Dear Chelsea - Minisode: Thick Skin with Chelsea + Catherine

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

Chelsea + Catherine tackle internet trolls, how to set boundaries in business, and their thoughts on social media’s favorite Pimple Popper.   * Pre-order a signed copy of Chelsea’s new book HERE! * Need some advice from Chelsea? Email us at [e-mail] * Executive Producer Catherine Law Edited & Engineered by Brad Dickert * * * * * The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the Podcast author, or individuals participating in the Podcast, and do not represent the opinions of iHeartMedia or its employees.  This Podcast should not be used as medical advice, mental health advice, mental health counseling or therapy, or as imparting any health care recommendations at all.  Individuals are advised to seek independent medical, counseling advice and/or therapy from a competent health care professional with respect to any medical condition, mental health issues, health inquiry or matter, including matters discussed on this Podcast. Guests and listeners should not rely on matters discussed in the Podcast and shall not act or shall refrain from acting based on information contained in the Podcast without first seeking independent medical advice.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, I'm Arturo Castro, and I've been lucky enough to do stuff like Broad City and Narcos and Roadhouse. And now I'm starting a podcast because honestly, guys, I don't feel the space is crowded enough. Get Ready for Greatest Escapes, a new comedy podcast about the wildest true escape stories in history. Each week, I'll be sitting down with some of the most hilarious actors and writers and comedians, people like Ed Helms, Diane Guerrero, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I love storytelling and I love you, so I can't wait. Listen and subscribe to Greatest Escapes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is John Cameron Mitchell and my new fiction podcast series, Cancellation Island, stars Holly Hunter as Karen, a wellness influencer who launches a rehab for the recently canceled. In the future, we will all be canceled for 15 minutes. But don't worry, we'll take you from broke to woke or your money back. Cancellation Island's revolutionary rehab therapies like Bad Touch football, anti-racism spin class, and mandatory ayahuasca ceremonies are designed to force the cancel to confront their worst impulses.

But everything starts to fall apart when people start disappearing. Karen, where have you brought us? Cancellation Island, where a second chance might just be your last. Listen to Cancellation Island on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Catch Jon Stewart back in action on The Daily Show and In Your Ears with The Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. From his hilarious satirical takes

on today's politics and entertainment, to the unique voices of correspondents and contributors, it's your perfect companion to stay on top of what's happening now. Plus, you'll get special content just for podcast listeners, like in-depth interviews and a roundup of the week's top headlines. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, man, what are you into? I have the hookup. The hookup?

The hookup for what? I'm solving a mystery through sex and haven't made a private dick joke until now? Poppers? Why are there so many poppers? All roads lead to... The hookup. You think it's causing people to turn aggro? I'm gonna rip your arms off and use them to...

Yeah, that's a word for it. Listen to The Hookup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Hi, Catherine. Hi, Chelsea. How are you? Hi. I'm just slowly recuperating from my shoulder invasion. Basically, my day consists of waking up, getting into a hyperbaric chamber for two hours,

going to physical therapy, and trying to do some sort of exercise, then icing my arm about 15 times a day. Do I sound like I'm complaining? Because I am. I'm fucking complaining. I mean, it's hard not to when you feel like shit, you know? Yeah, some days I feel really good

and then on Saturday I really overdid it. I was like feeling really good. My doctor took out my stitches. I went to PT, then I went for lunch and then I went for a walk and then I was like, oh, I'll go to this dinner party. And then I was at this dinner party and like 30 minutes into it, I was like,

I was in pain, agony. I'm like, oh no, I fucked something up. But I just overdid it. I always overdo it. Yeah, yeah, gotta rest, gotta rest. Yeah, and then I have a nice little nurse that comes to my house every night and gives me an injection, an infusion for my arm

to cut my infection and yeah. That's a lot. It's a lot, it is. I feel like I'm in a nursing home. Your own home is a nursing home now. Well, I have a response from one of our episodes and then we have a quick caller. Okay, great, let's do it.

So I just thought this was a cute email. Margie says, just listening to your show with Hunter McGrady and I think everyone spoke about having a piece of pencil lead graphite stuck in their skin. Did you have one as well? No, my sister did. Oh, Brad definitely does. I just so happen to have watched an episode

of Dr. Pimple Popper, and there was a woman on her show who had a piece of pencil in her hand for 40 plus years. Apparently, I'm guessing it's gone now. It was amazing, check it out. Are you into that stuff, like the Dr. Pimple Popper stuff? I don't like that. I can't watch that stuff. No, I've seen it, I know what you're talking about.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But this was the part I thought was very nice. Margie says, keep doing what you're doing. It know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But this was the part I thought was very nice. Margie says, "'Keep doing what you're doing. It has changed my life perspective about myself and how I relate to the world. Listening to you speak truth and strength with no apologies about your place on this planet as a woman is infectious.

No more making myself smaller. I've always felt that I was actually six feet tall and ripped stuck in my petite five foot one inch frame. Now I know I am and I'm gonna love my truth. Keep kicking ass, Margie. Is this, what do you mean? She got a pencil removed because of our episode? Is this what she's talking about?

No, I think she's just inspired by you like just in general. Oh, I'm like, does this have to do with the pencil? There was a bit of a shift in there. Oh, okay. Well, great. Yes, yes. Live out loud, everybody. Live out loud.

And we have some callers as well. We have a couple calling in. Oh, a couple that I met? That you met at the Chelsea when you were performing. At the Cosmo, my Vegas residency, everybody. My next date is March 21st. Well, they're Brad and Leslie and Leslie is actually the one writing,

but both of them will be joining us. So she says, hey, Chelsea, I'm Leslie, and my husband Brad and I met you recently when you performed at the Chelsea in Las Vegas. We got to say hi after the show. I'm a second generation Pilates instructor, meaning my teacher studied directly with Joe Pilates. I've been teaching since 2008.

I started traveling the world teaching Pilates about the same time that I met my husband. A few years later, he convinced me to start online PilatesClasses.com, we just call it OPC, and then join me full time to run the company in 2019. For so many years, OPC was me doing my thing. Everything was my responsibility, they were my clients, and my problems. I've always answered my own DMs, done my own socials, basically all the marketing, and I still do. I've been the face of the company even as it's grown beyond only me doing the teaching.

Because I still do the marketing, it often feels like I'm on the front line of customer service. Or on bad days dealing with internet trolls. I know you know how that goes. I'm really lucky. I love working with my husband. Brad is an amazing CEO and has built an incredible team. I'll admit that during the first couple years, going from me and my business to we and our business was tricky. When something wouldn't go as planned, I tended to default to shouldering the burden

and not sharing it. It's gotten easier, but sometimes I still struggle with this and I know it's frustrating for Brad. How do you lean more on your team so that the business issues, obstacles and trolls don't feel so personal? Leslie and Brad.'t feel so personal. Leslie and Brad.

Hi guys. Hi. Hi. Did we meet at the Cosmo? We did meet at the Cosmo. What a great memory. Oh, good. I think I grabbed your butt too long though for our selfie.

Oh, that's okay. People are always grabbing me. I'm not somebody who takes offense to that, but I would not recommend grabbing other women's butts. I'm made somebody who takes offense to that, but I would not recommend grabbing other women's butts. I'm made of Teflon. So are you guys talking about your dynamic? This sounds like a you question, Catherine. Like you, Catherine, my ex-producer,

has a very similar dynamic with her husband. He does our sound on our podcast and she's the producer on our podcast. So they work closely together, and not just on this podcast, on other podcasts. Right, right. I heard he's got a cool name. Yeah, he does.

His name is also Brad. I'm not gonna dignify that with laughter. So, I mean, for us, I think it's really about division of labor, because this was your personal Instagram before it was the business Instagram, correct? Yeah, yeah. And it was always me it was the business Instagram, correct? Yeah. Yeah.

And it was always me as just the person teaching. And then several years ago, we brought other teachers on and we brought more team on. And it's been amazing and wonderful. And I think the hard part is that even when I know that the customer service team is amazing, even when I know I can submit this, I'm like, here's where you go. Just chat to them over here. Sometimes it feels like I'm letting people down. Do you know what I mean? It's not that the business is letting them down,

I take it personally, which is not probably not the healthiest thing. Right, right. When you're a business owner, you set up systems for yourself so that you can offload a lot of the burden. And I think that that maybe is like part of what's difficult here.

Tell me, Brad, when you read stuff, that's maybe is like part of what's difficult here. Tell me, Brad, when you read stuff, that's like, let's say it's from a troll, something nasty. When you read stuff that's about Leslie, does that still feel like a personal attack? Does it get to you personally? Oh, sometimes like one, one time we had somebody particularly, you know, out there and that was really difficult for everybody. And the whole team was also aware of it and we had to make like a team announcement, like, hey, if this person contacts you.

But more often than not, it's somebody who- What did they say? I mean, about Pilates? I know, girl. I mean, it's not really about the Pilates. It's really funny. We got one in last week, which I just laughed at because I had a birthday and I decided

I have no Fs to give anymore. Like, I'm just gonna go with it. But like I wrote an email about like ways to work around what's going on with social media if you don't like what's going on. I didn't even get specific. And someone's like, so you were with censorship then. And I was like, okay, I just told the team,

I was like, we're not even responding, just block and blast. Like that didn't take a fighting thing. Yeah, you really have to like have a little bit of a thicker skin. In general for life. It doesn't do you any good to like actually pay heed to any of those comments regardless of whether they're about you personally or about the business. Like you really it's it's kind of like a necessary thing to be able to have a thicker skin not only for you for your company for the

other people that are working with you and together with you to demonstrate to them because you are a leader and that requires leadership. And leadership is not somebody who's going through their comments and getting upset about it. Like that's just not, that's not part of the equation. You can't. Have you ever looked into the night sky and wondered who or what was flying around up there? We've seen planes, helicopters, hot air balloons, and birds, but what if there's something else, something much more ominous that appears under the cover of night, silent, unseen,

watching? They may be right above your car late one night as you cruise down the road, or look like mysterious lights hovering above your home. Drones. Or are they? We used the word drone because it was comfortable to other people. One minute it was there, one minute it wasn't. Oh, that is beyond creepy.

Do you feel like this drone was targeting you specifically? Yes, absolutely. Listen to Obscure Invasion of the Drones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here?

How? Goes lower? I met Santi at a luau party in October. I'm Santi, Damien. Oh, it was bizarre. The guy just disappeared one day. Santi has been missing ever since. The hookup, what is that?

I'm solving a mystery through sex and haven't made a private dick joke until now? Like no matter how hard I try all roads lead to the hookup You think it's causing people to turn aggro? I'm gonna rip your arms off and use them to- Yeah, that's a word for it. This is such terrible representation. I'm so sorry. Poppers? These aren't just any poppers. Mama always used to say, God gave me gumption in place of a gag reflex. No,

not my psychiatrist didn't laugh at that one either. Listen to the hookup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Hi, I'm Arturo Castro, and I've been lucky enough to do stuff like Broad City and Narcos and Roadhouse and so many commercials about back pain. And now I'm starting a podcast because honestly, guys, I don't feel the space is crowded enough. Get Ready for Greatest Escapes, a new comedy podcast about the wildest true escape stories in history. Each week, I'll be sitting down with some of the most hilarious actors and writers

and comedians to tell them a buckwild tale from across history and time. People like Ed Helms, Diane Guerrero, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zoe Chow. Titanic, Charles Manson, Alcatraz, Sarah Shakur, the sketchy guy named Steve. It's giving funny true crime. I love storytelling and I love you, so I can't wait. Listen and subscribe to Greatest Escapes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is John Cameron Mitchell and my new fiction podcast series, Cancellation Island, stars Holly Hunter as Karen,

a wellness influencer who launches a rehab for the recently canceled. In the future, we will all be canceled for 15 minutes. But don't worry, we'll take you from broke to woke or your money back. Cancellation Island's revolutionary rehab therapies like Bad Touch Football, Anti-Racism Spin Class, and mandatory Ayahuasca ceremonies are designed to force the cancel to confront their worst impulses. But everything starts to fall apart

when people start disappearing. Karen, where have you brought us? Cancellation Island, where a second chance might just be your last. Listen to Cancellation Island on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You really have to have a little bit of a thicker skin. And can't you just block certain people?

Why are you not doing that? Yeah, you can. And then they get, so this particular person just got an army together. It's also a small community. So it's not like, it's not like they just disappear. You know, they're still very much connected to the rest of the community too. So, you know, in that kind of case, it was delicate. But I think you, I like the idea of a thicker skin. So I was just gonna ask, were you born with a thick skin? How did you get a thick skin? Because you do things all the time that I'm sure piss a lot of people off, even though

I think they're hilarious. And how did you just start to go, I'm not gonna take that on? I mean, it's a practice. You have to practice it. You're wasting your time on someone's negative energy. So you kind of have to look at it like, even if you're looking at it in a business sense, like this does not help us succeed any further. This does not help us move the ball any further

or closer to where we're going. So therefore it's not helpful. And treat it as something that is just so, such a business problem, not even a personal thing. You know what I mean? Just remove your emotions from the whole subject because these people have nothing to do. They're sitting at home writing negative comments

on people's Instagram page. I've never once sat and wrote a negative comment on anyone's Instagram page because that's not how I spend my time. So don't give people who spend their time like that any credit or credence or anything. Just like you have to practice not giving a shit about what people are saying about you.

Whether it's good or bad, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, because for example, like when we do these episodes, like mini-sodes or regular episodes or whatever, we all have some people that, I didn't really like that episode. And then I'll have 10 people email in and be like, that episode was life-changing. I loved what that person had to say I loved what Chelsea said about XYZ

Like you do have to remember that like just cuz one person is like maybe a crazy person or maybe just like it Something wasn't for them. Like that's fine. People feel like they need to give you feedback But like you don't actually need that and then there's me who pays zero attention to any of the feedback that we ever get on the podcast at all and we're in our fifth season. So there you go. Cause you know what you like and you know how you wanna operate and you're doing that the way you're doing it.

And I'm not just, you have to be successful. The podcast has to be successful to go on. It doesn't just continue because I'm a celebrity or whatever. We actually have to get listeners, but I also don't ever get consumed with what other people's thoughts. And it's a good practice in life.

Start practicing it in your business and start letting it bleed through in your personal life. And there's a sense of freedom that people are missing by paying such close attention to other people's thoughts about them. I will also say, because you can't ever avoid the trolls and the noise completely, yes, you have to get a thicker skin,

but also maybe there's a system that you set up where, Brad, if you're affected by this stuff, maybe it's not you, maybe it's somebody on your team, goes through your inbox before you're going through it and is like, here are the ones that you can respond to personally. I already went through and blocked, you know, any trolls, any whatever. You're not going to be able to avoid it completely.

But like maybe there is a system in there where it's just like, OK, cool. I know, like on the daily, I have a team member in there just like getting rid of the trash, getting rid of the junk mail, you know. That's a good idea, too. Yeah, because you don't read mean things about yourself if you don't have to know. Yeah, it you don't need to read mean things about yourself if you don't have to. No, yeah, it's really funny. We joke that like I love my YouTube because the comments are either just actual questions or, you know, wonderful feedback or just people who are obsessed with like my feet or whatever.

And so at least it's all complimentary. Like they're weird, but like I'm good with it. And so so but it is interesting like how on the social platforms there it is like there's someone has to clean up the trash and if it's going to distract me then outsourcing that until I can have a thicker skin or until or never come back again because I have other things to do that might be the next step so that we can continue to grow because we have so much fun doing what we're doing. Yeah, I think it's really important to remember that we used to use our Instagram accounts like a journal.

It's like what you ate today and what you did last weekend. But especially because you're running a business on this specific account now, that's no longer what it is. So I think you have to treat it like what it is, a business tool, which is how you've been using it the last few years, and it's time to outsource that $20 an hour work

of sorting through DMs, sending some stuff to customer service, deleting the trolls to one of your team members. So you can free up head space to focus on the big picture stuff in your business and run your business. Good, good. All right, is that helpful?

Yeah, absolutely. I think so. All right, is that helpful? Yeah, absolutely. I think so. And just remember the thought, like go move forward with this thought, I'm a leader. Like we're leaders. Think about the responsibility that that entails. Yeah, that one that I think I'm gonna keep putting that on replay.

What would a leader do? Yeah, it just gets you out of the actual feeling of it and takes you outside of it. So I'm so grateful. This is really fun. This is really awesome. We're thankful. And I think this is a way to think about things moving forward. Great. Thanks for calling in guys. Thank you.

They're very sweet. Yeah. I think it's like now, nowadays, like normal people have to deal with this kind of stuff too. Like it used to be just relegated to celebrities and even celebrities like, okay, you might get something in the mail that's not very nice, but you didn't have this inundation daily of just like, general. Even more of the reasons to just completely block it out.

Yeah. What a waste of time. Seriously. Imagine sitting in front of the mirror and being like, you're ugly, you're ugly, you're ugly, to yourself for 15 minutes a day. That's what it's like reading comments. Yeah.

I've been hearing this phrase around, but that's like, look, but don't stare. So it's like, okay, I can see that. I don't need to like take that on myself. I like that. Yeah. All right. Okay, mini-sodes.

This is our mini-sode. Mini, goodbye to you. Bye. Hi, I'm Arturo Castro, and I've been lucky enough to do stuff like Broad City and Narcos and Roadhouse. And now I'm starting a podcast because honestly, guys, I don't feel the space is crowded enough. Get Ready for Greatest Escapes, a new comedy podcast about the wildest true escape stories in history.

Each week, I'll be sitting down with some of the most hilarious actors and writers and comedians people like Ed Helms, Diane Guerrero, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I love storytelling and I love you, so I can't wait. Listen and subscribe to Greatest Escapes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is John Cameron Mitchell and my new fiction podcast series, Cancellation Island, stars Holly Hunter as Karen, a wellness influencer who launches a rehab for the recently canceled. In the future, we will all be canceled for 15 minutes.

But don't worry, we'll take you from broke to woke or your money back. Cancellation Island's revolutionary rehab therapies like Bad Touch Football, Anti-Racism Spin Class, and mandatory Ayahuasca ceremonies are designed to force the cancel to confront their worst impulses. But everything starts to fall apart when people start disappearing. Karen, where have you brought us?

Cancellation Island, where a second chance might just be your last. Listen to Cancellation Island on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. John Stewart is back at The Daily Show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with The Daily Show Ears show years edition podcast dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports, and more joined by the sharp voices of the shows, correspondence and contributors and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups. This podcast gives you content you won't find

anywhere else ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, man, what are you into? I have the hookup. The hookup? The hookup for what? I'm solving a mystery through sex

and haven't made a private dick joke until now? Poppers? Why are there so many poppers? All roads lead to... The hookup. You think it's causing people to turn aggro? I'm gonna rip your arms off and use them to- Yeah, that's a word for it.