Under The Influencer

This week: Exploring Busch Gardens with J.P. Taylor, the park’s manger of promotions and partnerships. Max's middle school girlfriend dragging him on Montu. Phoenix Rising. The Busch Gardens R&D labs. Riding the Serengeti Flier after fooding and wining. Lorikeet Landing. TikTok influencers ruining the alligator experience. Selling fun for a living. The original dueling Gwazi. Hidden park easter eggs. Cocktails with the giraffes. Free beer! Howl-O-Scream is turning 25. Haunted corn fields. Zombie zoom meetings. Twerking down the Pride parade. A port-a-potty problem. Baby Orangutans. Climbing a coaster.

This week: Conceptualizing an emo cabaret. Mashing 90's emo music with the roaring 20's. Getting Scarlet Fever. Don't touch the dancers. Thewine list at the strip club. The art of the tease. Convincing our mom to take us to a Vegas burlesque show. Being a Coyote Ugly girl. Wagon wheel watusi. Behind the scenes of Miss America. Working the auto show circuit. Talking trash in the DnD discord chat. Max's karaoke room tantrums over acoustics. A very balanced birthday solstice. Singing at biker bars.

This week: A look back at growing up as Universal kids in the 90's. sleep aids. Pre-ride line lore. Riding Back to the Future pregnant. Risking it all to ride Kong-frontation. The meta-movie making experience of Earthquake. The pure camp of the Jaws boat guides. Watching the Twister "ride". Solving mysteries with Jessica Fletcher. The pageantry of Poseidon's Fury. Being the wet kid. The sideways stuck-o-saur. Compies. Chasing the high of first riding The Hulk. Don’t mess with Brendan Fraser. The dawn of Epic Universe.

This week: We welcome Dr. Kanika Tomalin, CEO and founder of the Foundation for a Heathy St. Pete and former deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. Shaping the story rather than just writing about it. Making the leap into political life. Overseeing a rapidly growing city. Building the Pier. Looking to St. Pete as a beacon of health. Growing up before St. Pete was the “it girl.” Eradicating the disparities of healthcare in the community. Publishing a cookbook as a covid-collab with local restaurants. Terry would go. Ankle sock drama.

This week: Airline Travel. The world's most beautiful McDonald's. Wanting to move everywhere we travel. The de-glamorizing of airline travel. The buddy pass dress code. Reclining your seat is pick-me behavior. Having to pee in a window seat. It's ok to say dam as kid as long as it's about Hoover. The c*nty Southwest staff. Airport safety snacks. Max's medicine for motion sickness. Sam's online haters. The ever-changing rules of the TSA. Tampa airport does it right. Getting a drunk guy kicked off the flight. Vacation friends. When to unpack.

This week: A look back at Enterprise Village, Finance Park and school field trips past. A kiki at Kissin Cuzzins. Learning how to write checks. Excel spreadsheet wizards. Being assigned a personality at Finance Park. The Sims cheat codes. Waiting 2 hours for a song to download on Napster. The Arch Deluxe. A visit to the farm. Getting lost in St Augustine. Participation ribbons on field day. Trouble sleeping at Space Camp. The line for the water fountain. Sour Patch Oreos.

This week: We sit down and chat with St. Pete bar owner and city council candidate, Pete Boland. A corn nut crisis. Max’s 2002 yearbook omission. School nightmares. The cursed block. Reimagining Williams Park. Growing up in a flood zone neighborhood and running to represent it. The Shore Acres Facebook group. Hoping for better turnout for local elections. Finding political common ground. Working the early shift at the Islander market. The YMCA glow-up. How to run for public office.

This week: How to act at work. The liminal space of restaurant offices. Gay trivia! Calendar invites used in marriage. The art of dovetailing. Is low hanging fruit good or bad? Keeping the Zoom camera on. Small talk on Teams. Self check-out. The shared microwave. The flavor of Diet Coke. Managing your own notifications. Breaking down silos. Post vacation small talk.

This week: We sit down and tidy up with professional organizer Diane Crespo. Mandatory dance recitals in our family. Sam’s Julia Styles era. American Stage in the Park. Goldfever at St. Pete High. Learning people’s stories through their clutter. The perils of fast fashion. Vacation alter-egos. Auntie Anne’s staffing issues. Working in retail. Getting stuck in the back rooms of International Mall. Who says you have to fold your clothes? The middle clothes on the chair. The stanky drawer smell. A sock folding debate. Decanting snacks. Max’s Oreo birthday cake.

This week: A look back at some of the "once-in-a-generation" we've lived through. Eclipse mania. The Beyhive. The Tortured Podcast Department review of Taylor's album. The double brood awakens. Searching tiktok for explanations. Dunkin's spiked iced coffees. Our secret Ovaltine addictions. Apple's peer pressure marketing. The Y2K apocalypse gave us the best year in pop music. Catherine Zeta Jones' laser dance. The Mayan calender's end. The aliens that Sam thinks she can take in a fight. When the Virgin Mary appeared on an office building off US-19.