Well, Now What?!

AH SO EXCITED for you all to hear today's guest. Ben Kieleskinski is many things but is mainly a digital creator, entrepreneur, and explorer. Ben is the owner of clothing brand Widly Apparel and is a Tik Tok creator mostly known for his adventurous solo exploration videos. He's grown his community to over 1.4 million followers on Tik Tok. His videos reach millions of views, his most popular hiking video has over 14 million views. Ben’s also from Vancouver and a lot of his videos are him hiking in Vancouver, going on camping trips, fixing old overalls, or writing to his pen pal. Overall a mix of different exploring and creating videos, but the message is always so positive and inspiring. Personally, I know Ben’s made me want to explore my own city more and really appreciate how beautiful of a place we live in.

I absolutely LOVE his videos, they always bring a smile to my face and I know others all over the world appreciate his videos so much.

In today's episode, we talk about his childhood and growing up doing a lot of solo traveling, biking New Zealand, his post-grad struggles and figuring out what he wanted to do with his life, learning to love to be by himself, and the ins and outs of his video creation and how he feels about growing a huge audience. We also end the episode with some fun rapid fire questions such as his absolute favourite spots in Vancouver, what's on his bucket list and what most people don't know about him. Hope you enjoy :)

Watch Ben's videos! 

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If you know me then you know I’m OBSESSED WITH The Vampire Diaries and the spin-off show The Originals. Today’s guest actually got to work on both shows! She used to write the VD recap’s after every episode and was a writer & producer on The Originals.

Carina Mackenzie is a TV writer, producer, and show runner. She is most known for writing for The Flash & The Originals as well as is the creator of the CW show, Roswell New Mexico.

Carina is such a powerhouse and her writing journey is absolutely incredible. She shares about all the ups and downs of being the industry - as it is quite difficult to “make it” as a TV writer. She also does give some great advice and tips on how to succeed and network and really encourages young writers to utilize their social media presence to connect with others in the industry. She notes that there is a lot of work to be done in terms of diversity and inclusiveness in the industry, but there are conversations slowly happening! Carina is super transparent about her journey in this episode and I really appreciated her honesty. We also end the ep with some fun rapid-fire questions! Hope you enjoy!

Carina on IG

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I am joined by Cameron Field! Cameron is a dancer, actor & digital creator. You may recognize him on social media by his amazing fashion sense, delicious food account, or youtube videos with his best friend, Maddie Ziegler.

He is 20 years old and is originally from Australia but is now living in Vancouver, Canada to pursue his dancing and acting career. I absolutely love his work and I'm obsessed with his food page. 

Cameron has traveled and lived all over from Australia to LA to Ottawa and now Vancouver. We really go in-depth about his experience living in other countries at such a young age, feeling lonely and what he does when he feels down, where he hopes to see his acting & dancing career, and how making new friends in a city can be extremely difficult as well as finding his confidence. We also end the episode with some fun rapid-fire questions like his fav vegan restaurants, his ideal morning routine, and his current fav items at the moment. Cameron is so lovely and I had a lot of fun learning more about him!

Follow Cameron! Follow his food IG @fieldsfeeds

@wellnowwhatpodcast on IG. 

Wonder what it's like to be a Tiktok Star or how people actually make a living off of Tiktok?

This week's guest is Lydia Keating. Lydia is an LA-based writer, performer, and digital creator.

Her writing has appeared in the LA Weekly, NPR member station: WCAI, and, most prestigiously, on her own personal Instagram page (@lydialoo12). She is also a former DIV 1 Rower from Yale University. This girl is EDUCATED, FUNNY & ATHLETIC. 

One of Lydia's first videos that I found on Tiktok was vlog-style video where she prepping to run a marathon and she took her audience with her through each step of the way. She often posts storytimes, vlogs, fit checks, and running videos. She's amassed over 1.1 million followers on Tiktok and has created a huge community of followers as she likes to call them, "fruit gang". I'm obsessed with her videos and love how much positivity and light she brings to the app. 

In this episode, we chat about her days in college as an athlete, becoming comfortable in her own skin after transitioning from being a full-time athlete, how she got started on Tiktok, how people make money off the app, brand partnerships, tips on getting started on running, and how she's built an online business for herself.

Follow Lydia on Tiktok! 

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Today's guest is miss Claire Hacker. Claire is currently a psych student focusing on trauma healing and the founder of the up-and-coming brand, Okay To Rest. If you’re from Vancouver especially, you’ve definitely seen her Instagram - she creates the comfiest and most stylish sweatsuits and accessories. Launching it only in 2020, she has completely sold out of her last two capsules. She started it with the belief that no one should ever feel guilt when resting their mind, body or soul. 

Within the height of what feels like a major “hustle/grind” movement that often seeks to glorify constant strain and burnout, it can be so easy to fall into a self-loathing cycle of guilt and exhaustion.

Claire is here to remind you that, especially in the height of a global pandemic, your responses to stress and uncertainty, whatever they may look like, are completely natural and VALID!

I absolutely LOVE the mission of her company and I had so much fun chatting with Claire. We talk about a range of different topics from disordered eating, the importance of rest and talking about mental health, running a business with no experience, imposter syndrome, and where she sees Okay To Rest in the future. I think we even end the episode by talking about the Twilight soundtrack hahaha. Very on brand for me. Hope you enjoy! :)

Shop Okay To Rest. Follow her on IG @okaytorest 

Sponsored by MYK SILK - Use code WELLNOWWHAT15 for 15% off :) My favs are the silk pillowcases, eyemasks, and hair scrunchies!! myksilk.com

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Today's guest is the incredible, Sophie Beren.

Even though I had just met Sophie, she was honestly one of the kindest and most genuine people I have met. She's such an amazing conversationalist (ha pun intended), that it truly felt like two friends talking rather than an interview. 

Sophie is the Founder & CEO of The Conversationalist, the go-to destination to amplify Gen Z voices. The Conversationalist community and content platform empowers young people everywhere to have conversations that matter. Sophie was recently named "25 Under 25" by Social Entrepreneur's Magazine and “21 Womxn Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2021.” Her social impact journey began at The University of Pennsylvania where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and her Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Leadership. Sophie is dedicated to breaking open echo chambers and unifying the world, one conversation at a time.

In this episode, we talk about her journey growing up as the only Jewish person in her school in Kansas, the transition period to college, starting the conversationalist, experiencing major imposter syndrome, the effects of cancel culture, and her new platform Geneva. 

JOIN The Conversationalist on Geneva!!

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HEY! It's me serving you a short but sweet episode to make your Monday a little better! 

I dive into a few life and work updates, what I've been up to, some random Monday motivation, and some thoughts I have over body image.

I hope to include more solo episodes in the future, so please let me know if you like these!

Follow me on IG: @wellnowwhatpodcast.

Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcast. 

xx

Sav

I feel like Nic is the person I strive to be. She's funny, creative, and can take really good care of your plants. 

So, who is Nic Mercado?

Nic is currently the Director of Strategic Operations at Social House. If you're unfamiliar with Social House, it is a creative strategy group based in LA. Their mission is to replace traditional social media with cultural dialogue and memorable experiences that resonate and inspire. They bring the world’s most influential brands to life, some of their clients include, Pepsi, Playboy, 7up, Sonos, and Urban Decay.

Starting her career with Vitaminwater, she worked with brands such as Microsoft, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures and NBC Universal. Her main goal at Social House is to develop fresh creative concepts, keep up with the ever-changing social rat race, and to ultimately drive results that matter.

If you're in the marketing/social realm - this is the perfect episode for you. Nic talks about all the different kinds of paths you can go into in marketing, how to make that leap from social coordinator to strategist to then a director role, working for large corporations vs. agencies, creating viral campaigns, what it means to be resourceful, and how social media has played an impact in her personal & professional life. We then end the episode with some fun rapid-fire questions such as who are the 3 most important people in her life, what she dislikes about her job, advice she'd give to young Nic, and things that you may not know about her. 

Follow @nicmercado on IG and Tiktok.

Follow @socialhouseinc on IG.

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Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcast! THANK YOU <3

By now you may have seen Sarah Everard’s name floating around on your social feeds. On March 3, Sarah went missing while walking home from a friend’s house. Nine days later, it was confirmed that she had been murdered, her alleged killer an active police officer. Her disappearance and the week-long search that ensued before her body was found, sent shockwaves throughout the world, sparking widespread conversations about women’s safety in 2021. I was absolutely heartbroken when I heard the news and realized what lengths we go to ensure our safety and how many other females have gone through something similar. 

According to a recent poll, 80 percent of all U.K. women have been sexually harassed and in Canada, half of all Canadian women have been victims of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16. These staggering figures are but a snippet of today’s realities as women or non-binary people. Yet within conversations surrounding Sarah, victim blamers and misogynists have still found ways to take up space.

With that in mind, today I am joined by Maya Siegel.

She the Founder and Executive Director of Space to Speak, an organization dedicated to giving youth a leading voice in the sexual violence prevention movement. Under her leadership, Space to Speak helped raise over $118,000 for survivors experiencing domestic violence during COVID in 2020. In addition to her work with Space to Speak, she is also a web designer, strategy consultant, campus outreach manager, and full-time college student. Her work has been recognized in the Washington Post, HuffPost, MTV, and the NYT Upfront.

In this episode, we talk about her personal experience with sexual assault and why she started Space to Speak, realizing your worth and what you deserve, how to become a better ally to a sexual assault survivor, what men can do to better educate themselves, and how to approach intimacy after being sexually assaulted. I really valued my conversation with Maya today and I hope you learn something new. My heart goes out to all those sexual assault survivors - you're not alone.

Please seek out professional help if you're in need.

Space to speak: https://www.spacetospeak.org/

Maya: @maya.siegel

@wellnowwhatpodcast

I am joined by Ben and Mackenzie Sehl, husband-and-wife team who founded KOTN with their co-founder Rami Helali. The inception of the Toronto-based clothing brand started because three friends wanted to be able to buy wardrobe basics that didn’t affect their values (because it seemed you always had to give in to something). When they initially set out to rebuild the Egyptian cotton industry, they didn’t realize how fragmented it truly was. Nevertheless, Ben, Mackenzie and Rami have managed to create a brand of sustainable, high-quality cotton basics that are also affordable, while ultimately starting a movement that aims to improve the quality of life for the people of the Nile Delta in Egypt—including their farmers, weavers, and factory owners.

In this episode, we chat about how the two met, balancing working together 24/7, the struggles and challenges they've faced as young entrepreneurs, where they see the future of fast fashion, and why sustainability is so important to them. We also end the episode with some fun rapid-fire questions such as what they enjoy the most and what they dislike about their jobs, their fav travel spots, and their fav KOTN items. 

Check out @kotn, @mackenzieyeates and @benjaminsehl

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