Making Way

Behind The Making Way Podcast

• Melissa Park • Season 4 • Episode 66

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This week, we flip the script as I, Melissa Park, step into the guest seat. We delve into key instances in my life that have fueled my personal growth and the inspiration behind this podcast.

Cheers to season 4! 🥂 Season 5 will begin Tuesday, September 19.

⭐️ Please leave a review and let me know what topic you would like to discuss!

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Speaker 1:

Hello everyone, today's episode is a little different. Today I'm the guest. Some of you have been listening since day one and some of you today is day one. As we engage in these conversations, I thought it might be helpful to share a little bit about myself. I reflect on some key events in my life that have propelled personal changes and realizations, as well as what motivated me to start this podcast. Towards the end of the episode, I share something I want each of you to know.

Speaker 1:

Shout out to Grace G, the multi-hyphenate talent, friend and previous guest. She is today's interviewer. Funny story she starts at the conversation saying I'm a perfectionist, which I immediately rejected. But as soon as we finish recording, I said to her I don't think I'm going to release this episode because I don't know if it's good enough. She so wisely said being able to take that step whether or not you think it's perfect is a really good step to move forward in. So here's to each of us making way. Cheers to season four and season five will begin Tuesday, september 19th. Thank you for listening and joining me on this endeavor. I cannot express my gratitude enough for you and every listener. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope you enjoy today's episode.

Speaker 2:

Hello, hello, welcome back to Making Way. Are you a little bit startled by an unexpected voice? Let me explain so. In this podcast, as you're familiar, melissa has shared many stories about how others have found their path in life, and today I have the honor of flipping the script to go behind the scenes and introduce listeners to a very, very familiar guest. Melissa name is Grace. I was a past guest on Making Way and today's host, and that's really enough about me. So, melissa, welcome.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. Thank you for having me on my podcast.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, you're welcome. Thank you for doing this.

Speaker 1:

Wait. So do you interview other people by any chance, like is this something you do or like what? This is your interview, but what interested you in being an interviewer?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I was on your podcast before I've been on podcasts and while I've never been ready or interested in managing all the complexities and the commitment of a podcast itself, it was always fun and I love hearing about people the same as you do, so that's why I was like let me take this opportunity and flip the script. So you know as much as this is not about me. I'm happy to answer questions as well. So let's let's. Before we dive into your background, before we really get to learn about what makes you you, I need to know what's been your most like, current, most effective life hack.

Speaker 1:

Oh, gosh, you never prepare me for this one Effective life hack. Like what's an example of a life hack.

Speaker 2:

Well, you're traveling right now, right, and you are balancing multiple projects and you talk to a ton of people every you know week, every month, that have many tips and tricks. So is there any secret sauce, anything that's been working really well for you to feel more productive, more purposeful?

Speaker 1:

You know what I will say maybe a life. It says so much of a life hack as it is just maybe okay, it's a life hack. It's a life hack, okay. So my life hack is that don't give yourself more time than you need. For example, at my job and I think especially remote working people feel like they have well, I'm just working from home, I can work after dinner. I can, you know, make you wake up earlier.

Speaker 1:

I feel like for me, having worked in corporate for over 10 years now and now juggling multiple projects, I find that in general, if you just tell yourself like by five o'clock, like that's my end time, you manage finishing what you need to finish by then and then prioritizing like anything that's like mainly time sensitive first and then anything that needs to be carried over to the next day. But really it's just about just giving, just limiting your time of like just don't over extend yourself. Like well, you know what, I'll just do this later. Like you know, you're like taking like just finish it by five and you're done for the evening.

Speaker 2:

That makes a lot of sense. And I think that ties to one, like learning how to say no, which means like I'm going to stop, so you actually get it done. And two, that you're not procrastinating, because it's easy to make excuses when you feel like you can do it later and then you don't want to. So I think that's really interesting. Another thing that I heard recently is about like people who are perfectionists and I know you, I know you're a bit of a perfectionist, you have some. You know you want everything to be really great. Sometimes unlocking that level of like productivity is also saying I can do a B effort and that's gonna be great. Like getting a B effort done is better than like never getting that A plus, and I think that fights against some of our upbringing, but giving yourself permission to not be perfect in order to make progress.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So if I may and this is this is your leading the charge here but I think it's so funny that it'll do like a little bit like like a self-diagnose, like psychological diagnosis of myself. I think I hear that a lot from people that that's their kind of perception of me is that I'm a perfectionist, and maybe in my mind I think like, okay, a perfectionist like does things really well and does things quote, unquote perfectly, but I'm like I don't really feel like I do anything that excellently. You know, if anything, it's probably just more. I think maybe my perfectionistic tendencies is is more of the overthinking and trying to get it perfect, opposed to executing things perfectly.

Speaker 2:

Right. I think it's a lot about going in feeling like you've known and thought through everything that you have, like control over it, versus kind of flying by the seat of your pants sometimes to explore something new. That makes a lot of sense, so awesome tip. So your tip is saying don't make excuses and give yourself potentially more time. Just get, give yourself the scope and stick with the scope. Scope, creep your own life and work. Let's go and start from the beginning now to learn more about you. My podcast creator, slash yes, tell us. Where are you from. What's your background like?

Speaker 1:

So I'm originally from Staten Island. I grew up in Staten Island, which is, you know, what is most often known as the forgotten borough, because it's one of the boroughs that everyone goes to Manhattan, brooklyn, bronx, queens. They know about those places, but no one really knows Staten Island and usually most people's experience of Staten Island is they took the Staten Island ferry to Staten Island, took it right back. They never actually went into Staten Island, but I grew up in Staten Island. My parents are both immigrants. My dad served in the US Army and then he retired early because of medical reasons. But yeah, that's where. That's where I'm from Staten Island.

Speaker 2:

I know that this podcast is all about highlighting individuality and the path of self-discovery, and so you know, from our conversations offline and online, I know that this podcast is a passion project around that right, so a way for you to bring what you love to share with the world. When exactly did you start this podcast?

Speaker 1:

So I started this podcast, I wanna say almost three years ago. And I started this podcast because, like I said, I just you know you started off this podcast episode too, saying that we find people's stories interesting and really like connecting with people. And so I found, you know, through my life, and especially in my 20s, I really felt like I had the privilege of meeting a lot of people and they were interesting and I don't say that as if they were some like I don't know. I guess when you think about, oh, like really interesting people, they're like CEOs and millionaires of the world, like no, it's not like people like that, but it was.

Speaker 1:

Some people were very accomplished, some people had a lot of just like wisdom. And I found that, talking to people, everyone had a very interesting story or point of view and or some sort of experience that I was able to glean some insights from. And oftentimes, when I would have these conversations, I'd always have a friend in mind like, oh, I wish my friend Carly was here and she can hear this conversation, she would really benefit from this. And so, kind of with that idea, I you know, the question of like how do we scale wisdom, how do we scale these conversations is kind of where the idea of where the podcast came from.

Speaker 2:

Right. So you were having these conversations being like I wanna scale, I wanna disseminate this in the world with like-minded people or help inspire people, and so that makes a lot of sense. And then what was that? What were those first few steps? Like right, like the beginning this kind of journey's full with self-doubt and challenges. So like what were those tactical first few days in which you took it from idea to reality?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it's hard. Like you know, memory is just so fuzzy, I think. Well, I guess to start off to say is that sometimes it's not knowing is good. You just kind of start and if you know too much it can be a barrier, and I think I really just. Actually, the story really starts even before the start of the podcast, which was so just to let me give you a lot of context. So let's just backtrack the story you have to edit this so.

Speaker 1:

Okay, okay, cause the podcast didn't start out with the name making way. It started out with a different name, which was Nunk and Conversation and then. So the story where the word Nunk comes from is, you know, it goes back like three or four years, which was when I moved. I used to live in LA, so I moved from LA to New York and it was a very hard time in my life because a lot of things kind of came crashing down in my life, which is why, which prompted the move back home to New York and, long story short, we can get into it, we don't have to get into it. But I started this like organizing business, like side hustle. It wasn't a business, it was a side hustle. And I was like what do I name this company? And I was like it has to be short, it has to be one syllable, wait, one syllable, and it has to have a K sound in it. And so I was like looking up different words and I wanted something to.

Speaker 1:

I wanted to honor that time in my life because it was a very transformative time in my life. I think it was a time when I first learned about personal finance, and not it wasn't the personal finance part that like changed my life. It was like that was an exercise that helped it. But I think for the first time in my life I didn't think like a victim where and I don't know if anyone would have said I was had a victim's mentality before. Maybe they did and I just wasn't aware. But there's growing up and in my 20s, there's always this feeling of like you're waiting for something to happen to transform your life. Maybe it's that job, maybe it's that person that comes into your life, but you're kind of like waiting for something to happen to you, and I always had that. But for the first time it was like the switch of okay, no, I need to make this happen. Like I need to take care of myself. No one is coming. That was like the resounding message in my head. It was like no one is coming to save you.

Speaker 1:

And so I was 30 or 31 at this point and I was pretty low at that point because I moved back to Satin Island and didn't have a job. I was moving back in with my parents and I'm thinking how the hell did this happen? This happened so quickly, like I'm 31 and I'm moving back in with my parents. When I mean, obviously, I'm so grateful that my parents were supportive and they were very supportive during that time, but I wished I was that person to support my parents and not me now asking for help as a 31 year old, so where it could feel like I felt like at that time, like I have so much catching up to do, I'm so behind in life, if I you know how it all came, how all these thoughts came to be, I don't know, but I thought, well, I have to just be. I just have to accept where I am right now.

Speaker 1:

What happened happened Like what's my next step, what's my next move? Like because here I am right now. Everything that's happened in the past has happened. There's nothing I can change about that. I just have to be in this moment. And that was very powerful to me because I, you know, I felt really sorry for myself, really down on myself. And then I guess just being in the now, being in the moment, was a good centering point for me, because you can get caught up in the past.

Speaker 2:

Right, and so what I hear is not necessarily like self-victimization, but there was a shift when you were like 30, 31, moving from being passive and being reactive to the world to being active and being proactive. Right, and so that level of accountability was able to get you to start changing your relationship with other people, with the world, with yourself Is so. Are you saying that this podcast was like one of those moments where you're like no, this is me. Now I'm taking control, this is my sphere of influence.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, a little bit, and like that's where that name, nunk, comes from, because Nunk means now in Latin, and I wanted to create this business and everything I was doing kind of around that and to honor that time. And so, yeah, the podcast was you know, this is me trying to do my thing and let's just try to do it. And you know, I just asked people. I knew people I respected, people whose advice I would seek, regardless of a podcast or not, and it, you know, till this day, most of my guests are people I know and you know, slowly but surely it's branching out to you know people I don't have a direct connection to. But yeah, it just really started with asking. I asked a good friend of mine who I often have come, you know, someone who I, you know, confide in or have conversations with, and you know my CFO, who I really enjoyed working with, and then, like my friend's mom. So it really was just an array of people where I just thought they can offer great advice.

Speaker 1:

But it did not start with just anybody. I had this idea of I wanted to interview people who were like 50 and older. So I just felt like older people had just a different perspective and like hindsight on certain things you know in the same way where, like, if we were to go back to high school, you'd probably do a lot of things differently. Or you just have a different point of perspective now that you're out of it and maybe years out from it. But then, like I don't know like five guests in, I was like, oh, I don't know anybody else who's like 50 year old or so. I had a shit, I had a pivot.

Speaker 2:

What continues to inspire you today?

Speaker 1:

What does inspire me or motivates me to keep going is a lot of it's obviously just like personal development, right, like of like, can I keep doing this? Can I like stick to something longterm, I mean? And also I really do enjoy this. I like I love talking to people. So, if I can you know if I could do this all the time, I don't know what to say it would be great. The other thing is it's like I think like every time I have this feeling like should I keep doing this? And then, as soon as I start editing the podcast, I'm like, oh, this episode is so good, like I just really love what the guests are saying and things like that. And so it's usually when I'm like editing that I get remotivated because, like when you're in the moment, it's really hard to you're just in the moment, so, but when I'm listening back, I'm like, wow, I really love what this person said and like that's such good insight, or et cetera, et cetera. So I think it's really, it's really that.

Speaker 1:

And another thing I think that's really cool about having a podcast or any sort of platform like this is the access.

Speaker 1:

You know, there's definitely ways where you can have an informal, an informational interview and you can reach out to people, but even then it's really hard to actually have those. But if I reach out to someone and say like I'm really inspired by you, I wanna know your story, you know, would you like to be on my podcast? Like this is the world we live in and people understand what that means and they're like sure. So I've been able to talk to a lot of people that I normally wouldn't have had access to. So I think that that, too, keeps me motivated. And then, of course, on the times where, again, this is like a little like inside baseball, I guess, but like with podcasting, it's really difficult to like get feedback. You know it's not. You know not like your audience, everyone who's listening, is not telling you like what they think, and et cetera, et cetera. So on the occasions where you know friends or people have said like I really love this episode or this or that, I'm like oh, that's very motivating as well.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, so, podcast listeners, remember if you are listening and you like or don't like it, Melissa wants your feedback, so do shoot her a message. So actually going back to the one of the first questions I asked, because money and personal finance and your relationship with money so kind of central to your transformation in the last five, 10 years. What's your favorite money hack?

Speaker 1:

Favorite money hack. It depends. It depends what stage in life and what stage in your money journey you're on.

Speaker 2:

You right now. You right now, right today, are you gonna? Eat well, you can eat sushi for dinner.

Speaker 1:

No, I will not do that, but I will say money hack, okay, maybe my money hack is and this will maybe potentially always be my money hack, no matter what stage is organization. Because, okay, I guess I always have a story. So the story goes when I moved to LA, I moved to LA with nothing. I literally just like found an apartment and I moved with a friend. We had nothing and we had nothing in our apartment.

Speaker 1:

For like a year we lived in a two bedroom, one and a half bathroom apartment in West LA and I remember you know, with a generosity of like different friends, they like just gave me some of their like household stuff, like here's, like, here's some cups, here's some plates. And it's like through that experience we both had the same experience we both like went home for Christmas that first year in LA and we're like, oh my gosh, our parents have so much stuff because we didn't have anything and we were fine. And so I think through that I learned like you really don't need that much stuff to live and to even thrive. So with that experience, plus with organization which I'm such a like proponent for organization like you really see, like what you have, what you need to buy, and you know, because everyone has this habit of like things get lost in the back of the drawer, on the back of the cabinet and you end up buying the same thing over and over again. Or for food, wise things are expiring and so now you have to like throw out a lot of stuff and you just like wasted money, you're wasting food and products, and so I think like just keeping things simple, keeping things organized, and another philosophy of mine is like just really buying the thing you want.

Speaker 1:

So this last year, when I was living in my apartment I only had my my stob, like cast iron pot, and a cast iron, and I didn't buy any other pots or pans. Because I really want an all clad set and if anyone who knows about all clad, it's very expensive. But I'm like I just want to buy this all clad set once. It's very durable, so it'll last like decades after. So I was like I don't want to buy this something cheap and then like throw it away and then buy it, buy something else. So I literally just use these two things that I had and, yeah, I think you end up saving a lot of money that way too. So I don't know if that's a money hack, but that's how I approach things.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, tying, tying this to what you were saying earlier, it's a lot of it is intentionality, right, we're so encouraged to just spend stuff, buy stuff, cheap stuff, deals, discounts, black Friday, but thinking both tied to money and personal self, being intentional about what you're looking for and making sure that objective, that purpose, is there when you're taking that action, it makes a lot of sense. Yeah, so you know. You've talked about how you've changed before and during the podcast. You've talked about what inspired you to create this podcast. What are some of your favorite standout moments?

Speaker 1:

I think one of my favorite standout moments was with Makoto Fujimura and he so he's a well-known artist, he's a painter, and the reason why that interview stands out is like for a number of reasons, cause I felt like immediately there was just some sort of like connection and there was just such a great flow in the conversation so it just made it really easy A lot of just back and forth and like levity and laughter to the conversation as well as like really going to deep, deep conversations or deep talks. But you know, so much of his work is about slow art, you know, it's like I think the quote is like it's like a small rebellion against the speed of time. And the reason why I reached out to him is because I really feel like artists have a different you're an artist too. They just have a different like almost like a third eye, like you kind of have another layer of like a sense or like perspective on things. That that's where you need the artist to kind of like create that and share that and like kind of bring people into that.

Speaker 1:

And what he says in the episode is like a portal and I really like that episode because it might also be where I am in my own life right now, which is like, how do we experience spirituality outside of a church or outside of like an organization?

Speaker 1:

Because I feel like, at the end of the day, like we live in a very supernatural world, which is, I mean, just if you just like take a second, take like 10 seconds to think about how did I even get here? Like I was born, those are like what was happening before I had any sort of consciousness, and then what happens after we die, and how just things happen in life and just this. If you just take a moment, think like how crazy it is Like we live on this planet in the middle of this vast universe. It's kind of like kind of really strange if you think there's nothing, very there's nothing logical about it. Where I think in America, like in our day to day life, everything is very logical, very tangible. We're trying to like hit our goals and control things and all this stuff, but-.

Speaker 2:

KPI's.

Speaker 1:

KPI's, you know, and but I guess there's just this feeling like there's so much more. There's this feeling of there's gotta be more and what is that. And so I mean you have to listen to the episode. But it's just a really good episode where we kind of talk about that and like how does a nine to five person have a spiritual experience and beyond, just like yeah, we go like do we just are we here to just come and like make money all day, every day? And like just come home and go to work, come home, eat dinner, go to sleep, go to work, come home, eat dinner and then go to sleep, you know? So anyways, yeah, that's definitely one of those was a standout episode for me yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I'll check out the episode.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, in the show notes you'll find link in the episode.

Speaker 1:

Link my own show to my own show Exactly While I'm being interviewed on my own show. It's completely egotistical.

Speaker 2:

It's a public health promotion. Let's do it. That's what I'm here for. I'm here to shout out your high school hater. I'm here to shout out your LA friends who housed you and the nanny family and I gave you an extra thousand bucks shouting at your podcast. So I mean, it makes sense, right? This spirituality is just another pathway, another channel for thinking about finding yourself and finding purpose, Moving forward too, like if you were to have unlimited resources, time, money, energy, whatever that is. Where would you want to take this podcast?

Speaker 1:

I would want to take this podcast like on the road or live. I just like to have that in-person experience. That's what I would really love for this podcast to be is to be able to do that and meet people in person and have that face-to-face conversation with listeners, and yeah, I think that would be the dream. To do that, what would it take?

Speaker 2:

for you to execute this dream.

Speaker 1:

Well so, and you can provide any of your thoughts on this because you're a business savvy woman. But my thought is, I think what it would take for me is that this podcast needs to be, I guess, reputable enough that people are willing to come to you to record an episode. I feel like there's very few. Maybe there's very few, but I don't know. But I think there's very few people who can kind of command that which is like a Joe Rogan or like a Dax Shepard and a Monica Padman or I don't know these, like Alex Cooper, who does call her daddy, it's like really, really like millions of downloads and millions of followers, kind of can command that Maybe I could be wrong or a lot of money, just like, maybe, whether it's like personal wealth or like sponsorship of the podcast.

Speaker 1:

I think then you can either like offer the guests like we'll fly you out and then let me, like rent a space and then bite people in. I'm sure there's a business model for it. But I just think it's like I'm sure everyone's trying to predict what's the world of AI gonna look like, as everyone's speculating. I think one of my speculations about all of that and it's not not saying so much to do with AI, but maybe just technology. I think is like there's gonna be a real place for in-person stuff.

Speaker 1:

Because, in-person stuff is such a different feeling. Like I went to a Beyonce concert which is like a huge check off the bucket list, and there is something about being in-person. Like at this concert, the energy of the audience is like it's really palpable. It's like almost overwhelming. Like when she comes on, like you physically feel overwhelmed and then it's just like this magical feeling of like being in-person. We're singing songs, we're all like dancing, and but you just cannot get that watching it on your TV or on your computer.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, Right, I think a lot of society now is very isolating, right, like a sense of community is missing and screens and inner online interactions. So I mean, I think that the level of humanity when you're in a space with face to face, right Meet space, not space or whatever it's called. How else do you intentionally build that into your life right now? Community Human interaction, that kind of maybe scaled down from a Beyonce concert vibe, but right, that level of authentic human to human relationship, hmm, Um, okay, maybe this is maybe okay Practical advice and also maybe what I do.

Speaker 1:

So I have my best friend who also lives on Staten Island. You know, something we do together is like, because she has kids and I'm single, it's easier for me to just go to her place and like they can put the kids down and all that stuff. So on a pretty regular basis, like she'll host a dinner and we'll have a game night and we'll just like hang out. And another thing we did for the two of us is cause, like life can just kind of like just get that. You know, people are everyone's busy, everyone has a lot of things to do, and so once a month she and I have a dinner date and we go out to like we have a very specific goal, which is we want to explore restaurants in Manhattan or Brooklyn or in New York City, essentially. And so once a month we always try a new restaurant because we love that. It's a new fun experience and it's like a very specific activity for us to do together. There's that. And then you know, it's just like making time for friends and just asking people to hang out.

Speaker 1:

I think it's always scary to ask people to hang out. And I had another episode with one of my friends and she is what I call the hospitality queen Like she is just an expert in hospitality and welcoming people, connecting people, and what I found really insightful about that conversation is that even for someone like her, she's nervous about asking people to hang out and she's like that's just like part of that's just part of it, cause you're like putting yourself out there, cause someone might say no, I'm busy or I can't or maybe don't even get a response, and you know that can feel weird and it feels like vulnerable because you're putting yourself out there. So I think, yeah, just asking people to hang out and I think generally just being the first person to do that usually works.

Speaker 2:

The reason why I love that is. Your first tip was about scheduling and sticking to a schedule and staying within scope, which is what you talked about before, about what you would say to be more successful or be more productive. You pick your thing. It's a very specific object, it's what you want, it's aligned with your values and you remember to do it and you stick to that schedule. The second part is about being proactive and taking control for that and like owning up to those consequences, and I think that also ties heavily to what you do here. Where it's you're helping your listeners kind of take that step to put someone else out there. You are putting your guests on the spotlight so that they can share their insight because they have insight that you see and two, that your listeners can hear and grow from that as well. So really it's just a continuation of what you're doing with the podcast.

Speaker 1:

I guess I've never thought of it that way, but yeah, that's really good synthesizing how deep.

Speaker 2:

So you know one. You say that or we'll change this. But let me rephrase the question. You mentioned that you have an organizing business, you have this podcast, you are working and you have friends and you go to concerts and you have a fabulous. What else are you working on that your audience might not know about?

Speaker 1:

Okay. So here's a funny story, maybe more for you than for anybody else is. So you know, you and I met because you're a business savvy woman and a marketing expert, and so you know, I asked you for your help. You're like, how do like help me? And you said, what was the thing you said to me, melissa, you need to niche down, like you have to be very specific. And I was like, okay, sure, I'm like how can I not niche down? I'm like you know, it's like there's just a refusal to do that. And then I have another friend who started her own business and all this stuff. I asked her. I say, hey, here's what I'm thinking. She said you need to niche down. So anyways, with that being said, I guess you know it's funny.

Speaker 1:

I know I said like we should talk about this, but I'm now I'm like, oh, should I share what I'm working on? Because what if it doesn't happen? What if I don't do it? I guess the thing I'm working on now is niching down with my organizing thing. So I know we originally, when you and I originally talked, we said why don't we merge the podcast with the organizing business? Make it one, but get very specific about like being about organization, you know, or like that being the theme, just really niching down.

Speaker 1:

So instead, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna keep these two things separately, because I think I'm almost like trying to fit, like a square, what is a square peg in a round hole, and it's like you know, I think these things are just completely separate, like the podcast is its podcast its own thing, and then, with organizing, to get very specific about why this business exists and who this business is for.

Speaker 1:

So I'm working on building that and what does that look like? What is the actual service or product that's being provided? Because I, like I said before, I adamantly, really deeply believe that organizing is helpful in so many ways and I won't go into all of that right now, but it really can help so many facets of your life. And what I'm thinking this is a direction I'm going in is helping creating an organizing business that's targeting busy moms, because moms are busy and then they're running a household and having lived with my sister and seeing like firsthand what it takes to run a household, take care of a family, a husband, two kids, you know I just I see a lot of like, oh you know how much organizing and systems can really at least take a burden off of a lot of that, like it's not going to eliminate it, but it's going to make a lot of things much easier for her. So that's the other thing I'm working on right now.

Speaker 2:

You know, we've talked in depth about organization and what that means for your life, and I don't know if you've talked about this within the podcast, but like if there's a listener out there who is struggling like, oh my house is a mess, my life is a mess, whatever, everything's a mess. What's that first step that they should think about or that they should take to start creating structure in their life?

Speaker 1:

Good question, hmm, so I think I think I would tell that person, or start organizing your bedroom first, and you can even get even more specific your closet. And the reason why I say that is because that is a space you're in every single day, so you'll feel the immediate benefits of organizing your space. So, and also because the purpose of a bedroom is very clear, you know, unless I mean granted, like you can have multiple purposes for it, but it's either going to be like this is where you sleep and rest, or this is where you sleep and rest, and like your desk is there too or something, but generally it's where I sleep, rest and like get ready for the. I get dressed in my bedroom, right, but like in the bedroom, I think like rest is so important, right, and sometimes there's just like so much clutter and just stuff everywhere. It can feel very like you may not consciously think like I'm overwhelmed in my bedroom or I don't feel restful in my bedroom because there's too much stuff here. You may not consciously think that, but it's.

Speaker 1:

I wish I can speak like you. You speak so concise and so good, like the bedroom is a place where you can make it very simple, which is like I just want my bed here and my bed just requires a blanket and a pillow, right, and then maybe you have a dresser and you have a closet. That's really that shouldn't. That's like all that should be in your bedroom for the most part, unless you have a smaller, you know, a smaller home or apartment or studio that you live in. You make it multi-purpose, but the main function of a room is pretty much the same I sleep, I get dressed. So I think starting small and starting there could be a really quick and easy way to feel the benefits of it, and then you can maybe start expanding out, because it can be overwhelming if you're trying to like organize your entire house. But a bedroom is a good place and then it helps you too. So that makes sense.

Speaker 2:

We could do a whole episode just on organizing. I mean, I feel like that's one of your tenants, right? That could be a theme of one episode, but that makes sense and I think you know the bedroom is where you go to rest, where you refresh, where you start and end your day, I think for the most part. So that makes sense, and I'll tidy up my bedroom after I'm done with this recording. Finally, what do you want your listeners to know right now?

Speaker 1:

That is an excellent question.

Speaker 2:

You mentioned earlier that it's hard to get feedback right. Listeners are anonymous. These are just downloads. Who are they? You get a little bit of feedback, but obviously when you're a content creator, it's hard to get that. Following words like constant engagement and I encourage any listener to start engaging with Melissa but you have a direct line now. You're not asking the questions, You're speaking to the audience, so what do you?

Speaker 1:

want them to know. I you know when. With this podcast, what I always, what I hope is the message that is being communicated subliminally, is that is that each person OK, you listener, whoever's listening like is capable of doing more than you think, and that doesn't mean you're not already doing a lot. But I guess, when I'm putting this podcast together, what I'm thinking is, like man, we are like, like I said before, like we live in a supernatural world, and I think that each person is a supernatural being full of just wonder and love and value and creativity, and there is so much power individual has, like you know, I think each person, if you think about it, is like their own entire universe, like if I just think you know you're asking about my story and like there's this whole world I'm painting to you and that's just me, one person, you have that and this other person has that, and so, with that being said, that life and the world is, you know, I think there's more that we don't understand and more supernatural, and like we have such a desire to control things, but there are so many things that are just like I just feel like there's just I don't know, there's just something in the air.

Speaker 1:

And I guess I want people to feel empowered, encouraged and validated to make their own way and try different things and not always have to do whatever someone has told them to do or whatever seems like the safe path or the right path. I mean that could be your path there's no judgment about that, you know but just like, go out, be adventurous, explore, try new things. Like it doesn't have to be this, like this formula we've all been given that life has supposed to be a certain way Like life is fantastic and yeah, that happens again, really, again wonderful. And like cosmic and supernatural in so many ways that you just don't know what can happen. Or like who you can meet, or like what kind of experience you might encounter.

Speaker 1:

And I think, ultimately, that's what I want people to feel and and that's why I love having so many different people on the Podcast, because when you listen to everyone's story, there is not a single story that is exactly the same or even close to it, so you might see like, oh, like you know someone who's successful. Well, you know, be successful. People do the same thing not necessarily like everyone's story is so unique that, like that's just what I want. I want people to see that no one single thing or life or path is the same. So like Go explore, try different things, experience life, figure out your own thing, do what feels right to you, and that's what I want them to know.

Speaker 2:

It's so fun Because you're like I want people to take control and understand in a way that they don't have full control. Right, it's like be proactive and do these things, but understand that there's a lot more that you it's not fully within your control and accept and be, I Guess, open to it, right, be able to take that in and make the most of it, observe, feel, but then also be intentional and proactive. So it's kind of this dichotomy it's. It's interesting.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, a little bit, and I think, because it's I think there's a part of it where it's very easy to kind of fall asleep at the wheel, you know, and Like I was saying before, it's it's, it is easy to kind of get into the routine.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I go to work, I come home and I go to sleep and you're kind of like find yourself into that same like it's like sleepwalking a little bit and and, and you know, there's a part of me that just feels like you know, this, this, like we're, we're alive, we're on earth, we're here, like what does this even mean? Like yeah, I don't know it's, it's just it's got to be more than, again, my own belief. It's got to be more than our resumes or our careers. Like so much about being alive and the things that happen in life are so cosmic and it's seemingly, I guess, supernatural that like there's just so much to be explored and so much to see. You know, and I just hope I just want people to, you know, explore that and experience that and not maybe Be regretful or like look back and wish I mean I guess we'll all have that, but like not as much, you know, just I don't know.

Speaker 2:

I feel like I'm rambling now, so yeah, so so here's my takeaways when you organize, you can reduce noise from your life in order to be more perceptive and take action. You want to be able to make your own way and be intentional and also open, and Definitely, people should subscribe and download your podcast Every week and there's more to come in addition to however they're being listed to currently. How else can you be found or interacted with online?

Speaker 1:

You can. You can find me on Instagram, which is at Melissa underscore e underscore park, which I'll link in the show notes. But yeah, that's really the only other place. It's this podcast. They can leave a review. Actually, that would be really helpful. Leaving a review and a rating is really what helps. This would help these things and you know I know it's like hard for people to do. But if someone could leave a review and you know you can they can share what they like hearing, what kind of topics they want to talk about, what kinds of people they're interested in hearing from, like that helps. That definitely helps me because, you know, really this podcast is. So many things are so personal to me with this podcast, but a lot of it, you know, is a service to the audience. So That'd be helpful to leave a review, or you can message me on Instagram, but I think leaving a review would probably be better.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so leave a review with your genuine thoughts about why you like listening to Melissa every week and then also if you have Opinions, themes, troubles in your life that you think can be covered in the podcast message Melissa on Instagram, which will be in the show notes. Okay, understood, melissa. Thank you so much for joining your very own podcast. Have fun post editing with this as well. It was a ton of joy and an honor to get to interview you and flip that script and I can't wait to tune into future episodes. You of making way.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening. Remember there is no one way, so go and make your way. Join us next week as we keep making way. Did I say way too much? Oh well, bye.