Your Happy Hour - The Solopreneur in You

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

Welcome back to Your Happy Hour with Friday Feels!This week, we dove in with author, systems architect, podcast automation coach and all-round amazing solopreneur Joe Casabona. As an evangelist for one of our wonderful partners, RSS.com, Joe’s family-first journey inspires and now empowers others in winning back their time to share in the moments that make life count, find unique ways of balancing being a human and working professional and to remember that no matter what the world’s mirrors want you to believe, ultimately you shape the world you want to see and live in.What mirrors are you shifting for you, and those around 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 - captured via riverside.fm & shared via rss.com.

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. Welcome back to week two of this theme of the month of June. We're talking about in the mirrors of the world and you're in the Friday feel space,

you're in your happy hour and as we keep delving into these reflections of what life is being a human and being a working professional. I am very, very chuffed and privileged to be able to have a guest on today that is representing himself, obviously, and what he is doing as a solopreneur, but also one of our wonderful partners, rss.com, who is our distribution partner to get this podcast into the world and into your ears and your hearts. So a very big welcome to you, Joe Casabona to the Friday Field Space and your Happy Hour podcast.

Joe Casabona Thanks so much for having me, Nicole. I'm so excited to be here. I love the theme for this month. And when you pitched it, I couldn't say yes fast enough. Oh, well we love that you are here and thank you so much for taking this time to share some of your journey. And so yeah, on that topic, I mean, tell us a little bit about where you come from. You're a solopreneur, but you've also kind of walked a little bit of a journey into getting to where you are.

And now you're helping other people be more smart in the way that they work in the world, which is we love at Friday Feels. Help us do that more often. So tell us a little bit about yourself and maybe just a bit of what the topic means for you. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, I have been, I tell people that I'm like a less handsome, more realistic version of Zach Morris, if you've ever watched saved by the bell,

because I would, when I was a kid, I would like try to start businesses and like, I would like we'd have yard sales and I'd sell my stuff at a profit. And around the time I was 14, I started making websites for people and it just kind of happened that way. And I really enjoyed it. And I kind of knew from that point, like I'd want to run my own business. I loved the freedom. Uh, I didn't like being beholden to like anybody's schedule. When I got out of college, I got my master's degree in software engineering. Uh, the, you know, the, the reality of, of life hit a little bit and I did end up getting a job.

I needed insurance, for example. I'm in the United States. I got a couple of jobs right out of school and I, it kind of reinforced for me that working for someone else was not the thing I wanted to do. And it kind of came to a head in, uh, 2017, um, right around the time my first, our first daughter was born and I was working late for an agency and I hated it. And I, I, I spoke to my wife. My wife is gainfully employed as a nurse,

so she has enabled me to leave the corporate world so that I could, you know, still have insurance. She encouraged me to leave the job because she saw how unhappy I was. And when I left that job, I said, you know, they're like, what can we do to get you to stay? And I said, I'm not going to miss my kids first steps because I'm working late for you. And that mindset has stuck with me, right? My, my brothers,

I have three younger brothers and two of them have a tattoo where Italian, my last name is Casa Bona means good house in Italian. And so they have a tattoo on them in Italian that translates to family comes first. And I think that is something that has always been deeply embedded in all of us from, you know, from our parents. Uh, my dad never missed a baseball game. Uh, my mom was always there.

You know, she, she did the stay at home mom thing until we were old enough to take care of ourselves. And, and when I went out on my own, I knew that my goal was yes, have a business to support my family, but also be present for my family. And so everything I've done from basically the moment I walked away from that agency in 2017 until now has been how can I reasonably run a business, replace and increase my salary from my last job while also never missing a baseball game or a cello recital or just like a random thing

at the school in the middle of the afternoon? And so that's where the kind of creating space for your life comes in. I think that we hear a lot about the hustle culture and I am very anti, you know, there's mortal life than money, right? Nobody wants to read on their tombstone, died sad and alone, but at least he had a lot of money, right? Like not even Ebenezer Scrooge wanted that.

And so I want to help solopreneur parents live the life that they set out to live least he had a lot of money, right? Even before I came along, she kind of had this vision of needing to be an entrepreneur, needing to be able to work from home. She did a whole tons of different things to try and figure that out, that path, you know, to be able to be there at the hockey game, at whatever it might be. And that means so much to me. And I think it's quite interesting that you brought in so much of this topic of being in the mirrors of the world, which last week we were talking to Noah Shabu about how much of what is inside of you reflects in the

outside of you in the world. I think our kids are so much of that in the world. Have you found that being able to spend more time with them, that you mirrors of the world of change, are they kind of mirrors to you of what the world is about? Absolutely. I mean, so a perfect example is before I started dating who had become my wife, I would say to people, I don't care if I'm married or single or have kids. I just want to be a millionaire by the time I'm 30. I met, I started dating my wife when I was 26.

I'm going to be 40 this year and I'm not a millionaire, but I've got three amazing kids. It's just so, it's so interesting how quickly your priority shift when you are living for someone else. And I think that that is that's like, and when I look at my kids and I see them adopting my mannerisms and repeating things back to me, you know, my, my oldest, she's like smart as a whip. Other people have told me that I'm very cautious to not brag on my kids,

right? Cause I know that like, I don't know, maybe they're not very smart compared to other kids, but enough people have told me my oldest is smart and she would always say because, and I would say because it's not an answer. And then one day she asked me something and I said, because, and she said, because it's not an answer. And so it's, it's, they really pick up a lot and seeing your behavior reflected back at you really makes you think about the

example you're setting and the values that you want to instill. My high school's motto was non-vox sed voedum, not words, but deeds. And I think that in my experience, there is nothing more powerful than that with kids because you can say something to kids, but they will pick up on what you do more than what you say to them. That's so interesting. Yeah. It's the energy, right?

It's the intention really. Yeah. It's beyond the words. Yeah. And you can't hide that. You can't hide your energy bubbles. So yeah, I love that. And you've really been able to craft your own journey, which is amazing.

And you are helping other people do this, which I guess 10 years ago, you didn't really think you'd be doing this. As you mentioned, you wanted to do, you know, be a millionaire and all of that. But what have you found has been the hardest thing along this journey of being a solopreneur or entrepreneur? And what have you found have other people struggled with that you're helping them with on a daily basis? Yeah, I think it's the feeling that as a solopreneur,

you have to do everything. Like, this is my business, I have to do it myself. And it wasn't until I had a panic attack in 2020 that made me realize not only do I not have to do everything, I physically can't, right? Because I think a lot of people, again, my experience in talking with other people, they start a business for freedom and then they realize, oh my gosh, I am, my actions directly impact how much money I make. And they internalize that to thinking the more I work, the more money I make. And it's really not about that.

And so like, for me, it was the realization that I could be there for my kids. My wife's a nurse, so she was during the pandemic being a nurse, like a superhero. Um, and I was taking care of the kids at home a lot. And I was able to design my business around that and say like, okay, if I can only work like max three days a week, what does that look like? And there's this theory in, I think it's in computer science, it might just be projects in general, but like that the amount of time it takes you to do something fills the amount of time you have.

So like if you have like a week to do something, it'll take you a week. But if you have a day to do something, it'll take you a day. And right. Yeah. It's like, well, so like, I'm like, why though? It's because you procrastinate and you're unfocused and you find other things to work on. And when you are really intentional about only the work you can do, you find that you can do a lot less time and you can design your life the right way. And if you delegate certain things and automate certain things, uh, you,

you can really have a successful business while also being present for, it doesn't have to be kids, family, friends, going to see the new Avengers movie in the middle of an afternoon because you, you know, you can, it's about the life that you want to live. And the real reason you started your business, right? You didn't, you didn't leave a nine to five where you were chained to your desk to just be chained to your desk at home. Most people didn't, right? Yeah. You know, I think you're hitting on exactly what probably came to mind for me when I picked

this topic many moons ago now. Um, but it's really that thing of we forget that what you're experiencing in your reality, you created, you decided on. And it's kind of reminding yourself of that again and then going, okay, but then I can change it. Today, I can make a decision that I want to work three days and I can work smarter. And I am doing this course sorts of book called the artist way might have heard of it with Ashley who's our social media manager and One of the things questions that came up we were working through it said

Fill in the blanks if I play more I will work and I want what came up for me was smarter Because that's what kids do to, right? Like, you know, I think they teach you how to play. So it's actually beautiful that you had chance to be able to play and then be able to work smarter at the same time and now help other people do the same and see that you can manage your time better. And we all struggling with that. Like it is true when you're an entrepreneur, you start off, you do everything. And at some point you do burn out, you know, so yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. I think that's really important, right? There was one of my most vivid memories from college, at least the academic side of things is I was trying to solve this problem that seemed unsolvable. Like I was trying to write the code and figure out how do I do this? And my friend, anybody who met me before 2009 calls me Joey. And so they, they came to my dorm room and they're like, Joey, you gotta, you gotta take a break. And I'm like, no, no, I'm so close. I wasn't even remotely close. And they're like, look, there's this, uh, there's this event. It's a guy with an acoustic guitar. We called it coffee,

the coffee shop events. He's like, just, just come and like sit in the back and listen to music and relax for a minute. And I'm like, fine. I went, I sat in the back and it was like a movie. Like the solution just hit me in the middle of this set. And I literally wrote it down on a napkin. Like it, like I, I, I had a pen on me. I forgot my notebook. It was before smartphones. And I just wrote it down on a napkin. Like it, like I, I had a pen on me. I forgot my notebook. It is before smartphones. And I just wrote the solution down on a napkin and I put it in my pocket. And that was the solution when I got back to my room, it was so like, your brain needs a break and it's, it's just so clear. Like, I mean, there's a lot of science behind it now, but like this,

that one example cemented that for me. And now when I'm like sitting at my desk, spinning my wheels, I mean, there's a lot of science behind it now, but like this, that one example cemented that for me. And now when I'm like sitting at my desk spinning my wheels, I'm like, I got to go for a walk or, or, you know, watch something shut my brain down for a minute. So it has time to rest. Yeah. It's so important. And I think that's also kind of, you know, where the world plays a part in co-creating what we have in the world. It's like the answers are all there and nothing's really new. world plays a part in co-creating what we have in the world. The answers are all there and nothing's really new, it's just the rearrangement of things

in a beautiful way that works for you. We're always trying to kind of reinvent the wheel and dig in there and spin our wheels in our minds. I'm curious, as you've walked your journey, you've obviously experienced, like you said, some hardships. Like what have you found? Was that thing that got you through that? Was it a, maybe a mantra or something that came up for you? You held onto, you know, my wife first and foremost, uh, and my kids, like, I mean, it's, this is like, so,

I don't know if this is like cliche or whatever, right? It's like I did it for my kids, but like in the darkest parts of my journey, like post getting married, right? Pre getting married, it was like, I definitely spent a lot more time in bed when I was sad. Uh, and now it just like, I don't feel like I can do that as much because like I have responsibilities. Um, but, uh, in the darkest parts of my journey,

my wife is the one who encouraged me and told me, look, you, you, you, you've done this for two decades. Like you've run a business for so long. You will get through this and things are hard. And, um, cause I was like, at one point I'm like, I can't, I can't make enough money to support us. Like I need to find a real job, quote unquote real job. And she was like, no, she's like, you're fine. Like you'll be fine. I believe in. And then that plus just like showing my kids, even the, you know,

like conceptually they're not really there yet. Like my oldest is eight, my youngest is three, my middle is still be five. And, um, conceptually they're not there like, Oh, dad's really persevering and working hard, but like the, the not giving upside of things and the talking through ideas. And again, just kind of like showing them what hard work and good work looks like. Those are the things that really, that really get me through and, and showing them that like,

you don't need to like follow the crowd or whatever. Right? Like you don't have to do what everybody says. My dad's a boomer and he was really confused when I started my own business. He's like, why don't you get a job and have a 401k and a, and health insurance. And I told him that dad, I have to do this. Like I can't, I can't work for somebody the rest of my life and hate my job. I just, I can't be that. And he didn't get it, but he supported it. And I think now he gets it because like I able to support a family and I want my kids to see that even if like when they're 20 and they're

like, I just want to do this thing that seems completely foreign to me. I know that they will have gotten that from me. Right? Like they, I've set that example for them. And so it, it really is my family, you know, a family comes first. I think that's just something I constantly think about and say. I love it. And I really, I think maybe yes, you feel like your kids are just conceptually not there yet, but I can say as growing up as a entrepreneur as kid with my parents hustling and you know, seeing them design things and late nights and yeah,

I think that really shapes you as a person and it teaches you, like you say, perseverance and resilience and later in your life, when you want to do all this cool stuff, you're like, Oh, you know, this is what it takes. It's okay. Yeah. Something I think about too is like, you know, we're not doing summer camp. Like we're just keeping the kids home. And I think about how little time, once they're in school full time, like how little time we really have with them.

And so my business is enabling me to get like essentially bonus time with my kids. And again, that's there are days where I feel like I wish they were in summer camp, you know, like kids are tough and when they're bored, they get rammy and whatever. Yeah. Most of the time. Yeah, right. It, the, the days are long, but the years are short, they say. And, uh, but I know I'll, I'll look back on this and be very happy that I got that bonus time with them. And hopefully they'll be too, right?

I'm not shipping them off to some camp where some bored teenagers have to take care of them. They'll be spending time with mom and dad. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's really special. And, you know, I think you also touched on something earlier around your dad, not understanding what you were doing. And I think what one does is you shift the mirrors of the world in the sense of what is acceptable,

what other people see as the acceptable mirrors for themselves and how we shape society. We all kind of shifting those mirrors and like what we see as is okay to do in the world for each other all the time. So I think it's beautiful that you can do that for your kids, shape your life in your way and live your truth. That's the most important thing What we're here to do. So, um, I'm curious. So like a year from now, where do you,

where do you see yourself going? Um, I know last time you spoke, you were kind of busy with your branding and website and it looks awesome. Gosh, a year from now, my oldest will probably be old enough to like watch the littles, uh, thinking in, in, in terms of that, but I'm working on a couple of big things and kind of big shifts right now kind of vis-a-vis the rebrand uh and so a year from now i i hope my hope is that i will be able to write more content like, someone asked me what my dream job is, right?

And it's like, I want to help people and I want to get paid to write. I like, I love writing and creating content. And if I could just like monetize my content and like that be my sole income, that would be amazing. But you know, I think it's, I think it's really, I think I'm struggling with this question because I like what I'm doing right now. Like, and I want more of that, right?

Yeah. More of that at this time next year, right? Where I'm like helping people work through problems. I am, I, it's really timely that we're having this conversation this week because on Sunday night, I started my next book and it's like I've written five, six, depending on how you count them books and they all have like some code in them because like I'm from the web development and software development world and this one is going to be different.

It's going to be like an actual, hopefully helpful book for a broader audience. I spent some time figuring out what that means and what that looks like. And so hopefully by this time next year, the book will be out. Uh, though I don't want to rush it. I always, you know, I always rush things. So I don't want to rush it, but I think a year is funny to write this book that I have in mind. And so hopefully that's out and I'm, I'm helping more solopreneurs realize what I realized without having to have a panic attack or like some other like life changing event where

they have, you know, you hear these, you hear these stories. It's like, yeah, I was doing everything myself and then I burned out and then I spent a week in the hospital and I'm like, Oh, I right. All right. Well, let's not. We don't have to do that part. Right. Yeah. And I know that, like, I was telling my youngest yesterday, don't run on these bleachers at my son's baseball game. And she ignored me and then she slipped and she whacked her head. And I'm like, what are we not going to do anymore? And she's like, run on the bleachers.

And so, like, I know, like getting hurt, like pain is a great teacher, but like we can avoid the pain and just learn from other people's experiences. Uh, and that, that's ultimately my goal is, is that help more solar preneur parents learn to walk on the bleachers without having to whack their head on them first. Yeah, I know. We don't, We definitely don't need any more fools and you know, boo-boos in that way. I think life's tough as it is. We try to complicate things as humans. So that's super exciting. Do you keep us in touch in terms of the timeline? And with Friday Feels, we'd love to celebrate the launch of that for you as well. And on the topic of launching things and

sharing content, I do want to give a quick shout out to our partners RiversideFM and RSS.com and say a big thank you to them for making these conversations possible and to be heard, to be created, to be recorded with good quality and yeah just to be able to share the message out there. So for those who are podcasters like us and maybe keen to live stream or just have cool meetings that are transcribed and and keen to be quick and efficient in making content and putting it out there, check out Riverside FM and then also check out RSS.com. I'm really privileged to be able to speak to Joe today who's very involved in out RSS.com. I'm really privileged to be able to speak to Joe today,

who's very involved in the RSS.com space. And you can tell us a little bit more about what you do with them actually. Yeah. I, so, I mean like my, if we look at my timeline for the, the niching down or niching down, right. It was like web developer for a long time, right? Like from 14 to like 35, I was a web developer pretty much only, uh, then I launched a podcast. I launched a podcast in 2016 that got pretty popular pretty quickly. And a lot of people were like, Hey Joe, how do you, how do you launch a podcast? How do you monetize a podcast? And I thought that would be my, my niche forever and ever. Amen.

The pandemic happened and a lot of people started also doing the, how to launch a podcast thing. And I'm like, you know, how do I differentiate myself? And so that's when I moved into solopreneurs and solopreneur parents, I'm still like number one in Google for podcast coach. If you Google that. and solopreneur parents. I'm still like number one in Google for podcast coach. If you Google that. But the point of this whole story is that I have been around the block as far as podcast hosts go.

I've tried so many and when I was approached by Ben and Alberto of RSS.com a couple of years ago now about being, uh, a content creator for them and an evangelist for them. I said yes pretty quickly because I saw, first of all, Alberto is Italian and a programmer. Like, I feel like I vibe pretty good with Alberto. Um, and, uh, and I could see their dedication to not only podcasters, but to the tech and to making it as easy as possible, as low barrier as possible.

And that's just like a mission I love. And so I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't be wearing this hat. I wouldn't be there evangelist if I didn't truly believe in their product. And, uh, I, I really think it's the best podcast hosting platform for most people. Uh, and it's, I mean, it's really important that I say for most people, there's like a couple of features that you need this or that, right? There's probably someone else, but like if you want to easily and affordably

distribute your podcast, I don't think there's anybody better than RSS.com. Yeah, I can echo that as well, you know, and of course they are partners, so it's wonderful to have them on board. And that's why we chose them in the first place to, to go with, you know, when I remember starting your happy hour and we had no clue what we were doing. We were fumbling around in the dark and RSS.com just made sense. So, yeah, thank you so much. Thanks for sharing all of that. And on a quick little segment as well while we're on the shout out space, we do this thing called the People, Places and Spaces and every week we pick a person or a cool platform in the world that we feel have the feels. And this week I want to give a shout out to a space called A Small World that I stumbled

upon via a friend and it's a really, really cool community. I've met the most amazing people, genuine conversations, amazing connections in person and online and they're hosting cool events around the world. You can post your trips as you travel and meet up with people and yeah just I think what they've created is really a wonderful space for people to connect and there are a lot of solopreneurs on there so everyone is kind of doing their thing and holding space for each other so a big shout out to a small world thanks for bringing your feels to the world and then i wanted to quickly move into a section called the gems which is like

our things of the week that we might have learned or what that we feel gratitude for or anything that's come up for you that you want to share so So I'll go and you can share if you want. But this last week has just been super special. I'm working on a production with a friend here in France called Be Live. Our first production under this umbrella is called Be Live Studio and it's a show. And we are all about recording and it's a show and we are all about recording artists, emerging artists live in studio in a recording studio here in Paris and we've been working with the most amazing little film crew who have just graduated most of them so they fresh on the scene and we're just learning so much and we had our first testing day and it's been really wonderful to be part of a new production

bring creativity to the front and yeah, celebrate music and musical community and yeah, we'll definitely be putting that out as a podcast too. So stay tuned for all of that coming, but that was my jam for the week and yeah, what was yours? Awesome. I have a, can I do like a digital and an analog? I'll make, I'll, I'll compress them for you. The, the digital is related to my book. I'm like AI hesitant, right?

I don't want AI to replace my brain as, as the creative vessel. Um, but in writing my book again, I, you know, I shared that I'm a little nervous with the positioning. I want to make sure that it's right and it's different and it's useful. Uh, and I read the book, write useful books by Rob Fitzpatrick. I highlighted and made notes. And then I bed those highlights and notes into Claude. Uh, and I said, I'm working on a book. Here's everything I have so far. I want you to ask me questions and rip it apart until we have an actual good

concept. And boy, it worked really. It asked me it like it worked so well that I was kind of getting annoyed by its pushback, which is good. Uh, like that, that was the goal. Um, and like we landed on it, I think a great concept. So really, I it's maybe my favorite use of AI so far. And then in the analog world, I'm a, I'm the president of the home and school, home and school association for my kids' school. It's basically like the PTA.

And we had our teacher appreciation luncheon yesterday for the end of the year. And I'm just so grateful, you know, being a solopreneur, especially one who works online we had our teacher appreciation luncheon yesterday for the end of the year and I'm just so grateful, you know being a solopreneur, especially one who works online can be Tough and lonely sometimes and I am very grateful for that community and that I've had the opportunity to you know, kind of head up the home and school association and Yesterday was the last event for our current hospitality chair. She's finished her term and I think is, is exhausted. She did a great job and I'm just very grateful for the people that I,

I get to work with and the fact that I get to work so closely with the teachers at my kid's school, it's, it's a really rewarding. So that's, those are my digital and analog gems for you. Oh, I love it. And yeah, thanks for sharing both of them. That's those are really amazing gems and I agree. I've really gotten to know chat GPT a lot better and it's gotten to know me a lot better in a lot of ways. And it's very useful. And I think if you use it with great intention and lightness and love, you know, it can only really help you be smarter,

play more and work smarter in the world, which is what we're trying to do. And for everyone else who's listening out there, I'm wondering what you're feeling about this topic of in the mirrors of the world and just being reflecting on where you are placing your energy, whether you are playing, whether you are working smartly and maybe you are thinking about being a solo premier but you're hesitant, definitely reach out to Joe and I'm sure you'd love to connect and we'll

be sharing your details on the socials. And before we do say goodbye, I have one more question for you. And that is something we do called the stack. And that is our reading list that we like to share with our audience. And yeah, this one is just on the fly, a book that you might have want to read still that's maybe lying in your pile, or maybe that you would like to recommend to our audience out there. I want to ask you what is in your stack? Ooh. All right. Well the, I'll give you the last two I read and then my, my sack for what I want to read is so big,

but the last two I read were the anxious generation by Jonathan height. It's about how, uh, we have shifted from a play-based childhood to a screen-based childhood and the awful, awful effects it's having on our kids, which is something I've been hesitant of generally. But now as a parent, I am thinking a lot about, and I just think that this book provides an amazing framework, as well as some scary stats that really reinforce what they're talking about. So, uh, I can't recommend that book strongly enough. Uh,

and because I read that I needed a palette cleanser, uh, like, you know, something that wasn't so heavy. Uh, and I read Fahrenheit one 82, which is Mark Hoppus's memoir memoir, the basis for blink one 82. They are my first favorite band and still my favorite band. And just, it was the first time I ever read a memoir where the things the author was talking about, like I could map to my life. I'm like, like he's talking about something and I'm like, Oh, this is what I was doing on that day. Right. It was very weird,

but super cool. And I'm a huge fan. I think Mark Hoppus is like a legitimately good, genuine dude. Uh, and so this was a great book. What's on my stack for next is a tiny experiments by Ann Lori. Look, look, look, look, like, like, I'm, I think I'm really butchering that. It's cool. We'll put the link in there. Yeah. But this, this one seems really good,

about kind of how you can try these little things to move yourself closer to a goal. It feels like very atomic habits ask. Um, but I, I, I like this idea. I love little experiments myself. And so, uh, she's also speaking at a conference I'm going to next week. And so I'd like to get that read before I go see her speak. Nice. Okay.

Oh, thank you. Thanks for sharing those. Those are amazing. We definitely going to be adding them to the stack, which is on our website. So for whoever wants to go and navigate there and check out all the books that get mentioned on this podcast, please do so. And yeah, good, happy reading in the next week with tiny experiments. I don't know if I shared this when we first spoke in the preview, but I think that's such a cool idea. Like having the stack. Like very cool. I like that a lot.

That's awesome. That's awesome. Thank you. Yeah. And I hope people are reading out there. I'm such a fan of reading. I think we are doing less and less of it, but I think it's also something that will never fade.

You know, so people need to keep writing and reading and the more AI does the mundane things, the more we can be creative in that space and absorb that, that creativity. So, thank you. And thank you so much for coming on today, for sharing, just for being so open and, and honest in your journey and for what you do in the world. We just, we love your fields and yeah, please keep, keep doing it. So thank you so much. This was, this was an absolute pleasure. Can I share? I, uh, I listened to an interview with Ryan holiday, the stoicism guy. He basically said, you know, the question was like,

how do you stay positive in the political climate that we're in right now, at least in the United States? And he said, he doesn't really read the news. He's like, we have so many amazing books from ancient philosophers to modern philosophers and interesting stories. There's so much to read. I don't want to waste my time reading something that's going to be obsolete or out of date the next day. And I just thought that was, I like immediately took the news app off of my home screen and replaced it with the Kindle app. Um,

I just think that's such a great way to think about how we spend our time and, and what we're spending our time reading. So I just, I really wanted to share that. Yeah, I love that. I love that. Good goosebumps. And, uh, I really appreciate that because I stopped listening to the news and reading the newspaper a long, long time ago, just because it affected me so much. I'm very sensitive like that. And so my life changed so much and I feel like I stay in the light. And I kind of always hear what's going on.

You know, you get the gist of what's going on in the world. But yeah, there's so much beautiful content and light out there. So happy reading to everyone who's listening. And yeah, and to you Joe, I really hope that you have a wonderful rest of your Friday feels week and weekend. And yeah, let me get to chat to you again soon on one of the subsequent seasons of your happy hour. Sounds great. Thank you so much for having me. This was a lot of fun. 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 are in it together. So keep connecting, empowering and inspiring this week and of course keep it raw and real. Until next time.