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2 episodes with yeah ok
2 episodes with yeah ok
Given the meaning of Jackson is son of Jack, is it really surprising Luke cuts down beanstalks and takes out Giants for fun? Time to Restump Podcast the magnificent win over the Giants none of us saw coming. I'm not ruling out the possibility our club suffers schizophrenia or has some sort of personality disorder. We never know which version of us is going to appear. In fact, fans should start sending RSVP requests so we get an idea pre-game who is going to show up.Have we seen a better version this year of what we're capable of? We've seen passages, periods and even quarters of that ball movement and connectivity, but not for 4 full quarters and not against that level of formidable opponent. Yeah Ok, we'll take out the first 5 minutes.It felt like all the elements of our game we've been performing individually and sporadically, finally came together as one and predominantly for the duration. Was it flawless? Absolutely not and it probably never will be as perfection is an unrealistic expectation and an all but unobtainable dream. But roll that out week in week out and… hello September!To be fair and for balance though, and in accordance with our former coach's never as good or as bad as it seems policy, the Giants didn't seem at their spectacular best. They were without Josh Kelly, Brent Daniels and Stephen Coniglio, arguably their three best prime movers. However, that is where the balance ends.Whichever way you look at the game, it's all about us. Luke Jackson could have been forgiven for having an off day but he did the absolute opposite. He's been railroaded all week by media and opposing coaches and players and he answered it all by sending an emphatic message about where he wants to be.With the acknowledgement that the ruck is Jackson's best position, where does it leave team JackArce? Did Sean Darcy's problems just get added to? And can we talk about Shai? Or as opponents refer to him as thunder Boltons and lightning. very very frightening! 24 disposals, 12 contested, 8 marks, 417 metres gained and 3 goals 3 from 86% time on ground. Did we contemplate the enormity of what he would deliver in the midfield? We paid unders for him!Elsewhere it was both exciting and encouraging to see Neil Erasmus making some highly positive steps in the right direction, often at times looking like he belonged. And while the sample size is small and we might be going the early call, Cooper Simpson is now best 22. His ball use is heavenly! We'll cross the Brandon Walker bridge when we get to it. We'd be lying to ourselves if we thought we'd put in that level of performance, save our season and give the coach some deserved breathing space in that game against the Giants on their home deck. In fact, we were getting to the point of disbelief that we had such a display in us. However, as joyous and as fulfilling as that whole performance was, this isn't out first rodeo. It feels like we've seen this movie more often than we care to acknowledge and as recent as a couple of weeks ago. So, once again we temper our celebrations and tread with caution because, regardless of results, if we don't regularly deliver that same effort, intensity, ball movement and cohesion going forward, then Saturday counts for very little. However, the path to power isn't a journey of straight forward steps. As long as the trajectory is on positive trend, we can wear the acceptable range of effort backed volatility. Enough of the philosophising and hypothesising! We'll bring the grounding and the balance on the pod but, for just a few moments, let's get the watermelons under the arms, walk up a strut, chests out, breasts out and say how good are we going! We don't win in thatSend us a textSupport the show
I may not be the same thickness I was in 2017, but the new Nintendo Switch is!! Yeah OK every gaming podcast is doing it and so are we: we're talking about the hot Switch 2 barrage of announcements from last week. Lock in and get ready to go into debt.THINGS MENTIONEDPolygon's breakdown of the Switch 2 Direct: https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch-2/550857/switch-2-direct-all-games-news-trailersTori's on Twitter: tori_as_alwaysNathaniel's on Twitter:nathanbasedNoah's on Twitter: noah_hurtsOur cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky@press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
In this episode of the 8750 podcast, hosts YetiYeff and Cait The Great explore various topics ranging from their experiences with podcasting, the controversy surrounding Aziz Ansari, and cultural commentary on Shen Yun. They also critique celebrities and discuss their mixed feelings about the movie 'The Batman', while sharing personal anecdotes about snowboarding and outdoor gear. In this conversation, Cait The Great and YetiYeff explore various themes including repressed memories, corporate responsibility in LGBTQ+ representation, the cultural stereotypes surrounding Subaru vehicles, and the unexpected manufacturing aspects of the brand. They also delve into gaming nostalgia, discussing classic games and how modern technology could enhance them. The dialogue is filled with humor and personal anecdotes, creating a relatable and engaging experience for listeners. In this episode, the hosts dive into various topics ranging from gaming experiences, particularly in Destiny, to nostalgic discussions about snowboarding and childhood memories. They explore the idea of modding classic games with modern technology, share personal anecdotes about friendships and staying connected, and reflect on the beauty of the Northern Lights. The conversation also touches on current events, political commentary, and critiques of media figures, culminating in a lively discussion about the complexities of race and representation in media. In this segment, the conversation delves into various topics including the reactions of influencers to public events, the release of the Epstein files, humorous takes on current events, personal anecdotes about birthdays, and a discussion on the recent measles outbreak and vaccine hesitancy. The hosts share their thoughts on public perception, the absurdity of certain situations, and the importance of humor in navigating serious topics. In this conversation, Cait The Great and YetiYeff discuss various topics ranging from health and vaccinations to the acting careers of fighters and the impact of nostalgia on video games. They delve into the perception of Gina Carano in Hollywood, critique recent James Bond films, and explore the role of gadgets in the franchise. The discussion also touches on internet culture and the advice segments that have become popular in their podcast. In this segment, the conversation flows through various themes including technology upgrades, spending habits related to skiing, navigating parenting challenges with a trans child, the implications of youth decisions on tattoos and identity, and memorable concert experiences. The hosts share personal anecdotes and opinions, creating a lively discussion that touches on the intersection of lifestyle choices and cultural influences. In this engaging conversation, YetiYeff and Cait The Great explore a variety of themes ranging from concert experiences and opinions on bands to the complexities of friendships and romantic interests. They delve into the dynamics of male-female friendships, the awkwardness of navigating relationships, and the insecurities that can arise. The discussion also touches on their personal experiences with work, the podcasting journey, and the humorous yet insightful stories of being a wing woman. Overall, the conversation is a blend of humor, personal anecdotes, and relatable insights about life and relationships.
Today on Armed American Radio Daily Defense, a criminal border crosser illegal alien living in America for far longer than he should have been allowed, petitioned an Ohio court for his gun possession charges to be dropped. Judge rules no...case can proceed. Illegal aliens have no 2A rights. Pretty simple really. The case, USA vs. Carlos Restrepo will proceed to trial in January of 2025. Should illegal criminal invaders who lie on ATF Form 4473 be able to petition the court for 2A rights? Hell no. We live in crazy world but that's about to change with the incoming Trump administration, we do believe!
Woman on business trip lives a fantasy.By Silver Sea. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. I was finally settled into my room at the Marriott. The flight was typical, the hotel a hotel. I still wasn't sure if the following week would be of any value. I wrestled with how I could better have argued my case not to attend this conference as I settled onto the bed and opened the paperback I had purchased while waiting for my flight. I probably wouldn't get past the first few pages knowing my travels that day had depleted most of my energy.Sure enough a few paragraphs in and my eyes got heavy and my mind began to wander. I flipped off the light, set the book on my night table and set my mind free.Suddenly, without warning, he popped into my mind, as he often does when I am nodding off. My body stirred as this fantasy man entered my mind. I could not now escape him or the story I created and refined with each of his visits. His face flashed into my mind. It wasn't the face of any particular person. It was a blend of faces, models in magazines I had recently flipped through, that cute guy standing on the corner yesterday when I turned right on a red-light, a hunk or two that had approached me at bars in the course of my life. His body I constructed in much the same way; bodies from magazines, the gym, the beach and a portions of a lover or two I had known. It was a dangerous place that place between consciousness and sleep. ...I am already in his arms and floating around the luxurious king size bed with him. He is kissing my partially clad body and caressing the rest. I hold him, kiss him when I can, I feel a stirring throughout my body ...wait is that sensation in my dream or is it my conscious self that is reacting... he always knows where to touch me at the right moments.. my hand is resting next to my breast, just on the other side of my flannel pj's... I move my thumb a little and I feel my nipple respond... as his... my hand cups my... breast and firmly holds onto it... I watch my navel appear as his head moves south along my torso and he leaves trails of moisture where his warm tongue touches me. His chin brushes against the tuft of hair that defines the path he will follow to my desire.Morning arrived all too quickly. My feet dragged. My visitor had left his telltale stickiness on my thighs. It felt good in some ways, not so good in others. I think it would only have felt better had my visitor been real flesh and blood... and of course still holding me at this very moment. I felt my way around the room. No good music on the radio. It took forever for the water to get warm in the shower. And what should I wear. Business casual I guess. It's always safest until I know how the rest of the conference attendees are dressing.Ever punctual, there were only a few other people in the room when I arrived. Jim somebody welcomed me and introduced himself as the workshop coordinator. Oh yeah, not really a conference, it was more of a workshop, an education opportunity was how Chuck my boss had referred to it.. I looked around and selected a seat near the middle of the room, but a little closer to the front and on the perimeter so I could easily scan the room if I was bored. To minimize distractions I also put my back to the door so I wouldn't be tempted to follow people with my gaze as they came and went. A coffee and a muffin, a few more arrivals and I sat down where I had dropped my things. The buzz in the room was slowly growing. When someone would sit at my table I would politely nod and continue appearing to be interested in the welcome material we had received. People were chatting about all sorts of nothings as my mind wondered to places elsewhere....work that awaited me at the office... clothes for my son... what is he doing right now???My mind returned to the conference room quickly. Why? What had brought me back? A brief silence then women chatting. Women almost giggling. I looked at a few woman across the room and noticed their quick glances and peering that bordered on stares. I turned my head following their sight lines. There he was. My visitor. My fantasy man. Well, not exactly, but the closest thing to him I had ever seen. Yeah OK so the looks were there. That's less than half the fantasy. What about the rest? Well, maybe I would find out. But likely not. My mind drifted back to last night, my fantasy visitor and my urges momentarily stirred."..you from, Julie?" asked someone seated at my table. Their query snapping me back to reality."Pardon me.""Where are you from?" chimed the voice from across the table.The typical conference small talk had begun. The people at my table introduced themselves to one another as the room filled. Who remembers anyone's name at these gatherings. There are too many people, too many things to think about and you will never meet any of them again nor will you likely use any of the material presented. What a colossal waste of time, then he caught my eye again... well maybe not.The host began to speak and welcomed everyone to the workshop. Workshop, conference whatever. Except the emphasis on it being a workshop probably meant there would be breakout sessions and role playing and heaven knows what else. The workshop facilitator was introduced and so began the session. Around the room we went introducing ourselves and where we were from and what we expected to get out of the week would spend together. The only name I remember: Alex. And I'm certain all the other women in the room remember that one too. He spoke softly but with self-assurance. He stood tall and had grace but strength in his movements.To start things off the facilitator, Sam, had everyone change tables. Each table had number on it and each seat had a number in front of it. Eight tables, eight people at each table, he had us move to the table that matched the seat number we were presently sitting at. He told us we would be with a different group of people each day. I couldn't wait to be at the same table as Alex. But what would I say, what would I do. Would he even notice me.The first day went by without incident. There were times I thought I caught Alex looking my way, maybe admiring something about me. But nah, there was probably someone else he was looking at, if anyone at all. At the end of the day they reminded everyone to attend the reception afterwards. A chance to meet Alex was my first thought.Back in my room I prepared for the evening. Just before I headed downstairs I decided to check for phone messages at the office. Bad move. Thirty minutes later and a couple of doused fires and I was finally on my way to the reception. I caught my reflection as I walked past a mirror on the way out of my room. I stopped and looked again. "Not bad.", I muttered and off I went.The gathering was in full swing when I arrived. I nodded to a couple of people I had met that day and quickly scanned for my mystery man, Alex. Of course, I found him being swarmed by a collection of women all fawning over him. He looked to be enjoying himself. Since throwing myself at a man wasn't my style I wasn't about to get in to a swooning battle over one with a half dozen other women. Every now and then I would glance in his direction. There wasn't much one would change was there. Alex stood about 6 feet tall. He smiled warmly. Nothing about his demeanor said "I'm fabulous. All woman love me.", though it appeared most of the ones at the workshop thought they did. Nice hands. Friendly but captivating eyes. Well groomed, but not over done. And to start on his body would turn this recounting of one week into a novel. Shoulders. Pecs. Nice butt. Make that a really nice butt. Ah, back to this insignificant socializing I was immersed in. The people in my group that evening, Tom, Mary, Susan, Valerie, Ed were all nice people, but, well you know, when I left I wouldn't remember word one that was uttered. I became more fascinated in the group hovering around Alex.The next day we changed tables. No Alex. Everyone went separate ways at dinner that night. I joined a group of people from the workshop but still, no Alex.The next couple of days were the same. We kept getting more material at each session and I was now lugging two bags to the meetings each day. And the nights were the same too. Each night we would stop by the bar for a drink before we retired. Alex was there each and every night seeming to be the center of attention for all the women and men gathered around him. I still thought I caught him stealing glimpses of me, but I figured it was just wishful thinking on my part. He had enough women to choose from should he be interested. It was interesting watching the interactions of the group that surrounded him. The women all had their focus on him. Not that they were physically hanging from his clothes. But even after brief distractions from other members in their group their attention would immediately return to Alex in some way. And the men in the group. Well they seemed to be circling in hopes they may pickup some of Alex's discards. Who knew if anyone over there was getting lucky. Who cared really.Friday, the last day, as I showered the warm water running over my shoulders and down my nakedness stimulated my mind. I closed my eyes. The warmth of the water was reminiscent of a being caressed by a warm mouth. Suddenly I found myself sensuously washing my tits, my nipples hard, my other hand caressing my pussy and a picture of Alex in my mind's eye actually doing the stimulating. Um, it felt so nice. It's been so long since I've been touched the way I was touching myself, the way I longed to be touched. Harrumph. Give yourself a shake girl. I forced my thoughts back to the workshop and to work. That always puts a chill on things, and I laughed myself back to reality and away from my libido.I arrived in the workshop room and searched for name tag. At last, at a table with Alex. I dropped my bags at my seat and went for a coffee. It figures. All week in a room with my fantasy and it's the last day that we meet. He was so nice and seemed to pay me some attention. But somehow it just seemed to be his way. He was nice to everyone it seemed. Maybe it was wishful thinking again but he seemed to smile just a bit more when I spoke to him and he seemed to show just a bit more interest in what I was saying.Just after our lunch break he got up and left the table. Doreen ,sitting next to me, turned and said; "Isn't he something?" "Pardon?" I said. "Alex, isn't he something?" she replied."Yes, he is. He seems very nice." Doreen had been one of Alex's groupies all week. I wondered just how wonderful she thought or knew he was. "Funny though," she began, "we're starting to wonder if he is gay. All week there have been women following him around like lost puppies and he hasn't invited one of us back to his room. At least no one has admitted to it." That was interesting information. "Could be," I added to her collection of ammunition for determining Alex's sexual preference.Alex returned and glanced my way as he sat down. I'm sure I blushed a bit. No way, this man was not gay.Of course the last day the session went long. I wanted to find out what Alex was doing for dinner but he got up from the table as the session ended and headed to talk to the workshop facilitator. I hung around a bit but then remembered I had a few phone messages I wanted to deal with before the weekend arrived. I rushed off to my room. I made some calls. Got changed into some jeans. And made a few more calls. I decided to start packing before I went to one of the hotel restaurants for a quick dinner by myself. Alex would likely become part of my next fantasy. Would it be his eyes, his hands, his... ring! The phone was ringing. What now?!?! I picked it up."Hello""Julie?" said the voice on the other end."Yes. Who's speaking?" as the words escaped my lips my heart rose into my throat. It was..."It's Alex. You left one of your bags at our table today. I was going to bring it to you. When would be a convenient time?""Uh", that was an intelligent response. "Well I'm just in the midst of packing. Can I come to your room and get it from you?""Sure, I guess. I'm in Room 704.""Thanks Alex. I will be there in 10 minutes or so.""OK. See you then." Oh God. What now. Oh, get a grip on yourself. He will just very politely give you your things and wish you a safe trip home. As I arrived at his room the door was ajar. I knocked. "Come in.", said the soft masculine voice hidden in the room."Alex?" I muttered as I slowly opened the door. "Julie. It's so nice to see you again." Wow, there he was in a t-shirt and some loose sweat pants. My hormones fluttered and I'm sure my eyes rolled around in my spinning head. This man was so incredibly handsome and I'm sure he wasn't even trying to be. "You inspired me to start my packing as well Julie. Your bag is just over here. I will get it for you"As I walked in I said, "I can get it. I really appreciate that you didn't leave it behind." I bent to pick up my bag, and as I turned to leave Alex had turned to face me.He gazed into my eyes. "I'm really sorry we didn't get to know each other better, Julie.""I'm sure we will meet again somewhere. I would have liked to spend more time with you as well""I'm really pretty shy Julie, but I have to tell you that all week you captured my attention. I hope I'm not embarrassing you?""Not at all. Actually I'm quite flattered.""Have you had dinner yet?""Well, actually, no I haven't". Maybe he will ask me out."Stay then, Julie. I insist." Pardon me, I thought. "I ordered some room service. Just a beer and a plate of nachos. I have grown tired of the people who seemed to occupy all my time this week and just wanted to sit and have a quiet bite to eat. So please join me.""Oh, I don't know. I would hate to interrupt your solitude if that is what you're looking for.""Settled then. You're staying. I can't think of a better way to end this trip than a quiet meal with you." Alex turned to pick up the phone then stopped. "Oh. I did it again Julie. I'm sorry. Excuse my honesty, but I fear I have this opportunity to spend time with someone I am very attracted to and I don't want to miss it. I apologize for being so forward. I am just so filled with excitement being in your company."I'm sure I must have been blushing. This man was so nice and honest and open. There was almost a childlike quality to his sincerity. I dropped my bag and agreed to stay. "Oh, I'm so happy. Let me see if I can get another beer. Oops, is a beer Ok with your nachos or would you like something else?""Yes, beer would be fine, Alex. And no I'm not so much embarrassed by your honesty as I am flattered, once again." Just then there was a knock at the door. The nachos had arrived. And as promised they were accompanied by one beer. The porter brought in the cart and Alex asked him if he could bring up two more beers."We'll split this one Julie", Alex said as he signed the bill. So we sat on opposite side of the cart and talked and ate. It was almost eerie how comfortable we seemed together. Alex explained how much he had been overwhelmed by the people who chose to hang around with him all week. He was too nice to tell them to get lost. And there was a shyness about him. He seemed to divert his eyes and lower his head just a bit whenever we spoke of him or on those occasions when he paid me some compliment.Our other beers arrived and it wasn't long after that we were laughing about how we had been watching each other all week. And then we spoke of our desires mixed in with some of the funny things people had done and said to get his attention and even mine a couple of times. I related the story about him being gay and we both had a tremendous laugh about that one.A couple of hours had passed before we knew it. I can't count the times I lost track of the conversation. Thoughts of me in Alex's arms, kissing his lips, laying in his bed stole my attention frequently. How could they not. Here I was, with my fantasy man. I remember feeling my body react to thoughts that would flash into my mind. Mid conversation my mind would transport me to an intimate embrace with Alex or a picture of him in some state of undress or the two of us cuddling enjoying the warmth of each other's body. My breasts would tingle, sort of burn and I would feel the urge to cup them in my hand to release the tension they exhibited. I even found ways to somewhat satisfy them by reaching across myself for my drink of another nacho and gently pressing my arm against them.And my yoni, I like that term much more than pussy, or cunt or vagina, it's a Tantric word for a woman's genitalia, it's a nicer word I think. Well my yoni would feel that emptiness that desire would place there. It's an emptiness that seems to push against the walls of my vagina and bring a numbness to my labia and run a current through my clit. It seems to cry out to be replaced by something real, a physical mass that will not release the pressure I feel but rather replace it with a pressure that has the ability to return sensation to my moist lips, ground my vibrating clitoris and to fulfill my desires.I so wanted to close my eyes, lean back, slide my hand between my thighs and feel my dampness with my fingertips as I satisfied my longing by slipping my fingers inside me. Instead I would shift in my chair, cross my legs and flex my groin muscles. If I did it just right the seam in the crotch of my jeans would push against my yoni. The pressure would stir my passion, cause my lubricant to ooze from its source onto my labia and at the same time somewhat satisfy my cravings. About the third time this happened I couldn't help but notice the dampness that had invaded my panties. It was an interesting combination of cool and warm. The cool no doubt from earlier mental diversions, the warm deposited there during my current sojourn from reality.Remember my comment about "...but that's less than half the fantasy...". Well he had now shown that only the intimate piece of my puzzle was missing from his resume. My mind, my body, my heart were all screaming at me to find out to fill in the blank. I wondered though. I worried about there being disappointment, about a loss of respect for each other, about a loss of this closeness that had so quickly grown between us. And all for what, for few moments of intimate pleasure, of orgasmic bliss. Everything seemed so right. But Alex seemed to be a little to shy, maybe even unsure, to take the lead in our intimacy the way my fantasy man always did. I had notice Alex stirring in his chair once in a while. I thought it was probably because the night was wearing on and we both had early flights the next. Little did I know at the time that his mind was wrestling with similar urges he felt for me.There was a pause in the conversation. The first since the food had arrived. I glanced at the clock beside the bed. "I really should be going Alex. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this.""Nor I.""...but I do have to pack and get ready for my trip home." We stood in unison. WOW. It was unfair how this man stirred my desires. The t-shirt, the sweats, his demeanor, his style. A smile rose on my face as the thought entered my mind."Can I get a hug before you go, Julie. I have enjoyed this evening so much. I really wish we had met and done this earlier in the week.""OK" and I stepped towards him. Our bodies folded together. I've heard people talking about melting into someone's arms. I was about to find out what that meant. I have felt close to people before when we were naked and holding each other but this was different. Even fully clothed our bodies seemed to blend together. It was as if our rib cages had meshed together and his arms had penetrated my back and mine his. We seemed to share the same space. I have had men squeeze me so that I was feeling pain, as if they were trying to share space with me. Why was this different?
Woman on business trip lives a fantasy.By Silver Sea. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. I was finally settled into my room at the Marriott. The flight was typical, the hotel a hotel. I still wasn't sure if the following week would be of any value. I wrestled with how I could better have argued my case not to attend this conference as I settled onto the bed and opened the paperback I had purchased while waiting for my flight. I probably wouldn't get past the first few pages knowing my travels that day had depleted most of my energy.Sure enough a few paragraphs in and my eyes got heavy and my mind began to wander. I flipped off the light, set the book on my night table and set my mind free.Suddenly, without warning, he popped into my mind, as he often does when I am nodding off. My body stirred as this fantasy man entered my mind. I could not now escape him or the story I created and refined with each of his visits. His face flashed into my mind. It wasn't the face of any particular person. It was a blend of faces, models in magazines I had recently flipped through, that cute guy standing on the corner yesterday when I turned right on a red-light, a hunk or two that had approached me at bars in the course of my life. His body I constructed in much the same way; bodies from magazines, the gym, the beach and a portions of a lover or two I had known. It was a dangerous place that place between consciousness and sleep. ...I am already in his arms and floating around the luxurious king size bed with him. He is kissing my partially clad body and caressing the rest. I hold him, kiss him when I can, I feel a stirring throughout my body ...wait is that sensation in my dream or is it my conscious self that is reacting... he always knows where to touch me at the right moments.. my hand is resting next to my breast, just on the other side of my flannel pj's... I move my thumb a little and I feel my nipple respond... as his... my hand cups my... breast and firmly holds onto it... I watch my navel appear as his head moves south along my torso and he leaves trails of moisture where his warm tongue touches me. His chin brushes against the tuft of hair that defines the path he will follow to my desire.Morning arrived all too quickly. My feet dragged. My visitor had left his telltale stickiness on my thighs. It felt good in some ways, not so good in others. I think it would only have felt better had my visitor been real flesh and blood... and of course still holding me at this very moment. I felt my way around the room. No good music on the radio. It took forever for the water to get warm in the shower. And what should I wear. Business casual I guess. It's always safest until I know how the rest of the conference attendees are dressing.Ever punctual, there were only a few other people in the room when I arrived. Jim somebody welcomed me and introduced himself as the workshop coordinator. Oh yeah, not really a conference, it was more of a workshop, an education opportunity was how Chuck my boss had referred to it.. I looked around and selected a seat near the middle of the room, but a little closer to the front and on the perimeter so I could easily scan the room if I was bored. To minimize distractions I also put my back to the door so I wouldn't be tempted to follow people with my gaze as they came and went. A coffee and a muffin, a few more arrivals and I sat down where I had dropped my things. The buzz in the room was slowly growing. When someone would sit at my table I would politely nod and continue appearing to be interested in the welcome material we had received. People were chatting about all sorts of nothings as my mind wondered to places elsewhere....work that awaited me at the office... clothes for my son... what is he doing right now???My mind returned to the conference room quickly. Why? What had brought me back? A brief silence then women chatting. Women almost giggling. I looked at a few woman across the room and noticed their quick glances and peering that bordered on stares. I turned my head following their sight lines. There he was. My visitor. My fantasy man. Well, not exactly, but the closest thing to him I had ever seen. Yeah OK so the looks were there. That's less than half the fantasy. What about the rest? Well, maybe I would find out. But likely not. My mind drifted back to last night, my fantasy visitor and my urges momentarily stirred."..you from, Julie?" asked someone seated at my table. Their query snapping me back to reality."Pardon me.""Where are you from?" chimed the voice from across the table.The typical conference small talk had begun. The people at my table introduced themselves to one another as the room filled. Who remembers anyone's name at these gatherings. There are too many people, too many things to think about and you will never meet any of them again nor will you likely use any of the material presented. What a colossal waste of time, then he caught my eye again... well maybe not.The host began to speak and welcomed everyone to the workshop. Workshop, conference whatever. Except the emphasis on it being a workshop probably meant there would be breakout sessions and role playing and heaven knows what else. The workshop facilitator was introduced and so began the session. Around the room we went introducing ourselves and where we were from and what we expected to get out of the week would spend together. The only name I remember: Alex. And I'm certain all the other women in the room remember that one too. He spoke softly but with self-assurance. He stood tall and had grace but strength in his movements.To start things off the facilitator, Sam, had everyone change tables. Each table had number on it and each seat had a number in front of it. Eight tables, eight people at each table, he had us move to the table that matched the seat number we were presently sitting at. He told us we would be with a different group of people each day. I couldn't wait to be at the same table as Alex. But what would I say, what would I do. Would he even notice me.The first day went by without incident. There were times I thought I caught Alex looking my way, maybe admiring something about me. But nah, there was probably someone else he was looking at, if anyone at all. At the end of the day they reminded everyone to attend the reception afterwards. A chance to meet Alex was my first thought.Back in my room I prepared for the evening. Just before I headed downstairs I decided to check for phone messages at the office. Bad move. Thirty minutes later and a couple of doused fires and I was finally on my way to the reception. I caught my reflection as I walked past a mirror on the way out of my room. I stopped and looked again. "Not bad.", I muttered and off I went.The gathering was in full swing when I arrived. I nodded to a couple of people I had met that day and quickly scanned for my mystery man, Alex. Of course, I found him being swarmed by a collection of women all fawning over him. He looked to be enjoying himself. Since throwing myself at a man wasn't my style I wasn't about to get in to a swooning battle over one with a half dozen other women. Every now and then I would glance in his direction. There wasn't much one would change was there. Alex stood about 6 feet tall. He smiled warmly. Nothing about his demeanor said "I'm fabulous. All woman love me.", though it appeared most of the ones at the workshop thought they did. Nice hands. Friendly but captivating eyes. Well groomed, but not over done. And to start on his body would turn this recounting of one week into a novel. Shoulders. Pecs. Nice butt. Make that a really nice butt. Ah, back to this insignificant socializing I was immersed in. The people in my group that evening, Tom, Mary, Susan, Valerie, Ed were all nice people, but, well you know, when I left I wouldn't remember word one that was uttered. I became more fascinated in the group hovering around Alex.The next day we changed tables. No Alex. Everyone went separate ways at dinner that night. I joined a group of people from the workshop but still, no Alex.The next couple of days were the same. We kept getting more material at each session and I was now lugging two bags to the meetings each day. And the nights were the same too. Each night we would stop by the bar for a drink before we retired. Alex was there each and every night seeming to be the center of attention for all the women and men gathered around him. I still thought I caught him stealing glimpses of me, but I figured it was just wishful thinking on my part. He had enough women to choose from should he be interested. It was interesting watching the interactions of the group that surrounded him. The women all had their focus on him. Not that they were physically hanging from his clothes. But even after brief distractions from other members in their group their attention would immediately return to Alex in some way. And the men in the group. Well they seemed to be circling in hopes they may pickup some of Alex's discards. Who knew if anyone over there was getting lucky. Who cared really.Friday, the last day, as I showered the warm water running over my shoulders and down my nakedness stimulated my mind. I closed my eyes. The warmth of the water was reminiscent of a being caressed by a warm mouth. Suddenly I found myself sensuously washing my tits, my nipples hard, my other hand caressing my pussy and a picture of Alex in my mind's eye actually doing the stimulating. Um, it felt so nice. It's been so long since I've been touched the way I was touching myself, the way I longed to be touched. Harrumph. Give yourself a shake girl. I forced my thoughts back to the workshop and to work. That always puts a chill on things, and I laughed myself back to reality and away from my libido.I arrived in the workshop room and searched for name tag. At last, at a table with Alex. I dropped my bags at my seat and went for a coffee. It figures. All week in a room with my fantasy and it's the last day that we meet. He was so nice and seemed to pay me some attention. But somehow it just seemed to be his way. He was nice to everyone it seemed. Maybe it was wishful thinking again but he seemed to smile just a bit more when I spoke to him and he seemed to show just a bit more interest in what I was saying.Just after our lunch break he got up and left the table. Doreen ,sitting next to me, turned and said; "Isn't he something?" "Pardon?" I said. "Alex, isn't he something?" she replied."Yes, he is. He seems very nice." Doreen had been one of Alex's groupies all week. I wondered just how wonderful she thought or knew he was. "Funny though," she began, "we're starting to wonder if he is gay. All week there have been women following him around like lost puppies and he hasn't invited one of us back to his room. At least no one has admitted to it." That was interesting information. "Could be," I added to her collection of ammunition for determining Alex's sexual preference.Alex returned and glanced my way as he sat down. I'm sure I blushed a bit. No way, this man was not gay.Of course the last day the session went long. I wanted to find out what Alex was doing for dinner but he got up from the table as the session ended and headed to talk to the workshop facilitator. I hung around a bit but then remembered I had a few phone messages I wanted to deal with before the weekend arrived. I rushed off to my room. I made some calls. Got changed into some jeans. And made a few more calls. I decided to start packing before I went to one of the hotel restaurants for a quick dinner by myself. Alex would likely become part of my next fantasy. Would it be his eyes, his hands, his... ring! The phone was ringing. What now?!?! I picked it up."Hello""Julie?" said the voice on the other end."Yes. Who's speaking?" as the words escaped my lips my heart rose into my throat. It was..."It's Alex. You left one of your bags at our table today. I was going to bring it to you. When would be a convenient time?""Uh", that was an intelligent response. "Well I'm just in the midst of packing. Can I come to your room and get it from you?""Sure, I guess. I'm in Room 704.""Thanks Alex. I will be there in 10 minutes or so.""OK. See you then." Oh God. What now. Oh, get a grip on yourself. He will just very politely give you your things and wish you a safe trip home. As I arrived at his room the door was ajar. I knocked. "Come in.", said the soft masculine voice hidden in the room."Alex?" I muttered as I slowly opened the door. "Julie. It's so nice to see you again." Wow, there he was in a t-shirt and some loose sweat pants. My hormones fluttered and I'm sure my eyes rolled around in my spinning head. This man was so incredibly handsome and I'm sure he wasn't even trying to be. "You inspired me to start my packing as well Julie. Your bag is just over here. I will get it for you"As I walked in I said, "I can get it. I really appreciate that you didn't leave it behind." I bent to pick up my bag, and as I turned to leave Alex had turned to face me.He gazed into my eyes. "I'm really sorry we didn't get to know each other better, Julie.""I'm sure we will meet again somewhere. I would have liked to spend more time with you as well""I'm really pretty shy Julie, but I have to tell you that all week you captured my attention. I hope I'm not embarrassing you?""Not at all. Actually I'm quite flattered.""Have you had dinner yet?""Well, actually, no I haven't". Maybe he will ask me out."Stay then, Julie. I insist." Pardon me, I thought. "I ordered some room service. Just a beer and a plate of nachos. I have grown tired of the people who seemed to occupy all my time this week and just wanted to sit and have a quiet bite to eat. So please join me.""Oh, I don't know. I would hate to interrupt your solitude if that is what you're looking for.""Settled then. You're staying. I can't think of a better way to end this trip than a quiet meal with you." Alex turned to pick up the phone then stopped. "Oh. I did it again Julie. I'm sorry. Excuse my honesty, but I fear I have this opportunity to spend time with someone I am very attracted to and I don't want to miss it. I apologize for being so forward. I am just so filled with excitement being in your company."I'm sure I must have been blushing. This man was so nice and honest and open. There was almost a childlike quality to his sincerity. I dropped my bag and agreed to stay. "Oh, I'm so happy. Let me see if I can get another beer. Oops, is a beer Ok with your nachos or would you like something else?""Yes, beer would be fine, Alex. And no I'm not so much embarrassed by your honesty as I am flattered, once again." Just then there was a knock at the door. The nachos had arrived. And as promised they were accompanied by one beer. The porter brought in the cart and Alex asked him if he could bring up two more beers."We'll split this one Julie", Alex said as he signed the bill. So we sat on opposite side of the cart and talked and ate. It was almost eerie how comfortable we seemed together. Alex explained how much he had been overwhelmed by the people who chose to hang around with him all week. He was too nice to tell them to get lost. And there was a shyness about him. He seemed to divert his eyes and lower his head just a bit whenever we spoke of him or on those occasions when he paid me some compliment.Our other beers arrived and it wasn't long after that we were laughing about how we had been watching each other all week. And then we spoke of our desires mixed in with some of the funny things people had done and said to get his attention and even mine a couple of times. I related the story about him being gay and we both had a tremendous laugh about that one.A couple of hours had passed before we knew it. I can't count the times I lost track of the conversation. Thoughts of me in Alex's arms, kissing his lips, laying in his bed stole my attention frequently. How could they not. Here I was, with my fantasy man. I remember feeling my body react to thoughts that would flash into my mind. Mid conversation my mind would transport me to an intimate embrace with Alex or a picture of him in some state of undress or the two of us cuddling enjoying the warmth of each other's body. My breasts would tingle, sort of burn and I would feel the urge to cup them in my hand to release the tension they exhibited. I even found ways to somewhat satisfy them by reaching across myself for my drink of another nacho and gently pressing my arm against them.And my yoni, I like that term much more than pussy, or cunt or vagina, it's a Tantric word for a woman's genitalia, it's a nicer word I think. Well my yoni would feel that emptiness that desire would place there. It's an emptiness that seems to push against the walls of my vagina and bring a numbness to my labia and run a current through my clit. It seems to cry out to be replaced by something real, a physical mass that will not release the pressure I feel but rather replace it with a pressure that has the ability to return sensation to my moist lips, ground my vibrating clitoris and to fulfill my desires.I so wanted to close my eyes, lean back, slide my hand between my thighs and feel my dampness with my fingertips as I satisfied my longing by slipping my fingers inside me. Instead I would shift in my chair, cross my legs and flex my groin muscles. If I did it just right the seam in the crotch of my jeans would push against my yoni. The pressure would stir my passion, cause my lubricant to ooze from its source onto my labia and at the same time somewhat satisfy my cravings. About the third time this happened I couldn't help but notice the dampness that had invaded my panties. It was an interesting combination of cool and warm. The cool no doubt from earlier mental diversions, the warm deposited there during my current sojourn from reality.Remember my comment about "...but that's less than half the fantasy...". Well he had now shown that only the intimate piece of my puzzle was missing from his resume. My mind, my body, my heart were all screaming at me to find out to fill in the blank. I wondered though. I worried about there being disappointment, about a loss of respect for each other, about a loss of this closeness that had so quickly grown between us. And all for what, for few moments of intimate pleasure, of orgasmic bliss. Everything seemed so right. But Alex seemed to be a little to shy, maybe even unsure, to take the lead in our intimacy the way my fantasy man always did. I had notice Alex stirring in his chair once in a while. I thought it was probably because the night was wearing on and we both had early flights the next. Little did I know at the time that his mind was wrestling with similar urges he felt for me.There was a pause in the conversation. The first since the food had arrived. I glanced at the clock beside the bed. "I really should be going Alex. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this.""Nor I.""...but I do have to pack and get ready for my trip home." We stood in unison. WOW. It was unfair how this man stirred my desires. The t-shirt, the sweats, his demeanor, his style. A smile rose on my face as the thought entered my mind."Can I get a hug before you go, Julie. I have enjoyed this evening so much. I really wish we had met and done this earlier in the week.""OK" and I stepped towards him. Our bodies folded together. I've heard people talking about melting into someone's arms. I was about to find out what that meant. I have felt close to people before when we were naked and holding each other but this was different. Even fully clothed our bodies seemed to blend together. It was as if our rib cages had meshed together and his arms had penetrated my back and mine his. We seemed to share the same space. I have had men squeeze me so that I was feeling pain, as if they were trying to share space with me. Why was this different?
Woman on business trip lives a fantasy.By Silver Sea. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. I was finally settled into my room at the Marriott. The flight was typical, the hotel a hotel. I still wasn't sure if the following week would be of any value. I wrestled with how I could better have argued my case not to attend this conference as I settled onto the bed and opened the paperback I had purchased while waiting for my flight. I probably wouldn't get past the first few pages knowing my travels that day had depleted most of my energy.Sure enough a few paragraphs in and my eyes got heavy and my mind began to wander. I flipped off the light, set the book on my night table and set my mind free.Suddenly, without warning, he popped into my mind, as he often does when I am nodding off. My body stirred as this fantasy man entered my mind. I could not now escape him or the story I created and refined with each of his visits. His face flashed into my mind. It wasn't the face of any particular person. It was a blend of faces, models in magazines I had recently flipped through, that cute guy standing on the corner yesterday when I turned right on a red-light, a hunk or two that had approached me at bars in the course of my life. His body I constructed in much the same way; bodies from magazines, the gym, the beach and a portions of a lover or two I had known. It was a dangerous place that place between consciousness and sleep. ...I am already in his arms and floating around the luxurious king size bed with him. He is kissing my partially clad body and caressing the rest. I hold him, kiss him when I can, I feel a stirring throughout my body ...wait is that sensation in my dream or is it my conscious self that is reacting... he always knows where to touch me at the right moments.. my hand is resting next to my breast, just on the other side of my flannel pj's... I move my thumb a little and I feel my nipple respond... as his... my hand cups my... breast and firmly holds onto it... I watch my navel appear as his head moves south along my torso and he leaves trails of moisture where his warm tongue touches me. His chin brushes against the tuft of hair that defines the path he will follow to my desire.Morning arrived all too quickly. My feet dragged. My visitor had left his telltale stickiness on my thighs. It felt good in some ways, not so good in others. I think it would only have felt better had my visitor been real flesh and blood... and of course still holding me at this very moment. I felt my way around the room. No good music on the radio. It took forever for the water to get warm in the shower. And what should I wear. Business casual I guess. It's always safest until I know how the rest of the conference attendees are dressing.Ever punctual, there were only a few other people in the room when I arrived. Jim somebody welcomed me and introduced himself as the workshop coordinator. Oh yeah, not really a conference, it was more of a workshop, an education opportunity was how Chuck my boss had referred to it.. I looked around and selected a seat near the middle of the room, but a little closer to the front and on the perimeter so I could easily scan the room if I was bored. To minimize distractions I also put my back to the door so I wouldn't be tempted to follow people with my gaze as they came and went. A coffee and a muffin, a few more arrivals and I sat down where I had dropped my things. The buzz in the room was slowly growing. When someone would sit at my table I would politely nod and continue appearing to be interested in the welcome material we had received. People were chatting about all sorts of nothings as my mind wondered to places elsewhere....work that awaited me at the office... clothes for my son... what is he doing right now???My mind returned to the conference room quickly. Why? What had brought me back? A brief silence then women chatting. Women almost giggling. I looked at a few woman across the room and noticed their quick glances and peering that bordered on stares. I turned my head following their sight lines. There he was. My visitor. My fantasy man. Well, not exactly, but the closest thing to him I had ever seen. Yeah OK so the looks were there. That's less than half the fantasy. What about the rest? Well, maybe I would find out. But likely not. My mind drifted back to last night, my fantasy visitor and my urges momentarily stirred."..you from, Julie?" asked someone seated at my table. Their query snapping me back to reality."Pardon me.""Where are you from?" chimed the voice from across the table.The typical conference small talk had begun. The people at my table introduced themselves to one another as the room filled. Who remembers anyone's name at these gatherings. There are too many people, too many things to think about and you will never meet any of them again nor will you likely use any of the material presented. What a colossal waste of time, then he caught my eye again... well maybe not.The host began to speak and welcomed everyone to the workshop. Workshop, conference whatever. Except the emphasis on it being a workshop probably meant there would be breakout sessions and role playing and heaven knows what else. The workshop facilitator was introduced and so began the session. Around the room we went introducing ourselves and where we were from and what we expected to get out of the week would spend together. The only name I remember: Alex. And I'm certain all the other women in the room remember that one too. He spoke softly but with self-assurance. He stood tall and had grace but strength in his movements.To start things off the facilitator, Sam, had everyone change tables. Each table had number on it and each seat had a number in front of it. Eight tables, eight people at each table, he had us move to the table that matched the seat number we were presently sitting at. He told us we would be with a different group of people each day. I couldn't wait to be at the same table as Alex. But what would I say, what would I do. Would he even notice me.The first day went by without incident. There were times I thought I caught Alex looking my way, maybe admiring something about me. But nah, there was probably someone else he was looking at, if anyone at all. At the end of the day they reminded everyone to attend the reception afterwards. A chance to meet Alex was my first thought.Back in my room I prepared for the evening. Just before I headed downstairs I decided to check for phone messages at the office. Bad move. Thirty minutes later and a couple of doused fires and I was finally on my way to the reception. I caught my reflection as I walked past a mirror on the way out of my room. I stopped and looked again. "Not bad.", I muttered and off I went.The gathering was in full swing when I arrived. I nodded to a couple of people I had met that day and quickly scanned for my mystery man, Alex. Of course, I found him being swarmed by a collection of women all fawning over him. He looked to be enjoying himself. Since throwing myself at a man wasn't my style I wasn't about to get in to a swooning battle over one with a half dozen other women. Every now and then I would glance in his direction. There wasn't much one would change was there. Alex stood about 6 feet tall. He smiled warmly. Nothing about his demeanor said "I'm fabulous. All woman love me.", though it appeared most of the ones at the workshop thought they did. Nice hands. Friendly but captivating eyes. Well groomed, but not over done. And to start on his body would turn this recounting of one week into a novel. Shoulders. Pecs. Nice butt. Make that a really nice butt. Ah, back to this insignificant socializing I was immersed in. The people in my group that evening, Tom, Mary, Susan, Valerie, Ed were all nice people, but, well you know, when I left I wouldn't remember word one that was uttered. I became more fascinated in the group hovering around Alex.The next day we changed tables. No Alex. Everyone went separate ways at dinner that night. I joined a group of people from the workshop but still, no Alex.The next couple of days were the same. We kept getting more material at each session and I was now lugging two bags to the meetings each day. And the nights were the same too. Each night we would stop by the bar for a drink before we retired. Alex was there each and every night seeming to be the center of attention for all the women and men gathered around him. I still thought I caught him stealing glimpses of me, but I figured it was just wishful thinking on my part. He had enough women to choose from should he be interested. It was interesting watching the interactions of the group that surrounded him. The women all had their focus on him. Not that they were physically hanging from his clothes. But even after brief distractions from other members in their group their attention would immediately return to Alex in some way. And the men in the group. Well they seemed to be circling in hopes they may pickup some of Alex's discards. Who knew if anyone over there was getting lucky. Who cared really.Friday, the last day, as I showered the warm water running over my shoulders and down my nakedness stimulated my mind. I closed my eyes. The warmth of the water was reminiscent of a being caressed by a warm mouth. Suddenly I found myself sensuously washing my tits, my nipples hard, my other hand caressing my pussy and a picture of Alex in my mind's eye actually doing the stimulating. Um, it felt so nice. It's been so long since I've been touched the way I was touching myself, the way I longed to be touched. Harrumph. Give yourself a shake girl. I forced my thoughts back to the workshop and to work. That always puts a chill on things, and I laughed myself back to reality and away from my libido.I arrived in the workshop room and searched for name tag. At last, at a table with Alex. I dropped my bags at my seat and went for a coffee. It figures. All week in a room with my fantasy and it's the last day that we meet. He was so nice and seemed to pay me some attention. But somehow it just seemed to be his way. He was nice to everyone it seemed. Maybe it was wishful thinking again but he seemed to smile just a bit more when I spoke to him and he seemed to show just a bit more interest in what I was saying.Just after our lunch break he got up and left the table. Doreen ,sitting next to me, turned and said; "Isn't he something?" "Pardon?" I said. "Alex, isn't he something?" she replied."Yes, he is. He seems very nice." Doreen had been one of Alex's groupies all week. I wondered just how wonderful she thought or knew he was. "Funny though," she began, "we're starting to wonder if he is gay. All week there have been women following him around like lost puppies and he hasn't invited one of us back to his room. At least no one has admitted to it." That was interesting information. "Could be," I added to her collection of ammunition for determining Alex's sexual preference.Alex returned and glanced my way as he sat down. I'm sure I blushed a bit. No way, this man was not gay.Of course the last day the session went long. I wanted to find out what Alex was doing for dinner but he got up from the table as the session ended and headed to talk to the workshop facilitator. I hung around a bit but then remembered I had a few phone messages I wanted to deal with before the weekend arrived. I rushed off to my room. I made some calls. Got changed into some jeans. And made a few more calls. I decided to start packing before I went to one of the hotel restaurants for a quick dinner by myself. Alex would likely become part of my next fantasy. Would it be his eyes, his hands, his... ring! The phone was ringing. What now?!?! I picked it up."Hello""Julie?" said the voice on the other end."Yes. Who's speaking?" as the words escaped my lips my heart rose into my throat. It was..."It's Alex. You left one of your bags at our table today. I was going to bring it to you. When would be a convenient time?""Uh", that was an intelligent response. "Well I'm just in the midst of packing. Can I come to your room and get it from you?""Sure, I guess. I'm in Room 704.""Thanks Alex. I will be there in 10 minutes or so.""OK. See you then." Oh God. What now. Oh, get a grip on yourself. He will just very politely give you your things and wish you a safe trip home. As I arrived at his room the door was ajar. I knocked. "Come in.", said the soft masculine voice hidden in the room."Alex?" I muttered as I slowly opened the door. "Julie. It's so nice to see you again." Wow, there he was in a t-shirt and some loose sweat pants. My hormones fluttered and I'm sure my eyes rolled around in my spinning head. This man was so incredibly handsome and I'm sure he wasn't even trying to be. "You inspired me to start my packing as well Julie. Your bag is just over here. I will get it for you"As I walked in I said, "I can get it. I really appreciate that you didn't leave it behind." I bent to pick up my bag, and as I turned to leave Alex had turned to face me.He gazed into my eyes. "I'm really sorry we didn't get to know each other better, Julie.""I'm sure we will meet again somewhere. I would have liked to spend more time with you as well""I'm really pretty shy Julie, but I have to tell you that all week you captured my attention. I hope I'm not embarrassing you?""Not at all. Actually I'm quite flattered.""Have you had dinner yet?""Well, actually, no I haven't". Maybe he will ask me out."Stay then, Julie. I insist." Pardon me, I thought. "I ordered some room service. Just a beer and a plate of nachos. I have grown tired of the people who seemed to occupy all my time this week and just wanted to sit and have a quiet bite to eat. So please join me.""Oh, I don't know. I would hate to interrupt your solitude if that is what you're looking for.""Settled then. You're staying. I can't think of a better way to end this trip than a quiet meal with you." Alex turned to pick up the phone then stopped. "Oh. I did it again Julie. I'm sorry. Excuse my honesty, but I fear I have this opportunity to spend time with someone I am very attracted to and I don't want to miss it. I apologize for being so forward. I am just so filled with excitement being in your company."I'm sure I must have been blushing. This man was so nice and honest and open. There was almost a childlike quality to his sincerity. I dropped my bag and agreed to stay. "Oh, I'm so happy. Let me see if I can get another beer. Oops, is a beer Ok with your nachos or would you like something else?""Yes, beer would be fine, Alex. And no I'm not so much embarrassed by your honesty as I am flattered, once again." Just then there was a knock at the door. The nachos had arrived. And as promised they were accompanied by one beer. The porter brought in the cart and Alex asked him if he could bring up two more beers."We'll split this one Julie", Alex said as he signed the bill. So we sat on opposite side of the cart and talked and ate. It was almost eerie how comfortable we seemed together. Alex explained how much he had been overwhelmed by the people who chose to hang around with him all week. He was too nice to tell them to get lost. And there was a shyness about him. He seemed to divert his eyes and lower his head just a bit whenever we spoke of him or on those occasions when he paid me some compliment.Our other beers arrived and it wasn't long after that we were laughing about how we had been watching each other all week. And then we spoke of our desires mixed in with some of the funny things people had done and said to get his attention and even mine a couple of times. I related the story about him being gay and we both had a tremendous laugh about that one.A couple of hours had passed before we knew it. I can't count the times I lost track of the conversation. Thoughts of me in Alex's arms, kissing his lips, laying in his bed stole my attention frequently. How could they not. Here I was, with my fantasy man. I remember feeling my body react to thoughts that would flash into my mind. Mid conversation my mind would transport me to an intimate embrace with Alex or a picture of him in some state of undress or the two of us cuddling enjoying the warmth of each other's body. My breasts would tingle, sort of burn and I would feel the urge to cup them in my hand to release the tension they exhibited. I even found ways to somewhat satisfy them by reaching across myself for my drink of another nacho and gently pressing my arm against them.And my yoni, I like that term much more than pussy, or cunt or vagina, it's a Tantric word for a woman's genitalia, it's a nicer word I think. Well my yoni would feel that emptiness that desire would place there. It's an emptiness that seems to push against the walls of my vagina and bring a numbness to my labia and run a current through my clit. It seems to cry out to be replaced by something real, a physical mass that will not release the pressure I feel but rather replace it with a pressure that has the ability to return sensation to my moist lips, ground my vibrating clitoris and to fulfill my desires.I so wanted to close my eyes, lean back, slide my hand between my thighs and feel my dampness with my fingertips as I satisfied my longing by slipping my fingers inside me. Instead I would shift in my chair, cross my legs and flex my groin muscles. If I did it just right the seam in the crotch of my jeans would push against my yoni. The pressure would stir my passion, cause my lubricant to ooze from its source onto my labia and at the same time somewhat satisfy my cravings. About the third time this happened I couldn't help but notice the dampness that had invaded my panties. It was an interesting combination of cool and warm. The cool no doubt from earlier mental diversions, the warm deposited there during my current sojourn from reality.Remember my comment about "...but that's less than half the fantasy...". Well he had now shown that only the intimate piece of my puzzle was missing from his resume. My mind, my body, my heart were all screaming at me to find out to fill in the blank. I wondered though. I worried about there being disappointment, about a loss of respect for each other, about a loss of this closeness that had so quickly grown between us. And all for what, for few moments of intimate pleasure, of orgasmic bliss. Everything seemed so right. But Alex seemed to be a little to shy, maybe even unsure, to take the lead in our intimacy the way my fantasy man always did. I had notice Alex stirring in his chair once in a while. I thought it was probably because the night was wearing on and we both had early flights the next. Little did I know at the time that his mind was wrestling with similar urges he felt for me.There was a pause in the conversation. The first since the food had arrived. I glanced at the clock beside the bed. "I really should be going Alex. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this.""Nor I.""...but I do have to pack and get ready for my trip home." We stood in unison. WOW. It was unfair how this man stirred my desires. The t-shirt, the sweats, his demeanor, his style. A smile rose on my face as the thought entered my mind."Can I get a hug before you go, Julie. I have enjoyed this evening so much. I really wish we had met and done this earlier in the week.""OK" and I stepped towards him. Our bodies folded together. I've heard people talking about melting into someone's arms. I was about to find out what that meant. I have felt close to people before when we were naked and holding each other but this was different. Even fully clothed our bodies seemed to blend together. It was as if our rib cages had meshed together and his arms had penetrated my back and mine his. We seemed to share the same space. I have had men squeeze me so that I was feeling pain, as if they were trying to share space with me. Why was this different?
Woman on business trip lives a fantasy.By Silver Sea. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. I was finally settled into my room at the Marriott. The flight was typical, the hotel a hotel. I still wasn't sure if the following week would be of any value. I wrestled with how I could better have argued my case not to attend this conference as I settled onto the bed and opened the paperback I had purchased while waiting for my flight. I probably wouldn't get past the first few pages knowing my travels that day had depleted most of my energy.Sure enough a few paragraphs in and my eyes got heavy and my mind began to wander. I flipped off the light, set the book on my night table and set my mind free.Suddenly, without warning, he popped into my mind, as he often does when I am nodding off. My body stirred as this fantasy man entered my mind. I could not now escape him or the story I created and refined with each of his visits. His face flashed into my mind. It wasn't the face of any particular person. It was a blend of faces, models in magazines I had recently flipped through, that cute guy standing on the corner yesterday when I turned right on a red-light, a hunk or two that had approached me at bars in the course of my life. His body I constructed in much the same way; bodies from magazines, the gym, the beach and a portions of a lover or two I had known. It was a dangerous place that place between consciousness and sleep. ...I am already in his arms and floating around the luxurious king size bed with him. He is kissing my partially clad body and caressing the rest. I hold him, kiss him when I can, I feel a stirring throughout my body ...wait is that sensation in my dream or is it my conscious self that is reacting... he always knows where to touch me at the right moments.. my hand is resting next to my breast, just on the other side of my flannel pj's... I move my thumb a little and I feel my nipple respond... as his... my hand cups my... breast and firmly holds onto it... I watch my navel appear as his head moves south along my torso and he leaves trails of moisture where his warm tongue touches me. His chin brushes against the tuft of hair that defines the path he will follow to my desire.Morning arrived all too quickly. My feet dragged. My visitor had left his telltale stickiness on my thighs. It felt good in some ways, not so good in others. I think it would only have felt better had my visitor been real flesh and blood... and of course still holding me at this very moment. I felt my way around the room. No good music on the radio. It took forever for the water to get warm in the shower. And what should I wear. Business casual I guess. It's always safest until I know how the rest of the conference attendees are dressing.Ever punctual, there were only a few other people in the room when I arrived. Jim somebody welcomed me and introduced himself as the workshop coordinator. Oh yeah, not really a conference, it was more of a workshop, an education opportunity was how Chuck my boss had referred to it.. I looked around and selected a seat near the middle of the room, but a little closer to the front and on the perimeter so I could easily scan the room if I was bored. To minimize distractions I also put my back to the door so I wouldn't be tempted to follow people with my gaze as they came and went. A coffee and a muffin, a few more arrivals and I sat down where I had dropped my things. The buzz in the room was slowly growing. When someone would sit at my table I would politely nod and continue appearing to be interested in the welcome material we had received. People were chatting about all sorts of nothings as my mind wondered to places elsewhere....work that awaited me at the office... clothes for my son... what is he doing right now???My mind returned to the conference room quickly. Why? What had brought me back? A brief silence then women chatting. Women almost giggling. I looked at a few woman across the room and noticed their quick glances and peering that bordered on stares. I turned my head following their sight lines. There he was. My visitor. My fantasy man. Well, not exactly, but the closest thing to him I had ever seen. Yeah OK so the looks were there. That's less than half the fantasy. What about the rest? Well, maybe I would find out. But likely not. My mind drifted back to last night, my fantasy visitor and my urges momentarily stirred."..you from, Julie?" asked someone seated at my table. Their query snapping me back to reality."Pardon me.""Where are you from?" chimed the voice from across the table.The typical conference small talk had begun. The people at my table introduced themselves to one another as the room filled. Who remembers anyone's name at these gatherings. There are too many people, too many things to think about and you will never meet any of them again nor will you likely use any of the material presented. What a colossal waste of time, then he caught my eye again... well maybe not.The host began to speak and welcomed everyone to the workshop. Workshop, conference whatever. Except the emphasis on it being a workshop probably meant there would be breakout sessions and role playing and heaven knows what else. The workshop facilitator was introduced and so began the session. Around the room we went introducing ourselves and where we were from and what we expected to get out of the week would spend together. The only name I remember: Alex. And I'm certain all the other women in the room remember that one too. He spoke softly but with self-assurance. He stood tall and had grace but strength in his movements.To start things off the facilitator, Sam, had everyone change tables. Each table had number on it and each seat had a number in front of it. Eight tables, eight people at each table, he had us move to the table that matched the seat number we were presently sitting at. He told us we would be with a different group of people each day. I couldn't wait to be at the same table as Alex. But what would I say, what would I do. Would he even notice me.The first day went by without incident. There were times I thought I caught Alex looking my way, maybe admiring something about me. But nah, there was probably someone else he was looking at, if anyone at all. At the end of the day they reminded everyone to attend the reception afterwards. A chance to meet Alex was my first thought.Back in my room I prepared for the evening. Just before I headed downstairs I decided to check for phone messages at the office. Bad move. Thirty minutes later and a couple of doused fires and I was finally on my way to the reception. I caught my reflection as I walked past a mirror on the way out of my room. I stopped and looked again. "Not bad.", I muttered and off I went.The gathering was in full swing when I arrived. I nodded to a couple of people I had met that day and quickly scanned for my mystery man, Alex. Of course, I found him being swarmed by a collection of women all fawning over him. He looked to be enjoying himself. Since throwing myself at a man wasn't my style I wasn't about to get in to a swooning battle over one with a half dozen other women. Every now and then I would glance in his direction. There wasn't much one would change was there. Alex stood about 6 feet tall. He smiled warmly. Nothing about his demeanor said "I'm fabulous. All woman love me.", though it appeared most of the ones at the workshop thought they did. Nice hands. Friendly but captivating eyes. Well groomed, but not over done. And to start on his body would turn this recounting of one week into a novel. Shoulders. Pecs. Nice butt. Make that a really nice butt. Ah, back to this insignificant socializing I was immersed in. The people in my group that evening, Tom, Mary, Susan, Valerie, Ed were all nice people, but, well you know, when I left I wouldn't remember word one that was uttered. I became more fascinated in the group hovering around Alex.The next day we changed tables. No Alex. Everyone went separate ways at dinner that night. I joined a group of people from the workshop but still, no Alex.The next couple of days were the same. We kept getting more material at each session and I was now lugging two bags to the meetings each day. And the nights were the same too. Each night we would stop by the bar for a drink before we retired. Alex was there each and every night seeming to be the center of attention for all the women and men gathered around him. I still thought I caught him stealing glimpses of me, but I figured it was just wishful thinking on my part. He had enough women to choose from should he be interested. It was interesting watching the interactions of the group that surrounded him. The women all had their focus on him. Not that they were physically hanging from his clothes. But even after brief distractions from other members in their group their attention would immediately return to Alex in some way. And the men in the group. Well they seemed to be circling in hopes they may pickup some of Alex's discards. Who knew if anyone over there was getting lucky. Who cared really.Friday, the last day, as I showered the warm water running over my shoulders and down my nakedness stimulated my mind. I closed my eyes. The warmth of the water was reminiscent of a being caressed by a warm mouth. Suddenly I found myself sensuously washing my tits, my nipples hard, my other hand caressing my pussy and a picture of Alex in my mind's eye actually doing the stimulating. Um, it felt so nice. It's been so long since I've been touched the way I was touching myself, the way I longed to be touched. Harrumph. Give yourself a shake girl. I forced my thoughts back to the workshop and to work. That always puts a chill on things, and I laughed myself back to reality and away from my libido.I arrived in the workshop room and searched for name tag. At last, at a table with Alex. I dropped my bags at my seat and went for a coffee. It figures. All week in a room with my fantasy and it's the last day that we meet. He was so nice and seemed to pay me some attention. But somehow it just seemed to be his way. He was nice to everyone it seemed. Maybe it was wishful thinking again but he seemed to smile just a bit more when I spoke to him and he seemed to show just a bit more interest in what I was saying.Just after our lunch break he got up and left the table. Doreen ,sitting next to me, turned and said; "Isn't he something?" "Pardon?" I said. "Alex, isn't he something?" she replied."Yes, he is. He seems very nice." Doreen had been one of Alex's groupies all week. I wondered just how wonderful she thought or knew he was. "Funny though," she began, "we're starting to wonder if he is gay. All week there have been women following him around like lost puppies and he hasn't invited one of us back to his room. At least no one has admitted to it." That was interesting information. "Could be," I added to her collection of ammunition for determining Alex's sexual preference.Alex returned and glanced my way as he sat down. I'm sure I blushed a bit. No way, this man was not gay.Of course the last day the session went long. I wanted to find out what Alex was doing for dinner but he got up from the table as the session ended and headed to talk to the workshop facilitator. I hung around a bit but then remembered I had a few phone messages I wanted to deal with before the weekend arrived. I rushed off to my room. I made some calls. Got changed into some jeans. And made a few more calls. I decided to start packing before I went to one of the hotel restaurants for a quick dinner by myself. Alex would likely become part of my next fantasy. Would it be his eyes, his hands, his... ring! The phone was ringing. What now?!?! I picked it up."Hello""Julie?" said the voice on the other end."Yes. Who's speaking?" as the words escaped my lips my heart rose into my throat. It was..."It's Alex. You left one of your bags at our table today. I was going to bring it to you. When would be a convenient time?""Uh", that was an intelligent response. "Well I'm just in the midst of packing. Can I come to your room and get it from you?""Sure, I guess. I'm in Room 704.""Thanks Alex. I will be there in 10 minutes or so.""OK. See you then." Oh God. What now. Oh, get a grip on yourself. He will just very politely give you your things and wish you a safe trip home. As I arrived at his room the door was ajar. I knocked. "Come in.", said the soft masculine voice hidden in the room."Alex?" I muttered as I slowly opened the door. "Julie. It's so nice to see you again." Wow, there he was in a t-shirt and some loose sweat pants. My hormones fluttered and I'm sure my eyes rolled around in my spinning head. This man was so incredibly handsome and I'm sure he wasn't even trying to be. "You inspired me to start my packing as well Julie. Your bag is just over here. I will get it for you"As I walked in I said, "I can get it. I really appreciate that you didn't leave it behind." I bent to pick up my bag, and as I turned to leave Alex had turned to face me.He gazed into my eyes. "I'm really sorry we didn't get to know each other better, Julie.""I'm sure we will meet again somewhere. I would have liked to spend more time with you as well""I'm really pretty shy Julie, but I have to tell you that all week you captured my attention. I hope I'm not embarrassing you?""Not at all. Actually I'm quite flattered.""Have you had dinner yet?""Well, actually, no I haven't". Maybe he will ask me out."Stay then, Julie. I insist." Pardon me, I thought. "I ordered some room service. Just a beer and a plate of nachos. I have grown tired of the people who seemed to occupy all my time this week and just wanted to sit and have a quiet bite to eat. So please join me.""Oh, I don't know. I would hate to interrupt your solitude if that is what you're looking for.""Settled then. You're staying. I can't think of a better way to end this trip than a quiet meal with you." Alex turned to pick up the phone then stopped. "Oh. I did it again Julie. I'm sorry. Excuse my honesty, but I fear I have this opportunity to spend time with someone I am very attracted to and I don't want to miss it. I apologize for being so forward. I am just so filled with excitement being in your company."I'm sure I must have been blushing. This man was so nice and honest and open. There was almost a childlike quality to his sincerity. I dropped my bag and agreed to stay. "Oh, I'm so happy. Let me see if I can get another beer. Oops, is a beer Ok with your nachos or would you like something else?""Yes, beer would be fine, Alex. And no I'm not so much embarrassed by your honesty as I am flattered, once again." Just then there was a knock at the door. The nachos had arrived. And as promised they were accompanied by one beer. The porter brought in the cart and Alex asked him if he could bring up two more beers."We'll split this one Julie", Alex said as he signed the bill. So we sat on opposite side of the cart and talked and ate. It was almost eerie how comfortable we seemed together. Alex explained how much he had been overwhelmed by the people who chose to hang around with him all week. He was too nice to tell them to get lost. And there was a shyness about him. He seemed to divert his eyes and lower his head just a bit whenever we spoke of him or on those occasions when he paid me some compliment.Our other beers arrived and it wasn't long after that we were laughing about how we had been watching each other all week. And then we spoke of our desires mixed in with some of the funny things people had done and said to get his attention and even mine a couple of times. I related the story about him being gay and we both had a tremendous laugh about that one.A couple of hours had passed before we knew it. I can't count the times I lost track of the conversation. Thoughts of me in Alex's arms, kissing his lips, laying in his bed stole my attention frequently. How could they not. Here I was, with my fantasy man. I remember feeling my body react to thoughts that would flash into my mind. Mid conversation my mind would transport me to an intimate embrace with Alex or a picture of him in some state of undress or the two of us cuddling enjoying the warmth of each other's body. My breasts would tingle, sort of burn and I would feel the urge to cup them in my hand to release the tension they exhibited. I even found ways to somewhat satisfy them by reaching across myself for my drink of another nacho and gently pressing my arm against them.And my yoni, I like that term much more than pussy, or cunt or vagina, it's a Tantric word for a woman's genitalia, it's a nicer word I think. Well my yoni would feel that emptiness that desire would place there. It's an emptiness that seems to push against the walls of my vagina and bring a numbness to my labia and run a current through my clit. It seems to cry out to be replaced by something real, a physical mass that will not release the pressure I feel but rather replace it with a pressure that has the ability to return sensation to my moist lips, ground my vibrating clitoris and to fulfill my desires.I so wanted to close my eyes, lean back, slide my hand between my thighs and feel my dampness with my fingertips as I satisfied my longing by slipping my fingers inside me. Instead I would shift in my chair, cross my legs and flex my groin muscles. If I did it just right the seam in the crotch of my jeans would push against my yoni. The pressure would stir my passion, cause my lubricant to ooze from its source onto my labia and at the same time somewhat satisfy my cravings. About the third time this happened I couldn't help but notice the dampness that had invaded my panties. It was an interesting combination of cool and warm. The cool no doubt from earlier mental diversions, the warm deposited there during my current sojourn from reality.Remember my comment about "...but that's less than half the fantasy...". Well he had now shown that only the intimate piece of my puzzle was missing from his resume. My mind, my body, my heart were all screaming at me to find out to fill in the blank. I wondered though. I worried about there being disappointment, about a loss of respect for each other, about a loss of this closeness that had so quickly grown between us. And all for what, for few moments of intimate pleasure, of orgasmic bliss. Everything seemed so right. But Alex seemed to be a little to shy, maybe even unsure, to take the lead in our intimacy the way my fantasy man always did. I had notice Alex stirring in his chair once in a while. I thought it was probably because the night was wearing on and we both had early flights the next. Little did I know at the time that his mind was wrestling with similar urges he felt for me.There was a pause in the conversation. The first since the food had arrived. I glanced at the clock beside the bed. "I really should be going Alex. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this.""Nor I.""...but I do have to pack and get ready for my trip home." We stood in unison. WOW. It was unfair how this man stirred my desires. The t-shirt, the sweats, his demeanor, his style. A smile rose on my face as the thought entered my mind."Can I get a hug before you go, Julie. I have enjoyed this evening so much. I really wish we had met and done this earlier in the week.""OK" and I stepped towards him. Our bodies folded together. I've heard people talking about melting into someone's arms. I was about to find out what that meant. I have felt close to people before when we were naked and holding each other but this was different. Even fully clothed our bodies seemed to blend together. It was as if our rib cages had meshed together and his arms had penetrated my back and mine his. We seemed to share the same space. I have had men squeeze me so that I was feeling pain, as if they were trying to share space with me. Why was this different?
I'M 21 AND I GOT PROPOSITIONED FOR A THREESOME: PART ONE I'M 21 AND I GOT PROPOSITIONED FOR A THREESOME: PART TWO THIS GIRL I SNAP WITH IS SENDING ME FAKE NUDES BREAST IMPLANT SERIAL NUMBERS
…and we're back! Welcome to season 7 of your favorite podcast you almost forgot about because these MFs were gone so long we bet you thought there were Problems In The Relationship. See what we did there? Fear not, stranger-friends! The brand is strong! (This was our crap attempt at clickbait. Literally no one thought there were problems, LOL). On this episode of Imperfect Strangers, Melissa and Justin explore a new app to bring them closer in their marriage after an argument. On the second half, Amanda chaperones a field trip to Washington DC and based on the children's behavior within the first hour, she has “ragrets.” If you're here and you're listening, thanks for waiting. We appreciate you. This is the part where you reply, “No problem!” Get it? Because there are no problems in the relationship. Yeah OK, we'll stop. Enjoy. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4988804/advertisement
Yeah OK so we kind of messed this story up first time round. But eventually we do get to talking about the confusing situation of the .ml top level domain (for Malia) which is often confused with the .mil TLD - and that's bad, because .mil is used for official US military organisations like https://army.mil and https://navy.mil. See if you can read the article from @TheVerge better than we did: https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/17/23797379/mali-ml-typo-us-military-emails-leak Subscribe for daily episodes. Join Discord to chat! https://discord.gg/7QsrTbKchc SOCIAL: • Peter: https://twitter.com/pgl • Jon: https://twitter.com/jonnisec • Mike: he's just unsociable • Curated privacy and security news feed: https://twitter.com/privsecnews
Who had the biggest 2004? Was it Lil Jon, the world's greatest hype man? Or was it Usher, the smoothest male R&B performer in decades? Maybe it was David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox. Or some dude from Westchester County, New York, who combined the Beatles and Jay-Z.In this episode of Hall of Songs, Tim and Chris go deep into this critical year of music history. They talk about all of these things, and they reminisce about a slightly more innocent time in history. ... Slightly.After listening, head to hallofsongs.com to vote for the songs that you think belong in our exclusive Hall of Songs!Website: http://www.hallofsongs.comSocial: http://www.twitter.com/hallofsongsPlease rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hall-of-songs/id1550546067
Ever wondered what all hype was about when it comes to yoga? Is it just a trend or are there real actual health benefits?… listen in on this conversation with Yogi Jenni Lydell and I as we talk about all things YOGA! & Health
Man, you'd think we aren't even trying anymore. I swear we are. Sort of. This is part 2 of the scary animals episode but we kind of just keep going off on tangents. Enjoy!
NEW CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-rik_U7doQyPpn4co48rw Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rslash Discord: https://discord.com/invite/VD6eYD3 Merch: https://junipercreates.com/channel/UC0-swBG9Ne0Vh4OuoJ2bjbA --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Freo did such thorough homework on GWS, it was as if they'd beanstalking the Giants! Yeah Ok.. enough of that, its time to Restump Podcast Saturday's magnificent victory.Now that was a performance to put a pep in your post game step and a glide in your Monday stride! We went in with concerns of the Giants' midfield… but we forgot that where there's a Will there's a way. 37 disposals of which 21 were contested…. what a dependable asset Will Brodie is rapidly becoming.Old man Mundy returned to scoop a lazy 30, Brayshaw still found a way to contribute under a strong tag and let's not overlook the rare inside work of Jimmy Aish.The forward pressure was off the scale with Switta, Schultzy, Freddy and Sonny all putting in 4 quarter performances, and while again we didn't exactly capitalise on it, it went along way to getting us the result. Brennan Cox took control of the first half before handing the intercept marking baton over to Griffin Logue to bring it home. Clark and Walker had quieter days but both contributed. In an efficient use of two for one congratulatory time, we dip our lids in acknowledgment of their feats and say well done Young Chap. Our two attacking defenders are in blue sky improvement territory! We could go on and on but we'll save the rest of the pouring of adulation for the podcast. However, one man that deserves a mention… the literal Giant slaying Travis Colyer's performance Saturday cannot be overstated!So, all that and plenty more to discuss like what does Blake Acres' form mean for Liam Henry? Does Alex Pearce walk straight back in? How do we finally fix our inaccuracy? And was JL sending telepathic coaching messages? Then we bring it home with another episode of the Ask Jojo segment. So, if you can put up with our palaver, plug in, push play and put this pedantic piece of audibly perceptible purple pandemonium in your Lords and Peers.
Hey Tripperz! Jo and Jordyn sat down this week with a new friend, Jay Allen. Jay was mentioned a few weeks back on the show after your favorite trippy couple had attended his birthday party out in Palm Springs. This conversation went deep and touches on the psychic/medium world, living a life full of continued learning, and what developing a "Yeah, Ok" attitude can bring to your life! Help us to spread the word about the show by sharing it with at least one other person this week. Much love, and we'll catch you on down the road! Many thanks to Jay for being such a lovely guest and helping to spark this conversation! Check out their sponsor Electric Fish Lights at: Instagram - @electricfishlights Web - www.electricfishlights.com Message them for a 15% discount on your order now through the end of the year! You can follow/support the show at the following sites: Instagram - @roadtripperz1211, @boomerangskymusic Patreon - patreon.com/otrwjnj Bandcamp - boomerangskyband513.bandcamp.com Email - roadtripperz1211@gmail.com Give the show a follow and 5 star review on Apple Podcasts! Much love
Keltric, Jon, Neil, and Rasheem, discuss: (10:43) Tobe & Fat (24:47) The Cuomo Brothers (33:14) Kamala Harris, Symone Sanders, and the Democratic Disappointment (43:21) Top 10 White People (45:08) He Ended His Marriage Because He was Bored? Yeah… OK. (58:01) One Recommendation for the People #Tobe #Fat #Cuomo #KamalaHarris #SymoneSanders #DemocraticParty #BoringMarriage Search "Str8 No Chaser Podcast" on iTunes You can also listen on Spotify, Google Podcast, and Anchor: https://open.spotify.com/show/5EfmwQWhYNKJfyoYw7CAaL https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/str8-no-chaser-podcast/id1512907882 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/str8-nochaser/support
En este capítulo BlackCloud y BDecrypt comparten un poco sobre lo que son los blockchains, como funcionan y como vinieron a cambiar nuestras vidas de una vez y por todas! No solo de tokens vive el blockchain! (Recuerda compartir este capítulo y dejarnos un mensaje en la comunidad) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/eat-crypto-nosleep-repeat/message
Articles: Nicolas Cage to Play Joe Exotic in Series From Dan Lagana (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety ‘Peacemaker': Freddie Stroma To Replace Chris Conrad In ‘Suicide Squad' Spinoff – Deadline WarnerMedia, Discovery Should Make ‘Zack Snyder's Justice League Part 2' (forbes.com) Robbie Amell and Stephen Amell To Star In ‘Code 8' Sequel – Deadline Letitia Wright, Josh O'Connor Drama 'Aisha' Reveals First Look - Variety ‘The Flash”: Carlos Valdes Explains Exit, Teases Cisco Final Episode | TVLine ‘Jupiter's Legacy' Done at Netflix as Streamer Explores Other Millarworld Projects – The Hollywood Reporter 'Naked Singularity,' Thriller With John Boyega, Sells to Screen Media - Variety 'Joe Exotic' Series at Peacock Cast Dennis Quaid as Rick Kirkham - Variety Donnie Yen Joins Keanu Reeves In ‘John Wick 4' At Lionsgate – Deadline Marvel's Secret Invasion: Emilia Clarke Reveals Real Reason She Joined Disney+ Series (Exclusive) (comicbook.com) ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2' Adds Issa Rae – The Hollywood Reporter ‘Cruella 2' in the Works at Disney – The Hollywood Reporter Exclusive: 'ECHO', 'IRONHEART' Set 2022 Production Dates - Murphy's Multiverse - (murphysmultiverse.com) Marcelo Inostroza's Podcast (Marcelo Inostroza (@CreekFanatic88) / Twitter): The Redwall podcast (transistor.fm)
The one Slytherin thinks he is better than the four Hufflepuffs....Yeah OK. What do you get when you mix margaritas and Harry Potter? Sure isn't magic.
The boys roast the notion of day trading from anywhere and a few other good laughs. Join us here from TrickTrades and Fallout Shelter Podcast.
Finding myself annoyed by these three today, but who isn't? Also, talking about double standards and our Presidential "dictator." Yeah OK! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/soniascrapbook/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/soniascrapbook/support
Co-host of FOX Sports Radio’s The Odd Couple, journalist ROB PARKER joins the podcast for the first time giving his take on baseball’s return amidst the a global pandemic, and which teams he sees squaring off in the World Series. In the world of hoops, all the pressure’s on GIANNIS & the BUCKS, and the CLIPPERS are still primed to make a run. PLUS, College Football in the fall…good idea, bad idea? In WIT IT or QUIT IT this week, in light of ROGER GOODELL’s recent appearance on UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS w/ a BLACK MAN, JOY TAYLOR & producer JOHN HELLER breakdown the ways sports and social issues have ALWAYS intersected. Plus, the WARRIORS' historic run has ruined fans expectations. HIGH KEY the SIXERS are a splashy hire away from the hype coming back to PHILLY…LOW KEY what’s with the struggles of some of the NBA’s best “2nd Guys”. Plus, LAMELO BALL is already a star! This week in the CULTURE REPORT, T and JOY review some of the latest trailers out of the DC FanDome event, THE BATMAN, WONDER WOMAN 1984, and THE ROCK’s confusing BLACK ADAM trailer. Plus, JOE BIDEN’s got a running mate and her name’s pronounced ka-MAL-ah. Finally, shout out to MEGAN THEE STALLION for telling her truth. #ProtectBlackWomen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A little fiddle with some faddle. Head boppin toe tappin eyebrow raising feel good music ya know......?
“How’s your day going?” “Yeah OK thanks.” Does this mean you’re happy? Happiness is the goal for many of us. We’d rather be happy than sad. Are you happy with your new job? Yeah, I’m happy with my new job. At what point do I become happy as opposed to unhappy? Is there a line? Of course not. Happiness is a spectrum between unhappy and happy. Sounds right, but it’s not that simple. Happiness requires context. Once you find that, you’ll find that happiness doesn’t require anything. From my blog series here --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/steven-di-pietro/message
Hello amigos This week , we have a producer / DJ from UK MATT GRAY You Can follow the show: Sunday at 21.00 on Radio Vibration Bruxelles 107.2 FM - Mons 91.0 FM * http://www.vibration.fm/player/brussels.htm * Monday at 08.00 on HouseOfHousese Radio * http://houseofhouse.be/ * Tuesday at 21.00 on XBeat * http://www.xbeat.org * Wednesday at 22.00 on HouseOfHouse Radio * http://houseofhouse.be/ * 2018 looks set to be an exciting year for London’s Matt Gray. Having been a resident for Noexcuse Records label parties, plus hosting his own show on Select Radio, Matt has been building a real name for himself within the scene. Having played at Egg, Ministry of Sound, Gigalum, Fu Manchu and many iconic venues across London his sets are not to be missed. With releases in 2017 on labels such as Kieso Music, Purple Sun Records & Wight Label Records, this year looks set to be even bigger. His track ‘Yeah Ok’, released on the Noexcuse Records Miami 2018 Sampler, reached number 43 in the Beatport Minimal/Deep Tech chart and with music forthcoming on Datagroove Music, Shake Recordings, Proper Musique, Rezongar Music, Clock Recordings & Klangwerk he is definitely one to keep an eye on. TRACKLIST Arturo Gioia - Rantola Che Ti Passa (Matt Gray Remix) Matt Gray - Days Or Years (Original Mix) Marco Strous - Damn (Original Mix) Dan corco & DJ Entwan - Me & You (Original Mix) Walter Blumenthal - Poison Beat (Rone White & Alessandro Diruggiero Remix) Emery Warman - Mangonada (Original Mix) Joe Vanditti - Hands Up (Original Mix) Iglesias. - Sassy (Original Mix) Tuff Dub & Aday Chinea - Comin (Original Mix) Craig & Grant Gordon - Control (Original Mix) Jay de Lys - Boomclap (Original Mix) Enzino - Best in Town (Original Mix) DJ Marika - Go (Original Mix) LINKS Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DJMattGrayUK/ Beatport https://www.beatport.com/artist/matt-gray-uk/619507 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matt_gray_dj/ Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/matt-gray85 MATT'S LAST TRACKS https://soundcloud.com/matt-gray85/days-or-years-original-mix https://soundcloud.com/matt-gray85/rone-white-alessandro-diruggiero-warming-down-matt-gray-remix https://soundcloud.com/matt-gray85/flutey-tunes-clip
Justo Hidalgo co-founded 24symbols 8 years ago, and this 'Spotify for Books' contender is still around and successful. In this week's podcast, we talk about how books really can compete against Angry Birds, the importance of continuing to provide ways for people to easily find and read books, and of balancing your work and home life. In the episode, Justo mentions several great business books in passing so I thought I'd list them here for you. Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown (Amazon / Kobo); Scaling Lean by Ash Maurya (Amazon / Kobo); The Founder's Dilemmas by Noam Wasserman (Amazon / Kobo); Venture Deals by Brad Feld (Amazon / Kobo); New Venture Creation by Geoffrey Timmons (apparently out of print but available from Amazon). Transcript (This is a bit of an experiment - let me know if you like transcripts!) John: [00:00:35] Welcome back to Talking Through My Hat. Today I'm talking with Justo Hidalgo, CEO and co-founder of 24symbols, the subscription service for ebooks. He's also an author, a university professor teaching product strategy and innovation. And I just discovered he's also a radio host. So thanks for talking to me today Justo. Justo: [00:00:53] Yeah. It's a pleasure to be here. John: [00:00:56] Yeah, so 24symbols has been around for over eight years now, which is quite an achievement. How've you distinguished yourself from all the other e-book subscription services that have come and gone in that time? What's kind of unique 24symbols thing? Justo: [00:01:10] Well if I really knew [laughs] I would probably sell the idea. Oh yeah the idea's still the same. You know, it's a subscription service for ebooks as you said and other kinds of cultural and entertainment assets like comic books and audiobooks. I believe that the reason we are still here is that since the start, it was very clear for us that these was a long race. That it was gonna take time and that we needed partners to work with us so very very very early in the state as soon as we could we started talking to partners especially in the customer acquisition stage. You continue having the amount of people that wanted to read and that we were unable to reach just because of our size. John: [00:01:53] Okay. So which sort of partners were you kind of linking up with there? Justo: [00:01:57] Oh but mainly right now is mobile carriers. We started having relationships with them in 2013 I think. These are typically launch and relationships both in terms of getting their relationship to work - you know very well how it is to work with big companies! John: [00:02:11] Yeah. Justo: [00:02:12] Yeah. And then of course they need some time to work. So right now we're for example in Latin America in a few countries, also in Germany, and we are also working with having some others. In some of the cases, some regions didn't work. We tried and it didn't work. In other cases, well the unit economics didn't work. You know in some countries for example, where the price of ebooks is too high but they are very used to very low-cost services. Well that's fine - we'd love to work there but that's very difficult. And also we're also started to diversify, to try to find other areas where books are necessary - for example transportation companies, hospitality companies, you know. Anywhere where someone can spend some time reading, we are trying to be there. John: [00:03:00] OK. Yeah. It's the hard thing about business, it's not building a product. It's finding someone to use it. And I think this strategy of working with people who have lots of customers who they need to find interesting things for, like mobile phone companies and as you say trains and hotels and stuff. I think that's a really interesting way of doing that. Justo: [00:03:20] Yes I mean, what we do is very straightforward. I mean we want, as someone from my team always says, we want to feed people books. You know, people want to eat this that we offer. But the difficulty is that being a generic service, a horizontal service, you need to provide a very good value proposition. We have 24symbols the B2C service that allows you to do whatever you want. But then of course you have to look for other ways to reach the people that may not know that they want to read. And this sounds like a very, you know, commercial or product-ish but it's the truth you know what we found it with more carriers, we're finding it in other verticals that people, you know they find out that you know, instead of playing Angry Birds, they can read some books sometimes. John: [00:04:07] Yeah well that's the thing, isn't it, that we say, you know, that books are now in competition with all forms of entertainment but they always were. And, you know, there's something there that people have always liked, so it's gonna be really great. So it's fantastic to find that you're finding this place for yourselves, this way of reaching customers and stuff through these partnerships. Why did you first create 24symbols? What was the big idea where you thought, I'm going to do this mad insane thing and an e-book business. Justo: [00:04:34] Well I think there are many many reasons. First, personally, I always wanted to build a company, so I come from a family where my parents always ran small businesses, and I kind of grew up seeing their difficulties, the challenges, the hard work. John: [00:04:50] A realistic view of what it might be like. Justo: [00:04:52] Yeah yeah. But at the same time, how my parents built something from scratch providing value to the community. You know they started with a drugstore and they started building driving schools - one and two and then three, before they retired. So, for me, it's part of my memories where I had to take chairs from my house to the driving school because suddenly there are lots of people in their theory classes. And then the opposite when there's some competition coming up and there are some struggles there in the family, but I always kind of looked at my parents to see how hard they work and is like: this is cool. But then I start, you know, I did my Computer Science degree, I started working for companies - always small companies but always like with a salary - and I always had, like, yeah this is good but, you know, I want to try to replicate what my parents did in a new way you know, of course, because I had other abilities, you know, my parents... John: [00:05:50] You've got to work on your own skill set than. Justo: [00:05:52] Exactly. My parents were great salesmen and I'm different but I know Computer Science. So that's kind of my first reason. Then, more specifically, 24symbols - technology. In other companies I worked for technology was basically an end, you know, so I spent many years working in a tech company doing data integration stuff, which has been really valuable for me afterwards in 24symbols. And I really enjoyed it. I got my PhD there. All that stuff. But I had the need to build something that people could use as a final result. Basically, what we were building there was a tool to build solutions. And I wanted to be that solution. And then I would say that the third reason is that thinking about that and related to what I have said this act of of the "Spotify for books" at that time. Everything I really wanted, it merged technology of course because at that time creating a cloud reader subscription service with all the cloud DRM was technologically quite challenging. At at the same time it was books, it was basically giving people books to read, which is something I've enjoyed all of my life. So, you know, these three things plus working with my colleagues at that time, my partners that I had worked with them in the past. You know, one of them was a previous student of mine. With another, we had been like 15 years working together - made a lot of sense. So he was kind of the final push as to say: This makes sense. Then of course from a business perspective it looked like people were talking (and you know that because you were at that time very deep) talking about you know subscription services in publishing. There were many doubts but there was also many good opportunities and we decided to give it a go. John: [00:07:37] So how did you form that initial kind of team, the co-founding team, the people who have, hopefully, the same kind of vision, of passion, that you did? How did you build that group? Justo: [00:07:48] Yeah I think that, typically, most of the decisions we make here while creating a company, and you know that very well, John, is pure serendipity or random. But some of the decisions you make are quite thought out. And in this case I think we kind of gave it a good thought. It was basically the four of us initial partners who came from the same company, that B2B tech company I mentioned. So we typically had, you know, coffee or had lunch together and talked about books. Most of the times were business books, but some of the time it was narrative, and we kind of shared this love for books. So at the beginning we would think, you know, of moonlighting projects of bringing American books, business books, to Spain and getting the rights and translating them and, you know, basically becoming a publisher. John: [00:08:38] Yeah. Justo: [00:08:39] I think it is good for the publishing company that we didn't do it! [Laughs] We would have been a horrible publisher, I believe. But that kind of started to say, maybe we should do something about this. And this idea came in early 2010 about the "Spotify for books". And then I remember very well the presentation of Steve Jobs with the first iPad. And that was the moment where it was like, Wow, this is the future. I mean that was our bet. And then it's when we start thinking, OK, with us four, does that make sense? It kind of makes sense - I mean, we have sales people, all of us were technical people. But you know, one of us very high experience in sales and marketing, the CTO had very deep down experience with with this technology, had experience with product and also had lived in the United States for a while doing product management and sales and marketing, so that we kind of had most of what we needed. And of course we missed the publishing side. So that's why one of our first - we tried to, and we found our one of our first investors to be part of the industry in Spain. John: [00:09:53] So, your co-founding group, as you say, you're all technical people so you're presumably all together writing the product, but then sharing out all those other roles as needed, kind of thing. Justo: [00:10:04] Yeah. So, building the product, like coding, it was our CTO Angel. Then I worked in the product and, you know, the data architecture. And then one or the other worked on the product management and product design but the four of us were able to give insight. It's about, you know, we could have very detailed discussions about, I don't know, I remember one discussion about the cache, you know - the book cache - how the information was going to be kept secure or whatever. And so we were able to - but then each of us had very specific roles, which changed completely as, for example, I was going to be focusing a lot on product but, you know, since we launched at the London Book Fair in 2011, it was clear that because of my English, because of all the things I could do that my other partners couldn't do, I was going to be more like PR. John: [00:11:02] Yeah - the public face for the English-speaking world. Justo: [00:11:04] Exactly. And that's that's very funny because out in Spain, it was very clear that one of my partners was the CEO at the time. Everyone knew my partner but nobody knew me. But, you know, outside in the English-speaking world, it was the total opposite. It was like, So you're not the CEO? No, but that doesn't matter! You know, so, and he also talks to me! John: [00:11:27] So you kind of mentioned that you started off with you that little group of you, you were a kind of a book group effectively, and one of the things you did was talk about business books. Is that how you've gone about learning to run a business yourself? Do you go to books, is it kind of web sites and stuff these days? Anything particular that you found useful? Or are you more of a, kind of, throw it up in the air, try it and see what happens? Justo: [00:11:48] You learn from everywhere you can. I mean, I have a very small anecdote about that, you know, then we can talk about books. So, we got accepted by Seedcamp, which is a London-based accelerator that was here in 2012. So one of the incredible things about Seedcamp is that, I think it was a Monday, I said something to them. I said, you know, since we're Spotify for books, I would like to meet someone from Spotify. You know, it would be great. John: [00:12:16] Yeah. Justo: [00:12:17] So, two days, they got me a VP, a vice president of Spotify, talking to him, and the meeting was five minutes - five minutes. It was, like, you know, we're 24symbols blah blah blah blah blah. "Oh yeah?" So he just put the hand on my shoulder and said, "Quit." [Laughing] Sorry, maybe my English is, I speak too fast. Let me explain that again. 24symbols... "Yeah yeah, you're like Spotify but for ebooks. Quit." So this is something like, OK. "So you want to be like Spotify for books, right. What's your background - technical this and that? Yeah OK. So it's great but only take into account one thing: if you are successful, you are not going to be a tech company, you are not going to be a content company, you're going to be a law firm." So, basically Spotify is the best law firm in London, in Europe. OK. So that's going to be your role. You're having a huge understanding of the law. Huge understanding of the relationship with publishers. Yeah that's going to be 24symbols so, you want to go for it, that's it. And for me those five minutes were huge in understanding where I was getting into. We're not a law firm at all but it's true that that, for many years, that's basically what I've done. I've basically learned to negotiate contracts with publishers before we tell other people. So these things are what I learn from. But also of course, you know, I'm more like a product guy so books like the classic "Crossing the chasm" or "The Innovator's Dilemma" or "Made to Stick". But there are also some very recent ones that are really good like Sean Ellis's "Hacking Growth" or Ash Maury's "Scaling Lean", which I don't know how it's going in sales but I think it's much better than his previous one, "Running Lean". And then from a business perspective there's a really good one called "The Founders' Dilemmas" from Noam Wasserman is really good for founders. I'd really recommend it. John: [00:14:20] Yeah, I found that really helpful at the beginning, just to get your head around some of the things that are coming your way. Justo: [00:14:24] Exactly and what it means to be together in a company with your partners. And of course for example Brad Feld's "Venture Deals" is absolutely key in terms of negotiating deals with VCs or business angels. And maybe a lesser known one is called "New Venture Creation" by Geoffrey Timmons. It's from a course at Stanford University - it's a huge book, it's really huge, it's a thousand pages, but full of good information for someone who started a business. So basically, my part of the business plan was written with this book open. Because there are so many good information. John: [00:15:03] So as we think about business and product and stuff, and when you think about it, you look back on eight years and the ways you've grown and changed and stuff. When you think about the next eight years, or eighty years or whatever it is, how do you think about that and where you want to be? And if so, how do you plot that kind of work? John: [00:15:26] Yes, That's a very difficult question! Well, I have no idea! [Laughs] Most of the time, we're trying to continue, I wouldn't say survive exactly but to continue - to thrive and to continue giving them the best product. But it is true that when you see where the industry is going and where the entertainment is going and even what the data for me is. And you know, because of my background, I think a lot about, you know, how this is going to evolve in terms of what kind of entertainment is going to be created. I believe that a service like 24symbols makes sense in the following, you know, five to eight years or whatever. I think a subscription service - the area of consumption instead of ownership - is there. People are consuming more Netflix, more HBO, more Spotify, more Amazon Prime. So we're looking to use that as part of our life. I think in terms of ownership, we're always going to own things and it's because it's an integral part of who we are as a species. So everyone, you know, all of us are still going to have books - I still have a full room of books - but they're going to be the books that are important to us. And it's going to be the same with everything. John: [00:16:40] I think this is interesting. We often hear "book people" talk about how it's really important that people buy books and own books and stuff, and this terrible, terrible modern thing of subscription is awful. When I was growing up, most of the books I read, I got from the library. They weren't my books. I took them for a week, I read them, and I gave them back. If I wanted to read it again I had to go back, find the book and bring it in. And OK, yes, then you'd find your favourite books or favourite authors and then you would buy those and want to own them for the long term. And I think we get a little bit too obsessed with ownership, you know. Borrowing, subscription stuff, is actually, has always been a really good low-barrier way to discover stuff. Justo: [00:17:21] Absolutely. You know, of course I have to agree! John: [00:17:26] Yeah you would, of course. Justo: [00:17:27] But I don't think this is a fight between, you know, print books or having books. There are some books that we're going to want to have because it's part of our life. And actually we might actually buy a better edition because we want to have it there, but because he has a story. And there's some others like, you know, I read it, that's fine. I have some notes, that's fine. You know, 24 symbols or whoever, you keep that. Just in case. But that's that's how I say to think of a more ahead is, you know. How people or why people read I think is the question to try to solve. John: [00:18:00] Yeah I think that's going to be a fascinating one. So when you look at the business, when you look at 24symbols, what is it that you find hardest about being a CEO, about running the business being a founder whatever? You know, some things obviously come naturally and, for you I guess from the sound of it, product is your focus and that's what you like. But what are the things you kind of shy away from but still have to do? Justo: [00:18:22] But still have to do, yes. This is totally personal, I mean, as Justo. I don't like to negotiate. And I know that's that's a horrible thing to say as a CEO. But you know I decided many years ago that I was going to be honest on this. I have to do it and of course, if you have to be hard on a negotiation, you have to be hard. But, man, it's just some people that enjoy negotiating, you know, it's like, No no, we have to negotiate. It's like, no, you know, let's get a deal fast, that's it, you know. And that I have my own issues with that. Then of course you have to learn and I've been successful in some negotiations. But wow, for me that's the hard thing. John: [00:19:10] That's really interesting. When we were talking earlier, actually before we started the show itself, of this thing of running a business and being a parent. I mean I'm in the same kind of shoes as you with kids and I love that you were sharing a quick story about looking after your daughter while you were having to do a presentation. Justo: [00:19:31] Oh yeah. Yes. Yes. The thing is that my wife and I, we both have companies so we both are entrepreneurs. She's more in the health side and I'm more in the book side. We have a daughter, an almost 4 year old daughter, and we have to kind of keep a balance of how we take care of that. Because for us taking care of Olivia is a priority. So it has good things, you know. I can take her to school every single morning, no problem. But there's moments where, you know, it's impossible to manage and so this year, this academic year, there's been two occasions where I had to give a talk to, in both cases, like 150-200 people. And I couldn't find someone to take care of Olivia. So I said that to the organisers and in both cases they said, Just come with her. Like, are you sure? It's like, well let's try it. So you know there were some people taking care of her, playing with her while I was giving my talk. But in both of them she just wanted to be with me, so she would be up with me in the final minutes or whatever. But in the first one, she came to me while I was giving the talk - actually the talk was in English so kind of my brain was totally busy with, you know, in general translating everything I want to say. And she just came to me and said, Daddy! Yeah you want you come here? Yes, but I want to go pee. Just like that. Well, can you what with this other person? No no no no, I want to go with you. So I had to ask the audience can you wait for five minutes? [Laughter] And the audience started to clap and, you know, we go. But I was totally embarrassed because for me, you know, this is serious. There's like, I'm giving a talk. John: [00:21:21] Two halves of your life blending. Justo: [00:21:23] Yeah. But the audience saw it as, you know, this is life. This is life as well and people are starting to understand that this happens. And I wouldn't rush with her. You know, she did what she had to do and then we came back, and people were clapping again and I finished and everything went well. They invited me to give a talk again. John: [00:21:39] So that went very well then. Justo: [00:21:41] That went well. But, yes, this is what you have to do when you have a startup and you want you to continue engaging and commiting to your family. John: [00:21:51] So as you look back over the last 8 years or so of running this business, creating it, building it - what have you learned about yourself from doing that? You know, do you still think of yourself as the same person or have you learned more about who you are or have you changed? Justo: [00:22:08] Yes I think everyone in 8 years changes a lot, you know, regardless of what you do. But it's true that running your business means having to make a lot of decisions, having to do things that you didn't expect that you would do and even enjoying it throughout the process. As I said, I never thought that I could negotiate the things I've been able to negotiate. I came from a career, a professional career, that was basically meant to be an expert in a very specific area. I did my PhD in data integration so I was meant to be that. John: [00:22:44] More specialist kind of thing. Justo: [00:22:47] Very specialist. And so even when I decided to be part of this, even my previous boss, who is someone I truly respect for everything he's done, was like: are you sure? You could be a big-data expert and things like that. You know what it's like. I don't know if I would be able to do that, but I want to try this. And it taught me a lot about, you know, having to manage many things at the same time and all that stuff. And then one thing I learned is, for us as for any company, we've had our ups and downs. And I remember, in 2012 we had a very very strong down and I never thought I would be able to have this, well now this word is resilience, right? It's to continue. We were like 15 months without having payments at all, you have no salary. And we are not rich. We don't come from rich families. So we had to do many different things because we believed and that, and for 15 months it was like I don't know how I'm going to do it. Of course sometimes you think, I'm what, 38 at that time or 36, 37. And I looked at my account and it was like, What am I doing? You know this doesn't make any sense. But you know I like this. I think this makes sense to me and you continue doing it. John: [00:24:06] So what is it that then brings you back every day in the face of those difficulties? It gets very real sometimes doesn't it? Justo: [00:24:14] Yes. John: [00:24:15] What brings you back? Justo: [00:24:18] I think in this case, at least for 24symbols, it's this vision. As I said before, I wanted to build something that could be used by people. And I know this sounds very typical but in my case at least this is true is of course we have our bugs, we have our complaints, but also we have lots of people saying, hey I'm enjoying! I read everyday with you, you know, with your books and this is just amazing. This is just amazing that you are building up a service where hundreds of thousands of people are being able to read and that's what in 2012 and other years it's like, OK one more. There's a challenge there. I remember I had a chance to talk to Ash Maurya the author of "Running Lean" and "Scaling Lean". And we were talking and he kind of agreed with me at that time that we still need to learn more about entrepreneurship like in judo or martial arts. You know, when you do martial arts, this is something you are taught: when you quit. You know, these guys are beating me. Okay so let's quit. You know, that's it. In entrepreneurship, you don't know that, you have no idea. There is no one who can tell you and in our case in 2010 and all the years, we were lucky but we could have not been lucky and we would have been in trouble. So that's I think in terms of knowing or learning more about what it means to build a company or a startup. We still need to learn more about, you know, when to quit, when it's the right moment to say that's it. John: [00:25:51] We gave it our best shot. John: [00:25:52] That's it, you know, next. John: [00:25:56] Well that seems a very topical note on which to say thanks very much Justo for that fascinating conversation and it's been great to hear from you again. Justo: [00:26:03] It's great you always talk to you John. Thanks so much. John: [00:26:07] Thanks to Justo for that fantastic interview. I'm always energized when I talk to him because he's got this real passion for just making books available to people. And it's really great, it's been great over years now to follow 24symbols in the way that they have persisted and survived. There are so many companies that have been touted as the "Spotify for books" and they're still here, they're still doing really well and just getting books in front of people. And the fact that, you know, this consumption model of streaming books, of borrowing books, of just having books for a while is nothing new. You know, as I said in the interview, you know, we've borrowed books from libraries for hundreds of years, decades. And this is just the new iteration of that model. So it is great to see people pushing that forward and developing it. So thanks very much to Justo. Next week we're going to be talking to Emma Donnan who is a ghostwriter. If you've ever wondered what ghostwriters do, how they go about things, how they fit into the world of publishing, tune in next week and hear what Emma has to say. Until then thank you very much.
Welcome to episode 009 of The Blogger Genius Podcast. My guest is Rachelle Doorley from the blog, TinkerLab. Rachelle has been blogging for over seven years. She is an author and arts educator and helps kids and parents become creative inventors. In this episode we talk about how to build a successful course, how she wrote her first book, why she thinks it's valuable to work with other bloggers in her space, and why she's writing another book. Resources: TinkerLab TinkerLab: A Hands-On Guide For Little Inventors Art Start Challenge MiloTree Transcript - #008 How to Build a Successful Course with Rachelle Doorley Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome to The Blogger Genius Podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here's your host, Jillian Leslie. Jillian: [00:00:00] Hi,welcome to the show. Today I have my friend, Rachelle Doorley, from the blog, Tinkerlab. So welcome, Rachelle. Rachelle: [00:00:11] Thank you so much, Jill. I'm very happy to be here. Jillian: [00:00:15] Let me first read what it says about you on your blog. Jillian: [00:00:20] You are a maker, a teacher, an arts educator, a mom, a Girl Scout leader, a traveler, a sketchbook collector, a creativity enabler. I love it. Jillian: [00:00:40] So can you tell me how you started with Tinkerlab because we met... I was thinking about it... six years ago. And you had launched TinkerLab and you were growing it. So can you talk about what inspired you and the evolution of TinkerLab? The evolution of TinkerLab Rachelle: [00:00:57] Absolutely. I can't believe it's been six years, so that was actually shortly after I started it. So Tinkerlab's been around for about seven years now a little over seven years. So basically what it is it's a website, it started as a blog, and it's a hub for parents and educators or grandparents or after school teachers who want to support creativity in young children through art and science and tinkering. Rachelle: [00:01:27] And we do that by providing free content through our blog, and we also have a free five day art challenge where families can download art activities that are really simple to do with your kids. We also have classes both in person and online. And so we deliver this content in lots of different ways. Rachelle: [00:01:46] And you know this all started when my older daughter, I have two girls, and when my older daughter was one and a half and she started just drawing. She started making marks on paper with crayons. And up until that point I was an art educator I worked in schools... Jillian: [00:02:09] I have to interject. I have to say that you have a master's from Harvard. Rachelle: [00:02:14] Yes. OK. [00:02:16] And so I was teaching in schools and museums and I had worked with children from kindergarten all the way up through adults. When I started TinkerLab I was in the middle of training docent program at a really big local art museum. So I worked with people of all ages but I never worked with one and a half year olds before. Rachelle: [00:02:36] And so my challenge became how do I apply all this cool stuff I know about best practices and arts education to my own child's experience. And I started hunting around for ideas and found some blogs and some books that guided me. And then I realized I had to kind of put my own flavor on it and figure it out for myself. Rachelle: [00:02:54] How do I create this home tinkerer lab experience and basically turn my home into a lab? And my daughter became my key subject and then I just grew a passion for it. It became this really big thing for me and I stopped working at the art museum and really focused 100% on creating experiences for other people like me who were also looking for ways to foster creativity with their kids. Jillian: [00:03:19] What I love about your content, and you could tell me how you feel about this. Your philosophy... which is everybody can be creative. It's not about instructing kids, it's really about allowing them their creative freedom. Rachelle: [00:03:43] Yeah that's exactly right. So for the most part I really try to present experiences that are open-ended and that encourage children to think creatively and build their self-confidence. Rachelle: [00:03:54] And so by having a prescriptive art experience that says this is exactly what you have to do, and here are the five steps to do it, isn't really going to get them there. But you know something like that's not bad, it can definitely teach them skills. But what I'm really trying to get at is helping families or teachers set up experiences that really encourage children to ask big questions, to think creatively, to you know find their own passion for whatever questions it is that they're trying to pursue. And that can really be done through open ended art experiences. How she wrote her first book Jillian: [00:04:27] And then you've you've written a book that I love with pictures of your kids going through of lots of fun art experiences and now you're also writing your second book. Can you talk about how that happened? Rachelle: [00:04:43] Yeah. So I had this one and a half year old and I wanted to do art with her, and I started hunting around and finding all these resources in the process of trying to figure it out. I found some books, then I thought... I'd really love to write a book. Rachelle: [00:05:00] But at that point, I'd never written a book. I wrote didactic panels in the museum which are like vinyl things you see on the wall. And I wrote a newsletter that went out to our teachers every week, and I think that was like my introduction to blogging. I'd written papers in grad school, but I'd never written a book. Rachelle: [00:05:19] And so it became this quest for me, like I want to write a book on this topic. And I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for out there, but something that's really about how to encourage how to build and support this home environment that support open-ended creativity. Rachelle: [00:05:37] And so I just realized I can chip away at this 1 blog post at a time, and I just started building these arsenal blog posts and then over time I developed a voice, and got a lot of feedback and realized what kinds of things people were interested in learning about, and what things they weren't. And after a couple years, I had enough content to make a book, and I was lucky enough to find a publisher. Rachelle: [00:06:01] And then the book happened. It got published and now I'm finishing up my second book. Jillian: [00:06:09] Wait, so the first book is called TinkerLab: A Hands-On Guide for Little Innovators. Rachelle: [00:06:16] Little Inventors. Jillian: [00:06:18] I'm sorry. Rachelle: [00:06:18] It's funny, we actually went back and forth: should it be innovators, should it be inventors. They are both really good. And so that book is great, and I've gotten a lot of great feedback on it. And it's you know it's designed for kids ages 2 to 6 and it has all kinds of ideas in it that parents can implement right away with very simple materials and so now I'm working on two more books. Book writing thing really stuck. Jillian: [00:06:47] Although I have to say I remember a conversation after the first book, where you're like I don't know if I could do this again. Rachelle: [00:06:56] It's like giving birth. Jillian: [00:06:57] OK so what inspired you to do it again? Rachelle: [00:07:00] You know I had enough space from it, and when you start something you've never done before, you're blind and you don't know exactly what you're getting yourself into. And so having gone through it one time, and having a little bit of space, I could see that I could just be a little bit more strategic about my second book, and I could set up things in my life that would make it more doable, and not so willy nilly and Helter-Skelter. Jillian: [00:07:29] So what's the second book about? Rachelle: [00:07:32] I can't talk about it just yet. Jillian: [00:07:34] Really. OK I got it. Rachelle: [00:07:35] I'm not at liberty to talk about it, although I will say that it is a creativity book for kids who are in a little bit of an older age group, so ages 8 through 12. So moving up into a different age and it's in the world of calligraphy, handwriting, that kind of thing. But I can't say too much more. Jillian: [00:07:56] And when will it be out? Rachelle: [00:07:58] It's supposed to come out in the summer of 2018. We shall see. Jillian: [00:08:04] Yeah OK. Now can you talk about the evolution of your blog because you started writing blog posts and that turned into your book. And then you started creating courses, right. And like how did that happen? Rachelle: [00:08:22] Writing is such a fulfilling experience. And obviously I'm sticking with it and I loved doing it. It's not a huge moneymaker. And I realize that I just needed to diversify my income and figure out other ways to really get my word out, and get my ideas into the world, but also now pay my rent and keep food on my table. Rachelle: [00:08:53] So obviously I'm continuing with the book writing but my website is monetized in lots of different ways. Jillian: [00:09:01] Do my mind walking through the different ways? How to monetize your blog Rachelle: [00:09:03] Not at all, and then I'll circle back to this question. So money comes in through book writing. And then one of the nice things now is that, I've had a book that's been out for a couple of years, I still got residual checks for my book. My book that's already been out for a while. So people keep buying it and money still comes in. That's really lovely to have that passive income. Rachelle: [00:09:24] And then there is advertising on my website and that's nice. Also passive income. And I have an affiliate agreement with Amazon. And so that's a little bit of money. Jillian: [00:09:38] And that's like Amazon Associates? Rachelle: [00:09:41] Correct Amazon Associates. So you know if somebody goes onto one of the blog post and they are like, what kind of painter are you using? And they click over. Then I get a percentage for that. And let's see there's something. Oh sponsors. So if we find really good sponsors that are a good fit with our brand, then we like working with them, and they might send us products and we can review it or something along those lines. And those sponsorships can work through our blog or through our social media. So that's another way I think there are five different ways. Rachelle: [00:10:14] And so what I was realizing is that all these different ways, aside from the book writing, that we were monetizing the website, were not really in our hands. Right, so if Amazon changes their terms next week then our percentage could drop, and we could make less money, which is actually happened this past year. And the same goes for advertising, and the same goes for sponsorships rights, and money can dry up. Rachelle: [00:10:36] So I think it's really important to diversify where your income is coming from, and then realizing that I really wanted to have some products on our site. So I had been selling little products here and there, like downloadable PDFs. How she figured out what course to build Rachelle: [00:10:57] I really wanted to teach a class right. I come from a teaching background. And so I ran a beta test and kind of figured out what the class would be about. Jillian: [00:11:05] So explain what that means. One thing that I know about you is you are very close with your community and they talk to you and give you feedback. Rachelle: [00:11:19] Right. Right. Right. So feedback is really important. Rachelle: [00:11:29] So I should also say, it's like a piece of advice for those of you who don't already have a newsletter. It's super important to get some kind of pop-up or something on your website where people can sign up for your newsletter because then you can. Jillian: [00:11:43] You can use MiloTree. Rachelle: [00:11:45] Yes, and I love MiloTree. So actually this is something I wish was something I started from day one, was having a newsletter. It's ok. I have one now and I've had it for a while, but why I mention it is is because you can get directly in touch. I mean there's lots of benefits to it, but one is you can get in touch with your fans right away and you can survey them and ask them what they're looking for. Right, what do you want or what's your pain point, and how can we help you solve it? Running a class prototype Rachelle: [00:11:45] And so I ran a survey, and I've done actually a number of surveys asking different kinds of questions and just try to get to the root of it, like what people want, what's the format they want, what problems can I help them solve, and then from that data, I pulled this class together, and I ran it as a beta, meaning that it was a prototype, and I wanted to have people join me who were willing and interested and excited about the content, but also willing to be guinea pigs and help me through trouble shooting some of the problems that might exist with it. Jillian: [00:12:47] So did you charge for it? Rachelle: [00:12:51] I would recommend anyone who's running a beta, I would definitely charge them. I was actually invited to be in a beta for for free program someone was running, and they said it's free. And it's funny, because it was free, I did not have an investment in it, and I just failed to show up and it was no fault of the class the. Actually it was probably really good. Rachelle: [00:13:14] I think it's really important that people have that financial investment because then they're on the hook, and they actually want it. They're not just giving you lip-service, sure I'll do it, I will help you out of it. It's something that they actually want. So I did charge, but I didn't charge the full amount, I made it very reasonable but still enough that people, when they signed up they felt like they needed to be there. Yeah. Jillian: [00:13:37] And there is something that is true that people value things they pay for more than things they get for free. Rachelle: [00:13:44] Absolutely. Yes so I ran the beta and then because I gave them this discount, they were willing to give me their feedback. Rachelle: [00:13:56] And so along the way we had a private Facebook group and they would share their thoughts with me and I also ran this post survey at the end and got more feedback from them on what they liked and what they didn't like. Launching her online course Rachelle: [00:13:56] And then from there, I launched the class officially and I charge more money. And oh the other thing I offered my beta class, which I think is a nice thing to do, is I offered them lifetime access, so every time I run the class they can retake it if they want to. And I think they really appreciated that and it's also really great for seeding future classes. So you know they're my diehard fans and if they want to take the class again, they'll show up and they'll give feedback to people and they'll be present. So they're that "launch party" basically, that comes along with you. Jillian: [00:14:49] Right. And I talk about this, but really to build a business you need about a thousand fans, raving fans. And there you are building that, you know, who will buy your next book, who will take your next course, who will talk about you on social media. It's like it doesn't take millions. It's actually a much smaller number than people think. Rachelle: [00:15:17] And you know it's a good reminder too that I always feel better at the end of the day when I connect one on one with someone. So if somebody reaches out to me, or they want to have a conversation and they're in one of my classes, or they've done something with me, I always have such a good feeling. It's a much better feeling than like, Hey I sent a newsletter out to thousands of people today. No one got in touch with me. It's like, oh that's nice. Did I affect anyone today? I don't really know. Can you get rich from creating a course? Jillian: [00:15:45] Right. Right. Now here's the question: Is creating of course a get-rich-quick scheme? Rachelle: [00:15:54] That's a really good question. Jillian: [00:15:56] Because I get tons of emails saying I just created this course and it's a six figure course and stuff like that. So my instinct is that that is not true. But I don't want to put words in your mouth. Rachelle: [00:16:11] I don't know if I'm well positioned to answer that question. For me it has not been a get rich quick scheme, but it is also my biggest source of revenue. So I think it just depends on what your goals are, and it depends on your niche and how much you're solving for people, and how much they're willing to pay for that. Rachelle: [00:16:34] And it probably has a lot to do with how you deliver the concept. I guess the other piece of it is your commitment. So what I can say is that I've launched the class now three times, and each time I launch it, it's a bigger. It's bigger than the previous time. And so that wouldn't be necessarily getting rich quick, but it's definitely a growth opportunity. Rachelle: [00:16:57] The only thing I see kind of happening in the class space is that it's reaching that... it's starting to reach that saturation point, which is something that's going to happen anywhere online right. You know people start getting excited about it, they hear about it, and people start selling courses on it. Rachelle: [00:16:57] And so the market is definitely getting saturated, and I think it's making it harder to get rich quick. But there are people out there who are making those six figure incomes off of their classes, and so I think it's... I think it's still an exciting place to be and to invest time into, as long as you have a passion for it, and you're excited to show up every day and commit to it and keep going with that. Lots of potential for teaching courses online Rachelle: [00:17:37] There's a lot of potential, there's a lot of potential for teaching classes, and I mean the beauty of it that I see, and I've always had this in me, is that you can reach so many people with one experience. So when I was teaching elementary school art I had a class of 30 children at a time. I was actually teaching a bunch of classes, but say just 30 kids. And I was teaching a workshop one weekend, we had 30 teachers in the room, and I was like, wait a second, all these 30 teachers in the room, each teaching 30 kids let's say. So right now I'm teaching this class to these 30 teachers and this is going to impact 900 students. And that was such a powerful moment for me when I realized I can do something one time, and have the potential to reach so many more people. And I was teaching in Los Angeles Unified School, just directly with kids who didn't have access to a lot of things, and it was really powerful for me to think that I had this ability to impact people who need it so much, who might not get it otherwise. Rachelle: [00:18:39] So you go and teach a class online and it has that same exact potential, which is exciting. So if you get excited about that potential, and you really feel like you can serve a lot of people, and you want to, I think the sky's the limit really. Right. And it's I think some people are going to nail it and should, and other people won't. Rachelle: [00:18:59] And it just kind of depends on, again, what the niche is and their passion and their commitment to it. Jillian: [00:19:05] I think that is so right on. I think the idea that if you have something inside that you want to teach other people feel that authenticity. They feel that you're an expert in your field and they want to learn from you, and that you can reach thousands and thousands of people. Rachelle: [00:19:28] Yeah absolutely. And again if it does go back to that need. So in serving your audience, finding out what they really need, and if you're just doing something that you think is fun and important, but nobody really wants it, then you're not going to make millions of dollars doing it. Jillian: [00:19:43] What was surprising? What did you find out that surprised you as you were building your course? Rachelle: [00:19:55] Well that's a really good question. Taking me back to when I was designing the course. I guess one of the things that surprised me was how far reaching it was. You know I live in California, and to see people sign up for the class from all over the world, and I know that I have a blog following of people from all over the world. Rachelle: [00:20:20] But it was kind of amazing for me to see people show up in our forum or a shared group, from Belgium and from Australia and from Portugal, speaking all different languages, but showing up in this place and showing examples of their kids doing the work, in all these different places and all the different interpretations of the same set of rules and it was also such a beautiful surprise to see the world get a little bit smaller, with all these people coming together. Jillian: [00:20:56] Yes. And I would say that every day I am running online businesses, I feel that the world is small. Rachelle: [00:21:05] It is. It is. Jillian: [00:21:07] You know and that and that especially as moms, we all want the same things for our kids. Rachelle: [00:21:15] We definitely do. Jillian: [00:21:17] So in terms it's like the nuts and bolts like social media. How do you see social media? How has it changed for you? What's working for you now? How to use social media to grow your blog Rachelle: [00:21:27] Yeah great question. Social media has changed a lot obviously since I started it, you know seven years ago. Pinterest didn't even exist when I started. And so I think it is so important to stay as much as you can on top of what's happening, what those changes are in the last year. I've had a lot of personal issues going on with my family. My mom was really sick. And so you know I just had to turn off a lot of social media. I've lost track of what's happened. Things have changed a lot. That said, when I started, Facebook was really strong. That was a place where I put in a lot of investment and a lot of time and I still think there's a lot of growth potential in Facebook, and where I'm putting all my effort right now is a trifecta of Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. Rachelle: [00:22:15] And you know going back to when I started, I think what helped me probably more than anything, content is important, but it's the community, and it's not just my community, not just the people that show up for me who like my content, but it's also people who are running in the same space as me, or running in similar niches as me, whom I became friends with and we help each other. And so I'm seeing a lot of that happening on social media. Rachelle: [00:22:48] On Instagram, there are Instagram pods, where people will work together to help each other's Instagrams grow. Are there are Facebook pods, where someone will post, Hey I posted something today on Facebook, and everyone pops over and likes it or comments on it to help them out. Why you want to work with your competitors as collaborators Rachelle: [00:23:04] And so that that kind of thing is still alive and well, and I think that that kind of community support, and finding people that you love, and that love you, and that can really help you grow, and seeing yourself as part of a community. No one can grow on their own. And you know even though I largely work by myself, I know I would not be where I am now, if it weren't for the support and friendship of other people. And your social media is a big place for that. Jillian: [00:23:34] Yeah, the Internet is really big. And I always say, befriend your competitors because you can help each other. And that you are not exactly in competition with them. There's room. Rachelle: [00:23:49] Yeah exactly. No you're not. You're not. Everyone has their own spin on things, and your readers or your viewers or your listeners are going to come to you for your specific taste. Right. And what you are serving up on your menu will be a little bit different. Rachelle: [00:24:04] And you know it's like two Italian restaurants can exist on the same street because they're not identical. Jillian: [00:24:08] Exactly. And I think it also creates a feeling of abundance rather than scarcity. Rachelle: [00:24:15] Yeah yeah. And you know the other piece of it was that when I started, I had two really little kids and I was feeling very isolated, and I was looking for a community. And so to find all the other people who were doing things similar to what I was doing, my world felt a lot smaller, and I could connect with them and we could understand each other. And you know this is how you and I met we were. You know, we bonded immediately because we had you know we were both building businesses, and we both had little kids. So finding other people is so important and it just helps. It helps you get through the day. It's all about the people anyway. Jillian: [00:24:57] Moms in my preschool had no idea what I was doing being a blogger, building an online business. But to find other people online doing it was so comforting. Rachelle: [00:25:13] Yeah yeah. It can be really comforting and you can help each other too. It's like the other day one of my online friends, she shared how she does video with a certain kind of light. And I was like, that looks like a really cool light. I went and ordered it right away. And we do the same. I did the same thing back and I'll share, this is a resource that I'm working with and I really like it. Rachelle: [00:25:35] So yes, you can be a constant help to each other in a number of ways and it can be, you know, I'm having a hard day. Talk me off the ledge.Or how do you grow your newsletter list, and what's that trick that you're doing and how can that work for me too? How many hours a week do you work on your blog? Jillian: [00:25:50] And how many hours a week would you say you work? Rachelle: [00:25:54] You know, I'm really trying to be a mom first. To whatever extent I can, so I pick up my kids from school everyday and that's what my work day, it's kind of work backwards from that. So how many hours do I put in my day. It is about my week and that's about 25 hours per week. And you know, I try to leave a little bit of time in there open for meeting with a friend, or getting errands done. And so probably ends up being like 20 hours a week. Jillian: [00:26:21] Got it. So that's very doable. Rachelle: [00:26:23] I think so. It's been different at different stages. So like when I was finishing up my first book, it was very very intense and so my husband would come home early and I would go to the coffee shop and write. And so I think during that season, my hours probably went up. Right. Two or three times. And so it's seasonal for sure. Like there are sometimes things that come up and the hours go up and I have to work on the weekends. So I also run live workshops in my studio, and so sometimes like a Saturday, I'll be out for four hours, or Thursday night, I'll be out for three hours and my husband covers me so it probably averages about 25 maybe even 30 hours a week. Jillian: [00:27:09] What about your business at this moment are you most excited about? Rachelle: [00:27:14] What about it am I the most excited about right now. That's a great question. So I've been doing this for so long, and I'm still so in love with the idea of everything that I'm doing. So I feel like I'm excited about all the pieces I have been running, this online class, and I'm excited about launching another side of it. So the ways I have been doing it is with launches. Rachelle: [00:27:48] So what I mean is I'll have a quarterly launch, so I'll say it's January and I'm going to launch my online class, and then I'll do it again in April, and again in July, and again in October,. But I'm working right now and making that course evergreen. How to get people into your funnel Rachelle: [00:28:04] So I'm working on getting people into a funnel so when they sign up for my newsletter, they get some free content that gets them excited about what it is that TinkerLab is about, and that moves them through my free challenge and I could talk about that as well. And then from there they will be given the opportunity to sign up for my class. Rachelle: [00:28:04] And so rather than run these launches four times a year, it would just be this ongoing funnel, where as people join my website, they will get the opportunity to take the class, and the class would be there all the time, and I'm doing that because we're finding that people want to take the class in February. Like well, it just started last month. I'm sorry you'll have to wait till April. But that's not when they want to take it. And then by the time April rolls around, they're on to something else. So that's not helpful to anyone. So I want to be more helpful and more useful. Jillian: [00:28:58] Explain your free course and how that rolls into your paid course. Rachelle: [00:29:03] Yeah absolutely. So the free class I run it as a five day challenge. I have a mentor named Jadah Sellner who is amazing, and she ran a website called Simple Green Smoothies, and they did these challenges, and I've followed along for years and loved how they did it. Rachelle: [00:29:21] And I was like, I really want to do a challenge, and the way the challenge works is it's like a free course. I do five days of free ART content basically. And you got essentially a menu, like a meal plan, and it gives you five activities to do with your kids over the course of the week, and it gives you a list of supplies that you buy ahead of time, or you gather ahead of time, and a lot of them are things you can find around your house, so it's not too difficult. Rachelle: [00:29:54] And then each day for five days, you set up one of the projects with your young children, and then do it and then we have this online forum, a group on Facebook where people can share what they're doing and it becomes a really beautiful community of people who are having this shared experience of creativity with their kids and feeling supported and nurtured and energized by it. Rachelle: [00:30:16] And then at the end of the five days, if they really love it and they want to continue, then they can sign up for five more weeks of it and every week for five weeks, they'll get you know more projects and the support group will continue. Rachelle: [00:30:29] And from that, I've actually received a lot of feedback from people that they want even more, so I'm thinking about, well how can I expand that and make that into a bigger program that's longer than five weeks, and so that's something that's also brewing in the back of my mind. But if you're interested in checking it out you can go to look at Tinkerlab Art Start and it'll take you to sign up for the Art Star challenge. So right now they're happening quarterly. But you know maybe by the time someone listens to this, it'll have the evergreen setup and it'll just leap you right into it and you'll get it in your inbox right away. That's the goal. Jillian: [00:31:06] Oh that's wonderful. So now if you had one piece of advice that you wish someone had told you when you were starting your business what would that be? Technical advice and theoretical advice for bloggers Rachelle: [00:31:19] So I have to have one that's a technical piece of advice, and one that's a little bit more a little more theoretical. Is that ok? So the technical thing is that I get most of my traffic through organic search, and I wish I had known about search engine optimization or SEO earlier. So I found out about it right in the beginning. There was actually a mom in my daughter's preschool who was an expert. Rachelle: [00:31:51] She was like a consultant and I didn't even know what it was. It took maybe two years to really understand that people are finding me organically. And there's actually strategy behind that. And so I wish I had done that right from the beginning. If you haven't been doing SEO, you can be like me and you can fix it. You can go back and you can put Yoast onto your website and you can sign up for a keyword tool finder. And it's definitely doable. But I wish I did that from the beginning. Jillian: [00:32:24] So Yoast is a plugin your WordPress that helps you optimize your posts. Rachelle: [00:32:32] Exactly. So if you're on WordPress, I think maybe it's on other sites too, but on WordPress you can get Yoast. It's so great because it'll give you the greenlight if everything looks exactly how it should, and will be a yellow light if things were almost there, red if it's terrible, and it gives you all kinds of areas where you just plug things in. What is your keyword that you're trying to go after and you have to write out the description of the content, and it tells you that you need to have more keywords inside of your post, and it just guides you through the whole thing very very very simply, and makes it really easy for you to get those keywords in there and to optimize your posts the best way you possibly can. Rachelle: [00:32:32] And then the other tool that I recently discovered, Google used to have this keyword finder that sort of changed over the years and it became less useful. But I found a new one I paid for it, but I like it a lot. It's called Mangools. I think it's spelled M-A-N-G-O-O-L-S. It's a keyword finder and it's just really comprehensive and you can actually test it for free. Rachelle: [00:33:39] I'm not an affiliate. I wish I was right now. But but you can test it for free. And I like it. I think it's obviously good enough. I decide to pay for it. Jillian: [00:33:48] Yeah I use one called KWFinder. I find them really useful. Rachelle: [00:34:05] Yeah it's definitely worthwhile. It's definitely is because you know people are searching for things and it's a great way to find people and that's how I get people in my newsletter. They come to my website and they like what they see there, and they'll sign up for my newsletter. But if they don't ever find my website, they won't sign up for my newsletter so that's important it's great. Jillian: [00:34:26] Now what is the other piece of advice? Rachelle: [00:34:29] So the other piece of advice is to think about how important it is to be in this for the long haul, and to see it having a long plan for yourself, and to make sure that whatever it is you're doing, that you can be passionate about this thing for a really long time, because burnout is so inevitable. Rachelle: [00:34:29] There have been so many moments where I just I haven't wanted to throw in the towel. But I've been exhausted absolutely exhausted. Like someone hacks into my site or my web site's overloaded and things are shutting down or there's just some kind of technical problem, and when those things come out those are the things I hate, obviously, those are the things that really get to me. Rachelle: [00:35:17] I can be techie but I'm not that techie. And so when the techie things happen, I just love what I do so much, that I'm motivated to figure it out and it doesn't burn me out and stress me out and kill me. And I can keep going, so just to make sure that whatever it is you're doing, you love it enough that when stuff hits the fan which it will, that you're still motivated to do it. Because that's the thing that's going to drive you to get through the hard times. So that would be my advice. Jillian: [00:35:49] And I totally agree. It is because you love it. Rachelle: [00:35:53] It's because I love it. Yes it is. Absolutely. You know so I went back to my mentor Jadah. She runs this program called Love Over Metrics and I just love that. That phrase says that metrics are important, and we're running businesses, so you want to quantify what you're doing, want make sure that you can put food on your table. Rachelle: [00:35:53] But the love has to come first, you know to be a love for what you're doing, and love for your audience, and just really believing in your content. And that's going to drive you and that's going to keep you happy and enabled and confidants and connected to your audience. Jillian: [00:36:38] Absolutely. Rachelle: [00:36:39] And they'll see right through you if that's not there. Jillian: [00:36:45] So OK. Rachelle, how can people find you? Reach out to you? Learn more about you? Start in your in your classes? Rachelle: [00:36:56] Yeah absolutely. So if you go to TinkerLab.com. So "tinker" like you know, tinkering in your studio. "Lab" it's all one word. T-I-N-K-E-R-L-A-B you can find my website, and if you wanted to try out this Art Start Challenge, you could just do a forward slash "art start" and loop right into that five day challenge that will hopefully be evergreen. On social media everywhere I'm TinkerLab. And so you can just search for TinkerLab or you can look for my name anywhere. Rachelle: [00:37:30] And if you wanted to reach me by email I'm Rachelle at TinkerLab.com. My name is spelled R-A-C-H-E-L-L-E at TinkerLab.com. Jillian: [00:37:40] Thank you so much for being on the show. Jillian: [00:37:43] It was such a pleasure. And I just adore everything that you're doing and I just want to support you however I can. And I love that you're running this show. It's awesome. Jillian: [00:38:30] If you're trying to grow your social media followers on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest, plus trying to grow your email list. Definitely check out MiloTree. It is the smart popup you add to your blog or your site, and it asks your visitors to follow you on social media or subscribe to your list. Jillian:[00:38:52] Just a couple of things… it's super easy to add to your site. We offer a WordPress plugin or a simple line of code. It's Google-friendly on mobile so you don't have to worry about showing pop-ups on mobile. It's lightning fast, it won't slow your sight down and you can grow multiple platforms at once, so check it out MiloTree.com. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!
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