Lauren from Oplaysis spaces

all right we're here hi we're here I know we finally done it you and I have been I don't know planning plotting thinking how can we make make this work for so long I know and we're here grab your microphone put it up to your face because I want everybody to hear you you're amazing used to this I know right even if we move the hot heater between us and come closer let's go there okay I know it's got a little bit of an erectile dysfunction but it's all right it's okay oh I'll get it to work don't you worry so Lauren is filling in for hang today thank you so much for taking on the call I sent out the bat signal and she replied thank you for having me I hope um you know I'm very honored to be sitting in Hank's seat right now I'm beyond thrilled yeah right yeah oh lower down your um your volume I was like why do I hear me again let's turn this right off so Lauren amateur no hey whatever we're we're here we're learning and we're going to have a good morning oh we got com comments already good morning Ashley thank you for joining us hello yes Lauren is filling in for Hank today Hank is fine he's got a doctor's appointment this is scheduled this was planned he will be playing with us on Thursday so we're just gonna put him to Thursday and we're not GNA talk about Hank's appointment until I get him in the hot seat that I can be weird it always makes Hank feel very uncomfortable and I love that yeah oh yeah it's love it's great to see uh Hank's S I know right so Lauren thank you so much for hanging out with us we had our first Christmas Market over the weekend and you just brought the fun what a blast if you ever see a places spaces anywhere and you're like what is it it is fun it is joyful and it doesn't matter how old you are the amount of children that were immediately in our space was magical it's incredible and I think the greatest part too is once you put yourself out there and you see the kids doing it pay attention you'll see all the adults jumping intoo they were dancing with ribbons like having such a good time love yeah she is a magical face painter like your art is so incredible I'm glad that you're right beside me because I really want to talk about your story not just your entrepreneurial story but just your story in general because I'm just so fascinated and when you meet somebody in their adulthood and you get like the bits and pieces of their their life you don't have that moment to sit down and be like okay start from the beginning because I know you're not natively from the states right so we've got that to talk about then like just to coming here and finding space with community and she's an amazing artist and I'm really to talk to you today about it thank you it's been an absolute trip I mean it really has been a whirlwind I never could have predicted or seen my future turning out this way um I really just think that we have flip the script uh we've broken out of the mold I have broken the social norms I had to change my entire way of thinking and I tell you it's been magical it's been really cool living this new um mindset New Life yeah so talk me the process of coming to the states what's up Dan hello Gloria thanks for joining us yeah so I am originally from England born and raised um near London and when I was 12 I believe I moved to Geneva Switzerland um from my stepfather's job we got the opportunity to travel so I was in Geneva switzland for two years and then he had another opportunity hey you want to move to America and I was like well sure what am I going to do stay here yeah right it's too expensive here we got to go yeah time to go so he had another job opportunity in America and um we were set to move here 91301 um but because of 911 we had sold our apartment and we were grounded for two weeks before we were able to fly here so did you just like live in the airport like all I could think of is that Tom Hanks movie was it was the worst movie he's ever done staying in the airport yes that's horrible yeah yeah but no it wasn't too bad we were in a um hotel for a couple weeks and then when we moved here uh I was straight into school straight into school um my whole jumps to fire of a life was you know it had all happened I'm a child of trauma and abuse and all the things that you know you just wouldn't want your teenage daughter to go through and when I came here there was never that support I just contined spiraling like what is wrong with me what is wrong with me why am I like this and you're also an artist and I feel like that that's part of your art I mean obviously art is your outlet eventually but when you're misunderstood you're a kid of drama you've got no now you're leaving countries there there's a verbal breakdown here and then you don't have safe people in your space yeah and not yeah not to mention constantly packing up and leaving everybody yeah attachment issues for sure um but yeah I actually have no background in art I didn't go to school for art I knew nothing about art I I just three years ago um I kind of had to just leave my career of teaching children so when I was nine years old I knew I wanted to work with children I don't know if that's because I was having such a hard life as a child I felt compelled to help children when I was abely I think we all yeah jump into that space where we're like we're going to be better than this we're going to fix this this is it but fun fact I had a learn I have a learning disability um as well as being deaf uh so I knew I would never get into the public school I always forget she has a hearing just different hears differently and then she's like my headphones should I take off my my hearing aids and I was like oh wait a minute I forgot I'm really sorry just because you would never know the way you are yeah so I am 80% deaf in both ears um and you don't know what you don't know and it's kind of a good thing I just got herin AES when I was 34 I am approaching 38 so I went my entire life 80% death wow that changes a lot of my situation yeah I couldn't hear what was going on around me I was just there I was just in places um so yeah three years ago I kind of went down this downward spiral and I was painting rocks when Co start started um and people were like wow your rocks are so cool I love what you're doing my husband was like have you tried sealing them with resin oh boy resin I went down the resin spiral and you know what there's no going back it's been an incredible journey again no background just practice playing around finding what you enjoy and then people like oh I like that like oh you do here's some more where did you meet your husband I feel like he's definitely like a backbone for you he's like that that constant yeah really her and I are very similar we're like gypsies we're like oh that looks pretty we'll go over there it's shiny and our husband's like all right just tether me to the pole tell me where I need up tell me what time to be there we do have similar people in our lives that keep us grounded I feel like that is a similar situation that we find ourselves in good morning Scott Don Donna uh we we are lucky that we have found a person that tethers us to a little bit of reality but allows us to still go you need those people absolutely there's no way I could do what I do without him yeah doing the behind the scenes things know and he doesn't want to put himself out there no he knows what he needs to right yeah exactly sit puffy in the corner no my husband is wonderful he is literally my biggest supporter he doesn't know what has been going on the past few months but he is here for is following my dream okay let me take it back I didn't even know this was a dream of mine well that's it that's what're we went from like this to that so like okay here you are painting rocks in Co not really knowing what you're going to do with your life and you're not connecting with the kids that you wanted to connect with yeah I left my 16 year teaching career yeah I mean you can imagine what that does to you you're teaching teaching teaching and then next thing you know your body is having a physical reaction to Ding and the panic attack started and I had to is that what it was for you it was just like I there was something wrong here yep um and it wasn't the kids the kids are have always been wonderful even the most challenging I specialize with kids with disabilities and Trauma um it was all the higher up stuff that goes on you know the the bureaucracy that's weird yeah I feel like this week has a theme and I wasn't even planning it yes good morning Tanya Tanya from from Mindful goat yoga sidebar I've got to thank her so so much we had an amazing day and I really it was one of those things where I put her in touch with another one of my friends that had an idea and I didn't know Bobby was GNA get so Bobby with it but Bobby really took this to a whole another level T was like I I just I'm here because I was told and thank you for sharing your goats with us because you put animals and children together and something pretty magical happens whether it's whether it's trauma whether it's children and animals there somehow all three of those together it's just a magical healing space yeah yeah that happens and then people are like oh what do you mean you're doing yoga with goats it's it's not it's not necessarily the yoga that we are trying to accomplish during that session it is the entire experience it's that therapy it's you know it's just it's so many things it's not just doing yoga poses and feeling good after we are going to go back to that point in the story but one one point with our goat yoga situation where Lauren and I were friendly we knew each other we knew of each other and we knew that we were doing e for all and then all of a sudden one day she was just like I think you need to go to Goat yoga with me and I said to myself uh I think I need to go too because I was so overwhelmed in my own business in my own thing and I feel like you felt saw it you were going through a lot that time and for whatever reason there some she really was a stranger at that point says I think you need to come with me on a Saturday and I was like okay and you did it because I needed to and you showed up I did and you did it and and it is it is more goat less yoga uh but it was just the point of putting myself out there I need to do something that is not work that is not with my family that is just just for me to be in a healing environment and it was even taking five deep breaths and sitting with my eyes closed and stretching was just magical for me because I needed to have that grounding space sometimes that we all get so busy and especially this time of year where we get so flipping busy and stressed out and that low level that you're not feeling you saw it for me and was like red flag come here let's go let's go see t yeah but in very a very gentle way that I didn't even notice it until afterwards and I was like she's sneaky now look at us no look at us so we were there in that moment and I really appreciated that I don't think I've ever said that to you so oh thanks here we are once again Tanya you're bringing people together with your goats so we thank you for that and uh there will be another performance if you want to see it December 17th after Tanya goes away for a much needed vacation and welld deserved at that you've been working hard where's she going uh Disney o fun the most magical place on Earth where is she going where else of course most expensive place on Earth that's where they going but be in the moment finding unconditional Joy absolutely good morning Lynn good morning Beth Betty just had her birthday yesterday happy birthday and I know you've been stressed out too I hope you're still doing the pool stuff we were doing what I called old people soup which was water aerobics and I yeah I love it it was really fun and actually I got the good workout from the water aerobics I'm actually back to week four of the gym everyone thank you very much to the ladies over at quench Fitness I really feel like that makes a difference too yeah you got to have good people like not just find your tribe yes find your tribe there's some more of those coming through eforall too kayn she's doing Misfits and she just it's not just working out I'm so glad this new generation of people have just figured out it's not just about you know looking all it's a whole Community yeah well I think Co taught us that after we abused our body cuz it was the end of the world and we're drinking and we're doing all the thing we're like oh my God we're never going to live through this coming out of this and so here you are painting rocks putting resin on rocks working on things and you're like maybe I'll do this yeah right so then you found Playmakers so maybe talk a little bit about Playmakers because I don't think we see the brand life is good everywhere yeah and we're like yeah sure life is good I'll wear it on a t-shirt it's it's not like the varet t-shirts of the 80s there is a methodology behind the life is good walk is there is actually an entire Foundation um it's called the life is good project and um I was first introduced to to I was first introduced to Life Is Good Playmakers in 2011 um and just the things that they said about joy and they specialize working with children with trauma so they were all about how to engage with those children how to just you know switch the mindset of being a typical teacher how do you really help the kids that need it most and um I've stuck with the program they are just so inspiring I you know spent those 10 years dealing with my own suicidal depression um and a lot of other things and so it was one of those groups that I idolized oh my gosh one day I hope I can think this way one day I hope I can live my life this way and so three years ago I really um just switched that mindset and of course something Happ you have to be ready for it I mean that there's a lot of things and I really want to stress this once again there are so many programs there are so many groups there's so much help when you're ready for it when you're ready for it just ask for it and it's wild the stuff that comes out of the Woodworks that you need when you're finally like and I'm not one of those manifest people but that's okay too if you are but I am definitely one of those if you put yourself out there you will get the things that you need in return you just have to be willing to say I need help and that's not easy yeah and and you can change you can change your entire mindset yeah so talk to me about that mindset switch because that's not an easy thing to do no because you're safe in your trauma you're safe in you're hateful you're safe here I know this this is something I know real well I'm I can be horrible to myself and I can live in this space it's really easy to do it's so yeah it's it's it was very normal way of living um and I'm GNA be brutally honest I mean I I tell my story the way it is because there's nothing to hide um you know my my past few years up until three years ago I was always looking for a way out um I didn't do drugs I wasn't alcoholic I didn't have any of that it was just literally the trauma and the things that I deal with had just built up um and I was just constantly looking for a way out if I was driving I was looking for a way out if I was hanging out with people I was looking for a way out and I'm talking end of life way out so three years ago um my husband and I were in the woods looking for my hearing aid that I had lost and yeah and um I really wasn't looking for it yeah that was my day um this is when you really need to realize that you have to check in with someone even if it's a friend um that day I kind of had said goodbye to everything I put on my bracelets this is the last time I'm putting these on um put on my shoes this is the last time I'm putting these on I said goodbye to my kids this is the last time I'm saying goodbye to my kids so we end up in the woods and um just as we're leaving my husband kills over in excruciating pain and in that moment I was like oh my gosh not me anymore yeah yeah I can't lose him like what my entire brain in that instant switched Focus to him oh my gosh I gotta get him better turns out he had kidney stone complications he ended up having two um surgeries and um that was honestly the worst and best day of my life because that next day I literally woke up like I gotta live yeah I gotta find my purpose I was 34 I quit teaching of 16 years I just spiraled out of control like I'm 34 and I don't know what I want to be when I grow up right and so I'm I'm extra I'm extra that and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up good morning midday Madness Sam hey Tanya and uh don saying no one should be stressed out especially money is tight our mental health is way more important than stressing out over gifts and here you are having this gift of your husband killing over needing two surgeries yeah to get you to be like wait a minute all right yeah it's almost like breaking the fog for something like that to happen you know you're in this Haze of this is it I've made my piece I'm over it the the feelings stop though yep so num you got that jolt yep so that happened and I used to actually go down to the ocean near where I live um to cont PL stuff and then after that day I started going down to the ocean finding my freedom and appreciating it and I just literally when I got hearing aids it was the first time I heard Birds it was the first time I heard the microwave the oven like all these different things I could finally hear them so I started going to the ocean and really appreciating that so before it was a place I wanted to escape and then it became this place where I could go find my peace and my freedom so it really just switched so then I started hiking I didn't know how to hike now I've got pictures of me on the top of the mountains right that's awesome because I just had to start doing little things that were going to change my current mindset kind of like you doing the quench just little things that's exact Joy yeah and then you crave more joy and so then you start to put the negative stuff aside and you keep gravitating towards the joy and now that I've spent three years really working on myself with no appointments this has all been self-healing I think that that's also a nice thing to say is no appointments you're blessed with the space to have the no appointments which is really really nice Tiffany says thank you for sharing your message morning Tim thanks for joining us yeah I mean I wasn't in a money predicament to have appointments it's too expensive like be real most of us are just living check to check it's survival of the fittest right just keep I keep showing up like a bad penny so I'm surviving it's G to happen somehow oh but yeah it just um just changing that whole mindset and now three years later to finally gain more confidence and be in a place where you know what I can share this message I've done it for myself now I'm in a place to help other people find their joy and it's so frustrating in the dayto day and if you're in the dayto day right now making those small incremental changes I applaud you you're here today chatting with us so thank you because it's not freaking easy and it's stressful and you fight with yourself and you fight with your space and change is so uncomfortable yeah and you're constantly talking to yourself oh yeah growing up oh my inner head is like she's such a [ __ ] and she is horrible to herself growing up we always used to be like oh my gosh this person is talking to himself so crazy you actually learn you have to talk to yourself because you really do have different voices that are suggesting yeah things and you have to talk to yourself yeah I know it's crazy my husband's like are you talking to me or is that just like the he's like you know you're saying it out loud right I'm like I know don't talk to us we're busy good morning Lisa and Patricia have a great day when you were over there typing your thing saying it out loud I'm like okay is she talking to me no NOP she's working like I work I'm like that was so refreshing I really do I really do talk to myself out loud so drop it in comments who else talks themselves in order to get things done it really is the only way I'm like okay listen my fake audience like I always have a fake audience even if it's cooking when I don't when I don't want to do things I have a fake audience that's hilarious because I create the people that I'm like listen we're doing this together I'm not alone I don't need you you would think I was an only child I'm not but my I think my siblings are just so just not interested in anything that I do but I just had to make up my own yeah yeah it's so fun though isn't it or maybe it's a product of my own family because I just have such a huge family so when I have one or two people it's like having we don't have enough here let's make up our own audience add some Muppets I'm gonna come to your kitchen one day today we're gonna cook some rice I love that Lynn Lynn puts her hands up so thank you for sharing us too we all appreciate you here we do and my own studio audience it's great so you found Playmakers in all of this space yeah so when Playmakers um so we we both did eforall y you know it's really funny I'm GNA tell you something right now I've known you for three four years through the kindness Festival yes first time I met you we met at a completely unrelated event I had been listening to you on the radio and then I met you I'm like oh my God it's stepanie Leo you're too funny I idolized you for so long because of your positivity your smile you were one of those people during those times like how can I be more like her oh my gosh I needed to channel that and I feel likeable I know we also learned that we both hate compliments so I know right I'm like I don't know what to do it makes me feel very weird um but I also appreciate that because I feel like that is what positivity brings and like just kindness and it was nice to be at the kindness festival and have um I I connected with um Kristen on like a complete different level also yeah she had come into the radio station to do a PSA for another radio station that was in our building and then like we immediately connected just because of you know what I'm one of those people that no matter what the day is no matter where I am and what my space is I'm GNA put on a smile and I'm G to go and try and have the best day I can possibly have even though there's a dumpster fire behind me we're gonna just change our mentality and I don't know whether it was a military-minded thing or if it was I was always like this I feel like I was always like this like it's I try not to give anything that much space so it can't be taken away from me do not let things take your energy there are so many things in the world that can piss us off and make us mad but we're in control of that so like I shut off the news I don't watch the news I can't I cannot take the weight of the world on my shoulders because there is nothing I can do about it yeah I can only help those in my community right and the rest of it is just distraction and noise and I think that that was another thing that was my aha wakeup call when I was laid off in in 2020 and that did happen so I could remove myself from the news now wait a minute I don't have to listen to this because I'm not being bombarded with it every 30 minutes because I have to update it or check on it or look at it or absorb it yeah it's been a different space of almost detoxing myself from that and it's hard indoctrination yeah at first you feel really selfish like oh I don't know what's going on in the world but at the end of the day before social media yeah we didn't know what was going on in the world we had to focus on our families and what we were doing at that time in that moment and that is so important that I had to kind of we have to simplify it we really just have to dumb it down and focus on what's in front of us what can I control what can I change good morning Justin Justin is another um uh healer Justin oh yeah you know Justin yes um actually I have invited Justin to the new space that we'll start talking about in a little bit um and he's gonna come to a clearing for me and a drum circle I love it yeah and again all these connections have happened through you putting yourself out there doing the things I wouldn't normally do you know and all these magical things are but that's exactly it so I shut that off and I just started really connecting right at home you know this is the first thing I had had to do was heal my family and spend time with my family yes and that that was uncomfortable because I was like hi I know we've lived together um and I've birthed you but we we don't really know each other so like that's what Co made us do come together as a family so that was good Lisa it's better than any fake audience than some male radio hosts have yeah well go there too she said what she said she did so yeah that's where it began and then then it started you know in my town and then you know trying on a lot of hats and trying on and I talked about this yesterday when I had had um Rebecca in the studio with her new program but it was just a lot of no thank you tastes trying things on and forcing myself to at least give it a whirl and see if I like this do I like this I don't like this do I like this I don't like this and I found epherall um actually well she found Kristen found me on the side of the road I think we were doing like a pop up gig at Cafe cheu and my friend Lisa said um you two should talk cuz she's got a program and I never run a business before no one in my family we're not entrepreneurs we're not smart enough for this stuff we're just worker bees you know my mom's a nurse my dads and elevators my whole family is worker be military um just what whatever trade where where just blue color we work and we work until we die and that's what we did we had a nice life here's my pension yeah by I didn't know that there was another way to spend your time yeah there's actually other than checking a Time Clock doing that time for work and then checking out at the end of the day y so I was so thankful to have ephra all not only for that but the community within eforall yeah um and then you and I we've talked at length about that but I found the community within our community I had already had those connections from from the radio situation so it was kind of weaving all of those pieces together yeah to I don't have the ego I'm not beholden to this organization or this organization or this one I love all what they all bring together but I don't necessarily have to only work with those anymore so that was also a mindset change and the other mindset change I'm seeing a huge shift in this collaboration over competition yeah yeah that is my biggest thing my entire business is built on my community's input and collaboration yeah um and yeah E forall I had no idea about business before I went through eforall program right um I oh my gosh I say it all the time and I I literally tell Kristen I'm not exaggerating I owe you my life you have changed my entire life like it's a big mental space change it is it's all mind work again free therapy I know I it really is and you got other people that you can talk to that are in the same exact space that you're in which is really nice good morning Dave hegner happy sunny Tuesday sure oh yeah what was the other s word we were talking about this morning Lauren saw snow on the way over here was snowing I'm not ready I mean I can't really say I'm not ready because I mean are we ever ready I guess I'm one of those there's no bad weather it's just just how you dress for it yep well that's really what it is yeah yeah mindset friend mindset because every day with prek we were out on that playground it did not matter the weather oh Jennifer Christian eforall she's even found a new career within eforall so that's awesome yes Jen is now the new program manager um and I actually had the opportunity of filling in um J shoes of being the eforall peer support specialist very cool unfortunately that was very shortlived um pivot not all things are good for you all the time Dave says it's sunny over there in Denis oh must be yay I know we'll enjoy it the snow's coming at you or maybe it was just a weird flurry that we had here also possibility I had Smoke on the Water on Sunday I just shared that one with us someone was like where's that on Cape Cod I'm like my pond to my front yard right here right there so I think that that's also good that's the no thank you taste I tried it thought maybe I could be really good at this okay it's not for me and that's not a fail yeah that's just a marking something off that I is not right for me well I think what happened was um the group had already formulated um you know because this whole shift was happening after this group was together y so then I kind of come in PLU myself in I'm you know oh hi this is me let me just help you Mentor but then the studio happened and so it was like oh my my gosh my whole life is about to shift again I'm so sorry I wanted to be a part of this with you guys I support you I'm still going to be there for you but I'm opening up a collaborative art studio and Lounge like what so Lauren has really been looking for her space she's been raising money this woman talk about your swim like the things you've done for money fundraisers I mean yeah that kind of that sounded awful but we're so we're thinking alternatively right now right and we're trying to figure out all right that's not making me money I I don't like charging for that it's a very uncomfortable thing to talk about money and pricing and when you're starting a business figuring out your pricing I feel like is the hardest thing to do to Value yourself at what your selfworth is is really difficult to put a dollar amount on that and I'm not a salesperson that's another thing that makes me cringe I don't want to ask for money that must be the one thing that e for all people must hear the most I'm not a salesperson well guess what you are now because you're in business for yourself want make this work so on that note instead of being like hey can I have some money um I started swimming so again back to that mental U mental health issues I hated the ocean everything in the ocean creeped me out like ah if it was going to touch my feet I freak out that's why I sit with my feet up in the air cuz I'm like if I can bite my butt then I can lose some of that that's fine but not my toes not my toes leave the toes alone but then I started challenging I was like all right so let me just push the limits Let Me swim a little further and a little further and a little further and before I knew it I was like wow this is really cool once you figure out how to swim I couldn't swim I didn't know how to swim but once you figure it out I could just keep going and so I was like maybe this is a way to raise some money and so I put it out there I'm like hey guys I am going to swim four miles it's going to take about four hours who wants to you know and and the support from the community was overwhelming I raised $4,000 thanks to the people that believed in this Mission it was so awesome believed in creating a joyful space for the community and yeah now it's happening you guys supported me and you made it happen well and also the the pivot you were had your mindset you're like this is the thing that I want good morning Pensa thank you Kelly I've had a lot of No thank thank you it's great to simplify what works for your soul totally so you have this I want this VW bus this is where it's going to be this is where I'm going to put all of my my art stuff in here and I'm going to go to where people want me and I'm GNA go here and create Magic and I loved it yeah but all of a sudden you know it it it's expensive some things have to change so before the bus I was actually looking at brick and mortar on Main Street um not the location I'm moving into but I was looking at it I met with the met with the real estate agent and at that time there was no Financial way I was going to make it happen it just wasn't coming up with a monthly lease it just wasn't feasible at the time so I pivoted and I was like okay what about if I do a bus I'll be a traveling gift shop and joy Seeker right I'll go to these facilities I will create a space for people to have fun um and then the price of that went up to K yeah $50,000 to get a fully refurbished bus um and I'd have to learn how to drive stick shift I'll teach you it's it's easy I mean that's just a joke and it's so not you got this so when that was like okay maybe this isn't really gonna work I pivoted to a VW inspired trailer retail trailer and now we're talking about 20,000 um and I was like oh gosh and I'm really thinking the logistics this is going to work am I really ever going to bring that kind of money back in and then I said oh man I really wish I could get a space on Main Street maybe I am supposed to get a space on Main Street and I know you don't believe in manifesting but I did throw it out there on the internet if you throw it out there it happens I I what call it what you want yeah and I don't I don't even know if this gentleman saw my post um but I got a message saying hey I absolutely love what you're doing I want to support you I don't really know how I can help you but here's some money right what what I literally had to wake up the next day and say hey so I'm about to put my life on the line are you punking me right now she did I mean obviously When anybody said there's always strings attached you know what I mean you would think and it's oh it's really hard to just accept when people give you compliments when people give you money for something that they believe in that you're making it's uncomfortable yeah when you're a maker when you're an artist when you're someone that's valuing themselves when we're here putting a price tag on something that you've created you know you're not going to sell off your babies no I'd like to but I don't think anyone would buy them um it's it's really hard to put a dollar amount on that so here you are and you've this Amazing Creation that's changing people's lives it's giving people a space to go where they feel safe where they can create where you've changed their space yeah and now someone believes in that mission and you're like okay are you lying are you g to take it away that's also our our whole life of trauma our whole life of do you really mean it this time is it real am I actually worthy of this yeah yes that whole space that you have to go to before you're like okay this is act this is happening when it set in I had a whole day probably three days after he messaged me I had a whole day like what am I doing I can't do this I can't run a business I hate that person in our brain yeah imposta syndrome yeah and it took a full day of really like oh I was kind of down on myself but then the next day I was like no I got this like this is going to be amazing yep I have a full naysayer day before two days of uh well we doing it it's got to happen got no choice now they're all watching yeah that's it holding yourself accountable is also another thing that I liked about the eforall I'm sure the the playmaker's life is good I'm sure there was a whole space in there oh yeah yeah so as I was graduating eforall um Playmakers was starting their gra um course so Playmakers offer it's currently open now for anyone that wants to join um it is playmaker University and for us it was a course it was a refresher course for the ogs um but you if you have not been a part of it you can join now and learn and be a part of this family um so once eforall ended I went straight into the playmaker course where I had just recently graduated from that um I was absolutely honored to have Michael frany serenate us at our graduation like I do love you he is my idol we actually life is good got us tickets to go meet and greet him a few years ago so yeah for him to pop up in his living room on his guitar writing a song for us was just just more of those connections he's so joyful though and everything that he does and really lives the way he writes his songs so and the cool thing about that is that's how the whole Community lives we all have that kind of mindset yeah we all have [ __ ] we all got stuff going on right it's not hippie dippy la la lamb when we pretend nothing goes on that's not it either we all got stuff yeah but the important thing is you've got to survive each day so you know what try to do the best you can try to turn that mindset around of you know Finding joy and all the things and really it it takes practice it takes work but I can tell you it it really does work we've covered a lot today I saw there was a study that said uh American happiness the the dollar amount that they put on American happiness was $1.2 Million I think it was yeah I think and that was what generation no this was in general in general um so then it started going through the different generations and I burst out laughing because it was like oh Millennials need more I was like no one's surprised by that sorry Millennials Americans put a price on happiness 59% of Americans think money can buy happiness and a new ser survey on the subject even puts a number on it so the average American says they need 1.2 gen Z says they need the Le the least amount half a million dollars Boomers a million gen xers 1.2 in terms of gender women would be happiest with 880,000 where men want more 1.5 greedy needies but uh I don't know necessarily yeah money money buys the things that make you little bit happier but I don't think that they're going to buy your happiness no cuz I'm still broke but I'm really happy now yeah yeah right like I still can't get a car yet after the wreck but I'm happy it's yeah it's so different and I'm just waiting for the money to start coming in well you got the space to make it happen and it's not necessarily a huge Money Maker but it's going to bring people into your space that belong there I mean I taught for so long it's never about the money so yeah right so talk about a places spaces you've got this great new space how do people find you how do people support you what is going into this space What are you looking for because I know you're like me there's always like little bits and pieces that come with the hole so talk about your bits and pieces please right I will talk about my bits and pieces um after later that's for later oh places spaces collaborative art studio and Lounge is exactly what I say it's a collaboration um there is nothing about this studio that is me myself and I um my angel investor has now actually become my business partner um this gentleman has had the same kind of ideas that I do and he is ready to uh reignite his joy and so he's jumping two feet in with this entire um Lounge we will have when you walk through the doors it's going to be a gift shop with like a seating area there's going to be artists um all local artists and creators um you know I'm going to keep it very local so if you are looking to put stuff in a gift shop please reach out to me o places spaces gmail.com I have about six gift shop vendors already set up to go in um there will be pieces on the wall we are also going to be hosting classes and workshops so if you are creative and you would like to put your skills out there you have something that you can bring to the community um let me know again just send me an email we want to start bringing back some of the things they've taken away from school systems we want to bring back the home economics um this isn't just a place for children we want to do workshops that will cater to all ages we're g to have Bingo nights game nights dancing there's going to be a music Lounge we have collaborated with some incredible musicians um and they are going to volunteer their time and help set up a music studio I love it so people can just come and jam kids can come Jam adults can come Jam um it's not an entertainment right facility go and entertain and meet new people that are of the same mind things and try new things and you know if you don't like this activity you might like the next activity you don't really know going into something if you're gonna enjoy it right until you do it well and that's the thing a lot of people don't have that space to be able to say am I going to like playing guitar do I have to buy hundreds of dollars worth of equipment before I decided I don't like it anymore and now I have to sell it like I don't I I don't like that being a bar to entry to being able to try some skill a craft a hobby where you just can't afford to do it but I've always wanted to try that how many times have you heard someone in your life say I've always wanted to try that and the other thing is but I'm not a creative person I'm not creative no it's got nothing to do with that yeah um a practice does not make Perfection practice makes progress the more that you try something out you progressively get better at it if oh I wish I brought you the Rocks when I first started painting yeah so bad so like a five-year-old could have painted it but practice makes progress and then people like oh that's really good I want to buy that your art though is really incredible if you've not seen I mean she does she'll paint storefronts it's taken a lot your art is really really good I mean pretty incredible I appreciate that you can check it out on op places spaces.com um so yeah we're looking for hosts we're looking for people that want to lead workshops we're looking for people that want to put gifts in um you know their products in the gift shop and oh we're gonna be hosting birthday parties uh Network meetings vendor events I mean you name it we have you just want the space being used square foot space for it that's and it's a huge space so I love that you're opening it up to whatever creative idea you've got because I think it's important there shouldn't be a bar to entry to be able to try these things which is nice I think during pandemic my husband didn't know what to do with me and he was like throwing he's he loves to craft it's his ADHD brain he's just got a do something with it y whether it it's a painting or this new thing or I'm try this I'm going to Noodle with this or I'm going to lockpick or I'm going to what whatever random puzzles or games he is just like the gamees guy and I I you started watching its process for me it's just kind of I like the beginnings of things I like setting things up and then watching what happens with them yeah I don't like just forever doing those things and for him he's also that way but he until he figures it out yeah like there's a problem to figure it out all right I already figured out the problem we're good so he kept trying to say you need a hobby you need a hobby and I I don't necessarily like I'm not a Hobby Lobby kind of gal I like being in the moment watching Everybody do it and talking to them that's lit that's my joy I'm like why'd you like that why'd you do that what's your life story what's happening but then you did the goat yoga and you like oh this is really fun I needed that for my mental space to just stop my brain from making things but that's what I need the art for the art shuts down my brain y I stop thinking about all the other things going on and I'm just focusing in that moment it doesn't even matter what it comes out like it can turn out like crap and I'll burn it after but in that moment my mind is shut down from All Things negative and I am just focusing on what I'm doing and I think that's why it's so important to have so many outlets you know it doesn't mean go buy everything for every single hobby but dabble in it find what brings you Joy Stephanie so painful I don't buy anything I still have my first communion money I don't I don't like doing anything I'm like oh something will happen I'm I'm like the nervous not risk taker yet when it's like a big risk I'm like we're jumping let's do this let's do it two feet in it's a ve it's a very bad space that I'm in it's either all or nothing and I'm working on my incremental changes right now so that's that's my journey at this moment in time you're here starting this new space and you're opening it up to everyone else and I think that that's a really incredible exting thing to do I'm so excited I mean one of the mentors from eforall I'm going to throw him under the bus um was like I love you for all however there was one Mentor that said well who's your competition like I don't have any he's like no really who's your competition you have competition like no my business is collaboration yeah like I literally am not competing with anybody like some people may have competition with me but I'm inviting you to come be a part of it I don't want to do this all by myself where's the fun in that well it's not necessarily you too you're going to have to deal with competitive people because that is life life um and I think that that is a definite situation that I found myself always worrying about the competition the competition but now it took my husband to say to me that you're not doing that anymore that's not your competition you don't have and I was like oh yeah you're right yeah you have just created this I just made my own yeah I don't like any of that so I made my own and now gives you lemons we're making lemonade over here and that's what we're doing and I'm really enjoying the ability to do so and it's amazing you're connecting so many people I mean you are literally the reason I am here I never would have done this we talked about this before the show I deal with such anxiety hence all the scars and dots on my face I'll talk about it um people have tricks where they pull their hair I picked my face with subconsciously I don't even know if I'm doing it uh it's just a nervous tick anous tick and so the fact that I'm actually sitting here cool as a cucumber having the best time of my life with you right now I want to thank you for providing that space I love that and I'm I'm glad that you feel comfortable in in my space because I know that you kind of had a moment where you were getting some press and you had to go on born TV and you were so nervous so nervous and then when all the cameras shut down instant panic attack that's scary like I hadn't even left the seat Bill's sitting right here I'm sitting here we're having this interview the whole time holding it together and you see this in a lot of children a lot of children will hold their [ __ ] together at school yeah and when they go home they're completely different because they're letting all that angst out so the the cameras stopped boom tears panic attack shaking took a minute two minutes get over it I'm good you know it's weird I can't explain it I can't help it it just happens yeah but you've worked on the skills yeah to be able to let it you know okay I'm gonna I'm gonna need a few minutes just let me be here let me do it I'll be fine and it was cool and I was like hey that was great thanks for having me and now this what do you think is like the biggest resource so like the one thing that really has made a difference in your your space um the community the community of support you'll get one or two naysayers here but honestly that community of support of wow you're really doing a good thing and I want to be a part of it I'm like come on join the ride I don't know what's happening I don't know where we're going but it's gonna be fun come on in I'm a good time hop on the VW bus we're going for a ride oh so back to that I didn't get the bus I didn't get the trailer but I do have a VW bus counter being shipped to the studio I saw that I was like wait a minute where is the what is this that is our welcome counter it's going to be so cool well I love it you know it's it's the hopes and goals sometimes when you've got your mind set on one specific thing and you've had your mind set on a specific thing for so long well I can deal with a piece of that in this giant space yeah yeah it'll be cool I had one growing up I had a VW bus growing up we went camping and then I had a VW Beetle and um there wasn't much good things that happened in my childhood but those two things really stuck out so for some reason I wanted to kind of recreate that again people seem to love it well it's your joyful item yeah I think a lot of people have that whether it's a teddy bear a blanket a little thing that you've got from your past that just brought you comfort so it's your comfort item I mean granted it had to be a VW bus I mean it's my com it's my emotional support BW bus we might have only gone camping in it once I don't even know but that one time that I had a good time stuck with me Lisa says I love this so much Lucinda Rachel Rachel thank you so much for coming out wrangling goats I got to see your beautiful face she is over at adoquin Acres uh her family owns the um the what is it a greenhouse but she's also she's my my Namaste Yogi she sometimes has yoga stuff in there she is also connected with Tanya and it's really wonderful to see all these amazing connections that the people in our community have when you see the different layers of their person and how they interact and how they've been also and I don't I lovingly say grasping at straws but just reaching out to the the tether it's your web yeah to keep you safe you know what I mean it's that that place your your balance right where where're okay I'm holding on to this this is my area I'm GNA send out my little tendrils I'm going to hold on to these pieces yeah and I think we all do this and it's just it's really wonderful to see that and and and see the interaction from the different groups and the different community members and the different um places in which you overlap with your neighbor I don't feel that we have gotten this close in a really long time we used to have neighborhoods we used to have neighbors we used to have people that watched our back we used to have all of these things and we've gotten away from it because we're on devices so now we're here so we actually I'm actually really proud out of my neighborhood we have created that um I don't want to toot my own horn but I love how you said we but me I hate owning it but I do know yeah I'm old school and new school so yes a lot of stuff has to be done on social media when I was about to start this journey I was literally getting rid of social media good this is the good of social media that we're having the conversation with and there's a lot of bad out there and once again if you choose to let yourself seep into that then that's your choice yes and if you you right you have to choose to avoid those things positive connections everyone we're striving for them every day yep we're trying but you did it and you connected with our friend Lisa that way she showed up and she's like I didn't know these people from any I just saw that they were having a walk it was in my area and I just went and we had a lovely time and I met so many new people yeah and in my neighborhood so not just social media but I will go around Flyers door too um I mean there's one guy that called me out for breaking federal laws but is it really I didn't touch anything I just let you know we were having a scarecrow competition like but you know what there's always gonna be a Mr Wilson in the bunch but the other hundred people put out scarecrows so it was really cool yeah to bring them all together so we do we have people that watch out for each other we make baskets for our neighbors when they move in um so we have start I always say we live in 80s neighborhood and we' tried to create that our kids bikes are everywhere our kids are up and down hockey nets in the street love it yeah well and that's that's exactly what we've created with my son's basketball hoop down there and we've got the whole neighborhood of kids and little and big and I told you we've we've talked about how Cody's got his little basketball lessons and I got little chalk for them to write it yeah it's a dangerous little area where're at the End of the Street people come whipping around that corner but now they know not to right because we've set the precedent of there are little kids hanging out at the bottom of the street and it doesn't matter how old they are but that this is where they're going to be right this is their chosen area kids do exist they've always existed yeah well this used to be a really good neighborhood for the trick-or-treating and all of that and we used to connect that way so now we're finding other ways to do so and I really think that I it needs to happen and yes it does happen on social but it should be happening in your neighborhoods too and go meet your neighbor I don't care if it's weird I don't I mean I know so weird cringy I didn't like it and then you know what I kind of like it now yeah yeah because we're a really cool neighborhood right for the most part I've talked about my neighbor's dogs Angela's out there barking up a storm over there they've all got people names it throws me all off but whatever have doggy playd it's like oh your dog's coming over to play in my yard okay send them over literally I text my neighbor yep send send Molly over and she'll come play in the yard with my dogs okay I'm sending her back I love it it's great we had our um oh we haven't gotten a chance to get to our crazy crime and I just wanted to mention our crazy crime because the hot police officer is now back officer woodell I so apologize to you for looking so handsome uh in photos but there is one really really extra good-looking barnable cop and so when I was opening up my uh my social media machine this morning and I saw him and I don't even know if I can present the photo because I feel like I've got where is the photo of him oh oh There He there but the guy behind him also looks like Ryan Reynolds and I it's throwing me all off so creepy so the two of them there he is they got pulled over for uh it was a car that was unregistered it was unlicensed pounds of marijuana inside here and then all anybody could talk about on social media was the good-looking cop and I was like this poor guy he's married he's taken but I got sucked into a stupid thread on social media sitting there watching this poor guy and the animalistic women that were making their comments you're animals I'm also here watching for it eating popcorn good morning chrisy it was great to see you the other day all right let everyone know how they can get involved with old places spaces as I got off on my tangent but I definitely wanted to address our crazy crime element since you're filling in for Hank today yeah you've got to bring in the hot cops um so yeah op places spaces.com is the website um I'm still working on it of course this is all new literally just this past week my entire life has changed um I'm going to be at the studio almost every day getting it ready um if you're interested in being a part of it shoot me an email op places spaces atgmailcom you want to know what op places is yes okay so life is good taught us to create an oasis type play space in the classroom and so I did that I had a teepee with pillows and twinkly lights and when a kid was feeling unregulated I invited them to go to the teepee do your thing calm down when you're ready to learn because you're not ready to learn when you're emotionally distraught then you come back and join us and when I quit the field I was in my garden and I'm like oh my God as an adult I need to create my own old places this was when Co was starting how can I do this it started with get getting free flowers from Home Depot and planting them is that where that came from I was like all of a sudden this one's running a greenhouse I'm like I don't know what she's doing but I'm here for it yeah I heard some tips and tricks and way you can get some things and you know I love it and I created my own no places and only then when I finally had created this space for myself I then felt comfortable to go ahead and create that for other people I love it Lauren we will be seeing a lot more of our you find her at our Christmas markets we've got three more left we're in the mash P Commons speaking of creating a little Oasis we had a lot of fun over there makers Artisans Crafters we've got food we've got entertainment and it's just a homey little environment that knockout beer garden is gifted us space to use the atmosphere was incredible yeah and it's so fun and just the joy of watching you work with children thank and bring this whole Space because when the kids do it the adults do it and it was really a magical space and I'm looking forward to it this Sunday 11: to3 come and see us um for lemonad we've got a couple of events going on tonight I'll be over at Shipwrecked for trivia it is a crazy Tuesday night I'm telling you there's a wait there's a sign that says Stephanie Viva trivia if you're staying for it you have to wait until almost 7:30 because the seats we need the seats where did you go it's a lot of fun so that's 7:30 to 9: we've got a brand new night and our friend Bri who is part of lemonade now is taking on a second night of Music Bingo because she is loving it she is also one of those people that makes her own magic and we are going to be over at Wicked so she'll be at Wicked tonight from 6 until 8 her first music bingo so please go support someone go out and just have a really fun night shut off your brain do something that's just Mindless but also listen to some music and just get in that Joy factor it's free fun and you can play along with it as much as you'd like to I really suggest you do so find your joy find your places yes yes I love it Lauren thank you so much please come back you absolutely wait we're gonna be doing this each week right yeah you're gonna see more of this so Wednesdays where are we going to be coming from oh my gosh I'm so excited well we're gonna be are we going to record here we going to record somewhere else I don't know we're go there Wednesdays we're GNA just do fun stuff so we'll see what happens we don't know what's happening she's going to be my regular Wednesday lady so we're really looking forward to this commitment whether we're going to be here in your space who knows hanging out with krisen however we get it done yeah we're g to get it done it's gonna be fun I know so more of us on Wednesdays everyone set yourself an appointment 7:30 8 o'clock every single Wednesday Lauren's going to be my my regular for a while I'm pumped about it so thank you support us give us a like give us a share subscribe to our YouTube channel and uh we'll be talking to you soon have a great day everyone bye bye all right that's off everyone on lemono