us in our personal growth and support our ability to be mindful. Day 1 was setting yourself a personal goal or intention that we should aim to do on every single one of the 21 days. It has to be a measurable goal, so we’re more likely to achieve it. People chose things like ‘no screen time for an hour after waking’, or ‘meditate for ten minutes or so a day’, and those are both pretty honourable goals that I honestly might try and do alongside writing my morning pages. I mean I’ve definitely already failed with the screen thing today because the first thing that I did upon waking up was go to the bathroom with my phone and I absent-mindedly watched this Smosh skit called ‘Tinder for Hotdogs’ which was apparently a big vision of Shayne Topp’s. It was just an interesting narrative to follow rather than being a skit, actually it was kind of like a meta skit. Like the ‘Moby Dick’ narration he tried in that one ‘Try Not To Laugh’ video with Gus Johnson.

Evan just came and put a blanket on me because Lonzo just climbed out of bed very awkwardly - as he is wont to do - when Evan asked him to get out of bed to come and eat his breakfast. LONZO IS MY DOG. I realise in my last few entries, I was constantly talking about how I want a dog but I’m living in an apartment that was quite genuinely way too small for any kind of dog, but now I have a dog! And I don’t live in an apartment anymore! We’re in a house in Epping, and it’s beautiful out here. We have a whippet called Lonzo who was born on the 29th of May, 2018. We’ve had him since July, 2018. So yeah, of course these morning pages were written whenever I was feeling depressed and that’s exactly why I suppose I haven’t written them out in three years now. I’ve been quite happy, building myself up and finding or making opportunities for myself. Lonzo’s just returned back to me. He eats breakfast very quickly because we give him a mixture of meatballs and dry food, and he’ll eat all the microwaved meatballs and leave the dry food in his bowl and eat it throughout the day. I’d be okay with this if it wasn’t for Nicky, who’s always lurking around the food bowl and trying his best to eat Lonzo’s dog food as silently as possible so as not to raise the alarm, not just from Evan and me, but also from Lonzo too, who has quite astute hearing despite being a sighthound. Haha. Sorry.

I’m thinking of Wren now. If I make a bad joke, I think of Wren. If I look through my photo album on my phone, I think of Wren. And I don’t like it. Wren’s not having a very good time in lockdown, and despite everything that’s going on in my life for myself, I feel like Wren not having a good time is kind of defining my own existence right now. They made the decision to live alone and to see multiple people at a time, and they’ve consistently made the decision to choose intoxicants over healthy, wholesome foods and practices. I’ve tried to talk to them about steps they can take to improve their emotional health and wellbeing right now, and they’ve rarely listened to me, instead asking that I give them all my time so that they can fill their void with jokes and absent conversation. Over a week or so ago now, they asked if we could video chat every day, and we did for two days, until a Thursday night when the chat didn’t happen because Wren had fallen asleep and I was waiting for them to initiate because I had just gotten home from work, and I was happy to chat, but I was also more than happy taking a back seat to it all and just kinda letting it happen to me, you know? But Wren fell asleep and it wasn’t a big deal. Cut to Friday evening around six-ish as I’m finishing up at work, and Wren messages me ‘What time is our video call tonight?’, not ‘Can we...’ or ‘Are we...’, just ‘What time...?’, and that honestly didn’t sit right with me. This is Melbourne’s second lockdown, and quite honestly, our first lockdown wasn’t too great for Wren and me, in regards to our friendship. Our friendship was in essence, largely under duress. I find it easier to talk about these shitty things like I’m a narrator in a Victorian novel. Somewhat. I don’t know. Now I feel like I’ve found a natural stall in my inner narrative voice. Stream of consciousness...am I even doing this right? Is the point to conjure stories out of nothing? Is the point to journal absent-mindedly? This isn’t really supposed to be therapy, as I said. And I don’t want to do this wrong again. I believe addressing my anxiety that’s linked to ‘doing this wrong again’ is just a part of addressing my fear of failure. Full honesty here, I went back to edit that sentence. I actually edit this as I write it because I’m a tiny bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my writing, and even though it’s stream of consciousness, I still want it to be grammatically correct and coherent. I’m thinking now that I want to swap the words so it’s ‘coherent and grammatically correct’, but I’m not going to edit that just to give you (me) an example of how much I do edit myself. I’m very proud of my work, even if this is work that only I will ever be able to see. I feel like I still need to talk about Wren though, even if this isn’t supposed to be a form of therapy.

Wren took Sookie back, so we only have Nicholas and Lonzo. I want another cat. Everyone has cats right now! Lockdown cats! Sarah has Clancy, Nichole has Bishop, and Amy has her two cats Evie and oh my gosh I’ve forgotten the name of the other one...the two black cats that live with her and her three housemates in Heidelberg West, in their ‘witches coven’. I’m kind of glad that my mind has taken me away from Wren and towards cats, but also...I’m right back to Wren now too, to mention that Wren adopted a cat named Fern quite recently and I drove up to Woodend with them on the day of the adoption. I need to go to the bathroom, but I want to wait until I at least finish this page. I can be lenient with myself, but there has to be a limit, right? I feel like if I go to the bathroom right now, I’m not going to be coming back anytime soon because of my damn phone. I don’t entirely know where my phone is right now and I don’t mind that, but honestly I have been tempted every now and then during this writing exercise to use my phone to look something up, or at least check my socials and messenger to find the name of Amy’s second cat. Goddamn, yeah I need to go to the toilet. If I don’t go, then this is going to be all I write about for the rest of this page and that’s just no good. Yeah, I’m going to go. This isn’t even a question of self-discipline anymore, it’s just a question of not being dumb enough to ignore basic biological urges and fucking up your insides slowly over a number of decades until you’re an old person with incontinence. What the fuck. I need to go to the bathroom.

It’s 8:35am, so I didn’t lose much time, thankfully. It’s interesting though, when I was sitting on the toilet, I was really missing writing to the point where I honestly couldn’t wait to start my SEO stuff. I do some freelance content writing right now, too. It was a gig I got through Christian, which I’ve been thankful for for a couple of years now. I’ve been lucky enough to write for the most insane clients, but I feel like I shouldn’t mention anything here just as a bit of a precaution. I find it tricky to distance my work life from my social life, I suppose because I work a lot. I have four jobs. SEO stuff, tutoring, tech retail sales, and more freelance communications stuff. And uni, I’m still doing uni too, but only one subject this semester. I’m really not passionate about this master’s course that I’m doing. Does ‘master’s’ need an apostrophe? I added the quotation marks to ‘master’s’ to get that ruddy red line - or blue line, I forget - to disappear from my document. I guess if I keep digressing it must mean that I am in fact, doing stream of consciousness writing properly. I hate that last sentence. I’m losing the plot in all this concern for grammar, but the way I see it...it’s a skill that I have to offer my friends and loved ones. I’m happy to read anything over at any time and use my skills to help people get the things that they want. Dan wants to give me a few responsibilities with Zuri. I’m eager to help out, but I also don’t know how much time I’ll be able to dedicate to the project, what with all the other things I’m doing right now. Steve said he’ll help me out with some web design stuff, which I’m actually really looking forward to. I’m still not thinking about Wren. Except I am. I hate that I am. But I also feel guilty that I’m trying not to. Wren’s suicidal, because the world is in lockdown and they live alone. They can’t come here because of the 5km radius rule, and they sent me a message yesterday morning asking if they could come over and pretend to be my girlfriend, because exceptions are made for if you’re visiting an intimate partner. We’ve pretended to be an item before, that I have no issue with. But lying and also putting Evan at risk, because Evan is genuinely concerned about breaking any laws right now, due to the high penalties...I can’t do that. I can’t ask him of that. I’m concerned for my friend, but it’s also worth saying that they haven’t been a very good friend to me lately. They demand consideration, but they rarely give it in return. I don’t want to talk about this right now, because I’m at the end of my three pages. Even though...I suppose I do want to talk about this.

#stream of consciousness #morning pages #54

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notjustagirltattoopodcast · 4 years

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Not Just A Girl: Literary Ink

You can listen to the third episode with Jennifer Edge here. Or you can view the footage of this interview on YouTube with English subtitles/closed captions here.

NOT JUST A GIRL: Tattoo Podcast

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Season 1, Episode 3: Literary Ink

Eddy: [00:00:00] Hello friends and welcome to not just to go the tattoo podcast where every week I give you a glimpse into the lives and art practice of some of my favourite people in tattooing. I'm Eddy, and for the third episode of not just to girl, we'll be discussing keeping busy in lockdown, tattoo conventions and Harry Potter fandom.

Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are the traditional custodians of this land that was stolen and never ceded. I am honored to be on the ancestral land of the Awabakal people. I pay my respect to their Elders past and present and extend my recognition to their descendants.

Our guest [00:01:00] today is the wonderful Jennifer edge all the way from Chattanooga, Tennessee. She is the co-owner of Main Line Ink and known for her colorful watercolor and abstract tattoos. She's also the mastermind behind my favorite convention. Literary Ink. I had the great pleasure of meeting Jen last year when I attended the convention for the first time. And I've honestly never felt more welcome at a tattoo event then I did there

Thank you for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to be here. It's always so good to chat to you. How are you doin?

Jennifer: [00:01:40] I'm great. I appreciate you asking me on the show and thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoy our show Literary Ink because it is one of my favorite things to do.

Eddy: [00:01:50] It's honestly so good. It's funny cause I was like thinking about doing this podcast for a little while, but I was a bit scared because I have no idea what [00:02:00] I'm doing, but when I got to be on your podcast, your Literary Ink podcast a few weeks back that's so much fun. That it really gave me the kick I needed to do this. So thank you for inspiring me.

Jennifer: [00:02:14] You're welcome. And I still don't know what I'm doing. Help. Um, but it is something that's a lot of fun. I'm glad. I'm glad you jumped on board with that. A lot of the creatives right now with us being stuck at home. It's becoming a chance to see what outlets we are wanting to try. I want to dabble in this. I want to dip over there and that, let me see how colorful this can be. I'm going to totally do my work backwards of what I normally do. I think it's been awesome to see everybody kind of rising up in their areas and just testing out the waters and just, I don't know, not even really testing just like full on belly flopping in there. It's been great.

Eddy: [00:02:51] Absolutely, well I mentioned before that you're the creator of Literary Ink which for our [00:03:00] listeners is a Harry Potter themed Convention. How did that come about and how did you make it so big?

Jennifer: [00:03:08] Um, as for the making it big, that was a liquid luck. I drank it right before the convention, and that's what happened there. Um, actually the, how it came about, um, uh, the, the real story behind it was, um, my business partner now, Danny Siviter, he's the other co-owner of my Main Line. We were talking about possibly doing a convention, and I started talking about theme in a convention, and then at the same time I was wanting to get tattooed by one particular person, and he never really came near the East coast. And I was afraid of flying at the time, but in the past two and a half years because of Literary Ink, and he can because of Explorer Tattoo Conference, my happy but has been on several, several planes. So I got over that real quick. But, um, I wanted to get tattooed by Jonathan Penchoff, which on Instagram is [00:04:00] earth grasper. And he is one of the biggest Harry Potter fans out there. And I was like. How do we get him here? How do we talk? Oh my gosh. We have to have a Harry Potter themed tattoo convention. Just kidding y'all. It's wizardry. Please Warner Brothers and J K Rowling they don't endorse us don't come sue me. Wizardry tattoo convention.

But yes, that was at the beginning. That was my goal. I'm going to make this show. That's the Harry Potter theme, just so I can get this guy to come tattoo me, so I don't have to fly to him.

Eddy: [00:04:31] I can't believe you started a convention just to get tattooed.

Jennifer: [00:04:34] Well, you know, and then the other thought is if the convention worked out well, you can get tattooed by all your favorites. It's all, but that was kind of the loose, what started it? And, uh, I jumped in, I belly flopped. Um, uh, I was just like, Oh, it's only gonna cost this much. This isn't that big of a deal.

No, it was a little different, a little bit more than I expected. Um, but as for [00:05:00] how it grew, uh, the first year we were really lucky, like, you know what I mean? With that being said, you say Harry Potter theme, people get excited, which is awesome. And that's what we were looking for. We had gotten a very, very small hotel, which was kind of the biggest hotel space we could get for everybody, but there were only like 50 booths.

So we didn't think, you know, we're just like I'm telling Danny. I'm like, maybe 20 people will sign up and come. It'll be okay. But, uh, a few people noticed it then the diehard Harry Potter fans got involved and they showed up. And a lot of them just were really, you know, big name folks, and a lot of folks were just really awesome, huge Harry Potter fans, and it was just an eclectic mix of really different folks and it was just really awesome.

Eddy: [00:05:45] The Harry Potter fans are definitely a separate kind of people like we are the ultimate nerds i think.

Jennifer: [00:05:55] I agree with you because most Harry Potter fans are both, they, they've watched the movies, they've [00:06:00] watched the books. They do have their favorites. They have their favorite movie. They have their favorite book. They have how they like to watch them. How, you know, one one thing. I love watching them during Christmas. They always, most of the time came out around there. So that's kind of embedded in my brain. Um. Yeah, it's, it's one of those fandoms that it, she just did so well. She did well, not so much sometimes on what she says on Twitter, but she did well with showing you how to get through crisis, how to get through being alone, how to get through all of us, get bullied like everybody, even the bully gets bullied and how you choose to live your life, I guess. I feel like she kind of just. She brought out a good Luke Skywalker character. We hadn't had one of those in a minute. Just I'm going to do good for the sake of doing good.

Eddy: [00:06:46] I think the fandoms really taken the concepts behind it and ran with it and made it something else like I think she's not even relevant in it anymore, a little bit. We've just [00:07:00] made it this whole wonderful universe of accepting and loving and like kindness and community.

Jennifer: [00:07:07] And dirty with some of that fanfiction that's out there. I've heard about that. You guys, there's some crazy shit out there. I've read some of it.

Eddy: [00:07:17] Well like talking about like I guess the themes of Harry Potter, I found that you know, that whole idea of like, love and kindness, friendship and stuff that carried across into the convention because it was hands down the most inclusive convention I've ever attended. Um, and like, what stood out to me was. How welcome everyone seemed to feel. And I certainly felt incredibly welcome. And, um, I also didn't feel like objectified, or I feel like as a woman I was separate as I have felt at [00:08:00] other conventions. Was that a part of your goal or is that just something that came about because of who you are?

Jennifer: [00:08:06] Um, uh, another fun story and to just throw out there, uh, we, we got our first 30 people in after the first year. Like we opened up the first year, we've sent out all these invitations and we got our first 30 people in, and my wife was like, do you see what's happening? And I'm like, Oh my God, yes, they're all Hufflepuffs. and Jessica goes, no, they're all women. And it kinda hit me a little then. I think sometimes it still strikes me as Holy cow, but our convention is about 70 to 80% women. Um, and our tattoo industry as a whole is 80% men, so 20% women. So it wasn't intentional in the beginning, but it's, it's. It's a theme that has carried on and carried over. Um, women are the first people to sign up. I mean, every time we've sent out the invites and just, that's, that's no kiddig and like everybody's on [00:09:00] board. They are getting their, their seat. And that's been a big part of it. The other thing is, um, I was, uh, I was at the Explorer Tattoo Conference women's summit in California this last year and I was talking to them about their numbers too. And the women's summit was open to anyone, like five guys showed up. And I'm proud to say that one of the guys from my shop was there, and another one would have been, but he just got his wife in town. I only have two guys at the shop, but you know, the support that was going on there and just seeing kind of what was happening and you know, hearing from the presenters there and the owners, you know, women are the first people to buy seats.

It's like right now we're, we're in our industry and we have a hunger for knowledge. We have a desire to get where we're wanting to go, and we're really pushing forward with that. And you know, there are a bunch of guys out there who are super awesome and they're helping facilitate this ride. And I think that's something that's great. And you, you see them as for some of the other crazier stuff that's happened in the past. I think those [00:10:00] things are being moved now. They, you know, everything is being shifted. People are watching.

Eddy: [00:10:05] Yeah, absolutely. I think our allies are understanding the importance of the role they need to play that they do need to be more vocal and to come forward with their support of marginalized groups but like it is, it's a little sad that there were only five men who showed up to the women's summit. Like, we've got things to say too.

Jennifer: [00:10:28] I agree. I think there were transgender people who showed up, so I thought that was really awesome too. I mean, it's, they're wanting everything to be open and kind of moving forward. And I think that, you know, at times it's still a an interesting industry at times. It's still, you know, seeing the places where some people think you should be. And I have been very, very lucky. Um, I've heard some crazy stories from women that it never touched me that way. I mean, have I been made to feel uncomfortable? Yes. Had I been outright touched, groped, or [00:11:00] pushed down or done something bad to, no? And some of the people that I've heard have had God awful stories.

Eddy: [00:11:05] Yeah.

Jennifer: [00:11:06] Um, you know, the guys that I worked with, they were just a bunch of dirty, dirty jokes and at the same time, like I know that if anybody ever came in and offended me or said something about me being a lesbian, they would have taken up. And that's been almost every shop I've worked in. Like I've been lucky though. I've only had three shops and the third one was the one I opened. So, um, you know, that experience and kind of going through those bits has been wild to hear. And getting in front of all these women who are coming to Literary Ink and you can getting these stories. I'm sitting there going, Oh my gosh, that happened. And they're like, well, yeah, more than once. If, and I'm just flabbergasted. But you know, I don't know.

Eddy: [00:11:45] That whats good about Literary though because the way you present yourself on Instagram and the way that you present Literary Ink is that it is inclusive and safe. So you know, those of us in the industry who maybe haven't had such [00:12:00] pleasant experiences. We look at what you're doing with that and go, Oh, I'm going to be okay if I go there. I'm going to be welcome, and no one's going to grope me or take weird pictures of me from like up skirt angles, you know, like all of the kinds of things that happen at conventions.

Jennifer: [00:12:16] I'm pretty sure if something like that happened. We've had a couple of undercover officers at both the shows. We never told anybody, so there's always been somebody around, and I've had a lot of the people who are on the doors, they're very aware. Um, I think, I think I would have a big cow, if anything did like that, like that happened. It would be taken care of immediately, but it's weird the show's a little different. I think that, you know most Harry Potter fans, most people who read the books, who watched the movies, who put so much time and devotion into learning more about it and then putting it into their art. Like, you know the folks we invited, I found them off of Hogwarts tattoo on Instagram. I found them off of hashtags where I was just looking and found them on Instagram. And just how many Harry Potter tattoos and wizardry tattoos have they done [00:13:00] to see that. And when you're doing that, you also get a good, good look at how somebody, like you said, if you've looked at somebody's Instagram and you know there's 45 pages of something you don't want to read, you're not going to, you're not going to go back and see past five of those posts or whatever. But if you're like, Oh my gosh, and this person is doing stuff like, you know, raising money for the homeless, and Oh my gosh, this person did cat donations. It's awesome to see the good in the world and do your best to pluck that out and put it all in one place for a weekend.

Eddy: [00:13:28] We have, we're very fortunate being artists and being on instagram where we have a platform to reach people and do good work. You know, we can do fundraisers. You know, we can spread kindness, love. Even just encourage other people to spread kindness and love. You know, again, that's what I found at Literary Ink, like how I made more friends at that convention than I've ever made at any tattoo event ever. And they're people I still talk to a year later [00:14:00] and will probably continue to talk to, especially the Hogwash crew.

Jennifer: [00:14:05] Yeah, they're crazy. I had Chelsea on the podcast last week, and she goes, do you realize that Hogwash American had all these people from overseas in it? And Hogwash London had all these people who weren't, and I was like, shit. But, uh, that's a fun group to talk about. And, and yeah, we've been the last few podcasts, we've had a chance to talk a little bit about all of that. So.

Eddy: [00:14:38] That's so good

Jennifer: [00:14:39] It was a fun one. She burned some Sage. We talked about exercise and death eaters. We talked a little bit about the documentary coming up, or we hinted at it. We didn't talk much about it. Um, we hinted at it and, uh, you know, we just talked about year one and year two and it being what it is. You know? I think that that's the other [00:15:00] thing, Chelsea, from the very get go, like before the show even opened, she goes, you don't know what you got. And I was like, what do you mean? She goes, you don't know what you got. And I'm like, okay, um, I feel like this, this, this pause, you know, it was 12 days before the show happened and it got stopped. And this pause has kind of allowed me to really take a break. Like I put it off the shelf or I put it on the shelf.

I put, I put, I put this box that literary was in on the shelf for a few minutes and, or about a month and a half. And just kind of napped and painted and just didn't think about work. And, uh, I think it was a much needed break. That's allowed me to get to a really cool refocus. I cannot wait until three and three quarters y'all, it's going to be awesome.

Eddy: [00:15:45] That must've been pretty intense. Like, you know, we've all been affected by the COVID crisis in different ways that you literally had to cancel an entire convention of [00:16:00] international artists, at the very last minute. Thats insane.

Jennifer: [00:16:01] Put the lemon juice on top of it Eddy-Lou, what the heck. Ouch Yeah, it was difficult. And it's funny cause I've chatted with some people and one lady was just like, it was awesome. She's like, could you imagine if we all had it? And then one of the tattoo wizards would've died and I was like, Oh my God, yes, that's so fucked up. But anyway. Um, it was funny. I thought it was really, I mean, it was, it was funny, but not really, um, in the overall sense of, I think that everything happens for a reason and sometimes we're just meant to. Um, especially now, like how long everybody that I've talked to has not ever taken this long and not tattooing as a forced break, as a normal break. And I tattoo, um, this week I get a tattoo this week. The day that I go back, it will literally be 60 days from the last day that I tattooed. And, um, I'm, I've been [00:17:00] telling everybody in the group, don't worry, we haven't forgotten what we're doing. It's, we're going to go back. It's just like riding a bike and I'm just excited. It's not even like I'm nervous. I'm like, I cannot wait to draw on you and tattoo you and sit there and our facial mask and all of our gloves and our bubonic plague spray, it's going to be great.

Eddy: [00:17:18] Its gonna be different and like this whole thing must've been really different for you because I think you're one of the hardest working people I know. When I, when I was like, with you guys in Chattanooga for a week, I don't think I saw you even sit down like at all. It was constant, like just constant. You're like a windup toy who gets wound up every like five minutes or something, Yeah, like and always on instagram, painting, with your coffe, with your wife in the background building something. You never stop. You needed this.

Jennifer: [00:17:58] I'll have to add you to the coffee club. You'll have to argue, are you a coffee drinker and more [00:18:00] of a tea person,

Eddy: [00:18:01] But when you're drinking coffee ready for bed.

Jennifer: [00:18:05] Doesn't matter. You tag yours in at my bedtime and we'll be like, look, she finally, finally joined. We're good. The coffee club has been another thing that has been one of my favorites. I've actually made, um, uh, stories on my, on my, my, my main page so you can watch all of them. Um, Jessica and I've started getting a little more fun with them when we do them. Now it's, we did like a tic toc of us drinking coffee the other day, and it's just a few different people that have been reposting their coffee and just saying hello to each other and kind of, you know, sometimes you can't text everybody that you love all the time. So if you see a little coffee text and you've been tagged in it, it's just fun. But yes, during quarantine, I've painted about 27 pieces. I paint fast. It's like I tattoo. There's, it's, I have lots of layers, so there's always about 13 pieces that are drying and I'm swapping them out. [00:19:00] Um, we did one, one thing with, uh, I ended up painting a Bob Ross with Kitty Koniption and Azha. And that was a blast to the point now where I'm like, I would love to do this with the group.

Like, you know, get on zoom, there's like 10 of us and we're all painting the same Bob Ross. Um, it was so much fun. Yeah, it was just crazy. And you know, it doesn't have to be perfect. Mine did not look like his photo at all. And then I ended up adding the, uh, the Ford from, from Harry Potter to it. And I'm like, I'm going to do all my Bob Ross's and then I'm going to put my fandom shit in it just for fun. Um, but you know, it's, it's been great. It's, I haven't painted in a year and a half, so getting back to it, I call, that's been probably one of the most amazing things. Me and my wife, uh, she actually planted and did all this crazy shit for the garden, but I keep telling everybody, we did a garden, she did a garden.

I'm going to eat from the garden. We redid our studio. Um, yes, I am busy, but at the same time, I keep myself there so I don't get to some crazy ass place that I can't come [00:20:00] out of. Um, I did take four days and stayed on the couch and had four days of, I just can't get up. I just can't paint. I just can't podcast. But, um, you know, I pulled myself out of it. We're all allowed a moment. We all need a moment. So.

Eddy: [00:20:17] Well thats the biggest thing I've learnt coming out of this that it's okay to take a moment when you need it if you want it. You know, there's no shame in working your ass off if that's what feels good for you. But there's no shame in doing absolutely nothing.

Jennifer: [00:20:33] Exactly. And I will, and that's something too, like I have a bigger appreciation because you know, you talk about being a workaholic like I am. I know you are too. But those four days on the couch when I just couldn't get up, you know, I have friends who are, who have told me I just have a hard time and I can't get up. And I'm like, I don't understand. Just just work it out. And those four days, I was like, I get it. You know? And I, and I have a bigger appreciation or a better understanding of [00:21:00] sometimes you just can't get up and that's, that's okay. It's do what is comfortable for you. That's what life's about right.

Eddy: [00:21:04] At the end of the day you know all of these ideas of how we have to achieve things or productivity, they're external, it's really got nothing to do with art. And yeah, I mean, for me personally, I'm not a religious person. So for me, life is just about finding joy in any moment and doing what feels good for you. As long as you never had another human and or animal. Even like anything, just be nice and friendly and don't hurt anyone.

Jennifer: [00:21:40] I think that's a good way. Um, I keep telling everybody, I'm a big fan of the golden rule. My grandmother raised me up, do unto others as you'd have others do unto you. And I think until you understand that or get a true appreciation for it. I have so much more joy in trying to help out other people and doing things that [00:22:00] just, you know, puts a smile on somebody else's face whether they know you did it or not. It's, it's an amazing thing to be helpful to just, you know, kind of do more cause people don't, um, do enough. Uh, I've always preached, I think the good people need to get a little gooder. And the people who weren't so great need to be better. Um, we have a lot going on in the world and, you know, and, and now even more, like I was saying that last year, we have so much going on in our world because of things in our presidency. And, um. We now have COVID and you know, the bubonic plague that we've been stuck in and it's, it's forced us to take this break. I think it's forced us to see a lot of things about ourselves. Um, a lot of things about our partners if you have one or you know, your kids, even like, I've talked to a lot of people who, you know, tattoo artists, clients who just been like, they're different struggles and stories you know we're all going through this together. We're all having our ups and downs with it. But at the end of the day. We are all [00:23:00] getting through it and that's, that's the part for me where, I mean it is encouraging. We are going to get through it. That is what our race does. We get back up and we push on brute,

Eddy: [00:23:09] We're essentially glorified cockroaches ,

Jennifer: [00:23:15] So can Cher . The apocalypse it'll be Cher and the cockroaches. I'm good with it. Shoot.

Eddy: [00:23:26] Amazing. Well, um talking about the golden rule and stuff. Um, you know, I, I noticed that in your studio as well because I, I got to guest there when I visited Literary Ink everyone at your studio is really kind and welcoming too. And I found that even, you know, your clients and your friends and everyone wanted to be involved. And I think because you do a lot for other people that in turn attracts them to you when people want to do things for you. And I've heard you talk about Amanda Palmer's "The Art of Asking", and [00:24:00] that seems to be like a really, really important part of your like life in general, but especially in your work practice.

Jennifer: [00:24:08] Yes. And, uh, I've actually sent her an email and I'm hoping one day I've met her once before she signed my leg and it's tattooed on me permanently. Um, there's a story there we're not going to get into it today. And, uh, wait, uh, I'm hoping one day to, I don't know, I feel like our paths are supposed to cross with Literary somehow. We'll see. Um, but you know, who knows, uh, as for The Art of Asking my aunt, uh, ever since I've been little, you know, you're always at a, no if you don't ask, you're at a 50, 50 if you do, you might get a yes. And I think with that, um, you know. If you're kind to people, if you just tell them the truth. Um, I have, I've only been tattooing for 10 years. I'm now 43. Um, [00:25:00] I got into this game a little later and when I first started tattooing, and there would be people who would come in and, you know, I knew enough about tattoos I had, I had enough to know what's a good tattoo, what's not a good tattoo.

And in the beginning, people would come in, they're like, well, my tattoo artist said I heal this out bad, but I'm about ready to get it covered up. And I'm kind of like, Ooh, no, that's just a shitty tattoo. They lied to you. Just being honest with your clients. Um, you know, be honest with who you're taking care of. And there's been people who've come in, I really want to get this. It's. It's this part and I want it to be realistic, and I'm like, not me, but Hey and Aneil or Kay would be happy to do that for you. You know, you can't tattoo your whole town. And if you just do good business, good business will come to you. Or at least that's, that's my belief. I'm a big, you know, the karma thing, the golden rule. Live your best life as good as you can. And I think, I think you will get your best life and you'll also look at it a little half full because if you don't expect anybody to repay you or if you don't expect anybody to give you [00:26:00] what you think you deserve, you'll be happier. Like just live your life and do the best you can do.

Eddy: [00:26:06] Yeah thats it and being honest is I think so crucial especially in what we do like I am always horrified at the amount of artists who lie to their customers because they want the money or they couldn't be bothered. I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I'm not here to take all their money and do every tattoo. I'm just here to do this small amount of tattoos that I am comfortable doing to the best of my abilities

Jennifer: [00:26:36] Mine still looks great by the way, y'all, she tattoos amazingly. I mean, I know y'all know this cause you're already watching her and stuff. My wife is so excited. I'm excited for my wife. This lady gets to tattoo her at three and three quarters or right before um a bad-ass Bow Peep from Toy Story. We are so excited. She got a ... arm here. It looks so good. I mean, it's shes gonna be like.

Eddy: [00:26:58] I had it drawn up ready to [00:27:00] go like two or three weeks before I was even on my way to the US. I was so bummed out I didn't get to do it.

Jennifer: [00:27:09] She's ready. I'm ready to do. I told her, I was like, you let her have that whole arm. Just let her have the rest of your forearm. She's like, I'm gonna cause it's just, it's going to look so great. She's got a lot of animals and stuff on her and this is her black and gray arm, which you predominantly do. But I decided I'm going to get a colored piece from you one day cause you rarely do them and they look so nice. I want another thing to go with my other horcrux. We'll have to just figure it out.

Eddy: [00:27:32] That was fun that we got to do a little Harry Potter tatt swap

Jennifer: [00:27:41] Last year was so crazy. It was just crazy. We had, we had, we had tripled on the numbers. We got more than we were supposed to. I went away for a cruise and came back and we had oversold and I was like, Oh shit. It was a, it should have been the numbers we would have been at this year. And we would have stopped. So we're gonna, we're doing the same number again this year, [00:28:00] which are what would have happened, but yet again, now it's just on repeat this upcoming year. Um, but I'm really excited to see how it's all pulled together. We've been working on new sets. We've been working on some crazy ass behind the scene. Shit. Um, it should be really, really rad. So.

Eddy: [00:28:16] For our listeners, they build entire sets like It's like actually stepping into the wizarding world its insane.

Jennifer: [00:28:27] That's been one of the best parts. That's where I was like when I was talking about like rethinking the show. Um, I want to really tune in on the experience while you're there. Like we're still gonna have some after party scenes and stuff, but I think really making it worth like you walking through and in your cosplay, you can get a photo in front of this and then there's the broom and there's all these other pieces. And what Kay's? Talking about doing it, it just, it's insane. I can't wait to see it. I've seen little pieces of it being built. Um, all the vendors from last year, half of it ended up getting squished during the move. So [00:29:00] we have we have some pieces of it, so it'll be kind of gone. But we've got this other new thing that's coming in and we've got a better way of storing it. So I hope to continually add sets and pieces where when you do walk in, you're kind of like, are we, are we here? Yes. You've stepped through the magic.

Eddy: [00:29:17] I love that everyone rocks up in their cosplay too.

Jennifer: [00:29:23] I know we had a lot of tattoo artists. We had a ton of just people attending. I was really excited. The Kuwaii Kuwaii team, they live in Knoxville, but they come up and take care of our cosplay section of the show. They're really good friends with Kitty Koniption. Um, Kitty works in my shop and, uh, they've just done a really good job of kind of bringing it all together and having the different events. And then one thing we did, um, whereas conventions are, uh very similar. You get, you know, any convention, tattoos, a blanket convention, you could be any convention. You, you have all these people there in the booth then you have people come in to check everything out. [00:30:00] So the biggest thing was what can we do to make everybody feel a little more, like you said, welcomed or a little more. What's happening at this show? Um, so we kinda did different things. We had a room of requirement and just, you know, bringing in the different bits of more fun stuff and that the attendee experience, we had Hagrid's motorbike there last year and we let people hop in and take photos. And that was one of the biggest things that everybody was so excited about. And it was just a box with a sidecar. I mean, it really wasn't Hagrid's vibe. We all may believe do what.

Eddy: [00:30:29] Yeah and Gracie was dressed as Dragrid

Jennifer: [00:30:35] Yeah. She's got two photos on, on that bike that are just like, you know, she, she got some epic photos from last year show. Um, it was wild to see her and it was, that was when she was with us, cause you know, we met her at the first show and then I snatched her up about four months after the first show and started training her in Chattanooga and she moved here. Um, now it feels like a year ago, but it hadn't been a full on year. [00:31:00] Uh. October before October, August, June. I don't know. She got here and it's been wild. I actually posted a photo of her today. Um, I watched the documentary again today and I there at the end. You see her and Betsy and Jess White and I was like, how funny. I had no idea then that that girl was going to be working on our team a year later. It's just, it's crazy who you meet, how you meet folks, um, when you're kind of like, you should totally come and work here. It's, it's good stuff.

Eddy: [00:31:28] She's a beautiful human.

Jennifer: [00:31:32] I like to collect those.

Eddy: [00:31:35] So when, um, with the documentary, like, so that, that was about the first year and like the start of Literary Ink, when do you think that's going to be out in the world for everyone to watch.

Jennifer: [00:31:47] We have actually sold it to a company and they're supposed to be dropping it. Um, I believe in October, um, I've seen the first poster. Uh, I've seen the first trailer. Uh, [00:32:00] it's going through a documentary company. It's going to be, I think it'll be like on Apple and you know, where you can find certain things. Um, I'm not for sure everything for sure yet, cause I'm just in it. I talked to the director a little, but I'm just in it, y'all. Um, but it is in the works. It will be coming out this year. And yes, it was actually filmed. Uh, so I met Axel first. I met Axel at the Chattanooga film festival in town, and he came up and he's like, I love your work. And I was like, awesome. You want to get a tattoo? And he's like, Oh no. No, no. And I was like, Oh, okay, but you love my work. And he's like, I like what you're doing. So he was one of those, I didn't know at the time. He was a film director and he looked through my Instagram and started seeing some of the things that we did with Main Line and some of the things that we do for our community.

And so that's all that he was talking about. And then about two minutes later, I get this message from him when it's like, Hey, I've got a friend who wants to tattoo, will you talk to him? And I said, I'll totally talk to him. I'm not taking on an apprentice, but I'll talk to him. I talked to him and I was like, God dang it, it's you. So that was my first [00:33:00] apprentice. And so then we had Literary Ink coming up and Axel was like, we need to do something together. And I was like, yeah, we do. I've got the show coming up. What do you want to do? And he's like, I don't know, what do you want to do? And I was like, you want to do a documentary? And he's like, of what? And I'm like, tattoos and Harry Potter. And it kind of got smashed into all this crazy stuff. And. The film is more like you actually get to follow me, Ebony Mellowship, Chelsea Hamilton, and a Aniel through our experience of, you see me, it's starting the show you see a Aniel of going to Cuba and talking to his wife who's stuck there, who's been stuck there, who's now finally here.

But you don't know that in the film. You see Ebony from overseas coming over here and talking about tattooing, and then you see Chelsea from California and it's, it's kind of almost like you're seeing these people in this very unique state. You've got all these tattoos in the background and literally were filmed for like seven days. You don't realize what it's like to have a camera in your face for seven days. You don't think about the [00:34:00] shit you say until you see it on an iMAX screen with all your tattoo wizardry friends sitting there going, ha you said that, and you know it it's crazy. Our first year we filmed a documentary. We had a dinner the night before we opened our second year we we rented out an IMAX and we showed everybody that film and we had butterbeer crunch icecream. And what's really fucking funny too, is the second year we had got that snowstorm, there were like 10 people who couldn't make it because of that crazy snow storm that happened. And then year three, we've got, you know, death eaters coming in with COVID-19 bubonic bunny foo foo spray plague, and we get totally bumped. So it's awesome death eaters be damned. Everybody needs to be pulling out their charms and shit.

Eddy: [00:34:47] We got this, we got this, get our patronus out

Jennifer: [00:34:57] I hope so

Eddy: [00:34:58] I loved in the, when [00:35:00] you did the kind of the preview of the documentary in year two. There was a moment where Chelsea made this, I can't remember exactly what she said but it was an awesome feminist statement, and I was like yeah, and I could hear all the women around me just like clapping and be like yeah Chelsea. and then all of the like I guess not all of them but some of the boys just went completely silent because she just called the entire industry the fuck out.

Jennifer: [00:35:25] It was a very bold statement. Um, I remember when she said it, I looked at her and I we're filming. I was there when it happened, and at the end of it I was like. Are you okay with saying that? And she's like, somebody has to, then I was like, you have balls. Yeah, you're right. Um, she, she basically, she called out a lot of, uh, male tattooers who, you know, she's, she, you know, you're touching people you shouldn't be, and if you're trying to get them in touch with you, they shouldn't be. And she really, she kind of landed on it. And, you know, like I said, a lot of things have happened with the #metoo stuff. [00:36:00] Um. Tattoo artists everything is kind of coming to a light now because of just the all in industries. Everything is become hyper aware of what's going on, and I think it's because you have so many women that are using their voice now, and it's not about being silenced anymore. It's about, I've got two sisters over here, we've got this.

Eddy: [00:36:18] Yeah, I'm so thankful for the #metoo movement and how much it has had a positive on the tattoo community.

Jennifer: [00:36:27] Definitely. I mean, like you said, in a lot of the folks I've talked to, a lot of the ladies I've talked to as well, um, about Literary Ink and all of them saying that there's so many women here. Um, I didn't, I didn't even think about it. I didn't realize it. And when you start seeing it hitting you in the face, it's kind of like whether you know what you got or not, you know? Now it's time to talk about it. And it's something I've actually, most of the ladies on the Literary Ink podcast, I've been like, this is a big deal, and it still gets me because you just don't think, Oh my gosh, we are 20% of our [00:37:00] industry. Not at this show, this show we're like 70 to 80% full on. And it is an amazing thing. And you know, when Danny and I were looking for somebody and we put out that we were hiring most, I think 90% 80% of our, um, applicants that were wanting to come and tattoo with us were women. And he's like, Jennifer, everybody feels safe here. And I was just like that's, you just don't think about it. But that's an amazing thing to point out. Cause you know the first thing, if anybody were to do anything weird to any artists that Main Line, Oh Lord, you know, you can get out. We're going to call it the cops. It just, that's not going to happen here. It's not what it's about. We are artists that instead of putting anything on canvas we're choosing to put it on people, and I want every client to feel comfortable from, you know, um, females, males, um, them, they, whoever is in the chair, males fe, just whoever's in the chair, you should feel comfortable.

You're paying a lot of money. If you go and talk to somebody and your artist is just being rude to you. [00:38:00] Don't let them tattoo you. Walk out. Find somebody who makes you feel comfortable. This is, this is your body for forever and it is worth the extra five or $600 like it's worth it. Look at your phone you dropped 1200 bucks on your phone. Think about doing that for a forearm. You'll end up with a beautiful masterpiece.

Eddy: [00:38:21] Absolutely, I'm always really interested by how people devalue art and tattooing. I've had um somebody wearing a $600 pair of shoes. Say to me that a $400 tattoo was too expensive. And I was just like, bitch please, dollar per use. You'll wear this tattoo every day for the rest of your life there is no better value for money. And aside from that it's something empowering that you, you are making a choice to change your body in your image. And become more of who you want to be through art it's fucking [00:39:00] powerful.

Jennifer: [00:39:01] I think that's, that's one of the best parts of our job. Um, also, you know, getting those personal relationships. Like when we were talking last a couple of weeks ago on the podcast, and I was talking about hugging, it was the quote they pulled out and they were like, you know, and I was like, what are we supposed to do? Stop hugging? And your comment was like, no, you can't. That's what we do. You know, seeing all those pieces fall through and together right now and seeing how people are changing and how they do open up to tattoo artists. And you know, people joke, well, you're like a therapist. Well, yeah, you're in a lot of extreme pain. Here I am, and you are touching them. You're holding the back of their arms. You can tattoo the top of it and it's a memorial piece and it's about their grandmother. And they're telling you the story. Like it's, it's an emotional thing. And if you find the right artist, you know, you stick with them. I have, I have two or three that I have constantly gotten tattooed by cause it's an enjoyable experience. I feel very comfortable in their chair. Um, I've been wanting to get stuff done on my back.

I had a Jonathan do, the big piece from Literary Ink, year one and I'm going to [00:40:00] add an additional piece to it. And you know, feeling comfortable with somebody to get. I'm going to have to get more naked that time to make sure that, you know, this is all taken care of. It's a big thing to make sure that you feel comfortable with a guys tattoo and you a female's tattooing you that you just, you are comfy in that chair and you are walking away with that product that, you know, I looked at your book and 45 pages in I knew that everything you did was great for me. Um, I think that's also shifting. Whereas, you know, people, the people who are spending more money now, they get that whole it is a lifetime. It's not just whatever. And the people who aren't in 10 more years when they're still wearing those expensive shoes and they say that their arm shitty, they'll go and get it covered up.

Eddy: [00:40:41] Yeah I'm not I can't really gatekeep tattooing and tell you what a good or bad tattoo is but I do I am very passionate about picking the right artist for you and getting a good quality tattoo and that it is worth the wait, like absolutely.

Jennifer: [00:40:58] I think that's part of the [00:41:00] fun too. You know, cause now it's, um, I get tattooed by "Find Your Smile". And I've gotten tattooed by Betsy Wets on insta. It's like at both of those, but Betsy Butler in Charleston and I chomp at the bit where I'm like, have your books opened back up yet? Because with my schedule, I book out this many months. I'm trying to wait for her schedule open up to make sure I can get that one date so I can go down there, you know? But it's, it's part of the game. Um, I know I'm going to get my tattoo at some point. I'll wait. She's got this one particular arm I'm having her work on so I can call this other person. Or, Hey Aniel, today's the day he started working on me too. So I'm just like, Hey, I'm going to see once a month for two hours. Let's just kind of knock this stuff out.

Eddy: [00:41:39] Aniel's um your apprentice as well isn't he?

Jennifer: [00:41:43] Not anymore. Yeah. He, uh, he's been signed off and so's Gracie, both of them. I've got two apprentices which have been signed off and, and they're still working with me. Is that not just the craziest shit you've ever heard apprentices leave [00:42:00] everybody? I don't, I don't know what people are doing wrong. Um, uh. Um, I'm very blessed. I have two very amazing apprentices. But yes, Aniel is the first one. Um, he's been with us now I think a little over three years. Um, he's kicking the tattoo games ass man. He came in and he picked up very quickly. He's got an education from Cuba. He taught at, um, university in Cuba. Um, he paints insanely, if you've been watching his stories on Instagram this whole time we've been in quarantine, he's painted about 15 dogs. And they just, every three days you see his new painting. He's working on a cosplay right now. If this guy in cosplay, I cannot wait to see it. It looks like some more, you're from some crazy ass Xbox game, like God of War it is insane or Viking something. I was like, Oh my God, and you know, he goes, I know it is so big. It's like, I get to do some massive work Oh Jesus, that's great buddy. Um, but it is, it's really awesome. And to see [00:43:00] that, um, to be blessed with that, to have a friendship out of something. When, you know, most apprentice situations they do, they turn out horrible and people leave. They always leave. And I think a lot of that comes down to the person who is training them does not just, it. It's a respect factor. You know, back to the golden rule. You don't have to go wash my car and go wash my clothes. That's not training them to be a tattoo artist. That's, you know, grunt work. Um, I did more things like, you know, I properly asked him how to clean out my car. Like, you know, I'm just kidding. I never asked him to do anything though.

One day he went and he cleaned out my car. I thought that was the sweetest thing ever. He's like, I cleaned out your car. And I said, because I've made jokes about it. And he's like, yeah. And I was like, that's so awesome. But, uh, you know, we did more fun things. We, uh, I took him. One of my favorite memories is, uh, I took him to his first show. It was before the first literary ink. It's a smaller show. It was about the size of what we did for first year, and it's in Nashville, it's called Full Moon Tattoo Horror Fest. And they bring in people from the movies [00:44:00] and they have a, just different kind of fun things there. And there were about 30 booths and the second day we go in. No, wait, it's the first day. The first day we go in, I ended up winning tattoo of the day, first place, and the second day he won tattoo of the day, second place, and I was just like, this is happening. And it was his and he's still a tattoo baby. He had been, he was, he was a month away from being signed off. So he was even there as an apprentice.

It was great. It was just like, I'm so proud of you. We both cried on the way home. We're just a big bunch of babies. But it was one of those moments where, you know, you start start realizing everything that led up to him getting to the United States, if you want to believe in this weird voodoo shit, which I kind of do sometimes. And everything that led me to say we weren't going to do an apprentice. Danny and I were even talking about it cause we jointly share them. I want everybody to learn as much as they can. And we're both like, you know, doing our best to try to teach. But, um. Just, it's amazing to find a friendship within it and know that it's not going to go [00:45:00] anywhere. Whether he chooses to venture off and do his own thing one day, or whether he chooses to stay with Main Line and we just continue to build. Um, which I hope is the case. It's, it's really well to, to meet those folks and know that you're just supposed to make a little extra room in your heart. Did that with Gracie too. You know, there's, there's people that are coming into. My road from Literary Ink and from Main Line that just these people are meant to be around ya'll are all mean to grow together and do things, you know, good to the world.

Eddy: [00:45:28] It's funny how it can, it just like, It just kind of ends up with the right people. Like I had no intention of ever taking on an apprentice. I was always like I would never do an apprenticeship theres enough of us around. I've been Alana for a while and she always talked about how much she wanted to be a tattooer, and I've never met anyone who so desperately and passionately wanted to do it and genuinely did the research and put the effort in to get there. And then I was just like, you know [00:46:00] what? I've never met anyone who deserves it more so you know, hey Alana. Come on in and it's really funny. I take the responsibility so seriously, like I kind of writing up lessons and a curriculum. I was like, I need to do everything right by this girl to make sure that she has the best experience possible, but she doesn't. She doesn't even need that. She's very good at self guiding that all I need to do is just all the support. It all comes really naturally.

Jennifer: [00:46:30] Has it opened you up as an artist? Have you gotten better because of it?

Eddy: [00:46:34] Definitely, because I have to think more about my process, the way I tattoo felt a bit like a happy accident. Like I just kind of. I'm very technical, but I've never really thought about

Jennifer: [00:46:49] You are so technical.

Eddy: [00:46:49] What I do you know? But now I'm actually having to break it down into steps and like the how I do things, the timing, the rhythm, the depth, the speed, [00:47:00] everything, every little aspect of it. Why I use a particular machine. And what is it about the makeup of that machine that effects, you know, the way I pull this line and everything, like really breaking down every last little bit of what I do and then having to explain it to someone else. And help them understand it, its been amazing actually

Jennifer: [00:47:25] I, uh, I feel like training him and teaching him and go into Explorer, turned me 180. Like there was a twist. It was a, because you do have to slow down and it. It's funny cause I was saying something when I was like, well you got to do it like this, but I do it like this. And he goes, why? And that's because that's just the way I do it. And then he left and I looked and I was like, Oh shit. Why? And so me pulling back like grey shading got better. My line work got stronger because sometimes you get into your, your rhythm and you're like other, when it's like, wait. And there it [00:48:00] is. Um, that's been those pieces of of learning that you just don't expect to get. And I don't think you're going to find it unless you choose to train somebody. And that's a big thing in itself. I wasn't supposed to have another one. Gracie was already half trained, but the person that was training her wasn't going to finish it. And you know, I just, it was one of those moments where I'm like, your loss, dumb ass, you know, boom. You got to snatch that up. That's insane. If you have someone that's good and you have someone that's trying and they just need more guidance, or like you said, just being there for somebody who really wants it. That's about all you need.

Eddy: [00:48:35] Absolutely, and I mean it makes for a better future in tattooing I think. You know, I used to be a bit of a gatekeeper, like you know theres enough of us we don't need any more, and then I realized, Oh wait, if I'm sitting here saying, no, we don't need any more the only kinds of people that are going to be coming into tattooing are people who are self taught which you know. Like I had a bad apprenticeship where I basically had to teach myself. [00:49:00] And I had limitations that have taken years and years to overcome. So that's not the best way to do it for me, in my opinion, for me personally. And then you know, a lot of studios in my local area that were taking on apprentices they were just looking for cheap labour, they weren't in a position to train or educate someone. So when I've got a studio full of really skilled artists and we've got something to offer. It's almost like we have a responsibility to ensure the next generation of tattooers have not only come through it without any of the abuse we experienced, but to be like highly technical, highly knowledgeable, and highly respectful of our traditions.

Jennifer: [00:49:43] I think that's a big thing with, with a lot moving forward um watching the Explorer conferences happening, watching what's happening out of other folks who are doing seminars and putting them up and saying that, you know, the education game it is being turned up. The things that, [00:50:00] you know, even hearing some of the stuff from our government, what they're wanting to talk about, possibly bringing in, we have like a, the tattoo co the coalition for tattooing now and they're looking into these laws and they're doing their best to go and talk to these people to say, you do not know what we're doing. We are actually like, you know. Really playing. We are trained every year to be able to handle this stuff. Um, bloodborne pathogens. You know, we, we were trying to do that, like when, when people have shut down because of quarantine, you know, the whole time Danny and I have been constantly researching. I have a friend who she works, um, through, you know, UTC, but she's also working with our ... and like I was getting, can you give me as much information? Can you explain this to me in layman's terms where I know what's going on so that when we go back we know what we're doing. We were allowed to go back the sixth of this month and the, the rules and regulations they set aside, we felt as though it wasn't enough. So we added stuff. We're like to keep us safe.

We're going to do this, this, and this. We're following their guidelines, but we've added a couple extra [00:51:00] cause we are as close to you because we are opening skin. Um, I think that moving forward, a lot of places are going to have to tune it in and turn it up, you know, cause this is not going to be the same world when we come back. We're probably going to either A, always have to wear a mask or wear them for a really long time. Um, and I hate wearing them, but I wear them every time I go out now, you know, I'm safety first.

Eddy: [00:51:27] Yeah, well and you know I think a lot of tattooers have been getting angry about the shutdown because they're scared obviously. It's coming from a place of fear, they're saying, we know about bloodborne pathogens so we know how to keep safe but this is an entirely different thing so we do have the responsibility like you've done to do more.

Jennifer: [00:51:52] It's just flat out scary. One of my favorite memes that I have seen has been the, uh, wearing your mask compared to [00:52:00] peepee on your pants. Have you seen that yet? No, I'm going to send it to you. It's like here, let me explain. If somebody pees on you and they're not wearing pants, it goes on you. But if you're wearing pants, it kinda stops it. If you're both wearing pants. I was dying. It was it's a little stick figure man and its. So if you both wear pants and he peepees he peepees just on himself. But I mean, it's, it's a really good analogy of, Hey, this is what's going on, but this is why we want you to wear a mask.

Eddy: [00:52:34] Definitely and there's a lot we can do to ensure the safety of our clients because I guess it's not just about us and our need to pay our bills, it's about our client and then them going home to their family and making sure that we do our bit to keep the community safe.

Jennifer: [00:52:56] I agree. And I think. I think that's what a lot of [00:53:00] tattoos are doing right now. I mean that, that concern is there for everybody. And I think you're right. A lot of fear. We don't know what's going on. Um, I saw a gentleman post, uh, something the other day where he was talking about, I see all these people who are on the front lines and they're saying, we're supposed to be scared. And then I see all these people protesting who are not, you know, who are also on the front lines and that. I'm asking, they're saying that this is fake. What am I supposed to believe? Um, we have so much shit going on in every direction and we had all this stuff on the media and they're slowly pulling away.

I mean, the United States is opening back up and you know, people are still dying. And I think that a lot of things are going to shift. You know, we're probably not going to be seeing concerts for a few more months, if not several more months. We're not going to have a lot of people getting together for a lot, you know, a long period of time. And. Had it been, you know, any, just, I think we made, we, we as soon as we, we, we closed down Literary Ink our shop closed and we had two weeks and that's when I [00:54:00] think had everybody just shut down then we would have been even getting back a little sooner. But you know, New Zealand out of everybody, from what I've seen has been one of the most, Oh, we're locking this shit down y'all. We have five whole cases now. It's been crazy to say, but they did it so early. They were like so ahead of the curve. They saw this shit coming in. They're like, we got you bud and I think they just opened back up like a couple things like, um, today or yesterday. Um, but it's, it's just moving forward. Everybody keeping knowledgeable and I think tattoo shops are going to have to, like I said, tune in and turn it up. Like it's changing out there and I want to do the best job I can to keep my clients safe. And me too. I mean, I come home to people so.

Eddy: [00:54:40] ...we have to look after ourselves.

Jennifer: [00:54:53] It's, it's, it's hard cause you got, you know, you've got folks who have kids and they might not have had as much savings. That's [00:55:00] the part where it's really scary. On a side note, I have seen so many tattoo artists Instagram's turn into I made this, I painted this, I'm taking commissions, I'm doing this. I went back to doing this and it's been amazing to see the creativity still pop through. I mean, you're trying to podcast, you're like, I want to see what this does. I think I'm going to enjoy this. And I try to podcast because I didn't know either. I was just like, we have all these people here. We've got to talk to them. Cause that's what I do I talk y'all. And uh, it's, it's, it's that part and it's just kind of venturing out.

You know, I told my wife, I was like, I took guitar lessons 20 years ago. I still have the guitar. It's an amazing guitar. Oh my gosh. It's an ovation. It's gorgeous. She's red. I call her the red headed bitch. Um, and I start guitar lessons next week because we need to, you know, I want to do something artistic that's not painting, that's not tattoo or any, or just not tattooing [00:56:00] something else that I'm sitting down 35 minutes to, to learn and just be more.

Eddy: [00:56:06] It's really helpful doing that I think because from what I understand about the way our mind works, whan we do become really one track it really limits our brain and as we get older, like, you know, we're not learning new things. I think it has the potential to stunt our growth as humans. So having like lots of things and lots of directions and really like expanding and pushing your mind, it really benefits your life and your experience as a whole.

Jennifer: [00:56:37] I agree with you completely. When we were on the podcast with, did my wife come in as the storm trooper for you? Did that happen?

Eddy: [00:56:47] I think I've seen pictures on Instagram of that.

Jennifer: [00:56:52] This is the storm trooper comments that work. So apparently it was going to happen. There we go. [00:57:00] Okay. We have a Stormtrooper helmet and it seems to be making appearances everywhere. Um, when we went, when Aniel and I went to Tattoo The Lou last year, I brought it and he goes, what is that for? And I said, Stormtrooper trooper ice breaker.

And he's like, okay. We took photos with everybody in the mask we're being idiots. It was awesome. Um, at what point in your age, are you supposed to stress more about being cool than just having fun? Um, you know, we as kids, I've gotta be cool. I gotta look cool. I was thinking about this the other day and I'm just like, but it's so much more fun just to go ahead and be a little stupid. It's just, you know, having that fun, stupid humor, just laughing, you know, why couldn't Snape, um, teach herbology cause he couldn't even keep a Lily alive. There's so many there. It's awful. Have you not heard that one its wrong, wrong.

Eddy: [00:57:59] Shit

[00:58:00] Jennifer: [00:57:59] Nope, you haven't. Thats awesome.

Eddy: [00:58:01] I feel awkwards laughing at that

Jennifer: [00:58:07] I know it's so bad, but you're like, it's true. The first time I heard it, I was like, too soon. But it's true.

Eddy: [00:58:19] Amazing. Okay well, I guess we've covered a lot of things today hey?

Jennifer: [00:58:33] Wait, are we supposed to finally start recording? Nope. Well

Eddy: [00:58:35] Um before we finish up is there anything that you wanted to add or do you wanted to share with our listeners?

Jennifer: [00:58:48] Um, guys, be sure to tune in we're going to be announcing the date soon for Literary Ink three and three quarters, it will be in 2021. Um, we decided to push it off far enough to make sure our lovely people from [00:59:00] overseas get to come. And we all have a chance to recoup from the incredibly insane pause that the world has put upon us. I hope that everyone out there is being good to each other and washing your hands. Um, thank you again for being on, like letting me be on the show this has been awesome. Um, maybe we can, we can talk to the boys and we can swap up episodes and share them on our on our podcast together. If you want to, I think that'd be kind of fun

Eddy: [00:59:27] We'll be putting the footage up on YouTube. So for our listeners, if you head over to Instagram and follow us on Not Just A Girl underscore tattoo, you'll be able to find regular updates and where to find everything, I'll put all the details for Jen, for Literary Ink for Main Line in the show notes and anything else you need to know. So make sure you subscribe, follow and share, and follow and share Literary Ink as well just to spread the love of tattooing. Thanks so much, Jen for your time.

Jennifer: [00:59:57] You're welcome.

Eddy: [00:59:57] Thank you to our listeners for taking [01:00:00] the time. We really appreciate it. I hope, hope you all have a wonderful day and stay safe and as Jen said, wash your hands. Wash your damn hands, bloody hell.

Jennifer: [01:00:18] Wash your hands. Wash your hands, wear your mask, wash your hands. I want to be able to stay tattooing. I want to have a show next year.

Eddy: [01:00:32] Yes I want to start travelling again.

Jennifer: [01:00:40] Have a good one guys.

Eddy: [01:00:46] Bye

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Transcript of Navigating Small Business Legal Issues in the Digital World

Transcript of Navigating Small Business Legal Issues in the Digital World written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

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John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Zephyr CMS. It’s a modern cloud based CMS system that’s licensed only to agencies. You can find them at zephyrcms.com, more about this later in the show.

John Jantsch: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Jamie Lieberman. She is an entrepreneur, speaker, and practicing attorney, and founder of Hashtag Legal. We’re going to talk about legal stuff today. We’re not going to talk about marketing, but sometimes these things intersect.

John Jantsch: Jamie, thanks for joining me.

Jamie Lieberman: Thanks for having me.

John Jantsch: Let’s hear your story. How did you get here to being the founder and CEO of Hashtag Legal? I suspect there’s a journey.

Jamie Lieberman: Isn’t there always a journey?

John Jantsch: So true.

Jamie Lieberman: I’ve been a lawyer for about 15 years. The first half of my career was very traditional law practice, big law in New York City, federal government. It was everything you think it was, not being that positive.

Jamie Lieberman: About seven years ago, I decided I think it’s time for me to figure out another way to practice that fit more me, so I left my job and started freelancing to try and find my way. I had had seven or eight years of legal experience and felt comfortable enough to go out on my own but wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do. At the same time, I myself was a blogger so many years ago. I had a blog about living in New York City when I was much years past, pre-kids, and it got really popular.

Jamie Lieberman: When I stopped working at the government, I started up a blog again because I thought it might be kind of fun. At that time about seven years ago, bloggers were starting to make a little bit of money. The word influencer didn’t even exist yet. I started working for a company that ran conferences for bloggers. They asked me, about six years ago, “Hey, do you think you may want to give a talk about legal issues for bloggers?” I thought, “Yeah. That’s kind of interesting. Now let me figure out what those are.” I did, and I gave the talk, and that’s actually where Hashtag Legal came from. I started working with bloggers, now influencers, and that quickly expanded into creatives and entrepreneurs, service professionals and marketers.

John Jantsch: Yeah, so I’m guessing the name Hashtag and then thrown together with Legal, there is a focus on the online world. Would that be accurate?

Jamie Lieberman: Yeah, definitely. We absolutely have a large number of clients who live and work in the online world.

John Jantsch: All right, so what’s unique about Hashtag Legal in terms of… We’ve talked a little bit about who you serve, but is there some way in which you serve them that is different than me going to the small law office down the street here?

Jamie Lieberman: Yeah, sure. We are also entrepreneurs and creatives and people who understand what it’s like to run that business. I often think many of my clients are what I call reluctant entrepreneurs. They’re really good at something, and legal usually isn’t what they’re interested in focusing on, so they kind of avoid it. Some people don’t avoid it, but they sort of don’t want to deal with it, and some people actively avoid it.

Jamie Lieberman: We try to make legal accessible and not scary by talking about it in plain language so that it is approachable, it’s easy. We are an all-female virtual law firm. We do that on purpose because, many of our clients, that’s how they are. We come to the clients and communicate with them as best as served for them versus most lawyers who communicate the way they want to communicate and don’t really think much about how comfortable or uncomfortable their client may feel with that mode of communication.

Jamie Lieberman: I got clients who are Slacking me and Messengering me and, yeah, they’re in my DMs. We move it to the proper channels, but I’m open to that. I like to give a lot of information, so we’re really transparent. We just like to work in a way that feels comfortable and more accessible than, say, your average lawyer who is oftentimes… Many of my clients have said they feel like they don’t even understand what they do let alone being able to advise them on how to protect and grow their businesses.

John Jantsch: I think a lot of people are used to hiring an attorney when something bad happens. They get sued, somebody doesn’t pay them, whatever those things are. Are there some things that you think that more small business owners, more entrepreneurs need to be thinking about, in terms of legal, and locking down just as a matter of course?

Jamie Lieberman: Absolutely. I actually think if more people did those company audits, had a really good lawyer as a partner in their business, that there’d be less non-paying clients and less fearful calls, so I think it’s really good to sit down.

Jamie Lieberman: Every business is different, but depending on what your business is… particularly, for example, if you’re a service professional, you live and die by your contract. I don’t mean the Frankenstein contract that you got from your friend who got from their friend who then pulled seven things offline or the template you bought. I mean a lawyer who actually sat down, understands what it is that you do, and created a contract that works for you, and that’s flexible, and that can move as you need to move because everybody’s business is different. Contracts are a big one.

Jamie Lieberman: Intellectual property, particularly if you are a creator or a creative, understanding what it means when you create for others or if you are putting information out into the universe, what that means in order to protect the information that you’re creating is important. That’s your intellectual property.

Jamie Lieberman: Also your trademarks, your names. A lot of people pick a cool name and then, couple years later, think, “Maybe I should look into this and see if I can use it or register it for a trademark,” and then somebody else has it or… There’s a million stories. Those are some good examples of ways that you can get around the, “Oh, my gosh,” scrambling phone call.

John Jantsch: Particularly since you talked about working with creatives, in a lot of cases, they just… A hug is a contract. Right? Again, I know I’m being facetious, but I mean contracts can actually not be very customer-friendly or not feel very-customer friendly. I mean how do you balance that? I mean the traditional law firm that you used to work for probably had contracts that were basically 100% one-sided to screw anybody who signed it. I mean, unfortunately, that’s reality. How do you balance the, hey, this is good for all of us?

Jamie Lieberman: I think that’s how all contracts actually should be written. I find it really frustrating and unnecessary when they are so one-sided for no reason. I read a lot of talent agreements or book deals. Book deals, ugh. It can be the bane of my existence, particularly for a first-time author, because they are often incredibly one-sided, and they don’t need to be.

Jamie Lieberman: I find that, when sitting down to talk to a business owner about their contract, I talk to them about, “What are your deal-breakers? What are the ones that you cannot give on?” We make those the ironclad… We’re not going to negotiate those, but there are some other clauses, to that particular business owner, that may be a little more flexible. Maybe we can make them a little bit, I’m not saying one-sided, but we may be able to negotiate them with clients who care about that particular position, or maybe we just make it straight down the road.

Jamie Lieberman: Contracts don’t have to be these awful documents that make you want to throw up when you have to look at them with two columns and font six, and it’s a single-spaced, and it’s 75 pages long. It’s overkill and unnecessary, and there’s no reason for it. We just try to create contracts that our clients understand and can read themselves and explain to their clients so that they understand why they have that clause. There’s no unnecessary language.

John Jantsch: Do you find that there are certain, I don’t know what we want to call them, but certain places where small business owners get tripped up, I don’t know, gotchas or something that come back and maybe bite the majority of people in the… that don’t address them. Are there certain things that you definitely ought to be a little worried about as a business owner?

Jamie Lieberman: That’s a great… You mean within the context of a contract? I-

John Jantsch: Not necessarily a contract, so just-

Jamie Lieberman: Oh, generally.

John Jantsch: Just legal in general.

Jamie Lieberman: Yeah, sure.

John Jantsch: What are the ones that, if you’re going to have trouble, here are some of the ways that [crosstalk 00:09:02]-

Jamie Lieberman: [crosstalk 00:09:02]. Non-paying clients is a big one. That’s a tough one. The scope of work is also a tough one. The TBDs that everyone likes to put into contracts and then nobody actually TBDs it, so they’re just vague. Revisions when you’re creating for somebody else. Those are the common ways that I see that there starts to be an issue.

Jamie Lieberman: Not having clear boundaries around termination. How do you terminate? What happens when a contract gets terminated? Because the fact is not every relationship is going to be perfect, and there may come a time where you either one-sidedly or mutually agree, “You know what? We just need to part ways. This isn’t a fit.” That’s okay. It’s business. It’s not personal. Having clearly written out guidelines for what that means in terms of ownership of work product and payments and refunds, that’s a big place that I see, a lot of ways, if it had been done well upfront, there would be nothing to argue about.

Jamie Lieberman: Partnership agreements is another one, partners that come together and don’t put agreements in place. Everybody’s really happy when a business starts, but when a business ends, it is probably the number-one most expensive thing that can happen in a business is when two partners split and can’t amicably resolve it. Those litigations can go on and on, and they are so expensive.

John Jantsch: I’ll tell you, in the online world, I would also say kind of the opposite. We were talking about a business owner protecting themselves in dealing with folks, but I can’t tell you how many ridiculous agreements I’ve seen that small business owners have signed for their website, which [crosstalk 00:10:44].

Jamie Lieberman: Oh, gosh, yes.

John Jantsch: It’s like, “No, we’re going to get a new…” It happens all the time because my company comes in and helps them fix their website, and then we learn that, “Nope, that company owns it. If you’re not going to pay us anymore, everything’s ours. You signed that deal.” It’s heartbreaking.

Jamie Lieberman: I’ve seen so many of these SEO companies that come in, and there are these hidden clauses that essentially give them an ownership piece even after termination. I’ve seen some crazy stuff in some of those contracts, and a lot of people don’t. In my opinion, it is so rare that you would actually ever sign the first draft of an agreement. There’s always a back and forth. There should be a negotiation. So many small business owners don’t feel like they have the power to do it, and so they don’t. I definitely agree. That’s a great point.

John Jantsch: Today, content is everything, so our websites are really content management systems, but they’ve got to work like one. Check out Zephyr. It is a modern cloud-based CMS system that’s licensed only to agencies. It’s really easy to use. It’s very fast. It won’t mess with your SEO. I mean it really reduces the time and effort to launch your clients’ websites, beautiful themes, just really fast, profitable way to go. They include an agency services to really make them your plug-and-play dev shop. Check out zephyr.com. That is Z-E-P-H-Y-Rcms.com.

John Jantsch: We haven’t talked about employees. Again, I know you’re working with maybe a lot of solopreneurs, but so maybe if it’s even the virtual, part-time employee, where do you see employee issues coming up in the legal space?

Jamie Lieberman: It’s funny. We have clients that have as many as 80 employees and some as many as they’re just their own, so we see a wide range of employment issues. In this space, in particular, virtual workforces can get really complex the larger you become.

Jamie Lieberman: I have a client who has employees in, I’d say, 40 states, and so we’re navigating 40 different state laws for employment issues. That can be really challenging.

Jamie Lieberman: The other thing that really comes up in a lot of people, particularly now with California’s new law, is contractors versus employees, people who want to pay someone as a contractor when, in fact, they probably are an employee. I’ve seen clients rack up crazy fines from a state for a mischaracterized employee. That’s another issue.

Jamie Lieberman: Theft of clients, not having an employment agreement in place when you do, either a contractor or employee, to make sure that you don’t… It’s not a non-compete, because a lot of people think, “Oh, non-competes are not enforceable.” That, as a blanket rule, is actually not true. There are ways you can make, in certain states, enforceable non-competes. Where you can really protect yourself is non-solicitation clauses, meaning you can’t solicit my clients, you can’t solicit my employees, and you can’t solicit my contractors.

Jamie Lieberman: There’s ways that you can protect yourself. I think a lot of employees’ employers are either afraid to approach it because they don’t want to lose talent or they think they just can’t when, in fact, you can.

John Jantsch: All right, let’s get really geeky. Are you dealing with any GDPR and CCPA issues?

Jamie Lieberman: Privacy laws, my friend. Yes, we do a lot. We spent a ton of time on CCPA. I mean we still are.

John Jantsch: Maybe unpack that a little bit. There’s a lot of scary-sounding things about being… billion-dollar fines. Where is the typical small business who has a website, does email marketing to their clients. I mean where are they really exposed in that?

Jamie Lieberman: Really, you have to look at whether or not it even applies to you. That’s going to be looking at numbers. The 50,000 residents is usually… If you’re selling data, which some companies do, then there you go, but sale of data doesn’t necessarily have what you think of as a lay person. It means something different under CCPA. Digital ads are sale of data, and so if you run a website that creates content and has digital ads, then you are likely involved in the sale of data, so it is important to understand.

Jamie Lieberman: This is what I say about privacy in general. It terrifies people because there’s about 1,000 laws that could potentially apply. There’s no one law, right? When we have to pay our taxes, we go look at the tax code, but for privacy, there’s like 50 laws. Some of them may apply, some of them may not. States don’t agree with states, and California does everything first. Federal governments, they’re not involved. They have some stuff.

Jamie Lieberman: Really, my recommendation to every business owner who collects data of any kind… That is email addresses. That could be IP addresses. That can be the heat map that’s on your website if you’re using certain plugins, if you have lead pages, for example, things like that. Do an audit. Sit down and look at the back end of your site and really understand what every single plugin and provider is doing, and what data they’re collecting, and what permission you’ve given, because as the website owner, as the business as defined under CCPA, it’s your responsibility to tell your users what data you’re collecting, if you’re selling it, and what you’re doing with it. That’s not a bad thing to know that about your business.

John Jantsch: Yeah. The first thing you need to do is breathe, though. Right? There…

Jamie Lieberman: Yeah, take breaths. There should never be panic. There really shouldn’t. Everybody freaks out. I’m like, “No, just take a breath. You’re going to spend two hours. You’re going to time block on your calendar. You’re going to take two hours. You’re going to look at your plugins,” or find someone who’s a good privacy lawyer and have them do it for you.

John Jantsch: There’s a whole subset of just privacy technology people that understand what is happening when your website [inaudible 00:16:53]. That can be another place to look.

John Jantsch: I remember when GDPR had this deadline. I mean people were like [inaudible] sleep. Like you said, I’m glad you said that first. In a lot of cases, it didn’t really apply to them that much.

John Jantsch: All right, let’s end up with I have some podcasts listeners, and I suspect that there probably are some legal issues that podcasters, little old people like myself, should be thinking about. What are those, in your estimation, that apply to podcasters?

Jamie Lieberman: Podcasters have the same… Naming is a big one in the podcast world, whether or not you’re going to, one, pick a name that you can use or, two, you want to trademark protect that name.

Jamie Lieberman: Releases from your guests. If you ever want to repurpose the content that you’ve created, getting a release from your guests when they join is much easier than having to go back to them and say, “Hey, I’m writing this book, and I want to include you.” That’s often a place that podcasters overlook. I do a lot of podcasts, and most people don’t ask for them. It’s fine, but sometimes they come back and they’re like, “Can I use that?” Then they have to go down the route. It is helpful to have releases from your podcast guests.

John Jantsch: Yeah, which, on that note, if you’re going to try to use it in a book and you have a mainstream publisher, they’re going to ask for it anyway, so get it ahead of time. Fortunately, I work in the marketing world, and all the people I talk to are thrilled if I write about them, and so it’s like it’s usually-

Jamie Lieberman: Right, exactly.

John Jantsch: But, but-

Jamie Lieberman: But not everybody-

John Jantsch: But not everybody is.

Jamie Lieberman: … has a marketing podcast. Music is a big one, a really big one, and use of just anything of someone else’s. When in doubt, get permission. Make sure you have a license. Make sure the license that you have allows you to use whatever it is that you’re using of someone else’s in the way you want to use it.

John Jantsch: Yeah. I wasn’t going to ask this, but you just reminded me of the stock photo sites-

Jamie Lieberman: Ah, yes.

John Jantsch: … that decided that they couldn’t sell photos anymore, so they were going to go extract fines. If you get that, “Oh, gosh. There’s a picture from some stock photo site on my website, and they’re telling me I owe $700,” what do I do with that?

Jamie Lieberman: There’s a few things that you can do. One, you want to investigate whether or not the company that is sending you this letter has a copyright registration. If they have a registered copyright and you used the photo without permission or you used the photo without a license in some way, then you may be on the hook.

Jamie Lieberman: However, my recommendation is, anybody who downloads images, just save the license next to the image in a folder. That way, if someone comes back to you a couple years later, you can say, “Oh, I downloaded it, and here’s the license that I had when I downloaded it.” Then, if you have that proper license, they’ll go away. If you don’t have a license, if you took it from somebody’s website because, five years ago, you didn’t know any better, you may have to pay a fine. Try to negotiate, though. You don’t have to pay the first thing.

Jamie Lieberman: Most places like [Picsy] and a lot of those places, they’ll negotiate down with you. They aim high expecting you’re going to pay less, but if they have a valid copyright registration, if you’re infringing on it, there’s not much you can do. It doesn’t matter how many people saw it, if you made money off of it. There’s pretty strict liability when it comes to copyright infringement, so don’t do it.

John Jantsch: Well, totally. I think it’s really more the people that get that surprise letter. I’ve seen 10… No. I think the highest I’ve seen is somebody wanted like $1,500 when you could go license that same image for eternity for $4 on the site.

Jamie Lieberman: I’ve seen six figures.

John Jantsch: Oh, wow. Yeah. There, again, I think that’s one. I mean I may be wrong, but it looked to me like they weren’t really trying to protect their copyrights so much because those pictures really had no value anymore. They really were just trying to extract a new revenue stream, but again-

Jamie Lieberman: Yeah. There’s many websites that do that. I think that, from a policy perspective, copyright laws, the way that it is for a reason, but it also allows people to exploit it. That stinks, honestly. Sometimes I get these letters and it’s just… There’s photographers that do this for a living. They take a lot of photographs, they batch register them, and then they put them up, and then they do reverse Google searches. They have lawyers who are on contingency who just send letters and letters and letters and letters.

Jamie Lieberman: We came across one. They ask for a minimum of $10,000 if not more, and the lawyer doesn’t care. He’ll file lawsuits. They’ll go, and they’re very difficult to deal with and very hard to negotiate with. It’s unfortunate, and it’s true.

John Jantsch: Sorry I took us down that rabbit hole. Let’s end on a happy note, shall we? Tell people where they can find out more about Hashtag Legal and the work that you’re doing, Jamie.

Jamie Lieberman: Sure. Our website’s hashtag-legal.com. I also have a podcast. My podcast is The FearLess Business Podcast. We talk about all the stuff everyone’s afraid of in their business but shouldn’t be. We try to make it easy and accessible. We’re on Instagram, hashtag_legal. You can contact me directly. Jamie is [email protected].

John Jantsch: Awesome. I appreciate you stopping by and, hopefully, we’ll run into you someday out there on the road.

Jamie Lieberman: Thanks.

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