11-18

Missy G from No Filter Living shares her personal journey, discussing her struggles with staying focused and a stutter. She talks about her background, education, and passion for storytelling and advocacy. She opens up about her family history, including her grandfather's passing and her struggles with mental health. Missy emphasizes the importance of representation and finding her purpose in education. She reflects on her experiences growing up Mexican-American and the impact of her family on her life. Through her storytelling, she conveys themes of resilience, identity, and the importance of seeking help for mental health struggles. Hey everyone! My name is Missy G here with No Filter Living. I know it's been a long time coming. I know I said I was going to post this stuff a long time ago. But, here we are! First episode ever for No Filter Living. And I figured what better way to introduce my podcast than my No Filter story. So, before we dive into it, I want to show you currently I am only in contact with two families. Right now I'm with my UCB co-host. And I want to be fully transparent in here. That way nothing can be misconstrued, twisted. Here you are hearing it from your horses. So, with that being said, I am only in contact with two families. And families, no other districts, no companies right now. I am talking with one local company. I'm working with them in fundraising attempts. And they can reveal themselves if they would like. But, I vow that I'm only telling my story. And from my point of view. I will not try and it will not be my intent to speak for anybody. I am only going to speak to you what I know. So, with that being said, let's begin. So, as many of you know, I do have a unique issue. So, it is a struggle for me to stay focused. And me being a natural born storyteller, that is very difficult for me. And that's where, you know, Ms. Gonzalez would kind of get herself into trouble in school. Because I could not keep order. But, I have pinpointed that to, and I also have a huge information point. So, I have a site list and, yeah, a stutter. See, exactly. There you go. Prime example. Side note. Sorry, you're about to listen to Ms. Gonzalez go through how she gets back on subject. Okay, that one's going to take a little longer for me to get back to. So, how about I just start reading. If I remember, I'll bring it up. Okay. Oh, there you go. Now you're going to see what I mean. And children, if you're listening to this, this is prime example that sometimes it takes just a little bit of time to get it, but we will get there. I promise you. Okay. So, I do have notes. So, yes. So, I have a paper. So, if you hear people rustling in the background, it's because I have notes to kind of keep me on track. Okay, there you go. See, Ms. Gonzalez got back to her thing. Okay. So, I want to start by sharing a little more about my background and just where all this passion is going. So, I didn't grow up with a roadmap like many other entrepreneurs, teachers, people alike. I learned life by living it, and you saw a prime example of that. I learned resilience from my family. I learned how powerful representation is, being the student who didn't always feel seen. And I can speak more to that in a minute. And I learned very early that your voice matters, even if people try to silence it. I went to Texas State University to study English and the communication, which is why I know I'm okay with sharing this. I didn't know that storytelling would become one of my greatest gifts. I didn't know that one day I'd be writing books, building a business, and advocating for families who needed someone to fight for them. Becoming an educated teen to me, stepping into the classroom, seeing students light up when they finally understood something, and supporting families through tough situations, that's when everything shifted. That's when I realized that education isn't just a job, it's my purpose. But I also saw the other side, the gaps, the injustices, the kids who went without support, the families who didn't understand the system, the services students should have received but didn't. And I'll be honest, that broke me in more ways than it did in itself. It also lit the fire that built my youth's ego up. So before I get into more about the business, like I said, I just want to share more about my story. So yesterday, I made a video, and it was my pure reaction, literally, right before I started recording that video, I had gotten the email. That episode was going to be totally different, but then that happened. But since this is my podcast, and you can come back and go as you see me, I feel more comfortable going through the entire story of me and my brother. And my brother did give me permission to share a story. Like I said, I don't want to speak for anybody. I'm just going to speak for what happened in my memory of what happened from those times I will be talking about. So in order to understand more, you would have to understand my family. My dad, born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, his parents, okay, so my grandmother, my nana, I call her nana, her family grew up in the neighborhood my family ended up living in. And they were one of the first few Latino families in that predominantly white neighborhood. My grandfather, my family can correct me if I'm wrong on this, I wanted to keep him in California. He first lived with his father and then came and lived with his mother. But because of that, we didn't know much about my grandfather's family on that side. So growing up, my uncle and my aunt, may she rest in peace, started doing research and learning about our background. Just because there was so much, there was unknown when it came to my grandfather because we lost him when I was six years old and that was a pretty traumatic experience for me. But because it was the first portion I had ever experienced death and remembering that feeling of loss. So my uncle and my aunt made it their mission to research and find our roots and ancestral. So of course that sparked an interest in me and my dad. At the time, I was very, very into the Civil Rights Movement. That just sparked my interest completely. And I told my parents, I want to make a difference like Martin Luther King Jr. I want to be that person that creates change and makes things better for everybody. And so, I guess you could say my love language is an act of service. Really, an act of service in giving my gifts. So I guess you could say, you could consider that I used to engross my service of love, my gifts to my students and to the children in San Antonio and just Texas all around. And just children in general. So, that's when my father introduced Cesar Chavez to me. And honestly, growing up in school, I really didn't know much about being of Mexican-American descent. I didn't know that. I didn't know about my race, my nationality. I didn't know the difference of anything like that. I mean, we weren't learning it in school. Really, I did not learn anything about Hispanic heritage until I got to middle school. Spanish class. Mrs. Amez. Any of you know Mrs. Amez? Yes. That's where I began learning about the Civil Rights Movement. And the fact that I had such close ties. And then it eventually became the epiphany that I was an Azabo kid. My grandparents spoke majority Spanish. And it would be difficult sometimes for us to communicate. So my grandma Florida, she saw that I wanted to learn Spanish. And she would try and teach me. She would teach me phrases. And I grew up knowing those phrases. But it wouldn't stick. I had such a hard time learning the language. And eventually it just turned into, I was just struggling in general. I was just struggling to keep up with life at only 15, 16 years old. That's not okay. So something was going on. And by the end of my sophomore year, I attempted to take my own life. Just because I couldn't deal with it anymore. I couldn't deal with the wisdom in my head. I couldn't deal with the, you know, that I was a failure, that I was annoying, that I was clingy. You know, just todo, just everything. Just in my head. And when I saw what that did to my family, I made it my mission to make it up to them. To turn it around. Try my best to fix it. And it wasn't until I was in college that I told my parents I needed help. That as much as I'm trying, as hard as I'm working, the voices just weren't going away. And I was afraid of what I was going to do to myself, honestly. So they sought me help. It was misdiagnosed as PTSD. But, of course, you know, mental health was back then. It wasn't. We were still learning about it. So, of course, you know, everyone, P to Z, you haven't been through anything traumatic. And let me reassure everyone, this is my first time talking about this. I haven't even told my family this. I mean, I want to stay true to the male culture in my full transparency. So I'm putting this all out there. I think for me, my PTSD came from when my grandfather passed away. That loss, I felt. Not many people know. I don't talk about it much. But it's me because I don't remember much about him. I don't have snippets in my mind. But from what I understand from my family, me and my grandfather, my grandpa Sanchez, were incredibly close. I was the youngest girl of all our cousins, of all his grandchildren. And we loved his grandchildren. My grandparents and Christmases were amazing. Just literally, the room, like, fun fact, my family, we still live in the house that my grandfather built for my grandmother. Of course, we've made updates and everything. But my mom is still living in the house, and it's home. I mean, me and my brother always fight that who's going to end up with the house and build in the back where my grandmother used to live. Like, that's another story I can go into another day. But about me and just everything. But, yeah, so I think just, you know, I was so young. I didn't understand. And, you know, it's not my family's fault because they didn't know. They didn't know at that time. I could understand. I was understanding what was going on. And then my mom, my grandmother said, Mom is amazing. I love you, Mama. She gave up her dream for my dad, her dream of a home, an area for us, when my grandfather passed away. Because they took her into it. That's another story I'll go into in a minute. But she gave everything up and told me, Dad, we're taking care of your mom. Bar none, we're taking care of your mom. We're moving in. She can't live by herself. Because my grandmother couldn't drive. My grandfather drove her everywhere. Like, I remember them telling us one story. I can't remember which uncle it was. Y'all can correct me on that one, too. That he somehow got hurt or sick or something. My grandfather was at work or overseas in the military. I can't remember what happened. No, no, no. He was out of the military at the time. I'm sorry. But she ran barefoot to get him help from our house all the way down New Aredo Highway. And for those that are familiar with San Antonio, that's a long way. But, yeah, my family just has so many history ties. I have a, just, again, I'll go back into that. So many historical ties to San Antonio. But, yes. So, with that, we moved in. I'm sorry, guys. It's really bad today. She moved in. She moved us all in. And it just uprooted our entire life. And everything changed. Everything as I knew it changed. And losing my grandfather was my first solid memory. Like, that is, do you ever, if any of you, if you can think back to, what's your first memory? For me, it was that. So, of course, I grew up with so much fear of losing people I loved. Because me and my grandfather were so close. He even gave me the nickname seashell. So, that's why, for an occasion, you'll see me with seashells in my designs and stuff. Because that's my nickname. Seashell. Because he could not pronounce Chelsea. But, again, Spanish. Espanol. Like, they couldn't. He just, he couldn't. And then my grand, like. So, that's where that came from. Then we have my mom. Who was born in Chicago. And was born to migrant workers. Well, migrant workers. My father. My grandfather. Who's still alive. I love you, grandpa. But they traveled for his work. Like, he would work full time. And I still have family members out there that are still migrant workers. Love y'all. Keep it up. Y'all are doing amazing. But at such a young age, we weren't taught any of this. And my dad had no idea. So, he made it his mission to teach me about my culture. And he asked my uncle and my aunt to help with it as well. So, I could understand. And so, that's where the passion came from. For speaking on cultural issues. And everything that's just wrong with society these days. That's why I feel so passionate about it. My background alone. Being an El Salvo kid and not even realizing it. It's like, how twisted is that? So, that happened. I graduated. I went to school. I wanted to join the military. But with my anxiety and my prior suicide attempt, my family just did not want me to join. So, I worked out a deal with my dad. Because I wanted to join the Air Force to go into nursing. And he said, you, if you have college credit, you can enter into nursing. So, I made a deal with him. I would try community college. And if I was still adamant about it, I would try. Just because he worried about me so much and my mental health. He didn't want me to put myself in that situation again. So, I went to school. Tried nursing classes. Came to the realization, I was really, really bad with math and science. So, I went into teaching. And come to find out, that's how a lot of educators got into the educational field. Oh my goodness. That's funny. But yeah, so, teaching became a thing. But teaching was always on my to-do list. But to be honest, the way I saw the teachers working, I didn't think I could make a difference. And that's why I thought. Being a teacher, I didn't think I could make a difference being a teacher. So, I sought out to join the Air Force. Then go into nursing. And then finally when I came back around, it was around the time when my brother graduated from high school. And my brother struggled in school. More so than I ever did. If my story doesn't break your heart, say it will. My brother is the sweetest man alive. A lot like my mom, who's amazing. We always say, I am my father's daughter. And my brother's cheesy boy, sorry. Brother, but I love you. But I mean, that was just something, an inside joke between me and my dad. And my mom and my brother. But according to my family, from the get-go, I was so, so protective of my younger brother. From the moment he was born. And that's just been me. That's my baby brother. You do not mess with my baby brother. Yeah, so. Please, please, please. Leave me in check, guys. I'm sorry. I'm trying to, in my head, when you hear me stop, I'm trying to circle back to what I was saying and what my point was. He started off good. He started off good. But just when it came to blending more things with everything, he was struggling with reading. And the teachers tried, you know, from the beginning. To get to third grade, he's struggling. We don't think he's going to pass. And my mom saw it. And she's told me, I know she did, she feels bad. Because my brother would sit there at the kitchen table until bedtime. Because the rule in our house was, you could not get up from that table unless you were done with your homework. And my parents didn't know. They didn't know. My dad was a veteran and a civil servant. So he did the best he could. And he ran the house with rules and boundaries. But that house was filled with so, so, so much love. And my family just wanted to give us what they didn't have, including the education they didn't have. The education they didn't have the opportunity and access to. So my mom and dad fought hard for my brother. And after years and years of meetings, tutoring, money, countless money for tutoring for my brother, it wasn't until he got to middle school that my mom fought and got him tested for dyslexia. And this was when he was about to go into high school already. And through all that, he's lazy. He's distracted. But never, well, let's get him tested. It wasn't until my mom pushed for it and went to an old colleague and told him, I want him tested. Because of that, when my brother graduated, and we didn't think he was going to graduate either. We didn't know. It was a last minute thing. He decided not to go to college. So at that point, I decided education and reading, learning language and writing, so I can be of help to kids like him and me. I wanted to be the teacher that we so desperately needed. I made that my mission. So I went to school. But, of course, with my mental illness, it was a struggle. I struggled a lot trying to work full time, trying to go to school full time. And then eventually I transferred to Texas State with my cousin. But my normal condition started getting worse. And eventually we had to put her in a hospital. Oh, I'm so sorry. I am so sorry about that day. I sent him a line to remind me to call my mom. So, I'm sorry. Oh, I wanted to be that teacher that we never had, that we so desperately needed. I wanted to be that teacher that my mom would have benefited working with. My parents, both my parents, would have benefited working with. Oh, no. I already said that. Sorry. I was talking about my grandmother. So, and she was in hospital for about a good month, I would say. But this all occurred right at the start of my last semester. So I had to push back graduating when she passed. And I didn't know what to do. So I had to push back graduating when she passed. And when I had to push back graduating because I was supposed to graduate that May of that year, I went to my advisor and discussed, well, you know, this is the route I want to take. I want to be a writer, but I want to be a teacher also. But I have a passion for mass communications. I just, that world, it interests me. So my advisor made the recommendation that I graduate with what they call a dual major. Because mass communications and English run under the same college, I, and because of the additional coursework I had done, I was able to graduate with a dual major instead of a double major, whereas double major is when it's two different colleges, for those that are not aware. So I was able to graduate with a dual major in English and mass communications. So, of course, I have experience in the English, like teaching and learning the English language, along with PR, journalism, and all that on that end. So I graduated and worked to get my certificate, worked at Baker until I was able to get my certificate. Shout out to Kindercare. Love y'all. Miss y'all. I was working with them for a good while and still in contact with the majority of them. But, yeah. And then I started teaching in 2019 at the A&C here in San Antonio, Texas. But my first year was during COVID, when COVID hit. And, man, was my first year tough. But I had experience on my side. I had worked with the district as well while in between working with the state chairs. And, excuse me, I had gotten my alternative certification. And so each program is different. And what training they offer is different. The program I chose, formerly ACC, now T4V, they partner with Catching Kids Heart. And, my goodness, I am so glad I went with them because it showed me SEL, an SEL approach to teaching. And so, for me, when I entered teaching, that's what I was trying to do for these kids, SEL. I wanted to, and still while teaching them the academics. But, of course, you know, alternative certification, not really going to school for it. But even then, you know, we're hearing that higher education is still not setting up teachers for the classroom, absolutely. I ran into it in the campus I was at. We had quite a few behavior issues. And just trying to get kids identified with the services they needed. But it was a struggle. I was kicked, hit, accused of being racist at one point. It kicked so hard in my chest that it took the wind out of me. And, mind you, I had experience already with interacting and working with children who needed extra support in behavior. But even then, even that training did not set me up for success to help and figure things out. So, to say COVID saved me that year would be a full understatement. So, we go into COVID. We go back, my second year of teaching. And we're told, my dad has reached one more test. And, of course, you know, it being COVID, it was much easier for me to be able to help take care of my dad. At that point, my husband and I had moved in with the family and were helping with his care. And we were able to get him into remission, post-remission. But then third year happened. And towards the end of my second year, I started getting sick. Sick to the point I was vomiting profusely. And I had no more control of my lower extremities because of how sick I was. But because we were so short-staffed, I was asked to stay. Because they had no one else, apparently, to put in that room. Mind you, we had an office full of office staff. And my principal was in her office. I won't say who. But that happened. And because I was the current second in row of the breadwinner of the family, I just couldn't. I couldn't rock the boat. My family needed me. So I stuck with it. And I went back to my second year. I mean my third year. I'm sorry. It was my third year. We were still in, I want to say, our second year of school. And this was the time when they were arguing if we should bring kids back. So, of course, at that time, I was petrified because my dad had just gotten to remission. But was starting to show signs of getting sick again. And with everything already happening, I was told I needed that. I was being displaced. And they were sending me to a different campus. And apparently, because enrollment was so low, and I was the last one in, but I was new. I needed to go. When the campus knew for a fact it wasn't me, I wasn't the last one in. But, unfortunately, I didn't always agree with my principal at that time. And I didn't know him. And, yeah. I was sent to another campus. After meeting that principal, I found out that that principal that was there was very close to my current principal, my previous principal. So, my family and I discussed it, and we decided it was best I leave. It was starting to be too much for me. And I'll start my own business. And that's when I started Flor del Sol. But then, my father passed away. And I spent that year just trying to take care of my family. And literally stepping into the head of the household role, being the eldest daughter. And just trying to make sure my family was taken care of, the kids were okay, and everything. But then, I realized the small business wasn't going to make it for me and my little family. So, I took the vow to maybe go back to teaching. But I was back and forth. Is it worth it? Is it worth it? So, at this point, I went back to kindergarten, regular kindergarten at the time, and just kept going back and forth, back and forth. And I remember that day, I had just gotten off the phone, either with my mom or my husband. It was one of the two. I'm always talking to one of the two. And we were just talking about it. I was like, I don't know yet. I'm still debating. I don't know if I should just go back to graduate school. And so, we hung up, and I was on my lunch. And I see broadcasting that something happened in Lovett. And that's where some of my friends were, and my family is from Buddy's Extremes. That's where my mom ended up moving into. That's where my family's originally from. So, we start freaking out. And when it was released, what happened, I just remember feeling and realizing, having the epiphany, this is what I need to do. This is how I help. This is how I make a difference with teaching. So, I went back to teaching. Got hired on as a fifth grade teacher. And my goodness, that year was rough. That year was so rough. But I loved it. I loved being there for the kids. I loved working with the kids. And I made great relationships. Making relationships is my top priority when teaching at that school. And so, yeah, it was amazing. I loved it. But it was stressful. My second year, back in the classroom, I had a class of close to 30 kids, fifth graders. One that was, oh, but either way. See, I'm trying to remain accurate. Well, not accurate. What I can share. But, yeah, so, 30 kids was the only teacher because the enrollment was low. We had one. She would help me out in science. But she was also helping out fourth grade. So, I was the only teacher. I mean, I had the kids majority of the day by myself, 30 kids. So, that year was so stressful. And that's when I realized, you know what? I need help. My mind is not right again. I need help. And I did. And I got put on medication. And so then, was doing awesome. Had a great year last year. But then I started getting sick again. And, sorry, I forgot to mention this. So, when I was getting sick back when I first left in May, that first time I left when I was getting sick, it was because I had diabetes reticulitis. I was diagnosed with diabetes reticulitis. And my pain and the situation was so bad, I had to be given fentanyl to help with my pain level. And so, they ran the test and they said, yeah, like, if you do not take care of this, you will need surgery. So, scared me. Had to start a whole new diet. Last year, started getting sick. Cold. No energy. Was having trouble with my menstrual cycle. Just everything, just everything. My body, my body was just going AWOL and it was trying to send me a message. So, finally, and after spending the entire summer sick, literally sick in bed, sick in bed because I just was not feeling well. I just, like, no energy. My bones hurt. My, my, just everything hurt. So, finally, I went and got screened, got checked. With a whole T-cell list and hypothyroidism. So, got better. Then, come to find out, I got COVID that week. So, I was out for a whole week. Like, my body was just telling me, Charles, you need to take a break. And I, I finally listened. I was like, you know what? My body, like, I'm not going to be of any use to these kids or my family if I stay. So, I talked with my family and came up with a plan. And that's how we got to where I used to be today. And, honestly, I didn't think of, when making these companies, so, okay. I will show you what I did. When I decided it was time for me to leave CG, I decided first I would open Chelsea's Tiny Bookshop. Because I have two books that's published. And I wanted a way, you know, to sell. But I also, you know, I made some money on the side while I go back to grad school. So, I would be doing that. Selling my books and having a bookshop. But then I needed to help out my family with my niece and nephew and their services. Because they both received special education services. So, I had to help them. And then, meanwhile, my students took me leaving very hard. And I had promised them that I would be there to help them. So, but then that's when I came up with the idea, you know, well, what if I start a company where it teaches that you need a person to talk to but don't want to leave the district. So, the thing with FMLA, because that's what everyone told me. Why didn't you just take FMLA? The thing with FMLA was we were only going to give you 30 days. And then we would have to revisit it. I'm still not better. I am currently recording this only on mic because I am shaking and I am cold. And I need the ability to be able to stop it when I feel like I'm about to have an episode or, you know, just need to excuse myself. So, yeah, it's been more than 30 days. It's going on 60 days. And I am still not better. So, you know, that's what I feel the district. I don't know when I'm going to get better. And I just, I'd rather, you know, it's very early on in the year. We just try and figure this out. So, we left. I mean, I left. But at that point, too, I had to fight for my certification. And my principal at the time helped me, too. She wanted to make sure I got my certification. Because the campus knew I did not want to go. They didn't know I did not want to go. But I had to. I know I had to because I was not okay. I was not healthy. So, yeah, and the district told me, why does it matter? Even if the board, and they have, so here, let me tell you the process, what they told me. So, this is the process. If you're a teacher that's thinking of leaving or going on SMLA or anything like that, or if you leave but you don't plan on teaching anywhere, let me tell you something. So, SSD told me that my name would be given to the school board. The school board will vote if they are going to keep my certificate or let me keep it. Because I signed a contract with them. Now, if they voted to let me keep my certificate and not put a hold on it, the state of Texas could still come in and decide to put a hold on my certificate. That right there made me decide to start writing this process when they told me that. Because how, in my mind, I thought, how is it right? I worked my ass off for that certificate. Almost cost me my life because of how bad my thoughts were getting. But because I am choosing to be the better person, the bigger person, and leaving mid-year with no intention of working for anybody else with my certificate, they have the right to vote and put a hold on it. Not just the district, but the state as well. In what other profession do you see that happening? That's what's wrong with education. So, I made it my mission to start this group because the way I see it is, I want to create a space, a space for educators that whatever money they make, because I'm not making money out of this. Well, technically I am, but only 10%. You are getting 90% of whatever work you're doing. Those teachers deserve all that. I'm only requesting 10% fee because it's my curriculum and resources they are using in helping them. But even then, I started the business without expecting money. I already had the option for scholarships, opportunities, or payment options, or not even just volunteering, and that is what ended up happening. I volunteered. I told them I want to volunteer and help with the school, but I am doing this business. I am working on my vendor applications. I am working on everything. It was a one-woman show. But, I mean, and I kept getting calls from so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so. I'm not going to shut any of these. Like I said, I want to remain transparent but true to my story and what I was told and what I experienced. Sorry, let me adjust this up here. So, that happened. I wanted to make a company, and my idea for the company was that partnering with the district, that way the district can have the teachers where they can come work for me, but they can still remain in contract with the district because they just need a little break from the classroom. Some teachers just need a break, a month, a year, and then they'll come back. But districts in the state are making it difficult for teachers to take that break and leave the room. We're being treated like property, to put it in a better aspect. Aspect, there you go. Sorry, that's the word I was trying to say, aspect. So, that happened. And I made a boo-boo. I made an advertisement, but I did ask for permission for those images and was told, yes, you can come to find out. It was not okay, so they called. I was called and told that, you know, we need that paperwork. I'm working on it. We are working on it, because at this point, my husband has stepped in to help me with filing the paperwork, because it is a lot, and then someone with my illness, it's rough. And I even, okay, I need to read that later. I'm still waiting for approval to show that one. But I, all I wanted was to help. That's all I've ever done. I don't want to make money. The money is just so the teachers that want to work with us, or any educator, anyone that wants to work with us, is able to make a living. But, I mean, I'm providing services, and I haven't received a dime for any of them, honestly, guys. I'm volunteering. This is all out of the kindness of my heart. So, with that being said, let me get into the episode so I can give you more about our mission and vision, and then we'll go on from there. I spent an hour of giving you my story, so we can kind of understand what's going on here for those that are new around here. Yeah. So, my mission is simple but powerful. To be the advocate, the guide, and the support families deserve. To create safe spaces for learning, to uplift our culture, our students, our stories, and to ensure families never walk through the education system alone again. Everything I do, from cliff hooking, to tutoring, to advocacy, to hosting markets and literacy events, is grounded in the belief that every student deserves access, equity, and opportunity. My vision is bigger than me. I see Raiz's eGrowthEd supporting families across Texas. I see Chelsea's tiny bookshop bringing stories and representation into our communities that have gone too long without it. I see workshops, training, book fairs, markets, scholarships, and physical space where families feel welcome to welcome a second day walking. I went to build a legacy rooted in culture, truth, and growth. A legacy that cultivates me. So, why this podcast and why No Culture Living? I named this podcast No Culture Living because I'm done hiding parts of myself to make others comfortable. I want to talk about real life, the struggles, the healing, the joys, the confusion, and the breakthroughs. If you're listening, I want you to feel seen. I want you to feel less alone, and I want you to grow with me. Thank you for being here for episode one. I'm excited, a little nervous, but I'm mostly very grateful. This is just the beginning, and I really, really hope you stay, subscribe, and share this space with others who may need it. Bon amour, and this is G.