Episode 62: Rachel Ann Mullins – Podcast Maven

TRIGGER WARNING 

This episode, or pages it links to, contains information about sexual assault and/or violence which may be triggering to survivors.


HEATHER:  Hello everyone. Here we are again for another episode of the Mavens Do It Better podcast where we interview extraordinary experts who bring a light to our world. And today I'm super excited. Uh, this is our first recording, my first recording of the new year. So excited to have Rachel Ann Mullins on. Hello Rachel.

RACHEL:  Hello. Thank you for having me.

HEATHER:  Absolutely. So, uh, Rachel and I have sort of danced around each other for a little while, I think.

RACHEL:  Yeah, we've been doing the gram dance for some time.

HEATHER:  Absolutely. And so, uh, we got, we got to talking over I think over Instagram and, uh, which I love that platform. I, I find so many good people and I just love getting to know people on that. And uh, we got to talking and you said yes immediately, which I was so excited about, so thank you for that.

RACHEL:  Yeah, well, you know what, I, when try to interview people for my podcast or like we talk about it like it's granted, my show is dark and dirty and disgusting, but like people are like, Oh yeah, I'll totally do that. And then I'll be like, Oh, Hey, let's do it. And they're like, ummmm. Seriously? For real? Like, I can't do this right now. So, I try to not do that.

HEATHER:  yeah, absolutely. Tell everybody, so you are a fellow podcaster, so will you tell everybody the name of your podcast and what it's about? That would be awesome.

RACHEL:  All right, so the dark and dirty. I have a show call No Filter Friday on Public House Media where I cover all things #metoo, but from inside of Hollywood. So I did my, my, my hundredth episode last month, so I'm, I'm over the hundred mark, these days. Because I do a weekly show and Harvey Weinstein got that story broke a couple of years ago, so put me in the, in the a hundred place and it's, what happened was, what had happened was, is that, um, the network had called me a few months before the Harvey story broke. They're like, Hey, do you want to do a show? And I'm like, well, the only thing I can really talk about is like purses and stuff and this ridiculous town, which are lovely topics. I could talk about purses until the end of time basically. But I'm like, I don't know if anybody really wants to hear that. So I was like, no, I don't think I really have anything that's like especially, you know, and then the story broke about Harvey and I was at this producer conference I to go to twice a year and I was like, the time has come. We need to.

HEATHER:  To talk about those issues for sure, right?

RACHEL:  Yeah, we need to do this, we need to do this for sure. So I talked to them, uh, I don't know, probably like a week or two after the story would Harvey broke and they're like, yes, absolutely, let's put this together. So we smashed a situation together. And um, I do the, I do, I do my show live on Facebook on the Public House Media Facebook page, and then they take the audio and they make it into podcasts that you can get wherever you get, you know, a podcast and so it's kinda, it's kind of both. And I really wanted to do the show live because I wanted it to be like a group discussion basically. So people can ask questions or throw in their opinions or you know, if it's my little cousins trying to get in, get in on some Facebook live action, whatever the case may be. The whole, the whole movement I think is something that needs to be a discussion. Like there's enough talking at, there needs to be talking between, basically, in my opinion, to really get anything accomplished other than just be like, Oh, did you see news today? Like if we're actually going to get anything out of this, then we have to like, it has to become a part of us basically. So that's how my show was born and continues, and the show writes itself. Like somebody gets in trouble every week, like I literally have to do nothing.

HEATHER:  I hate that I'm laughing at that. But it's that. It's true. Unfortunately.

RACHEL:  It's true. It's true. It's the way it is. You have to laugh. You just have to embrace, to embrace the facts.

HEATHER:  Yeah. I think, do you think that, um, since the story broke with him and so where we are, you know, in this moment, um, you know, I, I, I talk to people a lot about the pendulum, like the pendulum swings, right? With anything you, you kind of start over on one side and then a lot of the times it goes all the way over.

RACHEL:  Way, way, way over. Yeah.

HEATHER:  Where do you think the pendulum is now, you know, on this issue?

RACHEL:  You know, I think we're barely, maybe even halfway, honestly, like we haven't even really, really got into the nitty gritty of stuff. Now that Harvey's been charged on both coasts cause he was, for a long time, he was just in New York and as of yesterday he got charged in LA and you know, took a walker to court and all this just silliness. Um, but now that he's, uh, now that he's getting charged on both coasts, and I think , I think Pennsylvania might have it out for him too possibly. So we'll, um, we'll see where this goes. But I've always said that Harvey is the sacrificial lamb in this case. Like he's just the, he's who they chose to kind of break the news because he's done some really atrocious things, but not nearly as atrocious of what these pedophiles in Hollywood have been doing for a long time. So it's, we're easing the general public into the grime and disgusting-ness that has been going on in this teeming cesspool for a long time.

HEATHER:  Yeah, it's people, I don't know, people continue. Like I, I get the sense from, you know, people are like, when is this going to be over? And it's, I, I keep going, Oh, it's just starting, you know?

RACHEL:  Just starting. Yeah. It's not going anywhere. It's actually multiplying. Um, one of the things I'm doing with my show this year is I'm talking to all the Me Too movements around the world. Like I talked to #metooEthiopia yesterday, um, had spoken to the woman who won, who runs #metooIndia. There's a #metooGermany, there's #metooFrance, there's #metooSouthKorea. And they all have their own different situations going on with this kind of subject matter. And so my goal for 2020 in this situation is to get all of these movements to like communicate and talk and be like, what's going on over here? What's going on over here? What's your problems that we can help you fix? What are our problems that you can help us fix? Whatever the case may be. Communication is key, right? So let's do it.

HEATHER:  Yeah, absolutely. Well, and it's, you know, it's not just Hollywood, right? So it's, it's, you know, the spilling over. I work in technology and, and so, you know, with the Google memo and other things that have come out, you know, there's like all of it, it's a, it's people are like, Oh, it's Hollywood. And it's like, Oh, no, no, no. It's everywhere folks. Um, it's just that this, this was the, the, the key that sorta cracked everything open. Right. And so these conversations of me too, um, also, you know, the push for inclusive culture and diverse culture and, and hearing voices that are different from our own, I think it's really, it's a huge positive thing, you know? Um, and it's uncomfortable. People don't like it. And it's like, well, it's terrible, so it shouldn't be comfortable.

RACHEL:  Yeah. It's not supposed to be. It's not supposed to be. That's not the point. But at the same time though, like we can't expect anything to get, but like you have to name the puppy, right? Like you can't expect anything to get magically better if you won't put on your adult pants and like, listen, is it going to kill you to listen really? Is it that painful?

HEATHER:  Do you, do you ever worry or, or feel like people are like, Oh, I don't want to work with her because I know she got that mouth, kind of thing?

RACHEL:  Um, you know, I think I've gotten more, I think my circle has expanded because of it, not necessarily contracted. And I, I've been careful about this though. Like, um, I haven't, um, just like gone for people on my own. And, you know, if there's this, there's a couple of certain individuals, if they do come out the news, which I'm sure they will, I'm sure they will. I'd be like, Ooh, I've been waiting for this day. Oh, mommy's got the receipts. So, I haven't gone necessarily after anybody specifically on my own terms. It's always a story that's already been broken, basically. Um, other than a couple of times I've been like, Oh yeah, well this, this thing happened, but wait, you hear about this executive from this studio who's been doing this? So sometimes I'll allude to stuff, but unless it's like new, like, and that's the thing too, is like, we have so many people that are like, Oh, the conspiracy theorist! And like, the thing is like, they're not conspiracy theories at all they're truth. Truth is stranger than fiction. And a thing that I say on my show all the time is that like, the truth hurts, right? Like that's an expression that we hear all the time, but we just don't absorb it. If you hear something and it's hurting you, it's probably not a lie. Lies are pretty. Like lies are pretty. When it's something, you'd hear something and it stings. That was probably the truth stinging you.

HEATHER:  Yeah. And it's probably stung you and not, not just you. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So, so you have, uh, this podcast, it started about, what a year ago you said?

RACHEL:  Two years ago.

HEATHER:  Two years ago, right? Of course. Yeah. Two years ago. Um, and then you're also, you, you're, uh, an actor. You're a model. Talk about all, you have such a, you have so many things that you have your hands and yeah, just give us, give us a flavor a little bit.

RACHEL:  All of my flavors. Um, okay. So started modeling when I was 12 and that kind of branched into acting when I was around 15 and I was like, Oh God, this is terrible. Why would anyone do this? No wonder they pay these kids a fuck ton of money. Um, and then I was in LA for a couple of years, just modeling. And then my friends would be, you know, like on their sets and like, Oh, just come eat our craft service. And I'm like, okay. So they're like, Oh, just try on this costume. Or like, just, just, just, just this, just this kind of snowballed into the monster that it is today. But, um, I've spent so much time producing and directing over the last year that I haven't really had, um, a ton of, as much acting as I've done in the past. Also, I'm over 30 now, so I'm not necessarily doing the stuff that I used to be doing. Um, but I did get to work on some cool things this year. Like I got to do Bombshell, which was amazing. I got to work with John Lithgow. And then, um, I worked, worked, I say that in quotations on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for three days. Um, but they didn't, they didn't ever end up using me for the gag that they wanted to do. I just kinda sat around and ate their food for three days. Um, so on paper I get checks from that, but I don't necessarily get seen. I was firmly, uh, in the buffet line for all three of those days. Um, what else did I work on before that? And then, uh, I think the year before I did two days on that Showtime show, Black Monday with Don Cheadle, which was so much fun. Uh, I had a Playboy bunny outfit, a Ronald Reagan mask and a cigarette hanging out of the mouth, it was so fun.

HEATHER:  Oh wow.

RACHEL:  And they let me, they let me do the cigarette thing, which was my idea. I went to the props guy and I was like, could I have a cigarette hanging out of this, out of this, this mask? He's like, yeah, whatever. Do whatever. Knock yourself out. It's like, if you're, I'm like, listen, I'm in a good, but you caught me in a good mood. Harness the power like go with it. So I have to do that. But like, um, so it's kind of been like fewer of like cooler stuff as opposed to like a lot of whatever stuff.

HEATHER:  Yeah, absolutely. Well, and I don't know as far as like doing TV versus, I mean, so there's, there's, you know, craft services, which, which some people don't always understand that, you know, it's a lot of sitting around. And that you're waiting to be on, but you were on some TV shows as well. Happy Endings and then Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23.

RACHEL:  Yeah. Oh my God. I, I loved working on happy endings. I think that's one of my favorite things I've ever worked on. And it was, everybody was so wonderful. I'm still friends with Damon Waynes Jr to this day. Like I talked to him like a month ago. Um, and I, I met him like randomly at Amoeba before I did that show and he's like, Oh, my girlfriend just sprayed me in the face with Windex cause she was mad at me. That's how I, that's how I met him. And then I did the show and I didn't really know who he was and I was like, wait a second, did we meet at Amoeba and he's like, Oh my God. Yeah. That was the day that my girlfriend sprayed me in the face with Windex.

HEATHER:  Point of fact. Right. Good sense memory connection there, huh?

RACHEL:  Yeah, definitely. And I'm J I always mess up. Jay's last name, Jay Chandrasekhar, uh, directed that episode and he's so wonderful and I learned so much from him. And his set was like super chill, like not even the grips and electrics fought. Like it was so, so wonderful. Adore him.

HEATHER:  That's fantastic. And where are you from originally?

RACHEL:  I'm from Detroit.

HEATHER:  Okay. I had a feeling you were a mitten sister. I was born in Muskegon.

RACHEL:  What! Oh, that's crazy.

HEATHER:  Yeah. My family's from Bay city and Elma. So

RACHEL:  Maven from Muskegon too funny.

HEATHER:  I know, I always can tell when somebody is from the Midwest. Good people. That's awesome.

RACHEL:  Like I'll cut you, but I'll also bake you a pie. Rhubarb.

HEATHER:  We'll bake for you. Yes. Rhubarb for sure. Yeah. I uh, my, my family is Polish and German, so yeah, a lot of food. A lot of food. Uh, so how long were you in Detroit?

RACHEL:  19 cold, arduous years.

HEATHER:  Wow. When did you decide you're like, I want to be an actor or I want to, or did you decide or

RACHEL:  I didn’t decide any of this just happened to me. My modeling career came in the mail. I got a thing in the mail. They're like, you're tall. You're 12 years old and five, seven. This could work out, um, come to this thing. And I was like, nah, this is dumb. And my friend got a hold of it. Like, yeah, let’s go, let's go. I was like, Oh fine. Only because I'm such a good friend. Um, so we did. And you know, here I am now 19 years later. Uh, then lo and behold, my neighbor across the street when I was 15 is a director or cinematographer and he's so, Wayne is so wildly talented, I love him so much. Um, but I was coming home from school one day and him and his other grown man friend were throwing like a bride's bouquet around the front yard. And I'm like, honey, what are you doing with your other grown man friend? He's like, Oh, I did this wedding movie in the Carolinas and I forgot to get this like, bouquet toss shot. I was like, I think you and your, I think you and your man friend are throwing flowers around your front yard. That's what I think you're doing. And he's like, no, no, no, no, no. That's not at all what's happening? He's like, actually I got this grant to make this like short horror movie. Like, do you want to do that? And I was like, okay, weirdo. That's how a lot of things start for me. I'm like, all right, weirdo, let's do this. I think that's, that's really all you have to do is like be a weirdo and tell me you want to do a thing. We're doing it. Um, there is no such thing as a pipe dream around here. We did that, I had to wear these white contacts and it was so, so painful and so hard. I'm like, I'm never doing this again. And then fast forward a few years. Yeah, I was lured. I was lured with snacks like Homer Simpson to the set.

HEATHER:  Food will do it. Food gets us to do many things that we wouldn't normally do.

RACHEL:  I know, it's like will work for a fruit basket.

HEATHER:  Absolutely. Will you tell me about, uh, the web series, what it's called and where people can find it coming out?

RACHEL:  It is a parody of the Bachelorette, so it's really, really, really goofy. Um, we had like three mansions, a 50 foot yacht, we had like a skydiving episode and it was just super, super, super over the top. And then, um, the real Bachelorette TV series will be airing in the spring. So after, um, after every one of those episodes come out, it will be like a, uh, an uh, piece of the web series will air as like an after show kind of a thing.

HEATHER:  Gotcha. And, uh, uh, I, you have a super sexy FHM article that came out. Both in what you're wearing and also what you're talking about there. Will you talk about that experience that looked super cool?

RACHEL:  Okay. Well, okay, so that's the FHM is kind of the last stop on like the titties release tour basically, because I was in, I did Playboy and Maxim and like all of that jazz, um, a few years ago and you know, every now and then like I'll pop up in, you know, different, various magazines, but the FHM was kind of the last, maybe not the last, last stop. Like maybe I'll do like an Esquire or GQ or something, but, um, my, my third leg of the triangle basically of the sexy triangle. Um, and okay, so this is a wild story and if you want to talk about like not letting anything stand in your way, this is also one for the books. So a year and a half ago at least, I, um, spoke with American FHM as it stood at the time. And they're like, yeah, like you've done these other magazines, obviously FHM needs to get in, get in on the Rachel Mullins game. I was like, great. I'm going to set up this photo shoot in Mexico with these swimwear brands it's going to be beautiful. It's going to be great, it's going to be fantastic. And my friend shot with me it was wonderful. Um, and so before we went to Mexico to shoot this, I did the interview that you see in there. And that interview you see in the current FHM spread is from a year and a half ago. And I've done lots of wild things and so there's more to come on that. But, um, so working in, you know, South of the border time, the photographer didn't get these pictures together in a very, um, time effective way. The guy that did the interview, Nick Domingo emailed me one day and he was like, um, FHM America's closing its doors. They literally just kicked us all out of building today. We're done. So I was like what? What? Oh my God, what do I do?

HEATHER:  Right?

RACHEL:  So, what do I do? I kick it old school. And I found the guy who bought American FHM and I was like, sup bro. Um, I was like, legally, this interview is yours. Like you bought the assets. Um, but that was swim and it's January. So we ran the, the lingerie that you see in there, that was shot by Shannon Laureen, who's amazing, and she's always, you know, her photographs are always every magazine you can ever think of. She's amazing. And it was just her and I that shot that like I did the hair and makeup and her, her son was like six months old at the time. Like I'm lying on that bed, like being like, Hey, titties, and her six-month-old son is like crawling next to me, but you don't see him in the frame. But we were just, you know, we just pounded it out. And so a year and a half later, that's what you see. But it's a lot of, it's a lot of crazy travel stories. It's kind of crazy. My crazy, crazy friends that I go all over the place with.

HEATHER:  I was looking at all of your, you know looking at Instagram and you know, getting up on Rachel and figuring out, you know, cause you know, we know each other, but you know, I like to do my homework and, and all of that. And, and you know, the documentary, you did the You Slut documentary and talking about slut shaming and, you know, being in the juxtaposition of using your voice, being a strong woman, being a model, doing swimwear, you know, talking about different things. And I really, I appreciate your way of bringing all of those things to the world where you're like, I own it and I can have, you know, a great body, do swimwear, do you know, talk about real issues and all of that. And, and I feel like so many, so many women and especially cause you know, I, I have a leg in both entertainment and technology and it's like, you know, I feel like sometimes it's like a business and a business woman in technology. You know, like if I put up certain things that people are like, Whoa, what's going on Heather? Oh my goodness. You know what I mean? You know, like, they're like, that's a lot of boob in that shot or whatever. Um, you know,

RACHEL:  It's a lot of titty 24/7, you just happened to see it sometimes and sometimes you don't, it's always there. I can't Unscrew it and leave it around and be like, Oh, I'm gonna leave these at home today, I got, I got two meetings back to back, like no.

HEATHER:  Yeah. They come with me. Do you find that, you know, in, in the, like going through, talking about that documentary and what you do in the world, I was, I was really moved by what so many other women in that documentary talked about and I don't know. Do you feel things are changing at all around that?

RACHEL:  Absolutely. Absolutely. It's so, it's, you know, I always feel like my own ego is like Rachel, you're always the like on the pulse, my ego tells me that, but like, it's even bigger than I like my ego really even understand because like I did that in 2016 before, a lot of this came out. Like, a lot of people don't like it when I say this, but like I talked to Juanita Broadrick before she was even getting on TV again. And she told me, you know, what bill Clinton had done to her and how Hillary, you know, swept it under the rug and this, that and the other thing like I did, I made a conscious choice not to go after the Clintons cause I don't have security like that. But, um, but I became friends with her before she was, before she would even show her face on TV again. Like I have her cell phone number like her and I talk. And just, you know, the world has changed so much, but like it was, it was interesting because like a piece of that documentary, I covered the sex attacks in Cologne, Germany. Um, that was like the largest sexual assault in recorded history basically. And then the media, the German media tried to cover it up. The German government tried to cover it up. Um, and then a memo leaked between Merkel and the, the chancellor of Germany, and the mayor of Cologne, who was also a woman who was also the victim of a knife attack BTW um, where she was like, the police need to go back and expunge the word rape from all of these police reports. They're not allowed to use it. And it was, it was a major, major scandal. And you know, they covered it up for some time and like the West never heard of it. Like they would hear whispers of it around Europe, but that was about it. And once it, the story did break then like Switzerland and like four other countries where like we had the same thing happen, on new year's Eve and it became an even bigger thing. And because of that, and because of that story breaking and people getting upset and being like, WTF. Um, a big part of that problem was at the time that it happened because only out of 600 police reports that were made that night, they only arrested three people and two of them, I think it's because they found stolen cell phones on them. Like it was really like so low brow. It was astonishing. So come to find out German law didn't have like the language or capacity in it too. Um, outline or define anything that wasn't like penis and vagina rape. Like if it was outside of that molest, sexual assault, any, it wasn't actually illegal. Which is crazy. And they were like, Oh well we haven't had these problems until now. We've never had to define this. Blah blah blah, blah blah. Um, so then I found my, my uh, my GP in Germany who's amazing and wonderful, he interviewed this guy, we interviewed this guy that was, he went to jail for four years in Germany for attempted murder cause they're not really into like punishing and jail time there. And he said that when pedophiles do get arrested and they go to jail in Germany, that they are treated with kid gloves and they're pampered in jail and they have it so easy and they're kept away from everybody. And it's like, well, of course these things keep happening because like your law doesn't really make the, you know, make it illegal. Um, your, your correctional system is a hilarious joke. Like, no wonder you're having these problems. Like, come on.

HEATHER:  Yeah, there's no consequences.

RACHEL:  There's no consequences whatsoever. But enough people got together and screamed loud enough. And so that happened on new year's Eve and by August of, so like that, you know, eight months later, um, they made the German government define and put capacity in the law for not just rape but sexual assault and molest, and you know, every piece of the spectrum of sex crimes that you could have. So now it is in fact illegal in Germany to do these things.

HEATHER:  Right. You know, it's funny though, and actually I'm going to recant. You know what is interesting about it is that I bet you there are people that are gonna listen to the podcast that are not, are going to be like what, what happened in Cologne, Germany.

RACHEL:  Yeah, absolutely.

HEATHER:  You know, I mean that's the other problem is that because these things aren't brought up and we're not talking about them, then we can't make any change.

RACHEL:  Absolutely. And especially when you're talking about like the language barrier is hard enough, like on its face, especially with a country like Germany, they're very super tight to their language. They don't do anything in English and we don't do anything in German. So that's that basically. But then on top of it, um, you have a media that willfully and maliciously hides stuff, twists stuff, does it run things, runs misinformation. I mean, just, you know, everything that you can think of. Any, any time you talk to somebody who's he's been in the media for whatever God awful reason, they will tell you that they about destroyed their lives. I interviewed, um, a bunch of people that were involved in the Pulse night club attack in Orlando and , one guy, um, his name's Ramesses and he's so sweet and wonderful, but, um, he's, I guess he was out of the 90 people, you know, that survived that or whatever. He was the only person that was from Honduras. Granted, he hadn't been to Honduras in 15 plus years, but the media got pictures of him running out of the club because he was one of the first people to like push the door open that wouldn't come open and come out. Him and his friend just ran for blocks cause I think he had like nine to 12 friends that were shot and killed that night. Um, and the media took pictures of him, Telemundo and Univision, I think. And they, he was on the front page of every media outlet in Honduras and next day, There's a gay Honduran, get him! And his family had to go to Costa Rica because he was getting death threats and all this that and the other thing because he had the audacity to survive a terror attack basically. And because he was in a gay nightclub, um, and he had no idea that any of this happened. And of course, you know, the media cash their checks from those images, he didn't get any of that. So it, it really, really like defiled his life. Basically to, to survive something like that by, you know, luck of the draw basically, and then have to survive a media, an international media assault on your life is just, it's, it's so, so, so disgusting. And then another guy that I interviewed, um, this guy Orlando who was in the, in the bathroom that Omar Mateen was shooting up, like you hear about like the handicap stall. He was in the stall next to it with his friend Bobby and Orlando, like we had taken some, like some behind the scenes pictures of, you know, the interviews and things like that, and then cut the camera. I went to the mall before my flight home because they have a Neiman's outlet in Orlando. And by the time I could get to my gate for my plane, there has a gigantic brouhaha had come up in the comment section of, you're a liar. This didn't happen to you. This is bullshit. This is garbage. Like you're profiting off this, you're profiting off that. Were like, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Hang on a second. So, like, you're going to tell me a person that was not there, what this person did and did experience. But there's police reports, there's footage of him being, he was the last person that was pulled out of like a hole that they blew in the side of the club. So all of that. And you're going to sit there and tell me this guy's a liar. This didn't happen. It was a hoax. Like, stop. Stop it. Stop it. Um, so yeah, I mean, you live in, we live in a crazy world. But again, that goes, that goes back to the whole like truth is stranger than fiction thing. Like if it, if you hear something and stings, it's probably the truth. And if you feel some type of way about it, like that's your issue, not anybody else's.

HEATHER:  Well, and it seems to me that, you know, you're a podcaster, but I think the other title that you hold now is investigative reporter,

RACHEL:  Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I love, I love investigations. I love due diligence. It's like my favorite thing ever.

HEATHER:  Yeah, no, absolutely. And you do it well, and it's wonderful that you are bringing up these issues, these, it's stories, right? I think it's all about stories.

RACHEL:  You know, the mainstream media just edits people to their, to their advantage, whatever's gonna get them clicks, what's ever going to, you know, keep their advertising sales going or whatever. Keep their track running. Like they don't actually, they have very, very little interest in like actually telling the story or that person's story. And there's been an from that, I haven't really been able to do anything about it, but people um, messaged me about like, like the One Pulse Foundation and like how, you know, crooked things have gone from there. Like there was one survivor, um, that I talked to through the grapevine that was like, yeah, I was offered $14 out of the millions that had been raised by that foundation, um, for my injuries and that, this, that, and the other thing. So it's a really, things get so convoluted. It's, it's really crazy and you don't know who to trust or to who to believe. But I always point people in the direction of people that were actually there, that were actually involved because some newscasters sitting in a studio being fed, you know what they're supposed to say through a teleprompter or an earwig or what have you. Like they don't know they have no idea and they don't even care to know either.

HEATHER:  Yeah. No, absolutely. Well, and I love it that you're using the platform that you have for good and also to peel the onion back.

RACHEL:  Let's get, let's get down to the center of it here. Like you can't be like, Oh, that was so terrible and just like push it down because it will happen again.

HEATHER:  Yeah. No, absolutely. Um, so I have a thank you for sharing all of that cause I think it's, I honestly, people forget and um, and also don't always get the nitty gritty. So I really, I appreciate what you, your show and what you talk about, um, because it's brave, you know, people, I think being vulnerable, being brave, being able to talk and give voice to others is super important in the world and we don't have enough people doing that. So it's super cool. Rachel.

RACHEL:  I love it. I think it's more fun to talk, talk about other people's stuff than it is my own.

HEATHER:  well, I'm going to ask you my last question. Uh, and I didn't, we, we usually have more conversations anyway, which is perfect. So, um, but I, I always am interested in sort of the, the, if there's a spark, um, and there are some, what is the spark that led you to today? Is it a person, place, thing, experience moment that you're like, I sit here in myself and if you can pinpoint one spark that brought you to where you are, would you mind sharing that with our listeners?

RACHEL:  I don't know that I have like one individual thing that's, I think it's a series of very small little embers that got together over time to the glow in the fashion that they do. But I think a real life changing thing for me is that, um, my friends back in the day when I was still living in Michigan, um, my friends had, you know, the Channel Lakes in Pinckney. Like Half Moon and Gallagher. Okay. So they had, uh, they, my friends had this house together, um, on one of the lakes. And this was back in the day. So that was back when like Netflix had like DVD subscriptions. So we would steal the Netflix subscription off the neighbor's porch. And you know, that was like our thing or whatever. So we were out on the boat, like, or we were like partying and you know, drinking during the day, like, Oh, this one is this Grandma's Boy movie. Oh, that sounds stupid. Whatever. And then we came off the boat drunk at like two or three in the morning, like, what is this magnificent piece of gold? And decided to watch it. And I'm like, these people are my people. I don't know them but I need to. And I was like, pack your shit bitch. We gotta go. We have to go find these people. I think, I'm going to blame Nick Swardson I guess basically on this whole, this whole craziness, because that was, I think that was a thing that I saw and I was like, I need to go to this, whatever that is. I don't even know what it is but I'm down. So,

HEATHER:  Right. That's awesome.

RACHEL:  It makes zero sense and it's so silly, but that's like the best I can tell you.

HEATHER:  Yeah, I think it's, yeah,

RACHEL:  Eyes glazed over.

HEATHER:  I want that. Yes, that is awesome. That's super cool. Well, so folks can, we'll put all this wonderful stuff in the show notes, but uh, folks can find you on Instagram, on Twitter, and then No Filter Friday is the podcast and there'll be, um, so the web episodes coming out. So lots of stuff from you coming in this new year, this new decade.

RACHEL:  I'm so excited about the new decade. This is, again, there's another silly thing, but like, I saw that meme like a few months ago, it's like, it's not just like the last piece of the year, it's the last piece of the decade. Like go balls to the walls. I'm like, I love going balls to the walls. Let's do it. So I took a meme seriously, and I put balls to the wall the last three months of the year. And it was, it was wonderful. Fantastic.

HEATHER:  Super good. Well, cool. Well, I appreciate you and what you do in the world and I thank you for coming on. Yeah. And, uh, sharing your story with our listeners. It's been great.

RACHEL:  I'm so glad we got to do it. It's been a long time coming.

HEATHER:  I know. Absolutely. So thank you for that. So, right on. So Rachel, thank you. You're lovely and wonderful. I appreciate it.

RACHEL:  Thank you. Have a good day.

HEATHER:  You too. Everyone that's been another episode of the Mavens Do It Better podcast. And here is to another big beautiful day on this blue spinning sphere. Thanks everybody.