Music, Meditation and Miracles with Marisa Imon

SPEAKER_04 0:04

This is the Beyond the Story Podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story. Marissa Hyman, what's happening?

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Hey, so happy to be with you, Sebastian.

SPEAKER_04 0:30

So great to be with you, too. We we met uh I guess a couple weeks back. It seems like a couple months back in Orlando. Seems like, yeah. So way back in March, the first of March, if we remember way, way back then.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Can you remember what life was like back then?

SPEAKER_04 0:46

400 days ago. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

When you could travel and shake hands.

SPEAKER_04 0:51

And talk to people or be together.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 0:54

I saw a meme yesterday, or actually, I posted a meme yesterday that said, my 90-day trial for 2020 expires tonight. I'd like to cancel.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

You know, if anything, this has just really upped the meme game in the universe. I think.

SPEAKER_04 1:12

Internet is undefeated. Absolutely undefeated.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Memes win 2020.

SPEAKER_04 1:17

Yes, yes. So that was my first conference I've ever attended because I'm usually at conferences because it's work and I'm speaking or I'm the MC or what have you. So it was a different experience for me. So I was, I felt a bit like, even though I'm a podcaster and it was my world and my crew, I felt like a fish out of water a little bit. That's why I just kind of aimlessly wandered the hallways. I don't know that I went to any sessions either. So it was a different, unique. This was like on the verge, like pre-corona, there was hand sanitizer everywhere. It was like the last conference to happen. And you had just walked out of your session and uh were smiling and handing out uh oil inhalers. And I was like, are those highlighters?

SPEAKER_00 1:56

So well, at least that's all you thought they were. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 2:01

So um, and so you had you had a you had a crowd around Jeff because you're just giving a talk to some people you were chatting and connecting with, but your energy was so electric. I'm like, I gotta meet this girl. And I'm glad that I did because I was like, what do you do? And you said I'm a I'm a I'm a voice actor, and I I work with apps like meditation apps and calm and stuff like that. I was like, wow, that is awesome. So that's what's brought us to today's conversation. Obviously, wanting to connect further too. I just thought that was fascinating that we're living in a time now where not only do we have apps and our people are building, you know, tech solutions on top of you know smartphones through apps, but now we've got services and and in like gigs and things that can be done and businesses that can be derived out of the needs on what those apps provide. And that's exactly what you do. So let's back up a little bit and give everyone a better idea of kind of how you got to to where we're at today. Where did it all begin? Where'd you grow up?

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Well, I was born as a seven-pound baby. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Um, I actually don't know my birth weight. I wonder if most humans know, but anyway. No, well, you can't forget that. That's a that's a big baby.

SPEAKER_04 3:10

That's a big baby.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Your mom is a saint.

SPEAKER_04 3:13

There was a German exchange student in town at the time. I was born in Peru, Indiana, and his name was Sebastian. My mom was a newspaper journalist, so she ran a contest called Name the Kid. And this guy won. I was the pediatrician that delivered me was uh was an Asian guy. And uh Dr. Chan, he came in and said, Oh, you're about to have big boy.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Okay, he wasn't wrong.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

11.6, my gosh. I love that the guy who wrote in the name suggestion was his own name. Like how I don't think if I was ever suggesting a baby name for anyone that I'd give them my name. That takes a unique personality. But anyway, glad he did it. It's such a great name. It fits you.

SPEAKER_04 3:54

Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

So, in terms of doing the voices for meditation apps, which I actually haven't done any voicing for Calm, but apps like Peace and Zen, and then just some other kind of smaller name ones, it all started a couple years ago. I had been doing spiritual life coaching and I was making guided meditations that were totally custom for my clients. And then my friends who are also coaches were reaching out to me, like, Oh, well, will you make meditations for my clients? And I thought that the easiest way to do it, I had also been teaching about expressing your divine creativity, connecting, we're all creative. I was told when I was a kid, actually, by a guidance counselor, my first time ever meeting her, it was 10th grade. I walked in, she said, Have you thought about what you want to be when you grow up? And like I had a different idea every day, right? Like my sim character of myself and the Sims was constantly changing their job.

SPEAKER_04 4:52

But as I saw the Nintendo cartridge you posted the other day.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Oh, Sim City Man, that's where it's at. That was like an old NES game I was playing.

SPEAKER_04 5:00

Yeah, that's amazing. I was like, this girl's got an old soul. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

But I went to her and she said, What have you thought about it? And I said, Well, I want to be an interior decorator. That was my of the moment thing I wanted to be. And she just looked at me. She'd never met me before. She looked at me and goes, Oh, I'm sorry. You have to be creative for that. And she told me that I'm quote unquote too smart for art, which is like super insulting on many levels. Cause first of all, I was kind of just a B student. So I don't know what she thought the intelligence level of artists is. And it was just a slap in the face for artists and for me. And so she was very adamant that I don't take extra curricular classes that were related to art. I was already in band, and so she was like, that's gotta be your thing. By the way, I was a saxophone player. Pretty cool. Marching band, all the things.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Wow. Marching band.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Oh, oh yes. So many hot summer days in a wool uniform. Not great look for a vegan either.

SPEAKER_04 6:00

So you were a band orc.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Oh, yes. The only things I know about football are to play an instrument when the conductor tells you to. That's it.

SPEAKER_04 6:10

I was a cheerleader.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Were you really?

SPEAKER_04 6:13

It's kind of like a band. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

That's so cool.

SPEAKER_04 6:16

I was. My friends didn't make fun of me for it, but it is what it is.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

That's amazing. So you're like a gymnast.

SPEAKER_04 6:23

Not not really.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

No.

SPEAKER_04 6:25

Not really.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Were you?

SPEAKER_04 6:27

No, I could never get that down. We went to gymnastics. Everyone was just flipping all over the place. And I was always petrified that I was going to break my neck when doing a backpack.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

I mean fair.

SPEAKER_04 6:37

People were just flipping all over the place. And I had like the physique to do it. I was just a skinny, scrawny little kid. I should be able to flip all over the place, but yeah, not so much.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

It's so funny that you were born 11.6 pounds and you ended up being like this scrawny, skinny kid. I have a friend who was born like a Michelin man, and he ended up being just like this lean machine, like didn't have to work on it. I mean, I think it's something in nature. So I go about my life feeling like, oh, okay, I'm not creative. I I don't know why. I super internalized that and I started pursuing other things. I went to school for community development, another reason I love The Sims and Sim City and building communities. So I focused on youth and communities, worked at nonprofits and youth centers and teen centers, and I loved all of that. But in the background, there was always this nagging feeling of this is it for now, but there's more. And it was always this feeling of I need to return to music. And I just had so many blocks around it. I didn't think I could do music as anything besides a hobby. And even that, I was kind of embarrassed by it. I don't know why. I was so embarrassed to say, I'm a musician. And I actually was working with an energy healer around it because I was doing so much of looking at the blocks in my life. I was, I was, you know, looking at that moment with my guidance counselor. I was looking at other moments from my childhood, and I was healing and forgiving all these things. And I went to my friend who does have you ever heard of emotion code healing?

SPEAKER_04 8:06

I've not.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

It's such a fascinating thing. So I still don't get it. I just know it helped me and my family. So essentially it's kind of like working on epigenetics. So she'll find these hidden blocks and hidden trapped emotions that you don't even know about and remove them from like it could be something from generations ago. So it's so funny because I went selfishly to her while I was doing the spiritual life coaching. I was working on my own creative blocks and working with her for the ones that I couldn't figure out. And during that, Sebastian, my dad, all of a sudden, my whole life, he'd been he had taught me how to play guitar, but he was so shy. Like he would not play a song in front of hardly even me, and let alone strangers. He joined a band, started writing songs. He gets played to go play at like flea markets and stuff. He plays with his band at these shows. And my mom joined two choirs. Like both my parents never would have done anything like that all my life at that point. And you know, this was just a couple years ago. So I was 31. And and by me selfishly getting work done and doing my own work on my healing of musical blocks, my parents benefited. So this is really cool work, a motion code healing. Um, the person I went to is Rebecca Packard, but it's just a really cool modality. I was doing that work, and while doing it, I started making the meditation music that I would use in my clients' meditations. And so I had friends not only asking, you know, will you make the meditations for my clients? But they were also like, Will you make the music in the background if I was to record? And I had been exploring different ways to earn for creative work and had heard about Fiverr, uh, the that freelance site. Yeah, we were talking about that at Podfest. So great, really great site. I've absolutely loved using it. I have people who tell me that, you know, that scares them or intimidates them, or they think you can only earn $5. Um, but it's actually been super awesome. I put myself out there and it was just it really, I did cheap gigs at first because I didn't know what I was doing. I was like, for $5, I'll make you a custom meditation or something like that. And and at first it was my friends who wanted me to make it for their clients. And I figured this is a good way for me to get my toes wet, for me to figure out what the heck I'm doing. I have had no formal training in the voice recording and making the music. I was using Logic Pro and a MIDI keyboard and just messing around. So at first, even though my gigs were super cheap, I was looking at it as paid education because I learned best by doing. So I was putting myself to work and I have really high standards for myself. So I was I was trying to make the best sounding audio. And eventually, it's so fun. One time someone requested it was like, I don't know, maybe a hundred meditations for dogs. That's what really got me into this. I once that happened, I was like, wait, I love making meditations. That was so much fun. I mean, imagine just every day sitting at your desk and going, you are a good boy. Breathe in and affirm.

SPEAKER_04 11:18

That's you are a good boy. Yes. Wow. You're the good boy. You're welcome. Oh, it's for the dog. Oh, got it. For me.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

There, there.

SPEAKER_04 11:34

Pat you on the head. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

So it is for you and the dog.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Yeah. So well. And then the Peace app reached out to me, and they ended up making uh to start with, I think it was like 100 meditations for them.

SPEAKER_04 11:54

How did how did they find you?

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Just through Fiverr.

SPEAKER_04 11:57

Really? Because I I just put my voiceover, so you you inspired me. I just put my voiceover stuff up on Fiverr, but I crickets.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Well, do you want me to give tips to your audience right now?

SPEAKER_04 12:06

Yeah, I definitely this part of the Beyond the Story podcast is all about Fiverr, ladies and gentlemen. Right. If you don't know about Fiverr, you're about to find out all about Fiverr. Why? Because you can get things done for five bucks or a hundred bucks or five hundred bucks in graphic design and websites and voiceover and podcast coaching. Oh, all that's available. And guess what? All kidding aside, the links directly to Marissa's Fiverr page are on the show notes, as well as mine, too. So maybe like Guy Girl Combo. Her and I are gonna do some collaboration for the nation. I don't know what that looks like yet, but anyway, okay. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

We don't need to know what it looks like. It's going to sound amazing.

SPEAKER_04 12:46

I can only imagine because I've obviously you and I you do. You you've you've got it. You've got the NASA. So do you. That's what I'm saying. Listen, we we get we gotta take our God-given gift and uh and do. I don't know that I could lead somebody through meditation, but there's other things. Would my dog listen to me going?

SPEAKER_01 13:01

So you I just love that concept so much. I don't know where that ever went into the world. I never got the name of the it was for a radio station, I think, for dogs. We this sounds wild. I'm sure a quick Google search would pull it up, but I haven't done it. So anyway, uh that's kind of what got me rolling. But let me give you some tips because it can feel really overwhelming, and I hear that a lot, and I think that I just got super lucky by actually, I don't believe it's luck, Sebastian. I think it is um, you know, when you just get these like divine ideas, like all of a sudden the inspiration comes and you're like, all right, just do it, just do it. You feel it in your gut, and you just like do it and you don't know why, and it all feels like it's on a whim. And then later you're like, oh, cool, now I get why. So depending on how you look at it, it was either dumb luck or just following my my gut and my intuition. So I just started out with that gig for really low. I actually think I started it at 25, not five. I can't remember, but it might have been five. It was it was super low regardless, because it was for commercial use. I was like, I'll make you a meditation that you can sell over and over. You can put it on your app, you can put it on YouTube, and it was super low. And because of that, I got a bunch of five-star reviews really early on because I priced it way lower than it was worth because I didn't even know if I was worth more than that at that point. I was just figuring it out and learning as I went. So I think that really helped because once I had a whole bunch of five-star reviews, and by a whole bunch, looking back, maybe it was 15 or so five-star reviews. I upped it to kind of like a midway price, just a little bit more, and then started to get more and more orders that way. And then after that, I probably after 50 reviews, so it's a long game, but still it's I think it's worth it if you're having fun doing it anyway.

SPEAKER_04 14:57

Yeah, I started like three months ago, so I've gotten all I've gotten is the podcast coaching gigs, no, no voiceover stuff. But I just added voiceover last week.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Oh, okay. And something too that was really, I think, again, perhaps dumb luck or perhaps divine guidance. I was super niche. So my thing said I will create a custom meditation for you for commercial use. So specific. So people who are looking for that, they might find someone who does voiceover for meditation, they might find someone who does relaxing voiceover, they might find someone who writes meditation scripts, but who is specifically saying, I will make a custom guided meditation for you for commercial use. So it what I wasn't like trying to be smart about it. It was just what I thought I should do at the time. And I think because it was so specific, I was just getting a bunch of sweethearts trying to get meditations out to the world, you know, like that niche too. It just attracts cool, for the most part, genuine people.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

So getting super niche would be one tip to start with. And I started with just one super niche gig, built up a bunch of reviews at low price, then raised it. Then two, once I started growing, I started to have more variety, more gigs. And with each gig, every time I started a new one, I did the same thing, low price. Unless you have someone who already wants to work with you through Fiverr, say you worked with them on your podcasting coaching, and now they want to use you for something else, you can create a whole new gig, do it at the price you want to do it at, because you already know you have a customer who's ready to buy on Fiverr. So once you get to that point where you have clients, like so now I have audiobook gig that happened because I've been just doing voiceovers. Sorry, not voiceovers, I'd been creating meditations for someone. So they ended up wanting me to voice an audiobook. So then I had to learn how to do that and I made that as a gig. And then now doing the podcasting audio drama voiceovers. So that's a new gig. So it's like sometimes I'll already have a relationship with someone and they want something new. So now I make a new gig because I already know they want to order it. So that's a really cool way to do it too. But to start with, super niche, low entry level, get some reviews, and then go up from there.

SPEAKER_04 17:21

Okay. Yeah, I've done all those. So I'm I'm patiently waiting.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Perfect, perfect.

SPEAKER_04 17:27

I I did I I found an order from 2010 when I first when I first opened my Fiverr account. And it was like, I will give you a social media consultation for five dollars. And the gig never got delivered. So it was just pin, I finally delivered it like I don't know, six months ago or whatever it was, but it was still sitting in there as incomplete. And Fiverr just like, well, just cancel it. I'm like, so they canceled it. Now my completion rate's 80%.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_04 17:53

Which makes me look like I don't complete my orders.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

How many, how many? Um, I don't know. How I think that changes every month because I had someone once make a mistake and they canceled the order because they made a mistake and it messed up my numbers for a month.

SPEAKER_04 18:08

Yeah, okay, cool. Yeah, I think it says six, it said 60. You have to get you have to complete orders for the next 60 days.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Okay, so maybe it was just 60 days. Yeah, I do remember one time someone was just like, oh, whoops, I messed it up, so she canceled it. And I was like, wait.

SPEAKER_04 18:19

Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

I could have edited that instead, but and then it affected my rates. So yeah, you're right. And I think too people are nervous because there's there are some weird stuff. There's some weird stuff out there. And sometimes people will look at my gig. Uh now the the entry level gig for a custom meditation for commercial use is $65, which I still think is such a great deal because they can sell it, they can do whatever they want with it, they can broadcast it. But sometimes I'll get people like, Well, would you do it for five? And it's like, well, no, have a wonderful day. Like, and I think I've heard some of my friends be resistant to fiber because they're worried about getting those requests, and it's like, yeah, just because someone requests it though doesn't mean you have to do it.

unknown 18:59

Right.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

So it's not actually that big a deal.

SPEAKER_04 19:02

Well, I got my first coaching client in the UK on my way to PodFest. I was in the car, and um he didn't want to buy a podcast. He just, he's like, I I got it all figured out. I just need some like I need somebody to help me, you know, button up a few loose ends. So um, and I'm like, Yeah, my coaching program is normally you know $9.97 a month. It includes an hour a week, and I'll help you flush out a game plan. You'll be ready to go in 30 days. And he's like, Well, what about the the the Fiverr pricing? And I went back in there, I was like, oh shit, what did I price this at? So homeboy ended up with four one-hour coaching sessions for $300. So that's a discount of about you know $550. Um, but I didn't give it, I didn't care. I was on my way to Podfest. I have a $300 richer, and all I had to do was hop on Doom and talk to this guy, and like, and the guy's like, oh, this is brilliant. And all I hear is because the coaching calls, oh, yep, that's it. Yes, oh, brilliant, brilliant, yes, this is brilliant, and comes back and he does exactly. And I'm like, normally, I don't know if coaches are supposed to plan or whatever. Like, I'm I don't have any game plans. Like, what do you want to talk about? They'll answer anything about podcasting, right? So we do we jam for like an hour, sometimes more than an hour, but I did get that one gig and he went in there and left me a review. I got like 10 reviews from my friends that have bought my stuff too. Um, but I haven't had anybody been like, hey, can you help me out? I did have I got another lead right after that from a lady that wasn't ready to start yet. So that was the closest I've gotten to the algorithm. And then I canceled that order or asked Fiverr to do it or whatever, and I I didn't know if that affected things, but then we're also living in very crazy times, so yeah, we are. That could that could be that could be a portion of it. Um crazy times that are getting even better. I firmly believe that.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Um I I firmly believe it too.

SPEAKER_04 20:45

I really have too you know, I'm a man of faith, so I firmly believe that you know God doesn't make mistakes. It's just he's not up anymore. Oops, corona.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

Oops, corona.

SPEAKER_04 20:55

Yeah, exactly. I said that the other day at the uh my networking group, one of the last meetings we met at uh for our weekly BNI meeting, my networking group. Before guy like crazy, I was like, careful with the Mama Mama Corona. But uh yeah, I really think that things are gonna return to a new normal. Definitely a new normal. Um, but this has been a much needed reset, I think, for the world. We were so busy and so busy and so like noisy and so just fast paced and like you know, families are either reconnecting or or dissolve continuing to dissolve at this moment, right? Businesses that were already doing bad have closed their doors because they were holding on for so long and they were wondering what that would be. Uh, entrepreneurs are doing one of two things. Digging their head in the sand and playing the oh woe is me game. Where's my government stimulus? Or they're like, What can be done to help and serve people, and what can be done for my own personal brand that I can create that I've been putting off that's going to get me ahead. What can I do right now that I can thank myself for next year? And I think that that's the differentiator. Whereas I think that this is this is a this period of time is going to go down in history as the biggest opportunities in humankind ever. You know, post depression, you know, back in back in the early, back in the early days.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

So I agree with you.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

That was a quick little, you know, that's all we talk about pertaining to, you know, Corona and COVID-19. And, you know, I've got a bunch of conspiracy theories, but that's not aligned with how I feel about everything working out. So I was just talking to my accountant this morning and she said something like I said something. She goes, oh yeah, next week's Easter. And I thought, you know what? Of course it's Easter. Of course it's Easter. Well I um uh my sister called she sent me something this morning which was um I forget what it was but I thought it had something to do with Easter. But I thought, you know, as a as a devout Christian Easter's a special holiday uh in you know in general but this year churches is online right so like the Easter bunny is at home right so like all this so it's going to be very interesting to see you know I just see like the movement of the modern church is already expanding and growing and meeting in unconventional spaces and people that don't even go to church are like I'll go the music's cool the pastor's living you know so I believe that's attractive because it's it's adjusting with the times on where we're at you know like there's giant churches that meet in you know huge places that we've all been familiar with in New York City and LA and these large cities and and here even here in Miami. So to see them all move online and everyone's home so it's like what else if you've been resistant to go to church would you watch something on YouTube on Sunday morning? So I'm thinking that you know there's there's something happening here and that uh you know in the midst of this craziness and and chaos I believe that all things work together for good.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

And uh you know I don't know how we got off topic but that was no it's we didn't hear that people Yeah I mean this is such a cliche quote at this point but you can choose to look at everything as if it's happening against you or happening for you. And choosing to view everything as happening for me has personally just been healing for for a long time not just because of this that's it's kind of a shift I made maybe seven years ago. And so interesting because my dad was actually he was pinned by a forklift when I was seven against a wall, split his body in half he he was flown to Dartmouth hospital in New Hampshire and pretty much the my family was told, you know, that's it. It's his last night um say goodbye. I was seven so I was told he broke his leg and I was just gonna have a sleepover party with friends. So like I stayed at a neighbor's house and I had a grand old time. I actually believe it or not I didn't know the severity of his accident until a few years ago when my mom wrote a book about it. And so his pelvis was split apart and uh which anything you would imagine like all the organs that are in there were destroyed as well. So yeah. So I was reading the book and I couldn't put it down. It's kind of a it's a love story and it's also about the accident and I realized how shielding my parents had been my whole life of me. Like they I I even watched my dad learn how to walk again. He had a colostomy bag like I I saw these things happen and I just thought Sebastian I was like oh I better never break my leg like that's what happens when you break your leg yeah like I I had no idea I mean he was in the hospital for for months. So the reason I say all of this is because that all happened to my dad and he is the type of person to say and I've been raised this way my whole entire life bad things are good things. Not that they're going to become good things but that they already are you just don't know why yet so just relax about it.

SPEAKER_04 25:57

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

Yeah and it's like if he can say that I can never ever ever for the rest of my life ever look at something quote unquote bad that happened and and worry that it's bad.

SPEAKER_04 26:09

Right. Right. What makes it bad is is is our definition of it. You know very comparable to I'm a huge Tony Robbins fan have been forever and a day to your point he said uh yeah exactly you can look at life two ways is life happening to me or is life happening for me my dear dear friend of mine just passed away probably uh it was late last year. His name's Sean Stevenson he's a world renowned keynote speaker and uh had a rare bone disease. He didn't have any arms and uh had or any legs and just feet and a body and little arms and very fragile bones was the condition, you know, and he he went on to leverage that and became a world renowned speaker and just a just a special person. And I met him had the privilege of meeting him and connecting with him and having having him on the show. Unfortunately had an accident uh last year fell in his chair hit his head and went into emergency surgery that his wife and a few close friends uh were there and as they did the memorial service which was so beautiful a lot of key people and huge marketers and people like the names we've heard of that have were in Sean's circle said that you know right before they went in for the surgery he looked over and he said to to his friend Joe Joe this is happening for me not to me and that was the last thing out of his mouth because he went into surgery and didn't make it through it was just and his legacy lives on used to these dance parties in his wheelchair and he'd get going he had this big tongue and he'd make these funny faces and like to see somebody started a group and whatnot and the guy's let you know the guy's legacy will forever live on a goal but to say that on what an uncertain place would which would end up being you know his deathbed in this you know in this physical world at least right and it also reminded me of another quote Tony's got a lot of great quotes because they're true and they make complete sense and that is what's wrong is always available and uh so is what is right.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

So good. So true.

SPEAKER_04 28:02

No so um it's it's all perspective and mindset. I find that the more active that I get doing things that I'm not used to doing going I mean I used to go to the gym every day. Well that's not available now so what do I do now? I guess I could go for a run but yay let's go for a run. No but I can hop on my bike. So I've been riding my bike to the studio you know figuring out where to eat locally to support local businesses because you can't go eat there so you got to order and then get your food and like go back home. And uh so just finding the you know finding the silver lining in all of this treating every day like it's just another day to do as much as I possibly can is my thought process. In the very beginning it wasn't like that though. It was like for a couple weeks ago I was like get out of bed for what? For what?

SPEAKER_01 28:47

Yeah I've gone through ups and downs with it too but overall mostly I I hear what you're saying so much. I do feel like it has been such a great opportunity and especially what you were just saying about feeling like each day is a chance to really make the most of your day it reminds me of how you know we have dogs in our life we were talking off a little bit about how much we love our dogs and they don't have the longest lives. So I feel like when I'm looking at my dog and I adopted him when he was seven and he's 14 now he's super healthy. So I think we still have a couple years but still it's like it's just this constant reminder of we think things are certain. You know, we think that the nine to five we have is going to be there forever. We think that our lives are going to go on forever but we don't actually know anything. And this is a really great reminder for those of us who may have just been in the the rut of the monotony of just doing the same thing in and out a a nice wake up call to be like hey actually none of it's certain so what do you really want to do?

SPEAKER_04 29:49

Right I ask people that question constantly even before all this came about I had a client tell me one time you know I I used to live paycheck to paycheck you know I don't you know I don't I said you know maybe being an attorney isn't your thing. Well that ship has sailed I'm like bullshit ship has not sailed at all the story you told yourself about that ship has happened. But it's very important to understand and gratitude training taught me this and that was that we are interpretation machines and that we make shit up constantly the scariest fucking part is it's on automatic so control what's going in to our mind on a daily basis. That includes worry that includes you know the stuff that we shit we can't control. You know what I mean? And that's a challenge because we are you know especially if you're a control freak and I think every human is in some form or fashion but I could never understand the whole let go surrender process. My breath coach Gina Avalin taught me that and I asked because I just said Gina how do you surrender? Like I'm a devout Christian. I used to sing hymns about it. I should probably know right no not so much and she said uh are you ready for the answer? I go yeah she goes start saying yes to everything and I'm like are you crazy? I'll be biting off more than I can chew listen eventually you get to a point where you'll be able to pick and choose as to what's what but absolute complete surrender by definition means what? I mean people's hands in the air is a universal sign of surrender right so it's it's it's completely letting go of any sort of attachment to any type of outcome and just letting whatever is going to happen happen. And that's a tough thing to do. You know but here's the deal Marissa right now we are in a place we are all involuntarily surrendered whether we like it or not there is no going back to work until the new normal starts right and that's yeah I I think it's a beautiful thing. It's a painful thing but for the all the avoiders and individuals and if you're listening to this and you've been invited several times to go to that course or go to that class or take that you know personal development course or whatever whatever it may be, we've all been pitched on something somewhere along the line where we've thought we're too cool for school for that. We don't need that no I'm okay and I'm just here to tell you today that we are we have a lifetime to figure this out as human beings to become the best version of ourselves and unless we're willing to go in there is no way out. Amen yes my friend yes yes I told Jack Nicholson he's a fan of the show I told him he needs to go to a personal development course you know what he told me I eat what it's 300 yards from 4,000 Cubans who are trained to kill me.

SPEAKER_03 32:43

So don't think for one second that you can come down here, flash a badge, and make me nervous.

SPEAKER_04 32:50

All right Jack, settle down buddy so uh well this is a great conversation I've already got the title on my head which is like how to crush fiber with you know voiceover meditations. There we go. Something to that like I was already thinking about the title here.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

So wonderful and you know we really got into the whole how to make the most of each moment.

SPEAKER_04 33:09

Yes exactly right yeah exactly because we're not guaranteed an anything at all so it's you know fully embracing the moment is is such a such a great thing. Well we're almost out of time but I I definitely want to keep the conversation going. I think that uh you and I need to we need to figure something out to leverage our our our vocal gifts and uh do some collaboration I see it for sure it's happening. Yeah it 100% is as well well well everyone listen if you want to connect with Marissa which you absolutely should all of her links are going to be in the show notes so make sure you take full advantage of being able to follow and stay connected with her if you happen to need any female soothing calm voiceover meditations created your book is done Marissa's the perfect fit for it oh my gosh I need to hire her you can hit her up and see what she's got to offer I'm almost positive she's gonna be able to make all your voiceover dreams come true. All right Marissa come back soon will you I would love you're in Vermont huh? Oh my gosh she has to have such a good memory I well no not only I do but I mean how many I don't know anybody in Vermont so my only friend in Vermont I'm the only human in Vermont yes so I automatically think of and the birdhouses.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

I automatically think I love my birds I actually uh as we've been talking I'm looking every now and then out my window I see like a bluebird fly by or a nut hatch like they're amazing.

SPEAKER_04 34:31

No I in my backyard too butterflies and I saw a hawk back there the other day I was like what's he doing? Get the dog inside yeah totally but no when I think of Vermont I think of Wayne's world because the guy's like hi I'm from Vermont I'm like hi I'm from Vermont I actually don't remember I because I watched it when I was so young and I haven't rewatched it I really need to but when I was a kid I genuinely thought I genuinely thought the movie was about my dad because his name is Wayne.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

Wow I I don't know how long I believed that either I it was I was obsessed with Wayne's world I love Dana Carve.

SPEAKER_04 35:08

The best and Mike Myers come on oh yeah fantastic that's a uh that's an absolute winning combo it it one it 100% is all right well that siren means that uh well we're we're out of time I could talk all day we could talk about life and voiceovers you know forever and a day but all good things must come to an end so thanks so much for for taking some time to be on the show hope you're uh you're you're doing well and surviving there in uh in in Vermont and we'll uh we'll have to stay in touch and get some get some voiceover collaboration going. Yes please let's do it thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the Beyond the Story podcast be sure to appreciate it. If you haven't done so already make sure you're subscribed to the show this way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined please leave us a review we'll be sure to appreciate it. Signing off from the podcast launchlab.com studios we'll talk to you next time