My Approach to Navigating Lifes Twists and Turns

Welcome to my Blogger With a Twist—a podcast about lifestyle, self-improvement, and personal stories.

In this episode, I discuss why I have been absent from the podcast,  and how I've been navigating life despite my recent ordeal. As well as some amazing oppurtunities that have come my way. 

Besides that, I also discuss some updates about my online Redbubble shop and more.

That said, grab your snacks, and let's get this episode started.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

My Instagram: @bloginphilly 

Transcript

00:08
Hey you guys, my name is Brooke, your fellow podcaster, entrepreneur and creative artist from the East Coast. And welcome to my podcast blogger with a twist. So on my podcast, I'll mainly be talking about lifestyle topics, I might do some rants or story times. But basically whatever comes to mind that is the gist of this podcast. So if you guys find that interesting, and you want to know more.

00:37
then subscribe, share my podcast with your friends and family. And last but not least, sit back, relax, grab your favorite snack or food. And let's get this episode popping. Hey you guys, it is your girl Brooke and welcome back to a brand new podcast episode and happy February, even though I am a little bit late. So I know that I have not made an episode and

01:08
a little over two weeks. So in this episode, I'm going to be doing a chit chat. And I just wanted to come on and let you guys know what has been happening with me and any other updates. So that being said, grab your snacks and let's get this episode popping. So the main reason why I kind of have been little MIA from the podcast is because

01:37
I went through a little bit of depression and a little bit of sadness. And that is because the week of January 23rd, I had got an email from a company offering me, well, not offering me, but they said that I had been shortlisted for the position of a remote video editor. And so when I got the email, I was super excited. And I started to think about, I'm finally leaving a gas station.

02:06
and doing a job that I would thoroughly enjoy. But then the week after that, that is when I found out that it was basically a scam. And of course, when I found out that information, I just felt so stupid and sad and depressed because it reminded me what happened with all to beauty. As you guys know, if you did listen to my first episode, I also.

02:35
got scammed into thinking that I was going to be a full time content creator for all to beauty and getting PR packages and stuff like that only to find out that it was a scam. So just thinking about that and then having this recently happened. It just made me think why did I not see the red flags? Why did I let this happen again? And to be honest with you guys, I think it's

03:05
because I was so ready to leave the gas station. I think I mentioned to you guys in my last episode that I was pretty much done with the gas station after that one customer got in my face. So just don't dealing with that. I was just thinking this is an opportunity of a lifetime and I got to take this. But yeah, your girl got scammed. I did unfortunately send.

03:34
this person a picture of my driver's license because I thought it was part of the paperwork. So I'm just hoping and praying that they do not open up any accounts in my name since they do have my information. Now thank God I did not send these people any of my banking information because if that had been the case I definitely feel like it would have been worse. But having this happen to me a second time.

04:04
I feel like I should definitely pay way more attention instead of instead of letting the excitement get me caught up. Because when I think about how everything unfolded, there were so many red flags that I should have caught on to, that I should have been like, wait a minute, this does not sound right. But I didn't. And it is what it is. So.

04:30
I was just trying, I've just been trying not to think about it and just think positive. But yeah, that was one of the main reasons why you guys have not really had an episode is because I just wasn't feeling good about myself, but I am doing better because there have been some exciting things that have been happening since this ordeal. So the first thing is that the same week that I got the email from

04:59
the company that was basically a scam. I also got two messages on Instagram that invited me to two different events. So the first event that I went to was on Friday, January 31st, called Art Battle. So when I went to Art Battle, I did end up taking my boyfriend because when they sent me the invite, they sent me to come to complimentary tickets. And so

05:29
It was a really fun night. It was so cool seeing different artists come together and creating beautiful artwork. So if you guys want to check out my footage from Art Battle, definitely check out my Instagram page, which is at blog in Philly. If you guys do not know how to spell that, I believe the link is in my description or you guys can check my link tree link.

05:57
And once you click that or you copy or paste into your browser, you will see the links to my social media profiles. But yeah, it was a super cool event, fun. And hopefully I get to go to another art battle. And then the second event that I got invited to is actually this Saturday, February 15th, and it's going to be at King of Prussia.

06:23
at 52 Seasons, which I believe is a restaurant. And it's basically like an upscale wine and dine meet and greet event. And I'm also taking my boyfriend with me because I also got two tickets for that event as well. And so now I'm just and so now I'm just trying to figure out what am I wearing? I know I have to get my nails done. I don't know what I'm doing to my hair.

06:51
And I'm also getting some new business cards made. I was going to choose a Vista print, but when I checked the price of Vista print, it's a lot higher than what I remember. So I'm just going to get them printed from staples. And that way I do not have to worry about dealing with the shipping and getting the cards on time. So, yeah, I'm excited about.

07:18
that by the way, I believe the dress code is black or white. So I'm thinking because it is cold outside that I might do a black jumpsuit. I was thinking about doing a dress, but like I said, it's cold outside. And then I recently heard on the news that there might be another snowstorm. So now I'm like, I'm not trying to be going up to King of Prussia in my cute outfit and then it's snowing. So hopefully it doesn't snow.

07:48
And what else I have been thinking about going back to the gym. So for you guys that don't know, I do not work overnight at my job anymore. And I'm so happy because working overnight at a gas station. It is not for the week. OK, so since I'm not working overnight anymore and I'm getting back to my regular sleep schedule.

08:16
I feel like this is the perfect time to get back to the gym. Also, I just missed the definition in my body that I used to have when I was going to the gym. Because for me, I prefer doing weights better than doing cardio. And I know when you work out, especially if you're trying to lose fat, you should definitely incorporate some type of cardio.

08:42
And for me, I don't like cardio. I would rather do weights. But normally when I would go on a treadmill, I would take my phone and turn on either a TV show that I liked or one of my favorite YouTubers and watch a vlog or something that would make the time go by. There was another time I played candy crush while I was on a treadmill. Because for me,

09:11
If I'm not watching the time, then it makes it go a lot faster. So I don't know, you guys, I've just been thinking about going back. I mean, you know, it's a new year and maybe I should go back. So I will keep you guys updated about that. Also, I did release some designs on my online Redbubble shop. So I believe in my last episode, I told you guys that I released some designs for Valentine's Day.

09:40
So I did release two more and I also released some designs for my football people. So I have one design that says football is in my blood. I have a second version of that design as well. Then I also have a design that says equals 20, 25. So yes, if you are into football or if you like the Eagles, definitely check out my

10:10
Redbubble shop just to let you guys know as far as the Eagles shirt, it's not like the official shirt with the logo logo because I'm not trying to get sued by the company. So it is a knockoff. But if you guys just want to sure you don't mind not getting the real authentic shirt, then like I said, check out my Redbubble shop. It's inside my link tree link. Also, just to give you guys a heads up.

10:37
If you want to buy multiple items at a time and maybe you don't have all the money right now, there is an option on Redbubble. You can either choose Klarna, K-L-A-R-N-A or Afterpay and also PayPal. And I know they have this feature in PayPal. You can break up your payments and so for payments if you are eligible.

11:03
So those are options for people that if you don't have the money up front right now, you can use those options or if you have a credit card, you can use that and then just pay off the credit card when you get a chance. So just wanted to say that and also some of my friends have been buying my shirts and I'm super excited about that. It's so funny because I was so hesitant about sharing.

11:28
my stuff to my friends because I'm always thinking, are they going to like it? What's going to happen? But I'm super happy about all the positive reviews I'm getting back from my designs and I'm just so grateful for my friends buying my stuff and supporting me. So I'm super grateful for that. And so when I think about what happened with the whole job scam and thing and stuff like that, and then all this

11:57
other positive things that have been happening. It just makes me feel I'm so blessed and God definitely has my back. You know, there are so many times in my life I can think about how God has definitely intervened and helped me out, because if it wasn't for him, I would definitely have chosen a different path in life. Not saying that it would have been a horrible path, but God knew what he was doing. I'm just saying that. So.

12:26
Yeah, you guys, I've just been busy trying to not let what happened to me affect me. And I've just been throwing myself into my craft and creating new designs and promoting my red bubble shop more often. I know I also have to start promoting my Etsy shop, which are my digital products. So what I've been trying to do is moving my designs. Well, not moving, but.

12:54
I'm putting my designs on my Etsy shop. So if people cannot wait to get the shirts, they can just buy my digital file and have the designs printed on shirts or hoodies or mugs or t-shirts. But you guys get the gist. So if you guys want to check out my Etsy shop for my digital products, the link is in my link tree. I will be coming out with more digital products as well.

13:23
So do not worry about that. And other than that you guys everything is going good. Just a reminder for any of you guys out there if you would like me to place your order on my Redbubble shop, definitely send me an email. My email is in the description box. And one one other thing I wanted to say really quickly so I was talking to one of my friends that bought.

13:52
will actually bought two shirts from me. And we were just talking about, you know, how everything is happening in the world, especially with Trump and his whole mass deportation. And so my friend told me that apparently, now Trump is trying to deport Native Americans. When my friend told me that I'm thinking to myself, how in the world are you going to try to deport Native Americans when white people were the ones

14:21
that came to this country, stole the land from the Native Americans, colonized them, and brought over the Black people. But it doesn't make any sense. You can't deport people from this country that was already over here before white people came over here. What gets me so much is when you got some people that believe that Christopher Columbus discovered something. I'm sorry to burst your bubble. Christopher Columbus did not discover anything.

14:50
How you discover something that was already discovered? But yeah, I don't know. I feel like this whole mass deportation thing is gotten out of control because not every immigrant is a criminal. Not everyone them are terrorists. You have a lot of immigrants that have contributed to this country financially and economically. So I just, you, I just feel like you just trying to throw out

15:19
all of the immigrants is not going to be a good thing. It's going to be, I feel like a backlash and I don't know. It's just crazy because then I also heard that I was watching this one video of this black girl living in Mexico and she was talking about how she was getting deported back to United States because I believe either the mayor or the president of Mexico, I think she said to Trump for every

15:47
Mexican, they're trying to deport from the United States. They're going to deport every American from Mexico. So I was just like, you know what? That's what Trump get. Because you have a lot of immigrants that come to this country and they do the hard labor that not everybody wants to do. And now you're trying to send them away. So what's going to happen?

16:12
But yeah, I'm not going to get too much into that because my podcast is not really into politics like that. But I just had to say that because I was just so flabbergasted when my friend told me that he really trying to deport Native Americans. Like for real for real, white people are the real immigrants to this country. And then on top of that, you got the immigrants that did vote for Trump, now crying upset.

16:40
because either they are getting deported or their family members. And my whole thing is this, why would you even vote for this man in the first place? You already knew that he did not like immigrants. So why would you think that after he became president that he was gonna change his viewpoints? Like, I don't understand. But anyway, I'm gonna stop ranting right now. But other than that, you guys,

17:05
Thank you again for listening to this episode. And I'm so sorry that I've been MIA, but I've been doing better and I'm just living life and trying to get through the next four years of my life. Hopefully this country, but okay, here I go rambling one again. I hope you guys have a great day, a great weekend and until my next episode, peace.