Your Happy Hour - Authentic Community

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

Welcome back to Your Happy Hour with Friday Feels!This week we explored our new theme - authentic community - with Kim Bennett, corporate marketing expert and now CEO and founder of AtlasGuru - a platform using AI in a very positive way to create personalized itineraries by matching travelers with expert travel advisors who have lived interesting stories around the world. We chatted on the importance of community in travel, the value of local guides, the role of technology in enhancing authentic experiences and how networking is a key way to supporting any aspiring entrepreneur out there!What does authentic community mean to you? Friday Feels is all about having those honest conversations, the power of community for personal growth and taking those actionable steps towards being our authentic selves.Thanks for tuning in! Keep it raw and real out there xYHH is produced by swartkat.co via the awesome tech platform: riverside.fm

It's the Friday Feels, and we're back with your first sip of the weekend. You're now tuned in to this week's episode of Your Happy Hour. I'm your host Nicole Carmine and it's amazing to have you here. Joining me this week as we uncover the truths about being a human and a working professional. What are you up to this Friday? Well, whatever it is, this moment is just for you. And we're back. It's episode five and we're talking about authentic community. We wrapped up the theme of reinventing your conditioning in December and it's now a new

brand spanking new year. So very happy to be here and have some more cool conversations with everybody around the topic, which is very Friday-feelsy. Authentic community is something that we're very passionate about, but we're always talking about this topic of authentic community and creating it in the world. And the question is probably, what does this look like? What does it mean to foster this kind of community? And how does this differ from other communities or other contexts that might exist in the world? So we're unpacking this today, and I have the immense pleasure of chatting to CEO and founder Kim Bennett. She is the founder of Atlas Guru, a platform that uses AI in a very positive way and that is to create personalized itineraries by matching travelers with their

expert travel advisors and doing it in a very interesting way by using the stories of these travelers that they've explored around the world. So this is very much in our vibes of the Friday feels about living and working around the world. And now, Kim, you are doing this in your own unique way. You've combined your living experience. You've turned it into a working experience for people. So very welcome to the podcast. It's such a pleasure to have you here. And yeah, just keen to hear more about your journey of getting to this point.

Nicole, I'm so happy to talk with you. So I know you've had quite a long stint in marketing and perhaps a few other things before you got to this point of entrepreneurship. Maybe you can just tell us a little bit about your journey, where you come from, why this topic means a lot to you. leadership maybe you can just tell us a little bit about your journey where you come from why this topic means a lot to you and I know we'll still get into our shared love for dogs a bit later but yeah what what does authentic community mean to you and how did it end up being entwined into what you've created today we're going to talk a little bit about my journey. I'm originally from the Seattle area,

Seattle, Washington. So I'm a Pacific Northwest gal at heart, outdoors and water and all that good stuff. So originally from Seattle, and I really like you mentioned, I have kind of a long career in corporate marketing, kind of did the somewhat traditional path and and grew in the marketing space in seattle and then in new york city and then back to seattle my hometown which i missed and loved so so moved back to new york or moved back to seattle i should say and worked for some amazing companies along the way. I feel really fortunate that I've been able to work at Condé Nast. I worked at Martha Stewart in New Amazon, and also then at Nordstrom in Seattle, and all of it mostly rooted in digital marketing, and understanding customers and understanding brands and how to grow businesses. And also, I feel really lucky that I've kind of grown up in

the technology, you know, from I don't want to date myself, but over the past, you know, almost 20 years of just seeing where technology has gone and grown and how it's really evolved and changed. So it's, it's exciting. And I feel really fortunate to have had a really, really fun career in the corporate space. And then, you know, almost, I don't know, 18 years into my my career path, I had a really lovely job at Nordstrom in Seattle. But I was kind of itching to do something different. And I've always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to build a company. And I had a business plan on the shelf for many years, actually, Atlas Guru.

And really the genesis that came from that was, I love to travel, I love planning travel, I have so much fun planning travel, and I love international trips. But you know, I have super limited time I only had, let's say, you know, in, in the US, we only get, you know, 14 days a year or something like that, when you're kind of starting out in your career. And so I only had like 12 days to take a trip. And I was planning with some my husband and some friends in Cambodia and Vietnam. And I was really going down the rabbit hole of reading forums, I was on Reddit, I was on TripAdvisor, I was on Rick Steves forums, and I went all over the internet,

digging in like, what's the best itineraries to kind of put this trip together? I have super limited time. I don't want to spend too much time on transportation. I want to see some of the highlights. But what's kind of that little gem that, you know, we're all looking for, right? That little off the beaten path. And so, you know, I spend hours and hours, which I know everybody does, and down the

rabbit hole. And I thought, you know, there has to be a better way of, instead of going into forums, I guess I use guidebooks too, of course, and I love magazines and Connie Nast and Lonely Planet and all of that. And of course, I have a library full of that. But I also love, and this is kind of where community comes in, I love reading about people's trip experiences. So I go down the rabbit hole of forums, and I listen to what people would have skipped, what, you know, what advice do they have, like, you know, was this one city worth it to them, you know, if they only have a limited amount of time, should they go here? So, you know, I thought there has to be a nicer way for people to share their travel

stories and trip reports. And that's kind of the foundation where Atlas Guru came from. And so I created, I left my comfortable job and I created Atlas Guru and actually launched it right before COVID, which timing is never, never ideal. But really Atlas Guru is a place where travelers can share their travel stories and share their trip reports. And we do it in a structured way so that, you know, for those that just want to serve and read and explore, everything is like, you know, similar questions like what would you have skipped any advice you give a friend. And so I really believe that people want to share their travel stories, people want to listen to to the fellow travelers, what I call them, guidebooks are great,

and I still use them, they're highly valuable. But I also want to hear from somebody who may be like me, and I want to hear about their experiences and travel. So that's kind of the foundation of where Atlas Guru came from. And then now we're layering on AI technology, which is like, so strange and different and new and amazing. Gen AI is just such a cool technology that has really surfaced in the past couple of years. And we're layering that on now with the content on Atlas Guru so travelers can create AI generated itinerary. But the data that we're using is the real traveler stories. So we're kind of marrying the best of technology, but still using content from real travelers, which is kind of the best of both worlds. which is kind of the best of both worlds. That's amazing. I love what you're building.

I have yet to actually build my own itinerary on Atlas Guru, and I feel like my traveling has kind of come to a little bit of an end. My gypsy heart is a bit tired, but I'm so excited for when I have that energy again to go traveling, to delve in there. And I think what you're doing is is incredible and i i'm really um appreciative of the fact that you are using ai in such a positive light because i think a lot of people look at that and they just say oh negative negative you know put it in a box and i think it has such benefit um for us to be not just more efficient in our lives, but like you say, to find those real

James, which is what authenticity and authentic community and authentic travel is all about. So how do you feel your travels and perhaps maybe the communities you've met along the way inspired you to do this or to come up with the idea? You said it was on the shelf. So kind of what put it on the shelf and what made you take it off? Starting a business is always super risky. And, you know, I think it's never easy to leave a job that is comfortable and feels good. And again, there wasn't, there was just a moment that I thought, now is the time I really kind of had the spark of, you know, I feel like I've, I've hit some key milestones in my professional career. I, the other thing too, is like brass tacks, I actually did save my money for several years, I saved a lot of my paychecks to be able to feel comfortable about investing in my own company. You know, it is not easy to do. And I know it's it's something that I've been fortunate to do. So

there I did plan it. It wasn't just like some I woke up one day and I'm going to quit my job. No, I actually saved for many years and knew that this was the right time for me. So it really was like, I'm ready to do this pivotal piece of being an entrepreneur. The other thing too, is that, you know, the more time I have on this planet, the more I know myself, and I do have an entrepreneurial spirit. And I do struggle sometimes in big, complex corporations. And, you know, I sometimes get frustrated with how slow things move. I get frustrated with how bureaucratic sometimes companies can be. And so I was just kind of over it, to be honest.

And you know what? There's a lot of comfort and safety in that, in being in a big company, where as an entrepreneur, you know, I am now down in the details and in the weeds where before when I was at a big company, you know, cushy company, there were teams that were doing things that I now do today. So, you know, you do there's a series of trade offs for sure. But I just was kind of itching to take control and do something that I felt passionate about. And I absolutely love talking about travel. I love talking to other people about their trips. It is something that really lights up in me. And that's where I feel like the community of travelers and

sharing their travel stories. And it's just something that is, it's just fun, right? It's just fun to hear about what people do and where they go and why they pick those places. So yeah. Oh, I love that. Yeah. Well, I think it's really unique that, you know, you saved for such a long time. Most people kind of jump into entrepreneurship or one day life happens and all of a sudden they find themselves in that. So it's great to hear that you followed your plan and followed your joy and then kind of embraced that moment of saying, okay, let me do that now, let me take the leap.

But knowing that I have that support that I've created for myself you know I think that's really important for all the entrepreneurial spirits out there who know that you're going to do something you know it's difficult when you get there and and maybe start saving now I think I can also I would have benefited from doing that so that's really great advice I'm quite curious Kim you know you've obviously you love travel what inspired you to go traveling when you did you do it from like a young age or did you hear other people's stories and then decide you wanted to go travel how did it happen for you we didn't do much travel my first trip out of the country other than Canada so where

I'm from in Seattle you know Canada is practically our it is our neighbor. And, you know, so I've been to Canada many times as a as a kid, but I never left the country really until I was about 22 was kind of my first like European trip. So I did not necessarily grow up with it. But I, I'm a very curious person. I love seeing something new and different. And I like to be a little uncomfortable sometimes. And so I think it's fun to explore a new city if I don't know everything about it. to explore a new city if I don't know everything about it. I find this world is so interesting. There is so much to see and do, you know,

from Southeast Asia to Europe to Mexico, like the cultures all around the world, I find just exciting and fun. I love it. And I know not everybody, it's funny, I do have to be reminded sometimes, like, not everybody loves to travel. And I always find that surprising. And, and I don't do like, I am not, you know, seven times a year, eight times a year traveling around the world. I don't do that. At this point. I probably do one to two international trips a year. And then I take a couple of, you know, friends, you know, trips a couple times a year, things like that.

But I mean, I'm probably on a plane six to eight times a year. You know, and the older I get, the more I want a little comfort with that. So I'm not necessarily backpacking my way through the world. But I think it doesn't matter if you're a backpacker or a luxury traveler, you're still on the same amazing beach in, you know, Thailand, right? So I think we all have the shared experiences of exploring and meeting different cultures and trying new things. And I just I find it exciting. I love planning travel, too. I love researching trips. I love spending hours and hours and hours going down a rabbit hole about planning a trip. And then sometimes it gets scrapped and shelved.

That happens a lot. But I just I find it very it's it's daydreaming for me really yeah I think good just said imagination is reality and in travel that is true right you get to kind of get go into the space where you imagine what what the trip could be like and then you go and experience it out there yeah I think that's really that that's amazing. I think that you're inspiring people to go travel more and explore the world. And we're very passionate about that at Friday Fields. We, you know, people, I think, learn so much about themselves

when you go put yourself in uncomfortable positions. And we often talk about that. You know, you don't know until you leave your comfort zone and go and, you know, maybe you don't have any money you have to ask someone you have to rely on other people you have to go climb on a train that you didn't expect to or whatever it might be like you say go backpacking um so I think that's where community becomes so important when you're traveling uh you might plan but there's also kind of things that happen along the way um have you felt that

have you felt that you've had these experiences with communities in different places and maybe what's been like your favorite experience of that and community in the world i mean i think talking to different people when you travel is always so much fun. And like you said, not everything goes as planned. But on on that note, I've had some real crazy mishaps during travel and nothing tragic, thank goodness. But it also adds to your storytelling, right? When you get to share back with like, oh, this crazy thing happened on a trip. It's fun. It's like, in the moment, it can be a little stressful. And you're thinking, how am I going to get through this. But it does create experiences, and it makes you kind of a smarter traveler. And so I sometimes the little mishaps, you know, just add to the spice of travel. But in terms of community, one thing I actually love to do is hire local guides.

So anytime that I'm traveling, even if it's a city that's not that complicated to me, I think having a local guide adds so much to your experience. I really do. I took a trip not too long ago to Paris with a friend of mine and her and I took like a Hemingway book tour or Hemingway and writers tour frankly of Paris and it talked all about the left bank and talked all about how publishing is so protected in Paris and within the left bank and all these different stories about writers and publishing and I just thought it was so fun and just an area that I wasn't as familiar with necessarily from a real depth perspective. I didn't know a lot of things about the publishing world of Paris. And I just thought it was really fun and interesting. And so every

city I go to, I try to hire a guide and get further knowledge. I do it in almost every city. It is worth it. If you don't like groups, you can always hire a private guide. And it's pretty reasonable. So that's something that I like in terms of just understanding a culture and talking to a local guide and having that person share with them what they love about their city just really adds so much richness to it. I just did that also in Edenboro, went to Edenboro and hired a local guide. And it was really sweet. He was very proud of his city. And he was excited that I was excited about a city. And I just think it's fun. It's neat when cultures get to talk and

share. I love that. I love that. Yeah. And you're so right. There are so many people walking around in different places with so many stories about the place, these gems that you can uncover. And, you know, if you, sometimes it's about, you know, hiring someone or paying someone. And sometimes you stumble upon people in a train or in a pub or wherever you go, and they tell you these stories. And it really just creates that richness of yeah I think authenticity is probably the right word and community that you feel within that place and so I know I've had a few experiences like that too and I actually recently heard of Airbnb experiences which I didn't even know existed even though I'd been hosting my home on Airbnb. And there's a whole host of people advertising, having these experiences.

What platforms do you use to hire people? If it is a guide, is there a specific one? Or do you kind of look for local platforms in each place? I do try to look for local platforms. I've used, you know, Viator, of course, I've used before. But I actually, I do a lot of research. I try to find, you know, they have such an easy booking platform. Let's be honest. It's like so simple, feel safe, feel secure. But for the Paris one, I found it just by doing a lot of online research. And again, went down kind of looking at within even Atlas Guru of seeing who recommended different guides.

A lot of times it can be like Jack from, you know, Paris walks does a great tour. And sometimes then I'll go look up that person. So I did something, you know, very hyper local in Paris, where I found a very small, like individual type company. And then we did an email exchange, and then paid my $25 in cash when I showed up. And so it was like very small, small, hyper local. So I do try to do that. Because you know, you want to support, you know, local guides as much as possible. And they're all local typically. But you know, when you work through different platforms, you tend to take a small fee or commission. But I've used Viator. Intrepid Travel actually from a travel company is one to also look at. I haven't used guides with them, but they are also fun resource to look at when

you're just exploring different ideas. But yeah, I do tend to go sometimes very local. I also do work with travel advisors from time to time, which is why we launched that also on Atlas Guru. Some of my most memorable trips have been working with a travel advisor and then they will connect through their network with local guides. I don't do every trip with an advisor, because I feel like I'm pretty savvy, I can kind of do my own thing. But there are times that I have to say working with a professional and advisor on a special trip really can just, you know, add some little extras. And they just do such a really beautiful job. So they will often connect me with local guides as well.

That's amazing. Yeah, and you're actually reminding me now. I mean, we've come so far in this technological journey. Now we just hop on and you kind of Google searching, chat GPT, AI, whatever it might be. But I remember as a student also, and maybe I'm also giving away my age here, but going to a travel agent and maybe I'm also giving away my age here but you know going to

a travel agent and kind of like checking out what's available and you know saying how much I can afford and they'd kind of put together this whole booking for you and you bring all your documents there was something very special about that I think also being able to sit with a human who's you know ready to craft this experience for you and so what it feels like to me with a human who's ready to craft this experience for you. And so what it feels like to me with what you're doing with Atlas Guru is really taking that and creating that in a very easy online experience because there are these real-life people with stories and experiences. And so I think that's really awesome.

I do miss that sometimes. experiences you know and so I think that's really awesome I do miss that sometimes you know we so online that it's nice to have that that real life in person eye connecting experience of also just being able to share the anticipation of a trip coming I know that's kind of half of the fun of the travel is like the knowing that it's coming the knowing that you're going away from your normal daily life so I think that's coming, the knowing that you're going away from your normal daily life. So I think that's really awesome that you're creating that experience. And I know you touched on this a little bit,

but 10 years ago where you were working, but did you see yourself, I know you've been saving, but did you see yourself doing this in this way? No. Okay. No, I did not. Because I, it feels like leaving a career that I really worked hard at building, that I made smart strategic decisions to like, okay, this is the

right fit for me. This is the right career path for me, seemed irresponsible, to be honest, to up and try my own thing. So no, it was not something that was in my plan. And I think though, that, you know, we're, we're here, if you're lucky for a long time on this planet, and you have to try something if it's if you feel that strong pull, and you want to go for it and try it as long as you're not, you know, hurting anybody else and like taking yourself down into financial ruin. I think it's, I think it's something people should try if they feel passionate about it. Again, not everybody wants to start their own business. There's a lot that, you know, I can tell you a lot of headaches and challenges to doing that. But if it's, you know, if you're feeling a tug that something just doesn't feel right, trust your instinct, and go for it and give yourself, you know, a couple of years and say, like, I want to try this. Let's just see, you know, if, if it all doesn't work out, I could go back to, you know, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my of years and say, like, I want to try this, let's just see, you know, if, if it all doesn't work out, I could go back to, you know, my marketing career. So I think you don't have to necessarily be extreme about leaving your comfy corporate job, you can just try something for two years and see how it goes. I think that's such amazing advice

because I think a lot of people put a lot of pressure on that shift. And I think it's also the fact that you created a certain sense of community for yourself before you made that shift, the fact that you had built up all of that around you that you could go back to and that you would also still enjoy.

I think that's wonderful you know I think a lot of people might not even have that and then jump into entrepreneurship and then it's kind of like well survival of the fittest out there which is also great that actually makes you look at things maybe a little bit differently so everyone's journey is so different but I think that's amazing advice for people out there that want to take a chance and are maybe scared to do so and I know you said there have been some challenges so maybe if you do have any kind of professional advice that you've received along the way that have helped you along the journey and it might be related to entrepreneurship or not but yeah what stands out for you has been

something that's really molded your community journey or your authentic journey. Some learnings that I've had is because I'm not a crazy entrepreneur where I've just, you know, go fast and figure it out later and that sort of thing. I'm pretty methodical actually. So, you know, I've created a business

plan. And then I put together, you know, what are all the legal things I need to do. And then, you know, there's a lot of boring parts of trying to build a business. And frankly, you have to spend money to do that you have to hire an attorney to probably draft up some of your documents and things like that. So there's a lot of like, not sexy work as part of building your business. But it's super important to have a strong foundation, right for your company, like what is your vision? What is your plan? And then the one thing that I learned too, and I wish I tapped into that sooner is have a good network of others around you that you can talk to. I've joined now a few like female networks, one in particular female founders in hospitality is fantastic. It's a it's a group of

women who are all founders in the travel and hospitality space. And I really rely on them when I come have questions or am struggling with something. It's so important to talk to other entrepreneurs on what you're struggling with. And I think I tried to create a business sometimes in a vacuum and be very quiet about it. And that's, that's not what I would recommend. I'm kind of the quiet entrepreneur, I don't self promote as much as I should. But so I do recommend everybody like use your network, use those resources, use your friends, ask them to come, you know, what should I do in my company or business to make this better? I think it's okay to have that feedback. And so I would recommend that anybody who's thinking about shifting in their

careers or whatever it may be, tap into that like group of people you really trust and be honest with yourself and with them and get that feedback on a regular basis. So that's what I would recommend. I think that's brilliant advice. I mean, when I think back now to the last year, I think that's brilliant advice. I mean, when I think back now to the last year, two years, I think network has been such a massive thing. And unfortunately, I think that is something that does happen with an entrepreneur. And I love that, the quiet entrepreneur.

Maybe that'll be your book title one day. But I feel quite similar in that sometimes you enter this vacuum because you're holding a certain vision. Nobody else might be holding that vision. And it's really hard sometimes to spend the energy to explain it or, you know, multiply that along other people. So, but getting feedback along the way, having people support you, and I know, you know, I know you've got a great marketing support around you as well, which I think is fantastic. It's something I'm still learning a lot about. But I think that's really network and community around what you're building that's new in the world is so important because it's fresh.

And, you know, it's not something that people have done before necessarily, especially in what you're doing. You know, you're working with new technology, with fresh ideas, unique stories. So it's not something that can just be duplicated very easily. So I think that's really great advice. And so a year from now, where do you kind of see yourself in your journey? That Atlas Guru continues to grow and expand. I'd love to look into different partnerships, where it makes sense to really evolve and grow Atlas Guru, there's still a lot more from the technology side that I'd love to see happen and to continue to grow the community. So I just hope that we just continue on with this trajectory of kind of combining the best of technology with the wisdom of real people and real travelers. I think that's kind of the perfect fit. Yeah, I love that.

I love that. Well, I'm very excited to see where it's all going. So do keep us posted. And we'd love to share with everyone out there on the socials. And yeah, just for everyone listening, you listening, what does traveling mean to you? What does authentic community mean to you? How have you experienced putting together these itineraries and getting excited about it?

And what kind of stories have come up for you along your travel journeys? Reach out to Kim and we'll put all your details in the socials obviously and and yeah what does authentic community mean to you as you navigating through the world and then I also wanted to take just a quick moment for a shout out and there's something we're doing more recently on here is a shout out to people spaces and places that have a little bit of the feels that have come up and we've engaged with. And this week I had a beautiful moment discovering a place called Good News Coffee,

which apparently started in Barcelona during COVID, during lockdown. And it was there for people to feel good vibes, feel positivity. So it's called Good News Coffee and they just had this cute cozy little cafe in santerre in paris so check it out i know they're in paris barcelona madrid and in amsterdam as well um hopefully they'll make their way to cape town and south africa i think it'll be a great fit for you guys but just yeah thank you for the feels thank you for the friendly smiles out there and we just loved your vibe so just a shout out to people creating beautiful authentic community in a time that was really difficult for everyone and now that's kept growing so it's really nice to see and then I want to move on to something which we call the gems so the gems are really just things we've realized across the week

the last few weeks maybe months um and it's just our raw and real moment to say what we're grateful for maybe what we've learned um so i'll start just to give you an idea of what what it feels like kim and you can share if you want um but this last week a gem has really been for me the reminder of the love of laughter, so I've really had a lot of beautiful moments of laughing with friends, and sometimes you take those for granted, but I really have come to very much appreciate them, sometimes we can be so serious in life, and then it can really bog you down, but yeah, I just really have had wonderful, and then it can really bog you down. But yeah, I just really have had wonderful, wonderful laughs,

like those belly laughs that come out of the middle of you with friends. So I really appreciate having those moments. And then I have to just tell this story quickly because that really brought most of the laughter to my week and that is I unleashed my dad on my splash pool in Cape Town and it was a little bit green and it needed some cleaning but then I got this photo of this cloud basically coming out of the pool rising up above I don't know how many chemicals he put in there but you could have drifted off the pool into into the neighbor's yard so yeah thank you dad for for um cleaning the pool

but also for giving me a great laugh um so the love of laughter is really my gem and a reminder that life is short and to be enjoyed so yeah how about you for you kim i would say the love of the outdoors and friendship with that i recently was in ari Arizona and a very close friend of mine was able to come and visit me in Arizona. And we did she was only in town for like two days. And I was there for a business trip. And her and I have a love of hiking and being outside. And we just had a really lovely day going for a hike and being outdoors and just catching up. And I just feel really grateful that I can physically be hiking and being outside and just being part of being in the outdoors. I just, I really love it. It's kind of how I recharge and it's even better when

you get to do it with a friend. So that's kind of my piece of gratitude that I had recently. Oh, that's amazing. That sounds spectacular. It's so nice to be outside 100%, you know, especially now that it's colder, you can really appreciate when you can go outside and not freeze too much. That's amazing. And then I do want to ask you one thing. We also started something really cool called The Stack. And so The Stack is our reading list, and it's really books that we've loved, that we recommend, or, you know, any kind of words that we're appreciating out there. So what is in your stack at the moment, or maybe what's been in your stack last year that you can share with people as a good read?

stack last year that you can share with people as a good read? Like memoirs and listening on audiobooks or books, I kind of do go back and forth. Recently, I just finished the Cook Ina Gardens memoir, which was amazing. And I loved her story of how she got started kind of her her life's work and the twists and turns and you think somebody just naturally woke up one day and became successful. Well, it doesn't usually work like that. So I love listening to or list I love audiobooks and reading but I love memoirs. So that was one just recently I finished and just really got a lot of that out of it that's amazing oh thank you for sharing that and definitely check it out and we'll add it to the list for everyone um go see if you can maybe get yourself a copy nice reading for the new year I think a memoir is always nice to kind of start a year off with it reminds you of your own journey

maybe it will inspire some journaling for everyone out there, which is also a wonderful practice. So yeah, thank you so much, Kim, for sharing your journey with us today. I think it's really inspiring what you're doing. And for coming on here and also joining us on this Riverside FM platform.

I think it's the first time you're using it as well. It's great to have this partnership and a quick spotlight on Riverside, who has been our partner for the last month. And it's really awesome to have good quality. Sometimes when the Wi-Fi is wonky, then we know at least we can count on them. So thank you so much for sharing with us today. It's been such a pleasure.

Such a pleasure too. Thank you, Nicole. If you haven't just yet, follow Friday Feels on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn. You can share with us all your feels this week by tagging us at fridayfeels.co. And you can also find the website at that handle. And now, as you ease into this weekend, take a moment, celebrate who you've become, what you've overcome and what is yet to

come as you do the crazy and cool things that you do as the authentic you you know the truth about life and work is that it's hard but the beauty is this global working experience that you're in while we earn it together so keep connecting empowering and inspiring this week and of course keep it raw and real until next time