Better Off Said

17: It's not very often that a one-night college fling turns into a 2-1/2 year marriage and 9 years of dating. According to "He's Just Not That Into You", it sounds like Nikki and her husband, Thor, are the exception, not the rule. Get to know the dynamic between Nikki and Thor's relationship in this episode as Nikki tries to extract all the feelings that go through a guy's head when deciding they want to date someone and eventually propose to them. Plus, what guys think during the emotional rollercoaster called pregnancy.

We also talk about:

• The details of our first encounter and how we met
• Our opinions on dating apps and how we have never used them
• Moving in together before marriage
• What it's like being parents

Nikki's Product Rec:

My pantry storage containers that are thee SHIT

OXO Good Grips

Becca's Product Rec: 

Electric Standing Desk

To ask us a question, suggest a topic or just say hi, DM us @betteroffpod or email [email protected].  

Feel free to creep on your hosts a little further, too @thenikkibutler & @bbooks. Thank you for your attention and support!

#16: When we started this podcast, we leveraged the angle of both being 20-somethings but in two different stages of life and offering those two perspectives. We laughed when only a couple of episodes in, Becca had matched with a guy on Hinge, and she was smitten. Enter, her now boyfriend, Parker! Parker joins Becca today to uncover the details of what it's like dating through an app and how it was successful for them! They go into their first date and the special surprise Jojo left for them, meeting each other's families and friends and... wait for it... MOVING IN TOGETHER! That's right, Parker moves in this weekend and they'll go into their feelings like Drake. 

Nikki's Products:

Children's Books with Black Protagonists

"Snowy Day"

"A Is For Activism" 

Becca's Product: 

Bougainvillea from The Home Depot - only $15 each!

To ask us a question, suggest a topic or just say hi, visit @betteroffpod or email [email protected].  

Feel free to creep on your hosts a little further, too @thenikkibutler & @bbooks. Thank you for your attention and support!

#15: It's been two weeks since we've last come through to your AirPods, and we couldn't be happier to be back. It's been a heavy week for all of us. Coronavirus is still here, numbers are actually rising in Arizona, but there's an even more important movement happening, #BlackLivesMatter, where we are fighting for justice of police brutality toward the black community. We go through some of our learnings, realizations, how we're progressing forward, creating a new normal and resources you can look to to educate yourself and others.

We also recap an controversial racist comment from a prominent Arizona magazine that circulated the internet and created a shitstorm (for lack of a better word) on their Instagram.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned in this episode:

Video On Argument About Black-On-Black Crime

Books:

1. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
2. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
3. A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
4. Caught by Marie Gottschalk
5. White Fragility by 
6. So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
7. The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
8. Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey
9. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Movies:

1. 13th
2. The House I Live In
3. Roots
4. 12 Years A Slave
5. Selma
6. The Hate U Give

Podcasts About Anti-Racism:

1. NPR Interview with Former Chief of Police in Camden, New Jersey
2. Code Switch
3. Still Processing
4. Come Through with Rebecca Carroll
5. Pod Save the People

Children's Books:

1. Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment by Parker Curry
2. A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
3. I Am Enough by Grace Byers
4. Amazing Grace
5. The Skin I’m In: A First Look at Racism by Pat Thomas
6. Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o
7. The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
8. Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester

Organizations to Support:

1. Your local Black Lives Matter Chapter
2. The ACLU
3. Color Of Change
4. The Innocence Project
5. Cure Violence
6. NAACP

To ask us a question, suggest a guest or just say hi, visit @betteroffpod or email [email protected].  

Feel free to creep on your hosts a little further, too @thenikkibutler & @bbooks. Thank you for your attention and support!

#14: Karie Johnson is the owner of barre3 Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, two fitness studios here in the Greater Phoenix Area. Karie takes us through what it's actually like investing in a franchise, telling us the actual number and more importantly, telling us her success story. To start the interview, Karie walks Becca and Nikki through a much needed 3-minute breath exercise before diving into Karie's story, barre3 and what she eats in a day to look and feel great!

We also cover:

• How Karie pivoted from teaching to investing into barre3
• What it's actually like being a franchisee working with a franchisor
• How much the initial investment is to open a barre3 studio
• The barre3 workout and how it's different from others
• The four underdeveloped areas of our bodies in today society and how barre3 "reverses daily life"
• The five core values of barre3 and how they align with Karie's own values
• The importance of community involvement
• Adjusting during COVID-19 and where Karie, her studios and staff are now
• What Karie eats in a day
• Tips from Karie on balancing motherhood, marriage, business and a healthy lifestyle!

Karie is offering one free virtual class to Better Off Said listeners! Just email or DM @barre3scottsdalepv and mention Better Off Said. 

You can also click HERE to see their schedule and book a class.

Nikki's Product Of The Week: PARACHUTE Linen Bedding

Becca's Product Of The Week: Ann Taylor Wide Leg Jeans 

To connect with Karie, click here.
 

To follow barre3 Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, click here.
 

To ask us a question, suggest a guest or just say hi, visit @betteroffpod or email [email protected].  
 

Feel free to creep on your hosts a little further, too @thenikkibutler & @bbooks. Thank you for your attention and support!

#13: Public relations is a hot topic. It feels very foreign to most businesses in the sense that they just don't know how to go about it! Lucky for all of you, today we are talking to Nicole Myden, a 20-year PR veteran and owner of The PR Concierge. In this episode, Nicole walks us through the do's and don'ts when it comes to pitching media, how to create your own rolodex (or media list), what to expect from hiring a PR pro or agency, and so much more. This episode is FULL of useful insights and tips so we definitely recommending taking notes on this one!

Nikki Product Of The Week: GLAMGLOW Illuminating Eye Cream
Becca Product Of The Week: Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier
 

To connect with Nicole, click here.

To follow The PR Concierge, click here.

To ask us a question, suggest a guest or just say hi, visit @betteroffpod or email [email protected].  

Feel free to creep on your hosts a little further, too @thenikkibutler & @bbooks. Thank you for your attention and support!

#12: Today we are joined by Kristen Forgione, Creator and Principal Designer of THELIFESTYLEDCO, Design Firm and Retail Shops specializing in minimal and modern aesthetic called Organic Desert Living. Talk about a conversation that could have gone on forever! She is so easy to talk to and very open about everything.

Kristen gets candid with us about how she started her sought-after interior design firm and the importance of naming her aesthetic (enter: #organicdesertliving). We get into how she built a loyal team and the bad apples she came across along the way. Kristen also touches on how she realized adding additional revenue streams was crucial to giving herself more time with family and eventually helped her continue to pay her employees through the pandemic.

Among other things, we talk about strategically spending on credit cards, the effectiveness of hashtags and we meet Linda, her new corgi rescue!

Products We Mentioned:

Nikki Product Of The Week: Reclaimed Wood Console Table

Becca Product Of The Week: Ninja Foodie

To connect with Kristen (she responds to every DM!), click here.
 

To follow THELIFESTYLEDCO, click here.

To ask us a question, suggest a guest or just say hi, visit @betteroffpod or email [email protected].
 

Feel free to creep on your hosts a little further, too @thenikkibutler & @bbooks. Thank you for your attention and support!

#11: Today we welcome Owner and Lead Wedding Planner of Some Like It Classic, Kayla Bellitt, to the podcast and oh boy do we feel for her right now! The hospitality industry is the first industry, and the hardest hit, by the coronavirus, and Kayla shares it all with us. From endless clients calls, vendor contract re-negotiation, the loss of future revenue, Kayla has become a therapist and lawyer on top of wedding planner. We also talk about how she has known what she's wanted to do since she was 16 years old and the steps she took to buy out her boss at just 22 years old. She is truly an example to young, aspiring entrepreneurs.

Here are some fun facts about Kayla:

1. She hates being hugged 
2. She grew up in Colorado 
3. She is an a enneagram 5 
4. She loves to bake

Products We Mentioned:
Nikki Product Of The Week: Supergoop Invincible Setting Powder SPF 45
Becca Product Of The Week: Use code BBOOKS20 for 20% Gorjana jewelry for Mother's Day 

To connect with Kayla, click here.

 
To follow Some Like It Classic, click here.

To ask us a question, suggest a guest or just say hi, visit @betteroffpod or email [email protected].

 
Feel free to creep on your hosts a little further, too @thenikkibutler & @bbooks. Thank you for your attention and support!

#10: We've hit the double digits in episodes! Hey, small milestones deserve attention too, right?

Today, we talk to Bryanna Casey, a seasoned makeup artist who co-owns Eleven Co Agency in Phoenix. Formerly known as the Phoenix Makeup Collective, Eleven Co Agency is an independent agency representing top talent in photography, hair and makeup. They specialize in editorial, bridal, print, commercial, and much more.

Prior to becoming a business owner, Bryanna has conquered prosthetics and effects makeup in film and TV and produced and managed makeup teams at numerous notable designer shows in New York, Paris, Milan and London Fashion Week. Whoa!

We talk about how to get signed with Eleven Co Agency, operating a business with a partner, working behind the scenes at Fashion Week, caring for your skin first, and so much more. This was a fun one! Enjoy!

Products We Mentioned:
Nikki Product Of The Week: Kat Von D Tattoo Liner
Becca Product Of The Week: Not Pot CBD Gummies
Unite Expanda Dust

To connect with Bryanna, click here.

 
To follow Eleven Co Agency, click here.

To check out Bryanna's YouTube Channel, click here.

To ask us a question, suggest a guest or just say hi, visit @betteroffpod or email [email protected].

 
Feel free to creep on your hosts a little further, too @thenikkibutler & @bbooks. Thank you for your attention and support!

#9: Today we talk to an Arizona ER Nurse, Chelsea Mune, who is working on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. She dives into what she is seeing at the hospital, how it's affecting her life at home and what you can do to help slow the spread and flatten the curve. Please stay safe!

For updates on coronavirus, visit John Hopkins University.

To connect with Chelsea, click here.

To ask us a question, suggest a guest or just say hi, visit @betteroffpod or email [email protected].

 
Feel free to creep on your hosts a little further, too @thenikkibutler & @bbooks. Thank you for your attention and support!

#8: In this episode of the Better Off Said Podcast, Nikki and Becca talk to one of Becca's college friends, Audree Lopez, better known as @simplyaudreekate. Audree is a fashion stylist and blogger in New York City and has an impressive resume of clients, including Alice + Olivia. She takes us through her journey of the unconvential path to moving to NYC after graduation with no job to pursue her love of fashion. We also go through how she manages her team and her blog and her step-by-step process of content creation.

To connect with Audree, click here.
 

To follow all her fun styling projects, click here.

For more information on her online course, click here.

To ask us a question, suggest a guest or just say hi, visit @betteroffpod or email [email protected].

 
Feel free to creep on your hosts a little further, too @thenikkibutler & @bbooks. Thank you for your attention and support!