Transcript: Season 3, Episode 8
Terri Trespicio
Terri Trespicio:
This is an especially meaningful episode of Making It Big. Why? Because it's my last episode. I know. In the spirit of keeping a diversity of voices at the helm of this show, I'm handing over the mic to your new host, Georgette Pierre, an Emmy Award-winning producer, multimedia personality, and voice actor who graduated with a masters in integrated marketing communication in 2009 and spent a lot of time at WERS.
Trust this is not her first rodeo. Georgette hosted her own podcast, Black + Nuanced, as well as two web series and was the local host for the Rickey Smiley Morning Show in Miami. She's had bylines on Entertainment Weekly, VH1, and MTV RapFix to name a few. You're going to love her. So for my last episode, I'm switching places and I'm going to be the guest.
The timing couldn't be better because my very first book is just out. It's called Unfollow Your Passion: How to Create a Life that Matters to You. And well, you'll hear all about it. Again, thanks so much for listening to the show. I'm really proud to have helped create and launch the first podcast for and by, Emerson alumni, and I want to thank you for being along for that ride. I leave you in very capable hands.
Now I present Georgette Pierre as the new host of Making It Big in 30 Minutes, and me, on how I'm making it as a first time author.
Terri Trespicio:
This is a very special episode, I'm so excited about it because it's like this grand finale, it's very exciting. I have had the great privilege and honor of helping to co-create and launch this very podcast and hosted it for the past three seasons. The goal here is to make sure we all always include lots of different voices, so it's time for me to pass the torch to the ever lovely, incredibly capable, new host of Making It Big in 30 Minutes, my dear Georgette Pierre, who is a master's graduate from Emerson, 2009, an Emmy Award-winning producer, a multimedia personality, a voice actor. Her bio goes on and on.
I am just very excited for all of you to meet her because this is the last episode of season three, and then my last episode, and it happens to be coming out right before the publication of my very first book. I Swear we didn't plan it. I was quite honored to be invited to be interviewed on my own podcast, which is very exciting, but you can't interview yourself. So Georgette has been kind enough to offer to do that. Georgette, thank you.
Georgette Pierre:
Terri, thank you so much. This is so exciting. The first three seasons, I know I have some amazing, big shoes to fill, but I am looking forward to it.
Terri Trespicio:
You'll be great. You'll be fine.
Georgette Pierre:
I know, thank you.
Terri Trespicio:
You've got some things on your resume. I think, Entertainment Weekly, VH1, MTV... You're fine. When people ask you about what do you do, though, when people say "So, tell me about you." Would you introduce yourself a bit?
Georgette Pierre:
Yeah. It's so funny, it's changed a bit and I've been leaning into what I want to be true, so freelance TV producer, voice actor, multimedia personality, and a dope, other worldly, being, if I could add that piece in.
Terri Trespicio:
Oh, I love that. But you're a creator. You're someone who's like creative.[crosstalk 00:03:24]
Georgette Pierre:
Yes, absolutely. Creator at my core. My goal is to tell stories, tell authentic stories, to my community, to my experiences, my lived experiences, and I am grateful that I'm in the transition to be able to do that.
Terri Trespicio:
You're doing the interview, but I have questions though. Tell me about, did you have a good sense of that when you were at Emerson? Some people go there and they know exactly what they're going to do. I didn't, I was in MFA and poetry. I had no idea what I would do with that. Did you know or not?
Georgette Pierre:
I needed to buy time, Terri. That sounds crazy to say, but when I graduated from undergrad, from Norfolk State University, I went to an HBCU, I graduated in 2006. I was like, I need to find another school. I wanted to go intentionally saying this, a PWI, a predominantly white institution. I wanted to mix up the degrees, but I also felt like it needed to be a school that was more communication oriented.
When I Googled and saw Emerson, I was like, okay, I'm going to pull up. I didn't get in my first year. When I got in my second year, I said, "Okay, let's do this." At the time integrated marketing communication did not exist anywhere. So I leaned into the IMC program for my masters, but I lived at the radio station, Terri, at WERS.
Terri Trespicio:
You loved it.
Georgette Pierre:
That ended up being my trajectory when I left. IMC, I'm not going to say I didn't do anything with it, I'm also not going to say I did do something with it. There're things that I pulled that worked, I needed to buy time for grad school, but I'm so glad it was at Emerson.
Flipping this question back to you though. Did you intentionally choose Emerson to expand your career and what you wanted to do?
Terri Trespicio:
Yeah, I applied only to Emerson, I didn't apply anywhere else. I looked around. I really felt the pull to go back to school. I'd been out for a couple years. I'd worked in an office for a few years and I was really hungry for that academic experience again. I looked at a bunch of different programs and the Emerson one just appealed to me and something in my mind was like, well, you should do the masters in publishing and da, da. I was like, you know what, this is a huge expense, if I'm going to do it, I better make sure I love exactly what I'm doing there and not doing it because I think I should be doing it, so I applied to the MFA program.
One of the reasons why the Emerson program appealed to me is because of that teaching fellowship. From the first minute I saw the program, I saw that at the end of it or toward part of it, you could apply to be a teacher and teach, really teach on your own, teach a freshman writing comp class.
From the beginning I said, "I'm going there because I want to do that and I don't know why, I don't know what I'll do with it, but it just sounds so fun." I went to do that, I was like, I'm going to apply and hopefully get in and then get to teach.
What's funny is when I finally got to the point where we were applying to do the teaching fellowship, so now I've been there a year or two and my friends were like, "Oh yeah, I want to apply for that teaching fellowship." I said, "Yeah, I'm totally going to do that." they were like, "It's real competitive. Just because we applied doesn't mean we'll get it." It was so sure in my mind and I am not the most confident person, I wasn't always, I was incredibly insecure about pretty much everything, but then I said, "No, no, no, no I'm going to do this." I could not be more sure I want to do that. I got it and I was like, there's a vote for confidence. I had never taught before, but I was like, no, no, this is going to be really great and it was.
One of the most rewarding things I did at Emerson was to get to teach and learn how to handle a classroom. While I didn't go on to be a full-time professor, that wasn't what I chose. I did go on to be a public speaker and really it's the same. Can you hold a group of people's attention? That was the challenge and I got my feet wet there.
Georgette Pierre:
It's so funny when you mentioned going on to do public speaking. When we first came on, I instantly heard this magnetism in your voice. It's like, oh I'd sit back and listen to whatever Terri has to say.
Terri Trespicio:
Oh my gosh.
Georgette Pierre:
It feels that way, it's very inviting. That's a perfect segue. Talking about your MFA in writing, you have a book coming out.
Terri Trespicio:
I have a book.
Georgette Pierre:
It is called Unfollow Your Passion: How to Create a Life That Matters to You. It's funny because my first thought when I heard "Unfollow Your Passion," was let me keep reading because I'm sure there's more to just saying "unfollow your passion." Why those specific words, "unfollow your passion?"
Terri Trespicio:
I'll tell you, I didn't have a title until dangerously close to when the title was due. All I had was the title of this TED Talk that I did in 2015, which did very well. It was called Stop Searching For Your Passion. The publisher was like, "Let's just call it that, you can't own a title, you can just call it that." I was like, "No, no, I already did that and I won't take any credit for this title." My friend Kim, who I write about in the book, she was like, "I know what it should be, it's 'unfollow.'" I'm like, "Thank God for you, that's correct," because it feels like unfollow. It's very much the rhetoric of our times, when we think about following something, "Oh I follow her on Twitter or I follow him on Instagram." You're following, you're listening and that's fine.
I think is just as important is to think about what we're going to unfollow. It's not literal. I'm not saying, "Georgette, take the thing you love and never do it again." Of course not, I would never tell someone not to go after it. The reason I did the book was because the Talk did so well and I was like, oh my gosh, this really hits a nerve because when people are asked, "What's your passion, what's your purpose? Why do you get up in the morning?" It's like, oh my God, everyone scrambles to come up with a good answer. We have this idea that we're supposed to know, that by the time you pick a major, you're supposed to know exactly what you're going to do.
The 20 year olds feel that pressure. Yes. So do the 30 year olds. So do the 40 year olds. I know a lot of 70 year olds who don't know what they're going to do either. Who said, we have to know? I like that we can discover our lives as we live them. I want to relieve people of this pressure to think that they should know, because Georgette, aren't some of the things you're doing now, 10 years ago you would have been like, "No way?"
Georgette Pierre:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's funny because one of your chapters that I gravitated towards, there were a lot of chapters I gravitated towards because I am currently in my own transition as well.
Terri Trespicio:
Oh yeah.
Georgette Pierre:
With you talking about unfollow, your passion, there's a chapter called, Abandon Your Plan.
Terri Trespicio:
How did you feel about that? Was that not good? Did that make you nervous?
Georgette Pierre:
Yes, I was like, oh, let me start here first, for over controllers or even people that have planned out everything in their life, what was that story for you? When did you know you had to jump ship?
Terri Trespicio:
I think part of it is that planning to me is really overwhelming. The idea that you have to know again, that's what planning is. I plan a little and then I quit in the middle because I get bored of the planning, but also the story I tell in the book is that my whole family was going to Sesame Place. A summer day in the eighties, it was just like, this is what you do. You go to Sesame Place, you get some soft serve, you jump in a ball pit, it is a day. I was so excited. We're like, we're going and my little sister had to pop out of the car real quick, my mom's like, "Just check, make sure the back door's locked." She popped out of the car and she ran to check the door and she tripped and she fell and broke her arm in that second.
All the plans for that day, for her, were gone in a second. I couldn't believe it. I was like, what just happened? That was the most crazy, weird, thing that just happened. We went to Sesame Place and she went in another car to the hospital and I thought, that isn't fair, that isn't right, nothing matters, we're in a random universe. I was like, oh, so even when you plan...
That whole thing is me trying to control my own anxiety and my own need to want to control everything. I know I can't and then a lot of people have that feeling, but if I know that I can plan again, then I won't be so dependent on a single plan because let's face it, you and I, and everyone listening have had plans that went awry. Things that didn't happen that are supposed to... Move to Wisconsin but then they fell in love and moved to Ohio and it wasn't what they thought, nothing is.
The plan is the illusion. However, I don't mean that I'm an anarchist and everyone should just forget everything and not plan anything. What I mean is, plan more, be less attached to the outcomes. Make a plan, because it's nice to have a plan but if, the more attached you are to the outcome of that plan, the more your heart will break and the harder it will be to plan again. The point is to attach yourself to the part of speech that is the verb and not the noun, that way you know you'll always be capable of adapting.
Georgette Pierre:
Did you feel attached in any way as you were going through the process of what came to be your first book?
Terri Trespicio:
Oh my God, Georgette, this is not the book I thought it was, I didn't pitch this book. I pitched a different book and they were like, "Yeah, that's good but guess what? You're not doing that book." I pitched a collection of essays, I didn't really know but when I had the interest of a major publisher, I was like, cool. They were like, "The writing's great, we love it, but here's what we think, we think that it would be better as a self development title." I go, "Oh that's not what I thought." and they're like, "We know, do you want to do this or not? Do you want to dance with them or not?" I could have said no, I'm going to do my own thing but I was like, look, they're whole business is selling books, they know it sells. I said, I have to take my idea of what the book might be, and the more fluid I am with it, the more likely I will be able to do what I want.
I wanted a traditionally published book, I wanted that. Not everyone does or cares, what saved me because I was feeling, oh, is this the book I wanted to write is this the thing? I said, trust, trust, trust. Trust that the writing, since that's the medium for me, trust that the writing will carry you toward whatever the product needs to be. It's a product, it's going to sit on a shelf somewhere and someone will buy it and give it to someone else and whatever, hopefully.
The writing and your ability, and by the way, acting, writing scripts, doing whatever anyone likes to do, giving talks. If you trust your ability to do the thing, then you don't get so caught up in the asset. This is just one asset, this isn't me. I did this one, maybe I'll get to do another one, but I'm not attached to that. It's all on to the next. The less attached we are to those things the better, but I'm no dummy, if Simon & Schuster says "Jump," I'll say, "How high, how high do you want me to jump?"
Georgette Pierre:
What did you learn about yourself in this process? You mentioned that this wasn't the initial book and then you were able to kind of ebb and flow but we also transform as we're working on this next thing. Oh my God, this is your baby, this is a part of you. So what did you learn about yourself in this process?
Terri Trespicio:
That I'm a brat too. When I first was like, "Wait, what do you want me to do?" The editor was like "We should do this." And I was like, "But I don't want to do that." I had a personal temper tantrum that was not public, I talked to a few of my friends and I said, "Nah..." I cried one day, I went through all the phases and I was like, but this is going to be stupid. Then I heard myself winding through this tantrum and I was like, yeah, typical. Work through it and then get your butt back to work. So I did something that I always recommend that people do called the critic exercise where you channel the critic, write down, what is she saying?
She had a lot to say to me, my critic was like, "This is going to be so dumb, this is going to be stupid and everyone's going to be like, 'Yeah, whatever. You're just like another privileged brat who thinks they have the answers to things' and it's going to be boring and no one's going to like..." So I just wrote it out. I go and it's going to be boring, I'm going to get canceled and da, da, da. I wrote it all out, then all of a sudden, when I kept writing, I ran out of things to say, and I started repeating and I was like, "Really critic, is that all you've got? You're boring me" and I got bored by my own critic voice. I said, "Good, are you done because I got to get back to work."
If you let that storm of the critic wind down, you listen, you go, "Okay, I hear you, honey, I hear you. You're wrong, you're inaccurate, so please sit down. You've had your say." Then I said, Okay, now I've had my tantrum. What is the best service to the reader? What can you do? Get over your own thing, you can write your own thing anytime you want, but this is what this client, the publisher needs. So what will serve the reader? Rather than thinking "I'm not doing what they want me to do," I said, "What would be most helpful?" Once I clicked into that, then I was going, but listen, we all have ego. We have to let go of that ego a little bit if you're going to get work done. That's what helped me.
Georgette Pierre:
As you're talking about the critic it made me think about, it was so funny, I read it just before we hopped on about tell your critic to "STFU" so you can get back to work. There was a method that you talked about, I think it was the Gateless method that you mentioned.
Terri Trespicio:
Yes.
Georgette Pierre:
I remember some of the things that you experienced and mentioned that really resonated. We always think that criticism is supposed to help us, but I could remember a time Terri, where it paralyzed me to the point where I was like, oh, that happened to me, the fight or flight. How do we navigate or even transition the mindset of "No, you need to be criticized for your work," versus what the Gateless method helped you accomplish and achieve.
Terri Trespicio:
Yeah. So you know what it's like?
Georgette Pierre:
Yes, absolutely. It was a terrible feeling. It was terrible.
Terri Trespicio:
One thing is, yes, the critic exercise is one thing just to get out of your system but you're right, it's all part of a whole method that I did not invent. I trained in it because when I experienced it, it changed my life as a writer. The Gateless method, which is developed by a friend, she has become a friend, Suzanne Kingsbury. The whole idea is that when we write together, because we do this in community, you can write Gatelessly on your own, but I do it in online programs and live events and things like that. The idea is, "Hey, we're not criticizing here." The point is to generate work because you know a blank page is scary. It's scary! So how do you get past that "Oh God, I'm going to write something that's going to be dumb blah, blah blah."?
What we do is we say, "Here's a prompt, you have 10 minutes, you have 15 minutes," a very short period of time. Then we write like mad, we just write everything out that we can think of and then we take turns reading out loud. A raw unedited draft, which sounds scary but not when you know that, no one's going to say "I don't get it. I don't like that. I don't lie..." Never!
We say "Here's what I heard that was where the geniuses, I love this part, I love this part." Why? Because in creative work, and you know this, it's very rare, that the work gets validated. Someone's always there to fix it, to point out what won't work to say, "Oh, you might want to change this." That's what most people do because if they make them feel smart. Looking for flaws is easy.
Look for genius. That mentality changed how I see other people's work. It lowered my fear of being jealous or insecure and it also helped me help other writers find what's genius in their work. It's a practice that I cannot recommend enough and I love to take it into groups and teach it. That helped.
By the way, don't send your stuff to people who are going to put markups on it. When you hand out your work to people asking "What do you think of this?" Someone's going to hand it back with grammatical fixes. That's not going to help you lean into what you are great at. When you look at what's working, it grows. So that's the idea, it's really been transformative for me.
Georgette Pierre:
I actually was inspired, I was just like, let me type in Gateless method and look. I had to look at it because we're usually stuck in comfort zones and I'm telling you all, when you read her book, there is a chapter for everything that you may have navigated or are still navigating. I think about the comfort zone and you titled it, that you can stay in your comfort zone, right?
Terri Trespicio:
Yes.
Georgette Pierre:
I'm just like, wait, can you? Wait a minute! Let me continue reading. What was the thought process about that? Can you dive in a little bit more about...?
Terri Trespicio:
Yes.
Georgette Pierre:
[crosstalk 00:20:46]
Terri Trespicio:
I believe that we should. The thing I was just talking about, about being in a safe space to do your work and to share your work, knowing that you're not going to be criticized, helps quiet that fight or flight. That means you'll be more comfortable. The goal is to be more comfortable. This idea, usually shouted at us by bros. [inaudible 00:21:10] "You've got to leave your comfort zone, you've got to be uncomfortable. Get comfortable being uncomfortable." No, you do that. You want to be naked and wet and afraid somewhere? Not me, I like to be warm and dry. I like leg room. I like having my groceries delivered.
I think comfort is underrated and I don't believe people when they say they want to be uncomfortable. This presumes, if I have to keep telling you "Georgette, you should really be more uncomfortable." You'd be like "Welcome to life as a woman, like it's actually not comfortable." It presumes that our default is comfort. That's not true. We spend of our lives feeling slightly uncomfortable, nervous, not sure and if we can find a shred of comfort in our lives, in a relationship, in a job in our apartments, anywhere, my God, why wouldn't you want that?
Does that mean I avoid discomfort? No, I do all kinds of things that other people think are uncomfortable. I don't jump off a bridge with a rope around my ankle, but I do other things and so do you. We take risks, but the idea is I take the risks so that I can expand the comfort zone and have more on this side of it. I have done standup comedy, there's nothing less comfortable than that. You get up in front of a group of people who've been doing and already don't think you're funny.
That's scary, but why did I do it? Do I just want to be scared and uncomfortable? No, I did it because I wanted to be better on stage, I wanted to be more comfortable. So I did it more and it did help, I am more comfortable up there. So less anyone thinks that they should be seeking discomfort, you do not have to. You can seek to be more comfortable because that is where you thrive. That's where you're more focused. What do you do your best work when you're hangry? I doubt it. To be rested and fed and have the luxuries, which many of us are privileged enough to know that we have a roof over our heads and we can have food when we want it. These, we do this so that we're comfortable so we can focus on the things that matter and I think that's what counts.
Georgette Pierre:
I think this chapter is really going to be an eye opener, I promise you, I think that was the first chapter I started with because I was just like, there's no way that someone could stay in their comfort zone and then when you presented it, I was like, oh, this makes so much sense. It's almost like having to unlearn everything that we were taught about certain things and I love that.
How did you continue showing up for yourself in moments where you were over trying, where you were just over it?
Terri Trespicio:
I think that the word that I keep coming back to, for me, for anyone is momentum. There's this guy, Jeff Haden, he has a book called The Motivation Myth, he says "Everyone's waiting for motivation to do something, you don't need motivation to do something, you just do something. Motivation is a result, not a precondition." I love that idea. If you feel like total trash, you're not going to feel motivated to work out but if you force yourself to work out like a couple times, the motivation comes when you go, oh, I'm starting to feel better, the motivation comes after. When people say "What motivates you? What inspires you?" I'm always like nothing, I'm not inspired to do anything. I want to sit on the couch and watch Seinfeld reruns, I really do. I am, I'm binging that whole season from the beginning. I don't really feel like do anything, but I want to do something because I want a certain outcome. Do I know what that outcome will be? Do I know that it's guaranteed, not at all, but I enjoy the process of progress.
In the beginning, no, I was absolutely terrified. I didn't think I could do anything. I didn't think anyone would want me. I was so insecure that even when I started Emerson, I was in a literature class. It was Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell classes, poetry. I did not know their work well at all. I was in this class and there were a few loud mouth people who love to let you know how much they know, I felt very cowed by that.
I went to the teacher's office hours, her name is Gail Mazur, she was a wonderful influence for me and I went in there and I said, "I don't think I should be in this class." She said, "Now, why would you say that?" I said, "Because I don't know anything about them and these other people know more and that kid, he knows everything." She's like "That kid doesn't know anything, she's like, "There's no reason you can't, you just keep coming, keep coming to class. There's no reason you can't be in this class and literature and you'll learn." She ended up being my thesis advisor and was big influence on me.
Can you imagine, I want to go back in time and be like, what, don't let that jerk tell you what you can and can't learn. You got into this school, you have every right to sit in that seat and you'll learn it because that's what everyone's learning.
That was my hangup. Everyone already knows something and I don't know it. I felt that way all through school. I still feel it now. I have gotten better at ignoring it. That is something that I learned at Emerson, the craft of learning to love and spend time with the craft of language, in all of its genres and all of its formats. I knew I loved that. I Didn't know what I would do with it and that's okay too.
If you have the option to go to graduate school and go to Emerson college and get in there and study my God, you come out of that... I used to tease myself. I used to be like, oh, I got an MFA and poetry, so practical. I used to make fun of it and I was like, why am I making fun of it, this was a huge investment. It sounded like I had some dusty literary dreams.
I have used, just like you have, whether you liked those classes specifically or not, in marketing. We absorb intelligence by being in the atmosphere of learning and being immersed in those worlds. You hanging out at the radio station and being around it, me hanging out with writers of all kinds. That made me a better writer. I didn't learn how to write at Emerson. You had to know to go, but it taught me that.
Do I have poet in my bio? Am I being paid to write poetry? No, but yes, because I make a living as a brand advisor and a writer for companies and I help them craft their talks and craft their copy. That's poetry to them. That's spending time with language so that mattered. I feel just as insecure as anyone and I just say show up anyway, because there's no way you're the dumbest person in the room. There's no way that you're the worst. There's no way! At most, I'm probably average, which means I fall somewhere in the middle.
Georgette Pierre:
I love it.
Terri Trespicio:
I don't want people afraid of learning or trying, and it doesn't have to be uncomfortable. You do it with the goal of owning your own life.
Georgette Pierre:
Amen, I say to that. You mentioned this thesis advisor. I know that the older [inaudible 00:28:15], you don't get to where you're going alone. Who else, or who would you credit for assisting you on this journey of where you are now, where you were...
Terri Trespicio:
For relationships, Gail was wonderful.
Another person I got very close to, who I met at Emerson was Jeffrey [Suglan 00:28:36], I believe he was a chair of writing literature publishing for a while. I took his class, I worked in the graduate Dean's office and I wrote part of the newsletter, so I got to interview him and I was so intimidated by his resume. My God, he writes for the New York Times, oh my God. He was a wonderful man. I took his class. I stayed in touch. That was 20 years ago and we're still in touch by text and over the years, he's been like, "When are you going to write the book? When are you going to write?" I was like, I'm working on it. I don't know. Always, consistently there, "When are you going to do this?" now that it's coming out, I feel pride that echoes back to those days.
All the people, everyone, it doesn't matter. That's why tell people, don't worry, if you hate this job or you move to another job or whatever. Find people you like and hang on from dear life. Talk to them, stay in touch. There are people who aren't attached to jobs, they're humans and those people I absolutely credit.
A lot of the people I've met at Emerson and I've gotten re-involved, as an adult years later, as an Emerson volunteer on the alumni board. I give my time there. Why? Because, I had been doing it all along? No, because someone invited me and I was like, oh, what a chance to reconnect with the school. I did that and now I get to do all kinds of things. I do each workshops, I helped to launch the Emerge platform, which is the first ever digital platform that's sponsored by the school, the school paid for it but it's only for the Emerson community.
There's Emerson, as you know, the Emerson community is really strong.
Georgette Pierre:
Yes.
Terri Trespicio:
On LinkedIn and on Facebook, there's lots of different groups, but this is the first time they created platform just for us. They brought me in because this is what I do for a living and I helped to do the focus groups and come up with the name of it and all that, so I feel very close to that thing. I really encourage people who are looking to connect with and reconnect with, or meet new people at Emerson to go to Emerge. It's emerge.emerson.edu. It's really great and it's not a fundraising platform, it's not where people are going to be asking you for money on that side. It's for us to grow our careers together.
Georgette Pierre:
That's so awesome to know that because when I had got reconnected and I found out about Emerge. What I would describe emerge as, and please correct me, it felt like LinkedIn meets Facebook but a lot...
Terri Trespicio:
Yeah. A little bit.
Georgette Pierre:
[crosstalk 00:31:08] A lot cooler. Right.
Terri Trespicio:
It's kind of like hanging out in someone's basement. It's not super chic. It's software people, it doesn't look sexy. Software doesn't have to look sexy, but the people are sexy. By that, I mean fun and appealing and open to discussion and conversation.
Georgette Pierre:
Absolutely.
Terri Trespicio:
I've met people through there and it's really, really great, but you're right. It's sort of like Facebook and LinkedIn are humongous. They're whole continents of people. This is like a tiny village that's just us.
Georgette Pierre:
So you hosted the last three seasons.
Terri Trespicio:
So Fun.
Georgette Pierre:
What is next? Yes.
Terri Trespicio:
This was also fun. I got to do this.
Georgette Pierre:
I know, I know. What is next on your plate of things to try or do next in addition to this book? Have you even gotten that far yet>
Terri Trespicio:
Oh God, no. Again, I have no idea.
This book launches is taking everything I've got, but I'm going to continue to do the work that I love to do, which is to help people put their work into words in the best way that I can. I'm also in the new year launching a membership site so I can continue to support people from all over, to keep them plugged in to their writing, to their creativity, whether they're writers or not, doesn't really matter. It means something to me to create community where people adhere by those rules, where we are there to support each other and to continue to get inspiration from one another's work. That is something I'm going to be growing for sure. In the new year.
Georgette Pierre:
I'm excited for you. And so this is...
Terri Trespicio:
How do you feel?
Georgette Pierre:
I'm excited. It actually got me back into podcasting. I had taken a break, the pandemic did a number on all of us in different ways. Just when I was looking to reconnect with the Emerson community, similar to you, this popped up on my lap and I was like, yes, of course, whatever Emerson needs. That's the energy that I always get from fellow Emersonian, which I absolutely love the camaraderie we have with each other.
Terri Trespicio:
That's so generous though. [crosstalk 00:33:17]
Georgette Pierre:
Thank you. I thought you were saying it's generous of the community. No, absolutely. Absolutely anything for Emerson, that's how I truly feel. That's how I truly, truly feel.
Terri Trespicio:
Oh my God. Where can people follow you by the way? Where do you like to hang out? What platforms are your favorite?
Georgette Pierre:
Twitter. She's my main squeeze. [crosstalk 00:33:39] I love it there. Twitter is my main squeeze, just my first name. Thank you to Twitter for allowing me to have my first name.
Terri Trespicio:
Really? Wow!
Georgette Pierre:
Yeah, it was a whole thing. I used to pay their invoices for a media company I used to work for, had an insider connect. Somebody was squatting on it. Boom, bam. They gave it to me.
Terri Trespicio:
Oh no.
Georgette Pierre:
They gave it to me and then Instagram will be my second place.
How can they navigate find your book and pre-order [crosstalk 00:34:12]
Terri Trespicio:
I'm on all the things too, but I'm no dummy. My name is a little bit long so I bought unfollowyourpassion.com because I was like, people will remember that.
If you go there, you can learn more about the book and figure out how you can join us. We're doing a live book club in January and if you're listening to this after that, there's still lots of ways to participate in our community but that's where you can find out more about the book. You can also go to territrespicio.com.
I recently started doing TikTok and I'm having so much fun. I really think it's fun. It is a weird world, but I'm getting into it, so I'm on TikTok now too. Instagram and TikTok and LinkedIn is where I mostly hang out.
Georgette Pierre:
That's hilarious. Lastly, this is an honor to ask you this as you are passing the torch to me. What does it mean for Terri to make it and how will she know when she gets there?
Terri Trespicio:
There is no one end point where I've made it. For me, there's no line I cross where now I've made it, like oh, I did a Ted Talk now I made it, now I wrote a book now I've made it. I feel like the fun of being alive is you make it a little every day. If you make it to the end of that day and you can say you did something that you feel good about, you have made it. So I look forward to making it every day from here on in.
Georgette Pierre:
I would clap loud in the mic. Terri, this was phenomenal.
Terri Trespicio:
Oh my gosh. Thank you and enjoy Georgette, take care of this baby, this baby ship on its voyage. I have no doubt you will. You will serve at the helm beautifully. Thank you so much.
Georgette Pierre:
Thank you so much.
Terri Trespicio:
Making it Big in 30 Minutes is sponsored by the Emerson College Office of Alumni Engagement and supported by the Alumni Board of Directors. Stay in touch with the Emerson community by joining us over at Emerge, a digital platform where Emersonian go to connect, just go to emerge.emerson.edu for more.
