Girls Gotta Eat - How GGE Came to Be

Episode Date: January 16, 2020

In the first bonus episode of the decade, we're answering the questions we get asked the most -- how did you become friends and start the podcast? (Even if you know our origin story, we're sharing never-before-told details on this one). We're opening up about where we were in our lives when our paths crossed, how we knew the friendship was real, the creation of GGE, going into business with someone, our "this is it" moments, and more (Ashley's favorite food, Rayna's alleged speech impediment, etc). We hope you enjoy! Follow us on Instagram @GirlsGottaEatPodcast, Ashley @AshHess, and Rayna @Rayna.Greenberg. Check our website for tour dates and merchandise. Thank you to our partners for this episode: Native: Get 20% off your first purchase by going to nativedeodorant.com and entering promo code GGE20. Zola: Get 50% off your Save-the-Dates at zola.com/gge with promo code SAVE50 + a free personalized paper sample. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

But I like that you talk about how you felt when you met me. So let's, that's how you're a bitch? Welcome to a bonus episode of Girls Gotta Eat. Welcome. Still gonna give you a weather update. Beautiful day. Haven't seen the sun in months. It's here.

The sun is here. We're rocking like 50 degrees. Perfect temp. You know my perfect temp is sunny, clear, 50. People think that's crazy. 50? I love a 50. I love 60 because I can take a walk.

50's a little chill for me. 60 is good. 69's perfect. You know, but I love that's crazy. But I love the 50s. I love me in Chile. No one loves a 69 joke more than you and you hate 69. It makes no sense to me.

That's my brand. So we're really excited to do these episodes. If you guys listened to the Patreon that we used to have, we did some episodes about our careers and how we met and how we started the show. And we really wanted to do that as a regular episode for you guys. Yeah, for sure. We asked you guys to submit questions that you want to know about us. And across the board, overwhelmingly,

it's always how'd you guys meet and how did you start the podcast. We talk about this on a lot of other podcasts, but maybe not on our own. So I've told this story so many times. I know. I can just go to sleep. I can tell the story. I can you tell it. But we are going to get more into it today.

We're going to have a more in-depth, emotional ride. I'm talking about some I've never shared. I know. You haven't even shared that stuff with me. You're like, I have to tell you something about when we first met. I was like, there's information that I haven't learned yet. Yeah. It's so crazy. We got some funny questions. A lot of Dewey stuff. Doey? A lot of questions about Dewey. The dog, not the beach. There's a lot of questions about Dewey. People ask about my

skincare routine. Yep. Surprise. Internet. People do want to know about my skincare routine. A lot of you have been asking. You know that I feel so humiliated when I post those, but like these shoes I'm wearing today, like 30 people ask for their front. It's not. It's, if people want to know, you've got to tell them. It's like, that meme is for people that have like six followers. And they're like a lot of you have been asking and it's like no one asked. If people ask, you got to tell them. I meant to tell you if you responded to people back about those boots because so many people wanted to know, where are they from?

They're my, if you guys are like wondering what boots I'm talking about, it's in a photo with that Carrie Bradshaw from our previous episode. They, and I want to give you guys like a real answer because I feel bad. They're a company called Indigo. I think I got them on Lulus. LulU.S.com. I love Lulu. Rishapst.

Oh, so you just got them. Okay. They're not like. They're either DSW or Lulu's, but I'm pretty. sure it was Lulu's, but they're indigo, they're black, like, winter boots with fake fur. Yeah. And I have a similar pair that I don't know if they've been featured in a photo, but if they were, you guys would be asking, and they're Sorrell. I love Sorrell, Rob's wife. Allison works for them. And they're like, I call them my J-Lo boots. They're like a little,

sexy or Timberland. That's, I have like a Tim with like a heel and fur cuff and they're, I wore them like Madison Square Garden for a show. Yeah. So it's very appropriate there. Lulu's or Sorrel. They're not partners. Hashtag nod an ad at all. I wish Lulu would sponsor us. A lot of people ask who I was dating Derek Pace. Thank you so much for thinking I could date him. We are definitely not dating. Don't say that.

Listen, I know what I look like. No, you guys are not dating. What else? There was a lot of... Someone just wrote, I know Raina loves soup. What does Ashley like to eat? They spelled my name wrong. Tacos, you guys.

You know that. It's all I do. I eat Mexican all day every day. It's like the main thing that Rain and I don't have in common is my life. love her Mexican and her indifference to the main thing. If I can highlight one difference between us, it's tacos. People ask about your DUI a lot. People ask about your skin routine a lot.

So the DUI stuff, I talked about it a lot on Francis's podcast. If you're really curious, go listen to Oops. Not right now. Listen to this in full and every other episode. Just make sure you're caught up before you go listen to another podcast. But Francis and Giulio's podcast, Oops, I was the very first guest and that's all I talked about. And the one thing, if you go listen to it, the one thing I feel like I didn't really get to talk about was how dark that point in my life really was. And,

you know, I had so much regret and sadness and it was so much stress and money. And I felt like a disappointment to my family and I let them down and all these things. And, you know, I make jokes about it because that's what I do as a comedian. And even on oops, I felt like we were making jokes and things like that. And I didn't really ever get to go back and talk about it seriously, which is fine. We just kind of pivoted and we talked about other things. And So, you know, now that we, I have the opportunity, I'm going to say that here on our podcast. And, you know, I can't advocate for not drinking and driving enough. Clearly, you know, back in my day, there was no Uber. Again, not that there's ever an excuse. And I know that I brought all this myself. I want to make that very clear. There's never an excuse to get drunk and get in a car and put your life and others in danger. But people make mistakes and they act irresponsibly and there's consequences to pay. And we all understand that. So of course, guys, be safe. Don't drink and drive. That's my PSA for today. But yeah. And the reason why we're why I talked about it on Oops in the first place was because it is a podcast about mistakes. So, yeah, I always love when we, like, direct people to other podcasts, and we like get a little

more deep into things. Andrew Collin asked me a bunch of questions on his show that I'd never talked about before. Yeah. And then I just do want to know, like, a lot of people mention things like, I would love to see an episode about this, that, and the other thing. And I know a lot people are new to this. I think our website is actually a little, or easier to scroll for topics than iTunes sometimes. Okay. If you go to, like, the listen page, because somebody asked yesterday about like an STD topic. Yeah. Wanted to hear about me break up with my fiancé.

We've done a lot of these topics. So it's a little easier to scroll them on our website. I know. I wonder if there's like a better way to house those better. Because I mean, sometimes someone's like, you need to do a topic on this. I'm like, we did it. You're a fake fan. But then I'm like, that could have been two years ago.

Right. You know, like at this point. Yeah. And we were talking about recently about like just doing old topics. Like we did an episode like maybe number five about drinking. Yeah. And I would love to like redo that stuff like that. Yeah, we will.

All right. Well, I guess we can answer your main question of how we became friends. Okay. I'm going to share my story up until the end of the trip. And then I'm going to kick it to Raina. Okay. And then we are going to collab on post-trip. If that's okay with you.

No, it's great. I think that, like, I just want to just jump in. The main summary is, like, we met on a press trip on the beach. But there was different stuff going on in our lives. why it was so special that we met and how we started the podcast and where you were and I was. So yeah, you have the floor. Okay, guys, picture this October 2017. October 10th?

October, I think we met on the 9th. Yeah, right? You're right. Yeah. So October 9th, 2017. End of September 2017 to like end of October 2017, in which I met you right in the middle of all this, was truly one of the lowest points in my entire life in terms of like, sadness, heartbreak. I know people have been through a lot worse than me, but in terms of

like relationship heartbreak stuff, and I'm not going to get into like the whole story, but basically it was pretty much like the finality of my relationship with my ex. Wrapped into that were a lot of lies and deception and me feeling like I had, I just had a loss basically. And, you know, he had moved on, but we'd still been saying, I love you. You know, like it was just, it was a lot. So I don't need to tell that whole story here tonight, but I just can't, I just want to make it clear that I was like really low. And I, like, crying every day. I had so much anxiety.

I woke up and I felt like my heart was racing, but I also had this pit in my stomach. I just felt like such a hole in my body. I could only go to yoga because if I would go to like a spin class or berries or something, I would like start to have like feeling my heart was going to explode. It was really bad. It was like in my body. It was in my head. I called my mom.

I was like, I can't stop crying. This is like the worst I've ever felt. And I was sitting in my apartment one night. had this feeling of like I just need to get away. And I was making money, like not a ton, but it wasn't like I could just pick up and travel the world. But I had money to travel, but I was like, I just want to be alone, but that I don't want to be alone. Who am I going to take a trip with? Who can just like, I just had this feeling of like I needed to leave. And I feel like I almost put that out into the universe. And I think it was within, I don't even know,

24 to 4-8 hours. I got a text, I think. It was even like a 9 p.m. text from one of the publicist at this PR company. And they were like, are you free literally like in a week to go to were Ruba and I think they were like trying to fill a slot. My feeling was that I was in the B list. So Raina had probably already been locked in and they probably had someone not be able to go. They actually, I wasn't just locked in. They moved the trip for me. So Raina was their top choice. And then there was me who I don't know where I was in the list. It was like 10 days out. Can we fly you international? So I said yes immediately. I think I would have said yes regardless. I don't need to make this story more dramatic than it was. But in other times in my life I might have

been like, I got to get a dog sitter. I got to figure this out. Can I make this happen? I said yes immediately. Like, didn't even, I was like, I know I'm free. I'll make it work. I can't believe this is happening. This is like divine intervention of what I need at this time. So go on this trip. Still felt so incredibly sad.

And I get to this hotel in Aruba, the Aruba Marriott. And it was a press trip for them. Just back up if you guys don't really know how these work. For this company, specifically, I love the way that they do it. They bring like five writers, influencers. And like, they give you a lot of flexibility, but you have kind of like planned out meals and activities and stuff like that. But anytime I've been on a trip with them, it's like max of six people.

So it's not like some big thing. You know, you get to know each other. You make friends clearly. So I walk into the lobby of this hotel and I was just like, this is exactly what I need. You know, they greeted me with like champagne, probably like a cold towel or whatever. It was really nice. And I go to check in and I'm like, I just can't wait to like relax on the beach. And I go to check in at the front desk and they said your room isn't ready.

And I just felt the tears well up in my eyes. Like I was going to start crying at the check in desk for. something so trivial. And I am thinking to myself, like, I might be too fragile for this. Like, this might have been a bad idea. And I'm thinking, like, all I wanted to do was go up to my room and relax and relax and I can't even do that. And I told the woman, you know, at the check-in desk, I want to go out to the beach. And she was like, well, you can go into the ladies' locker room and the gym and change and we'll hold your luggage and, you know, we'll make it work for you. And I was like, okay, so I wheel my suitcase into the ladies' locker room and I open on my suitcase

and I just sit down there. I like the locker room bench and I just start crying. And I'm just like, I don't know if this is going to work. I don't know if I can put on a happy face and meet all these new people and create content and do all these things I'm supposed to do. Like I'm just so sad. I feel so broken and probably mid meltdown. They called me and my cell phone from the front desk and they were like, your room is ready.

And I was like, okay. Maybe it is going to be okay. This is a real roller coaster. And I just remember walking through the lobby of the hotel to go back and to get my keys. and go up to my room and I just looked around me and I was like, who gets to really do this? You know, like who gets to be on a trip that's free on the beach? Like, this is a life that I've built for myself and I should be happy and proud and I shouldn't be so sad throughout this whole trip.

And I made this promise to myself like I'm just going to enjoy the trip, you know, like I'm just going to make the best of it. And that is what I felt like I did. And I, that day, you know, whatever late on the beach. And then that night we had this dinner on the beach. They have this great restaurant that you're like, the table is on the sand and your toes are in the sand and the water's coming up on the shore. And we, that's where I met Raina at this dinner.

So I sat down and I was like, this is so beautiful. And I'm like slowly starting to feel better about my life and everything. And Raina, I think she was a little bit late. And she came and she sat like right across for me. I was late for a dinner that was literally across the street from my room. Yeah, just like 10 minutes late. I'm like, this little bitch. But it was like six or seven people or whatever, all from New York,

a really cool crew. and we got to know each other over this dinner and plenty of wine. And during the dinner, we were talking about social media and business and things like that. And as the night went on after the dinner, Raina and I went and crashed a wedding at the hotel, which I think we've talked about on the podcast before, how we knew it was real, how Raina knew it was real. And we went into the lobby and just we stayed up for hours still cheering stuff about relationships and dating and heartbreak and stuff. everybody just bonded, which was a really cool thing. It doesn't always happen on these kind of trips.

And then the next day we got up bright and early and we went on a catamaran. And we, Rain and I were laying there on this catamaran on like the net part over top of the water. And that's when we took our very first photo together. We posted that multiple times on Instagram. And I just remember laying there in the sun on this boat, you know, my future life partner by my side. And just thinking, like, I feel really at peace. like this is the first time I felt happy in weeks and just no anxiety and just really at peace. I do remember there was a Beyonce Exo reggae remix, which I'd never been able to find since

that that was playing on the boat. And I just had this sense of peacefulness and gratitude. Honestly, I use that word very sparingly, but that is how I felt in the moment. And the rest of the trip was great. I feel like we became real friends on this trip. I remember at one point, like one dinner, we were texting like, what are you wearing to dinner tonight, you know, like, what's the vibe? And, uh, the very end of that trip was kind of unique in a way that I felt like we all really bonded. And, you know, when you wake up the last day,

or you're like, everybody kind of gets ready, goes to the airport. Like, we all decided to, like, have one last breakfast together, which I thought was really nice. Like, it was like, we genuinely all really liked each other. And I was like, oh, I get to like hang out with this girl, Raina, uh, like, one last time, you know, like, I think I was thinking, like, are we going to be friends when we go back to New York? Like, you just never know. So we had this breakfast. And after breakfast. I go back up to my room. I'm almost done with the story. I promise. I know it's like a TED talk. I go back up to my room and I'm kind of like vacation's over, you know, back to reality. I feel like the anxiety start to seep in a little bit as I get ready to leave the beach and go back to New York City.

And I reached into my backpack and I pulled out this intention bracelet, which is like this cheesy thing. I'll get to it. But this beaded intention bracelet that I had bought in LA over Labor Day weekend. So back in August. And I, from... forgot about it. And I threw it my bag and never thought about it for two months. And I literally in that moment found this bracelet. And I was like, oh my God, this is crazy. And I like put it on. And I feel like I set an intention of like everything's going to be okay. I don't know what's next in my life. But I, you know, have to kind of go back to reality. This trip was like so therapeutic for me. But I just had this feeling of like it's all going to be okay. And I almost feel like in some

weird way, like saw the next chapter my life and whatever. This is so cheesy. I usually don't talk like this. But like I do believe in stuff like this and say intentions. And I, I threw this bracelet on and the point is that you wear it until it basically breaks off. And that's when like your intention has been fulfilled. And so I think maybe like six months after that the bracelet fell apart. And which is probably when we maybe started the podcast and it was like doing well. So that is the story of Aruba. And we came back to New York and we hung out a few times.

But we'll talk about that in a minute. But I want to get right to the floor. This is a really long story. I didn't know about the bracelet. I don't remember you telling me that. Nobody knows it. It's like a stupid thing. It's so cheesy.

that like I went in because I think we had this, you know, you leave a trip that you've had, you've been in like paradise for a week or four days or whatever. And I felt like when I was in that trip, I was like, I'm going to be okay. You know, I'm not crying. And I was like, but it's over now and I got to go back to New York and I have to kind of deal with my shit. And I don't know. And that's, I reached into my bag and I found this thing. And I just put it on that moment and kind of like set this whole intention for myself. But yeah, it was just like, I talked about this on Hannah Burner's podcast recently. She was like, when was last time you felt depressed. And I was like, I don't really like to throw around the word depression or depressed because

I'm not clinically depressed. And I know the people are. And I don't really think I have that lows that low. But that was the last time. And it is just so weirdly symbolic that like that was the last, like lowest moment of my life. And it was like right before I met you. Like mixed in with this whole like loss of this person that I loved was like when you came into my life too. It just is like kind of crazy. timing. It is really crazy. And like pivotal and I never knew that and the band of the bracelet. I think that's really super interesting. I still have it. It broke.

Like right after we launched the podcast is so crazy to me. Also like everybody feels that way about meeting May. That I was the pivotal moment. That was it. It's like before Raina and after Raina. Every interview people, all my friends do they're like, when do you think your life turned around? Yeah, the Tamara Raina.

When did Raina's life turn around? The day after due the podcast. Let's get to that. Where was I, like, leading up to the, leading up to meeting you? It was like, so exactly one year before meeting you, I left my job at Amazon. So I had, like, a tech background and I was like so, so, so miserable. And it just, like, wasn't even, like, for my mental health, I had to leave. I just was, like, really not okay.

And I'd also started this food Instagram account. And I was talking to somebody. I had this, like, really pivotal conversation with someone, her name is Dana Cowan. She was the editor-in-chief of Food Wine magazine for, like 30 years. And I was doing this food blog, and I was also working. And she said, like, you know, it sounds like, you're just sort of doing a half of a job at each thing. So I left my job at Amazon, but when I met you, it was a year after that.

And it was just sort of at a time where I was a little bit, I was just really ready for a change. I felt like, you know, I left my job, do the social media thing. And I'm doing that for a year full time. And I wasn't making the kind of money I wanted to make. I hadn't, like, built a brand. I mean, everybody's out, everybody that the Instagram account is out here saying that they're like a bus, bitch. They're like started a brand. No, you didn't.

Your boyfriend takes photos of you in a T-shirt, and then you put six filters on it, and you put it on your Instagram account. And if you make a couple bucks, that's great. I mean, some people have built a brand, but yeah. Daniel Bernstein has built a brand. Right. Some, a lot, I love all these is, whatever, I digress. There's all these Instagram accounts, people are like, I'm a brand.

No, you're not. And so I was making some money from brands through One Hungry Jew, but like it was super inconsistent. Like if you guys, if anybody runs a social media account or you're making money and partner with brands, it just, I wasn't making that much money. It's hard to know when the money's coming in. None of it was consistent. And that summer, I had my brother's wedding.

and if you've ever been in a wedding, obviously it costs the fortune. And, like, I even had to tell my sister-in-law, like, I can only come to, like, the bridal shower or the bachelor's party. Like, I can't do both and pay for a dress and flights and a hotel and, like, all these things. I just like, and I was in my 30s. I was like, I cannot believe I have to say the sentence. Like, I can't afford to do all these things for my sister-in-law. Yeah.

And I just felt like something's got to give and I gave myself a deadline of Labor Day. Like, if I'm not making any significant money, like, I have to go back to work. Labor Day, 2017? Yeah. So, like, right before that. Just where I met you. And I just gave myself. like that deadline and I was like I have a resume I have a tech background I can go back to work but I have to go back to work I can't be I can't turn 35 or 40 or for and have no applicable skills and no job history so anyways I made like a little bit of money leading up to to meeting you but the week that I was that I was that I was that one of my best friends weddings out of town and then my mom was my mom was building my stepdad for like 25 years but I mean you know this but they had never gotten married so they were both getting married my best friend and my mom and my brother got married that summer and I was like

like I am so single. Yeah. I am so bored with what I'm doing. I'm not making any money. Like, what is the next step? Like, you can't just, like, be a food Instagram account forever, like, and hope that the deals come in. Right. So I don't want to equate that to what you were going through because I think that you were,

you know, really going through something. And for me, it's like, yeah, I just was sort of bored and I wasn't making money. But I just felt like, you know, what is this next thing? And I thought about starting a social media agency and do I want to, like, run Instagram accounts for people. But, like, I didn't really want to do that. So I was really at the precipice of like having to go back and get a job because I just was bored and nothing I was doing really felt significant or special or important or fun. So yeah, we went on that trip.

They moved the trip for me. And leading up to the trip, I was supposed to go on the trip with my friend Jeremy, who's been on this show, Jeremy Chikovowitz, and he missed the flight. And I think that like that is a really interesting like meant to be kind of thing because him and I've gone on a lot of trips together. And he's a little more like introverted and like won't try to make friends. as much. And I think I defer to him more and I'll just sort of like sit in a corner with him and talk to him as opposed to like socializing with all these strangers

because he's like my best friend. And he missed the flight. So you and I met and then that first night you didn't really get into it but like it was only females on the trip. And so like all of us drank and we spent like the whole night together just talking about like breakups. You told me about like your most current relationship.

I really like enjoyed it. There's something that like really bonds you to people and when you're just like late at talking about your heartbreak. And that's why I love this podcast, because, like, I think that there's, like, nothing we talk about that, like, can't bridge the gap between us and everybody. Yeah. Because everybody's been through the stuff, you know? Like, everyone's felt heartbreak and felt disappointed and sad. And so that's what we talked about all night. And I was like, I really like, I really like, I really to make friends after a certain age. You're just like, I'm good.

Yeah. Like, I've maxed out the friend group. And it was really, like, I'm glad you said that, that it was all girls. And then Jeremy, actually, Jeremy didn't get there until, like, the next day of like the afternoon so he missed the catamaran too we went out we went on a booskers at 9 a.m. I want to be clear. We were doing like I was doing a conga line at 1030. You know, like it was wild. So, but it was funny because Raina was like, I'm so glad Jeremy isn't here. He would hate this. But yeah, it was kind of, I think that you and I like, you know, when you're on trips like that, like everybody's getting along. But clearly there's some people that are like getting along better, you know, like clearly I was like, well, this is the, I like these other girls.

But this is the girl that's going to be my friend after if she, to, chooses to do so. But I like that you talk about how you felt when you met me. So let's, I like the story how you tell. That's how you're a bitch. I got seated across from you at dinner and I was like, she's going to make me work for it. Isn't she? You were like a little more quiet. And I was like, I'm going to make this girl be my friend. And I think that all my best friendships are actually from people that made me like work for it a little bit. Just people that weren't like up my ass the minute I met them. But it's an interesting scenario because like you are like stuck with the other person and like those six people for the whole trip. Like these trips,

you spend breakfast, lunch, dinner, a nightcap, activities. Like you get to know people really quickly. So I think we really did do that and we spent like every minute together. And yeah, you can just decide very quickly if you like somebody or you don't. I just think that after a certain age, it's like super hard to make friends. And I think a lot of people aren't open to it. And they're like, I have the friends that I have. Yeah. I didn't get that vibe from you. And when we got back, I don't, because I don't feel that way. Like, I know people feel that way, but I don't feel that way. You know what I mean? And I think it comes from like even my mom. Like my mom made her now best friend at 50. You know what I mean? When Jen was 30, my mom was like 50. So I just don't, I'm not, I'm not validating people thinking

that. I think we give advice about all the time. But I don't think that. I think I have, I've, I've never even noticed a shift and it's harder to make friends at this age. Like, I always just, I've been making friends. I mean, that's my strength. It's clearly not romantic relationships. I mean, you've been able to do it in New York. Like, I've been in New York so much longer than you, and it's taken me a really long time to, like, find my, like, core group of friends in New York.

You did it a lot quicker than I did, especially because I, I, like, changed industries because I was working in restaurants. So all my friends worked late at night, and then I stopped doing that. It's, like, hard to find your group. Like, the kind of group that I had when I was growing up or when I was in college. And I think New York, it can be a very hard place to do that. And I struggled with it. Yeah.

So I don't want to say, and it didn't happen day one. You know, but that is one of my strengths. A lot of it comes from just like always being single too. You know what I mean? Not to get too deep into it. But, you know, you're like, you have so many friends. You've so many friendships. It's like, yeah, well, I'm not always tied to a man.

It's not that one's better than the other. It's just, I'm this kind of girl. Somebody said that to me. I think I was maybe sister-in-law. She was like, you really are like one of those people, brings people together and I was like well I don't have a man to concentrate on that's what I do like I feel really this is like a tangent but like all of our friends have become friends with each other and I love that and like they have met and they will socialize or they have business relationships

and like I think that's a testament to the people that we pick to have in our lives that they're so great and smart and fun and I'm like very proud to be that kind of person that's not like some people are like my friends can't be friends without me yeah you know I don't think that we're like that I mean you have to include me or I'll be pissed. Well, every once in a while, I'll get. Like, there's some friends I don't care and then others. I'm like, you can't, I don't know. I don't know how to describe it. Like, you can't hang out with Kate without me. It would be weird if I didn't include you. I mean, it's definitely like, if you met a friend through me and you were like hanging out and didn't tell me. Yeah. But like, there was one night you hung out with Shoshi and I was like,

neither of them told me about it. You guys like went out dancing on a Saturday night. Yeah, you were out of town. No, no, I was into, no, bitch, no. I remember. Nope, absolutely not. What I was going to say about this. You're out of town. I can pull the receipt up because we were both like Rain is out of town. Do you want to hang out? What I was going to say about it was that you both knew that I wouldn't want to do it.

Okay. But I don't remember that I was out of town. But yeah, other than that, I think it's weird if you don't get invited. But I was like, I'm not like a go out of Saturday night in Manhattan go dancing kind of person. You just don't also, you just don't really have a lot of like jealousy, petty issues. But I think I'm more like that than you. You're jealous and petty? I think, no.

not as a person. I don't think that's how people would describe me, but a little more than you. Give me an example. You're not petty and jealous. I think you have a normal amount of pettiness and jealousy. Like I would be past if I introduced two people and they're hung out. You're right. I guess that is normal. That's normal to me as like that's super normal to me. So, but since we're talking about friends, I also want to bring this up. There's lots of little like symbolic things along the way of our friendship. I don't even know if you're you know these things either. So the first time we ever hung out

in New York, because I mean, I think I'm pretty sure you and I didn't go to the airport together. I went with that Connie girl. You were on a different flight. So we weren't like, but maybe we were still texting and I think we were sending each other like funny stuff from the trip and oh, one thing I meant to bring up. This was a very I have two moments I want to share of how I knew it was real

our friendship. We took this photo in the water off the, off the catamaran in Aruba and it's still one of my favorite photos of me. My body look so long and thin. I mean, it's probably because I was like laying in the water. Whatever.

Rain is in the photo, too. She's just swimming along. And so it's both of us. Me, like, looking the best I've ever looked. It's like a scene, like a photo from a magazine, and then Raina's just like swimming. And she, and I look so amazing. And then Raina is.

No, there's great photos of you solo. And then there's the photo of the best one of you looking backwards while you're swimming, swimming away from my haters. But anyway, so this particular photo, I was like, thinking to myself, like I just don't want her in it. Like I just, it's no shade to her, but like it's a, such this photo, like, I just wish she wasn't in it.

I'm not insulted. And I showed you and you go, oh, that's such a great photo of you. Do you want me to edit myself out? And I was like, what? I was like, you would do that? Like, you literally, do you want me to Photoshop my body out of this photo for you? And I was like, he would do that for me? And I didn't really have a lot of like photoshopping tools this time.

I didn't even have FaceTune. Like I didn't know. This was raining, especially as she was a photographer. So within minutes, you had taken yourself out of it, looks like you were never there and texted it back to me. And I was like, we're friends. If anybody wants to know what I use, it's called Snap Seed. It's a nap.

It's very simple. I was in the water, so it's easy to patch water. Yeah, you patch the water. Patch water over somebody's face. But we got back to New York and I don't know of the timing, maybe probably a week or so after the trip was over. And I came back to New York and I, by the way, my, I got back to my normal. mental state, like, end of October.

So I gave myself, like, a month. And I think I woke up on Halloween. It was like, I got to snap out of this, whatever. Dressed up like Shania Twain, never looked back. My ex was still reaching out to me, though. Just to be clear, I have those receipts. So anyway, so I, one night, I was out with the guy that I had talked about starting a podcast with.

He's a guy friend of mine, no shade. We're still cool. We never started a podcast together, clearly. I just felt like it wasn't right. And that was kind of that. But I still wanted to do it, but I didn't know who was going to do it. but I didn't know who was going to do it. But he and I were still cool.

We were out at Spring Lounge with, I was there with him and a couple other guy friends. And Raina and I were just texting. I think she was probably like, what are you up to tonight? This girl that, you know, I hadn't hung out with since this trip. And you came there.

And I think you're always, whether you want to admit it or not, like vetting someone to be friends. At least I am. I take my friends so seriously. Like, I am just like, I'm not all friends with just anybody willy-nilly. Like, I've had plenty of people who try to me my friend.

They can't get in. Okay. So that's what I mean when I say you made me work for it. you earlier when I was like she was like kind of bitchy. That's what I mean about you. You make people work for it. You're not just like everybody's welcome and there's nothing wrong with it. Yeah. I am very selective about who I let in. Okay. So I think I was like, I knew I liked you. I knew I wanted to be your friend. But I, you know, there's little things you vet about people. And for me, it was the friend that you brought with you, which was your best friend, which was

Melanie, who was beautiful and cool and fun. And like you guys just walked in. It was like, we had all been friends. I was there with a bunch of guys. And it was just like, we'd all been friends. I like loved this girl. We hung out. Raina She was like, immediately she walks in. She was like, I got to do a lap see if my co-cad ex is here. And I was like, this girl is so funny. And then we got Prince Street pizza. And then it was like we had this perfect progression that was like a hangout drinking night.

And then we went to like a dinner far away. It's like our first official. I was like, I can't know what she's coming. Because Raina is friends with somebody, is friends with somebody who this, he was the owner of a restaurant who I went to high school, which was a crazy connection. You found the photo the other day. Yeah, I talked up on Facebook memories. Yeah, I know a guy from high school.

Since high school that Raina knew from working in restaurants, it was such a crazy connection. So we went to his restaurant and it was far away. Yeah, far, deep in Brooklyn. You know, I always really liked hanging out with you. Like, more so than most people. Like, I wanted to hang out with you in the beginning all the time. I just like I really like talking to you.

I mean, I want to hang out with you all the time now too. but I always wanted you to be included in everything I did. Like I was just like I really, really like this girl. I have made the mistake of becoming too quick with people too fast. And then you like find out it like it's the opposite. Like I knew it wasn't real. Like you find out a couple little things about them and you're like, oh shit, I should not have let this person in.

Or like, you know, I became friends with somebody recently and like I, she's really gossipy and I made the mistake of telling her stuff. And I realize that like I opened myself up to this person too quickly. Yeah. And you're just like, fuck. But with you, like I just wanted. to be around you all the time and I like talking to you and especially like coming on that Aruba trip, you know this, but I was coming from this wedding and it was like one of the worst

weekends ever. I was at this wedding in Boston. I didn't know anybody. Like I wasn't invited with a plus one. I saved in this disgusting hotel like a half an hour from the venue because it was like the World Series weekend or something and every hotel was like $700 a night. Oh my God. And I just like, I felt like shit. I didn't feel like I looked my best. I was lonely. I was depressed. I was like, again, I'm like you. I wasn't really depressed. But just super single. So like to meet you the next night and stay up all night and be able to like vent about that and talk about that was nice to find somebody that understood that and didn't say to me like, it was nice that you were single. You know, like, I think a lot of times you talk to somebody in a relationship by your relationship problems and they

relate everything back to themselves. And they're like, well, me and Jeff, well me and Jeff, you know, and it's like, I didn't ask for this. Yeah. So it was nice to meet another person who was also single at that time. Yeah. And that actually reminds me I wanted to to share the actual moment. I feel like when I knew it was real, when I knew we were going to be friends, and we had no boundaries. I knew we could talk about, like, sex and stuff.

Because, you know, you have a line that you cross with somebody. Like, if you're in that territory, where you can talk to a new girlfriend about, like, sex. I mean, I'll talk about sex when I made day one. Yeah, but we both have, like, fucked up, dirty, dark, like, senses of humor. So, but I went on this press trip. I was, I don't, I haven't gotten by the own press trip in a minute, but I went on two in, like, the same quarter.

And so I went on one in QW. in December. So ours was in October. This was early December. And I met this guy night one and we had sex night one in the hotel room and did actually continue to date. He lived in Miami. I visited him a couple times after. But bottom line, fuck this guy night one. And he left the hotel room to kind of sneak back to his room. So no one would notice at like 6 a.m. the next morning. And Raina was like the first person I texted. I had this feeling of like, of all my friends, this girl who I just met is going to be the most proud of me of anybody. Like she's going to get it.

No one else is going to get it. No one else understands his life that we live and like what it means to fuck somebody from the trip night one. And I like texted you like 6 a.m. I was the most honored that I felt. You like rolled off this dude and grabbed your phone and texted me. I was like, this is like somebody I'm really going to be friends with. Like that's how I first thought.

Like literally this guy left. We fucked. We fucked again in the morning. I high-fived him. He left my room and I texted you. That's how I knew. I just like, anybody that I can't text that kind of stuff too, like we can't be friends.

Yeah. And I just love that you sent me that text. And I was like, oh, we actually are like real, really real friends. Yeah. I was so proud of you. You fuck that guy. I just have like some friends that are like judging and weird about that shit. Yeah.

We can't be friends. I know. I was like, she's going to be so proud. You know what I want to address. So we got a bunch of questions about and then we'll get back into it. Oh. So we're talking about it. the questions that people ask us. And a bunch of people over the last year have asked me,

and I never noticed this. Did Raina have a LIS before she got new teeth? Oh, you're doing it. Yes, I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I don't hear a Lisp and you were like, it's soft. I don't hear it at all, but like, I guess it's there? It's there. Here's the thing. It is really extreme to call it a Lisp. You know, like it's not that. And I was trying to think of the guest that said the same thing. I think it was Katie Storino. She said she just has like a soft S. It's just, it's not a Lisp. I had a list as a kid.

I went to speech therapy for years. Yeah, it's not a speech impediment. Yeah. But I don't know because I don't remember what my voice sounded like before the, my veneers. I say it has not changed. I don't think word blame in veneers or retainers here. I think your voice is the same. I have no idea.

We realized yesterday that my veneers had the same birthday as you. July 9th. one of my favorite decisions I've ever made. It makes me feel a lot better about myself. But I do have a permanent retainer cemented to them and it's pretty thick. So maybe that's what the Lisp is from. But you say that it's always been there and I believe you. Okay.

So you guys tell us. No, please don't actually. Don't DM us. Don't think about it. Just think about it and come up the answer in your head and then don't tell us. But just think about July 9th, 2018. Yeah. Is when you got them.

So if you guys think Raina had the same voice before 7-9-18, and after. Let's do a poll. We'll do a poll. I hate when people DM me about it. I'm like, I don't fucking know. Wait, that's so funny. An Instagram poll,

does Raina have a list? That's so fucked up. Everybody else say yes. But like, you don't want to, like I really pride myself on being able to take a joke about myself. So like, I don't really think people are mean to me ever.

I just joke around and laugh about it. So I don't care. Yeah, it's not, it's just I just wouldn't qualify as a list. I think that's the only word people know how to say, but I just think there's got to be another word for it, like a list blight. I don't know.

a soft ass. Like the paid version, like a free version of a half. The light version. So I'm glad I addressed that. I'm glad I talked about it. The real question, how did you guys actually start the podcast? So the podcast was your idea. So if you want to talk about how you started to conceptualize it.

Yeah, long story short, it just was this thing I wanted to do. I had a background. We're going to talk about more about career stuff leading up to the podcast in another bonus episode, most likely. But bottom line, I had this background. I'd done radio in Atlanta. I'd been doing stand-up comedy and I was obsessed with relationships talking about relationships

and analyzing them and exploring people's trauma and figuring out what makes people tick and why couples don't work out. And so probably shortly after I moved to New York, obviously I noticed podcasting was huge. It was funny, we joke.

At that point, I thought everybody had a podcast, but they did not. But now everybody has a podcast. But every comedian, every person with the following, I feel like it started a podcast. When we started it, I looked up how many, and there was half a million podcasts. And now today, two years later, there's a million. It's active podcasts.

Right, which is crazy. So I was, like, wondering, like, is it too late? And people, I had a friend in podcasting that was like, no, like, the time is now. And people were just kind of encouraging me to do it. I met this guy. We started talking about it. And we were serious. We had a name.

We were looking at a logo. We had a place to record. Like, we were moving forward, and I just started at this feeling like, I just don't feel like this is right. I like him. It just was like, I actually know this is going to be my future career. I had this feeling of like, I think big. I've, you know, I dream big.

I want this to be like, we tour and we do all these things. I kind of saw a big picture and I was like, I just don't think it's going to be me and him forever. You know, I want to do this with a woman. That was what it was. It wasn't even him. It was just that he had a penis. Like I was like, I want to work with a woman. He got a girlfriend.

He started to spend all his time with her. He just kind of forgot about it. You know, it wasn't a fight or anything. It was just like, we just kind of just forgot about that thing we were going to do. and but it was still in the back of my head. I did a terror reading with Kelly Knight, Modern Mystic in June of 2017, and she saw the podcast as the thing.

She is psychic, so she knew. And she was like, you don't need to start tomorrow, but start thinking about what you want to do, how you want to do this. And then I met Raina in October. And I think people maybe think that I met Raina and was like, she's the one.

But it just wasn't like that. It just was like, I didn't even think about it. I had put the podcast in the back of my mind. And then in December, I was like, I have to start this thing. this is what I'm going to do for the next year. This is the goal I want to achieve.

And I just remember to lay in on my couch, just like a slob. And I was like, I'm starting a podcast. And I was like, who am I going to start it with? I'm choosing tonight. Like, I'm picking it tonight. I text my friend Aaron, which again, I want to do it. I don't know what I was thinking. I was like, would you ever want to do a podcast?

And he was like, actually, never mind. And he was like, what? I was like, forget I said anything. And I texted Raina. I was like, who do I know that's a woman that has some sort of flexible job that we'd be into this, that would maybe want to share their life. Like I, and you just popped into my head. Again, we weren't best friends, you know?

We were like newer friends. You popped into my head and I just had this like, she's the one feeling. And I texted you. I was like literally, I still have the, I have this, the text screenshot it. I was like, would you want to start a podcast? And you said, yes, like immediately. You had just gone on a podcast where you talked about dating and stuff. And I was like, wow, that was easy.

And then I had this feeling of like, okay, well, maybe just I need to make sure she knows what, what I'm thinking. And I said, would you be, are you open to talking about your life, your sex life, all these things, because not everybody is, regardless of what their job is or what their family is. Some people just aren't that type of person. They're more private. And you were like, yeah. And so we were like, let's do it. Yeah. And I think we've said this in interviews, and you and I talk about this together a lot, but I never sat down and said to myself, can I go into business with this person? I think that you and I have never thought about this as a hobby. Like,

we came out of the gate day one with a website, a logo, promo photos. Like, we always thought about, but I don't think we thought, like, let's build an empire and let's make all this money. And I didn't think, like, can I trust this person? Do I trust her to represent me? Do I, you know, it's the middle of the night and I'm asleep, do I trust her to send emails that I am okay with. And I mean, today, you and I share a bank account for our business. Like, you can do some pretty serious damage to somebody because, like, we both have access to it. So, like, I don't know what recourse you. I mean, you could sue me. But I was like, what can she do? What can she do? But, yeah, I didn't think, like, you know, can I make business decisions with this

person. And if somebody said to me today, you know, should I go into business with somebody else? I think you and I would have a laundry list of advice to give somebody. But, you know, I also didn't think about like, how does this person make decisions versus how do I make them? And I think, thank God it worked out because two years later, like, I can say that like, I trust the way this person makes decisions. I think we complement each other really well. I think that the stuff that, like, I'm not good at, you are good at. And I think that it is like such a 50-50 relationship. Like, I've never had to ask you to do something more than once. I never feel like I can't have to keep asking this.

She doesn't understand this. She doesn't understand the vision for this. And I think that we are just like really lucky that we are able to grow in the same direction. Yeah. And I think I think there's a couple things too that I don't know if you were picking up on this. Like before I asked you to do the podcast, like you asked me for help like on my merch store or on your merch store.

Because I was already doing merch. I'd been doing it for a while. And I just like told you all my secrets. Like I just don't have. I mean, I'm competitive by nature, but like I didn't feel a competitiveness with like, if you started making merch, it was going to affect what I was doing. And I told you, like, this is how I design it. This is the site to use. I gave, like, I just told you exactly what to do and you just did it. And I remember at one point, you sharing exactly what you charged

for post, exactly what you felt like I should charge. You just share all these, like, things with me. Like, I felt like we started to get into this space of like, we're not competitive with each other, even though we work in a very similar way. Like, we both have these Instagram accounts. We're working with the same type of brands. Like, I don't think, Either of us had this, like, if she gets this, I don't get it type of thing. And I think maybe you picked up on that for me with what I was helping you with, and I was picking up on that from you. And you helped me, like, realize I was undervaluing some things that I were doing.

And I think we started that too. And also, I just have to say this. Like, I didn't ask ready to do the podcast and the podcast started the next day. Like, there was a lot of meetings that things could have gone wrong. So I think had we sat together at the coffee shops or had these meetings and we weren't on the same page, we would have terminated the partnership. I mean, like, this isn't just going to work. And that was, maybe I was picking up on some of the,

that from that guy of just like maybe we don't have the same type of vision for this or maybe he's not the right fit. So I think if anybody's ever wanting to go into business somebody and you are, you have this crazy idea and you're like, I'm getting very excited about it. But then you start to actually talk about it and actually hash it out. And that's when you start to realize you both don't have the same vision. Like just cut the cord. Like every time we had a conversation, like the wheels are turning to my head. Like, okay. Luckily there was never any red flags. It was just like we're just on the same page. The way it's interesting that you talk about the the merchandise thing, because the way that you talked about how you designed the merchandise

and how you picked a company to sell the merchandise, and we're talking about, like, for our Instagram businesses, I was like, this is how I think. And sometimes I listen to people talk about how they, like, can't figure out how to do something in business. And I think to myself, like, have you Googled it? Have you looked at companies? Have you done research? Have you asked around? Like, how is this a question that you're asking? You said to me, like, well, I looked at like, you mentioned like three or four other companies. You're like, well, I looked at this company, but I didn't like their customer service. And I looked at this company, they have more variety, but the prices are different.

And, like, you were telling me about how you had, like, cross-examined all these different companies to sell merchandise. And I was like, this is how I would do something like this. I would Google, like, wholesale merchandise. And I would have the stats on seven different websites. And I like that you knew that. And, like, the one that you picked, you're like, well, I like their customer service because you can talk to them all day long.

And I was like, this is how I think about things. And you're not somebody who's just like, I don't know how to do this. Like, you'll always be investigative and learn how to do stuff like that. Well, and we, like, I remember this moment of, like, I went to Raina's apartment. and I was frustrated. I didn't know, like, I feel like you and I had seen people start podcasts, and we were like, well, if they can do it, we can do it. But some people just plug a mic into their computer and they start recording,

and I think we wanted to do it right, and we wanted to sound good, and I wanted to research all this equipment into all these things, and I had to learn how to edit it. I never edited sound before, and now I'm like, I could teach courses on this shit. Like, I really do think I'm a professional, but, like, it was a learning curve. You're in your 30s. You're not learning a ton of new skills.

And I remember staying in your apartment and being like, I am frustrated and I'm not sure why the microphone isn't working and I don't know why my computer is not recognizing this. I had to send one back. It was like, it was really, really frustrating. And Rain is just sitting there setting up the website, you know, like setting up our email addresses, like doing her part. It was like this very natural division of work right from the start. And if you're thinking of going into business to somebody and you don't think that they're doing the equal amount of work, like don't go into business with them. I don't know what else to tell you. You know, people come to me all the time and they're like so-and-so is not pulling their way,

you know, whatever. And I guess you can, you can, can go into business and things can be great at the beginning and then maybe somebody, you know, whatever it is. Maybe it's their family or whatever's going on their life and they start to not pull their weight as much. But I was constantly assessing the situation as we were moving forward because it's never too late to be like, I actually don't think this is going to work. You know what I mean? I think that is the best device in the world. And if you say to yourself, like this is a horrible red flag, like for me, a girlfriend of mine is in business with somebody and she said to me, I've asked her to do something five times if she hasn't done it. And I got, I was like, like, sickened by it. Like,

if you feel like that about somebody, then you should have the comment. And you and I've had conversations where, like, you said, like, I feel like I'm doing a little more. And like, those conversations are my worst nightmare and I don't ever want to have them. And I think that, like, it's probably happened like once or twice. And like, I know that I wasn't like pulling my weight or something. I don't know what these specifics were. But I'm one or you times it happened. Like, that's my nightmare to like be that kind of partner or to feel like I have that kind of partner. And luckily, it's never really been a huge issue for me and you. And I like the advice.

Like, it's never too late to walk away. As painful as it is, as terrible as it feels. Like, the girl, there's a good how I built this about Stitch Fix, which is also a partner of ours, about how she, like, started the company with somebody, and six months later, she had to walk away from the person. Like, it's never too late. And if you feel like I'm doing all the work and splitting the money with somebody, like, I promise you it won't get easier.

So I think people, I think work ethic-wise, we are who we are in our 30s at least. I don't really know. I've never been lazy. I've always been the leader of the group project. I've always been the one that has to pick up people slack. It is who I am. It's who I've been my entire life. I got straight as my entire life. I'm just a perfectionist. I'm controlling. I need to excel. I'm not saying that someone can, I think people can change. But I think when you're an adult, you're a full-blown adult, you're later in your 20s, you're 30, you are the type of person that's not really go-getter, you don't pull your weight, you're a little lazy, or you're not going to change. So if you are thinking of going to business somebody and you are picking up on those things,

you just deal with it or run, you know, like, know that you're going to be in control. And then maybe you are like, I want to do this thing with you, but I'm going to be the boss. I don't know. Like, what if I was like, okay, this girl's funny, but like she just, she's going to be the sidekick, you know, like, I could have pitched it to you that way. it was my idea. Like it would just, I could have been like, hey, I'm starting this business. Do you want to co-host with me?

Here's the breakdown. How do you feel about this? I could have done that and I never did that. And I have no regrets clearly. But like, it just could have gone so bad. It could. Look, not everybody is meant to be, there's anything wrong with you also if you don't feel like you're meant to be a co-owner of a business.

Not everybody is meant to be a 50-50 owner. Like, for sure. I like that other podcast crime junkies. The one girl is clearly the head of the podcast. The other girl is the sidekick. I don't know what they're, I don't know them. but like there are certainly businesses like that and there's some people that are just meant to do

I don't want to say like secretarial work like I don't want to categorize but like the day-to-day checklist of stuff you know I need to make sure that like this is followed up with but they're not the decision maker that the supporter and not everybody is meant to be that person and that's fine too if you don't feel like you're that person and it's fine to say to somebody like I don't want to pull 50% of the work right I'll do the personal assistant type of stuff

and that's it because that's yeah that's exactly how I feel It's like you can have an unbalanced business relationship. You just better make sure that money is right. So if you are the type of person like me where you're like, I know I'm going to be running, I'm doing all, it's going to do all the work and you feel like you have somebody that's not going to pull their weight.

And you want to do a thing with them because they're funny and talented or whatever. You just pitch it to them, however you want to pitch it to them, you know? Like it doesn't have to be, let's go into this 50-50 from ground zero. Yeah. And it's also okay to know yourself and be like, hey, I am super alpha and a control freak and I'm never going to want to let somebody else make decisions. And I think that like even you and I have had to learn how to work with another person, you are much

more alpha than may. And I'm somebody who like always worked in like, I worked in sales for a long time and I was just always like on my own. I just did whatever I wanted and consult with another person. So it's a learning curve, learning how to like make decisions with somebody else. Absolutely. Yeah. So we had this idea.

We stayed in touch about it. I also think sometimes you have these ideas. with somebody and then they just go home and forget about it. And they're like, well, the other person will take care of it. Like, you were doing the same. We were both, like, going home and, like, researching and doing all these things. And then I came up with the name, if you guys want to know. I felt like I wanted to be something a little unique.

I think the saying is, a girl's got to eat. Like, when you heard the line on friends or whatever, like, when people say it, I think it's, like, a girl, apostrophe s, got to eat. And so in my head, I was like, what about, like, just girls, got to eat. I looked if the website existed. I looked if a podcast existed. I couldn't find it anywhere. And I was like, I've never seen it like this. Like I remember pitching it to you. I remember walking to the L texting with you thinking like, I feel that this is the name and what if she hates it? And I was so nervous. I had sent you some dumb shit. And again, this is how we act. We worked,

this is how we communicated too. I said, I'm going to throw some stuff out. If you hate it, tell me. And you're like, okay, say I'm, I said something stupid. Like wine dine, stupid. I don't know. Like I had some stupid ideas. Well, because I was doing food. I was doing that food Instagram. Yeah. We thought it was going to be more food related. And yeah, that was funny. We actually never even dressed that. We thought it was going to be more food, which our food is our brand regardless. But we thought we were going to have like foodie segments about dates and stuff.

Whatever. So I was thinking eating because of Raina and I thought of girls got to eat. And then I was like, I'm just picturing this on merch. I was like the initials are a thing that sounds okay, GGE. And I remember sending it to her. And as I'm like walking to the train and like bracing myself for like a bad reaction. And you were just like, yeah, I like it. It wasn't like, that's it, but you didn't hate it.

And like, I think you warmed up to it. And then you were like, let's do it. I just think, like, thank God we have that name. Like, I love it as an abbreviation. I love the way it looks on merch. I think it's fun for, like, promo picks. We can do a lot of stuff. Like, in line with snacks or sex or whatever.

I think it, like, also has allowed us to pretty much talk about anything we want to in line with dating relationships and sex. But, like, I mean, we do everything from, like, finance to sex toys. So I think it didn't pigeonhole us in any way. Yeah. Like I think it's the same thing to me as like calling something a pizza place versus an Italian restaurant. Like it's just, it's allowed us to play around. So I, yeah, obviously I love the name.

Well, and I think, yes, I came up with a name, but, but I wouldn't have ever even thought of that space had you not been the food person. You know what I mean? Like in my head, I was like, how can we spend dating and food? How could like, that was like the only thing. Like if you were just a regular, if you were fashion blogger, it would not be called Girls Got to eat. I strongly believe that.

You know what I mean? Oh, absolutely, because you wanted to do food stuff. And I, you were actually, I did not want to. I was like, no, Raina, get it. We're like, talk about what you ordered on a day and you were like, I don't want to. Well, also, I quit One Hungry Jew within eight months and starting the podcast, 10 months starting the podcast. So like, what if the show was about food? And I was like, I'm going to quit One Hungry Jew.

You had a premonition probably. Yeah. And then, yeah, we launched the podcast, I think the day before Valentine's Day or like two days before. and the rest is history and we can do another episode about how you actually make a podcast but our format's been the same since day one and we started having guests

like maybe three months in and the rest is history. Raina coordinated our first photo shoot that was obviously clearly all her vision and she found us the hotel room and the photographer which was Jeremy and we just like dicked around and this photo that we never knew

is our cover art If we don't even look good, if it's on a billboard, like, we're just like, whatever. It was a candid outtake. Like, it wasn't like a norm. We were posed. I looked so ugly. I look like a monster. I'm all hunched over.

That is just further proof that Raina just doesn't have an ego. Like, she, like, either of us, really, I have, like, full-blown, like, horse teeth. My mouth is wide open. I had to smooth out my Adam's apple. Like, it is, that photo. Remember my one leg was too tan. I will say, there were. couple moments in the beginning when we first became where I was like, I don't know if I could do this

for her. And it was that photo. I think we see colors differently. And I literally was like, how could you not see that my one leg is black? It looks like a dead leg. And you were like, I don't see it. I even, I edited this photo. Ashley and I gone back and forth. Like, we sent that photo back and forth so many times. And I was like, I think I hate this person. You know what? We're going to do a side by side because I still have the original. My one leg, I did too much tanner on one leg. It looked like, it looked like a fake, like Barbie. leg. You told me your leg looked dead and I was like, I'm going to kill her. I was like, I don't know if I can work with this person. But yeah, that photo, it's, it's very funny. That was

the choice we went with. Like, I feel like Raina was like, I like this one. I'm like, really? I was like, this is, I cannot believe how this is not that deep. Like, I didn't think about it as like, this will be on billboard someday also. I was like, it's not that deep. It's just a photo. It's just a photo. But like, it is sort of like an interesting metaphor for what you're like and what we're like you are the perfectionist in the group and you are you are the person that like I just I do things more quickly like I don't have an eye for detail as much as you do and so like you will look at something and take more time doing it just in general always but like thank God that you were like so crazy about it because like it was literally on a billboard yeah in my mind I was like it's not that

deep it kind of is it's every poster that we do I yeah I think that's I don't know I think that's what I try to tell when people ask me for any career advice like I always say think big look ahead what's the ultimate dream am I moving towards that and again like that is the reason why I didn't want to do it with that guy like again girl power but it was like am I going to go on the road with him you know like I was like I want it like to be like a female partnership in life because I thought about that I mean didn't know what the live shows were going to look like but I was like I want to perform Did you have a moment, because I do, when you were like, or we can move on from this after those, but like when you were like, oh, this is going to be like a big thing.

I mean, we joke that we like knew day one that it was like amazing and I do think it was, but is there a moment where you were like, this is like a big deal in other people's lives. This is going to be really long term. Do you? Yeah, I think when like when we got that offer to performing Carolines for the first show and I was at dinner with a girlfriend of mine and I was like, this agent reach out to us from like this giant agency. and she looked at me and she was like, is the podcast the thing?

She's like, maybe this is like the thing. And I like had this, my life flash before my eyes of us, like, starting to like travel and figure out like live podcasts weren't just like a big, I mean, there was comedy shows and there was panel discussions. But I don't know that I'd ever seen a live podcast. And it all like rushed at me that like people would buy tickets to see us. And I knew that people like tuned in for the show, but I was like, there's a whole world that's about to open up.

Yeah. Of like travel and live shows and actually meeting the people that listen. our show face to face and selling merchandise and like now I'm am I in entertainment like I like you wrote accidental comedian in your bio I thought that was very funny did I write that I thought you wrote that wait maybe I wrote it did I rewrite your bio recently I think I'm okay I remember thinking like I don't know that I would call myself that did I write that accidental comedian is so funny it's perfect okay I thought about this literally last night right now okay I have two moments I did know after we released the first one, based on the response alone.

Like, the things that people were saying to us were like, this is great. The reviews were flooding in. Like, the numbers were crazy. Like, we, I did know. And you know it was very funny. Like, between the first episode and the second episode, you and I went to Miami and we were like, we're podcasters. Like, who did we think we were?

We were like, girls got to eat in Miami. We had one episode. We were out here doing picks. We were just like, we are crushing it. We had one episode. We were like having a business meeting on the roof of that hotel by the point. We met that woman. We were like, we're like, we're the one that does the, like, you're the promo person.

I'm the tech person. Like, we were like, we run a business now. We're podcasters, one episode. Who did we think we were? Fake it till you make it, I guess. But that, I did know that we had something after the first one. And that is not everybody's experience, but it was also my experience with Brose been basic. It was the second, the Instagram went up, the followers started flooding in.

I was like, I have something here. Again, that does not mean that something's not going to be successful. Plenty of amazingly successful businesses' brands have been a slow burn. And then I think it was the day we hit the charts, which was early mid-May of 2018. So three months after we started the podcast, probably right after my intention bracelet fell off. And it just made me feel like we were legitimate to see our name on the iTunes charts. So I remember, seen a tweet that we had made it into the top 200 overall podcasts. Like there was some weird kind of troll-esque Twitter account that reviews the very dead last podcast of the top 200. And they tweeted it and I was like, I scroll to the very bottom like we're on the charts. And then what happened after that was wild. We just kept climbing and I think we were at number four

on the comedy charts and we were like, what's going on? It was so crazy. Like I had a stupid hinge date that night, I canceled it, and I don't know what you were doing. I was screenshoting it, like, crazy. So I could tell my parents, I was higher on the charts than Trevor Noah. Yeah, but you had like a, you were doing something. I couldn't, like, go celebrate with you. So I, like, went over to Alexis and Gina's and had, like, some rosé on the rooftop, like, told this guy, I was like, I can't go out with you tonight.

Something came up with work. Like, I just wanted to, like, celebrate with my friends. And I just was like, this is a real thing. And, I mean, if you guys don't know, it's not totally based on download numbers. We weren't having more downloads than Mark Marin or whatever. But it's kind of the popularity. of a podcast at that time. You know, even podcasts that aren't that crazy,

that don't have crazy download numbers can rise the top of the charts if a bunch of people are downloading it. So we finally just had this recognition on the charts. It was a really special thing. And so I think that was the first time that I was like, oh, we're a top podcast. Like iTunes says we are. I was standing in like a hollowed out dirt hole in the financial district

where they had like blown up a building or something. It was like the parking lot of something. It was so dirty. and we're like screaming that we were like number four on the charts. And I was like wearing sweatpants in a dirty old parking lot. It was interesting. So that was a moment. And then yeah, we got on a call with a very top agent at a very prestigious talent agency.

And he set up our first show. And I think that was when we were like, oh. And I remember having conversations with you of like, what if we sell out Caroline's. You know, especially for a comedian, that was the first big club I ever even performed here in New York City. so it was like I can't even fathom that we would sell out Carolines. I had, I, I'd never even crossed my mind. We could, like, I knew we would do it, but, like, it didn't, I didn't understand what it would mean to me to do it to, like, sit in that room and, like, I'd never been on a, first time

I was on a stage, ever, never been on a stage. That was huge. And, like, I don't even know, like, I knew what it meant to sell out Carolines. And looking back, I'm, like, how special is this? Like, a special place, like, all the people that were at that first show. It was so, it will always be the best, like, families were there. Yeah. And then I think another really pivotal moment for me was when that girl DM me

and she was like, I used to hate you because you fucked my boyfriend, but I love your podcast. Or I think she was like, but you're hysterical. Like, you know, that's my love language telling me I'm funny. I didn't fuck her boyfriend when they were together. Like there was, I even did the math. I don't think I ever even, they were definitely broken up when we slept together. Like, whatever.

And plus I slept with them first. But anyway, so. A really pivotal moment for me was like when this girl was like, you knew my boyfriend in college. And I listened to your show and I was like, oh, I did fuck your boyfriend. Oh my God. Listen, it was a lot of years ago. Yes.

And the guy I was like obsessed with in college. We talked about him. Oh, no, I talked about him on a Kate Kennedy's podcast. I was obsessed with this guy in college and like he DM me. I was like, congrats on all your success. Little things like that. They mean the world. Just knowing that all my exes know how well we're doing.

That's what really means the world. I feel like all mine do not because there's two in particular. Do not have social media. I can't find him. I found one on LinkedIn. I feel so bad for you. I know. It's my greatest joy in life that all of my exes are on social

and they all know how well I'm doing. Well, listen, my ex texted me that he's so proud of me. He came to our DC show and he's proud of you too. Yeah. But, you know, above all, it's just it's the listeners that message us and say that we help them through a hard time and every time someone says like, I lost a parent or something terrible has happened,

and you guys help me through it. Like, I can't believe that we get to do that. I'm going to, like, get emotional. Again, this is an emotional bonus episode. But of course, you know, you helped me through my breakup and things like that. But numerous messages of, like, I've had a loss and you guys help me. One girl said she lost her, I remember her saying she lost her dog. I can't hear this right now.

I'm going to start crying in the grocery store about this other day. She said that she lost her dog. And so she plays the podcast in her apartment to fill the, like, void from, you lose a dog. It's the noise. You're used to barking and crazy. You know, it's just like you feel the void so deeply when your pet passes away and she says she plays the podcast. It's like, oh, I don't know. Stuff like that.

It means the world. It'll never get old. And we're just a thing for you guys. And so glad that we've gotten to a point where we're like going to create more content for you. Yeah. I love that we can do a bonus episode that's just about us and the podcast. And hopefully people learned about, you know, the business aspect of things. I think that that's really fun and interesting.

And anyway that we can connect with you guys better. Yeah. So we have a wealth of questions you guys are curious about us. The plan was actually we were going to talk about more dating and relationship-related questions in here. But we didn't. So hopefully you enjoyed what we did what we did talk about. But we will tackle more of that stuff in a future bonus episode. And talk more about us.

You guys want to know how we lost our virginity and what our skincare routines are and all that stuff. It wasn't great. And I don't have one. There it is. Bonus episode number two. My experience was wonderful, and I love my skincare. It's going to be more opposite. Cross them off the list.

Yeah. Well, thank you guys for listening. I hope you guys have really enjoyed this. We're just happy to have you guys here, and we'll talk to you guys again on Monday. Yeah. And thanks to Zola Native for partnering with us in this episode and Girls Got Eat Podcast.com for the shows. We have tickets left in a lot of these cities.

We want to see you guys. So check out the availability and come on out. Girls Got Eat Podcast and Instagram, Ash Hess, Raina. Greenberg, Girls underscore Gotta Eat on Twitter. And we'll see you Monday. Bye, guys.

Have a great weekend. Bye.