Working from home is really difficult. It's a lot about sort of setting yourself up for success. So I think there are definitely things that you can do for me. It's about getting a routine, getting a schedule. I think the people that are able to grow and really build their community right now and like work really hard on it. If you have the time, now is the time to really invest in your Instagram, then I think some people will see some really good results right when we come out of this.
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Outspoken. Today, you're joined by journalists Amy and Kate Torber. On today's show, we're joined by the inspiring Courtney mangan. Courtney is the owner of Spin and Co, the Spin Studio network, and the creative director of James Cosmetics. She's also the voice behind the Pop Culture Club and The Spin Life. In this episode, the thirty three year old shares with us her secrets to working productively at home and how to stay positive in the.
Face of adversity.
So officially, Courtney, welcome to Outspoken again. Thank you so much for joining us with such short notice.
That's okay, thank you for having me.
So with all this crazy COVID nineteen stuff, going on. How are you dealing as a business owner.
I mean, it's it's a lot. It's very overwhelming, sort of just personally and as a business owner. You know, we keep getting notifications to our phone every day with all these outlandish headlines and it's scary and you know, not knowing how long it's going to last, I think is you know, that's obviously the biggest unknown, and that's one of the scariest things. And whether it's going to affect like your health, your family's health, your staff's health.
It's you know, it's a lot to deal with that. All you can do is try and figure it out as we go, and I think that's what everyone's doing, just to keep.
It a little bit lighter.
I know, for one, I'm running out of Netflix suggestions, and as a self invested pop culture at it, can you share with us what you've been watching.
Well, I think for me, it's like going back to the old comforts, So just those old faves you know that I know that I'm gonna love. So it's like Gray's Anatomy, Friends, the West Wing and that type stuff. But I have been watching that new Netflix true crime doco series called Tiger King have you heard of that?
Yes, I've watched some of it. It's so weird, isn't it.
Yeah. I felt like what was going on in the world here was crazy, but this is the next level. It's about like this crazy zoo owner that basically just has tigers everywhere in America in his home. It's like there's like murder mystery, like a whole bunch of stuff. It's crazy. I'm not to the end of it yet, but I'm hearing a lot of people saying that it's really good so so far what I've watched I would recommend, but also finding myself trying to do like more productive things.
I find that when I sit down and I binge watch things for long periods of days on end, it kind of makes me a little flat. And so I'm trying to avoid too much mindless watching like of TV because otherwise I just feel like it doesn't be in the greatest head. So I'm doing more productive things like podcasts where I'm learning something, or like books and things like that.
Are there any podcasts you'd recommend that people should be listening to besides of course Spinn and Co's podcast.
Well, Brene Brown has just launched her podcast, and she's done I think three episodes so far and she's recorded them all like right in the middle of what we're all dealing with. And Bretne Brown is just amazing at what she does for speaking about things to do with mental health. So I think that's a really productive podcast to listen to. And I also really like the Skinny Confidential him and her podcast, and I just think they
have great guests on about a bunch of things. It could be like about sex, or it could be about something spiritual, or it could be about health, it could be about makeup. They just have a wide range of topics and I find it really educational.
Have you listened to allta Ab Chatfield's new podcast it's called It's a Lot.
No, I haven't gotten to it. I have subscribed to them. I've got such a long list of things to get through at the moment, I.
Have to say.
I listened to a few episodes, and it is a lot.
It is.
It is sort of really it's.
So I love it. I will listen to it, but wow, they really go there with some of their love and relationship questions, to the point where I walked outside listening to it and I had to mute it because they started talking about I don't know, there's size and shape of men's appendages, and I was like, oh my god, I feel like this is too much to be publicly listening.
To check it.
Out, Yeah, definitely, I would recommend it. I was going to say, working at Spin and Co. There's you know, there's been so much talk about toilet paper thefts. On a lighter note, have you guys had any of your staff trying to take toilet paper or have you been tempted to take any toilet paper?
No, we haven't. We did have about a week and a half ago an issue because obviously we're going through more toilet paper than you would in your home with stuff, so we had to like go to all the different wholesales and we had to actually they had jacked the price up so bad. I was like, Wow, we've just spent hundreds of on a few rolls of toilet paper.
That's like crazy. And I did say to the stuff like, we know how many there are don't do anything crazy, But now we're all working from home, so they're left to their own devices with their toilet.
Paper, and so how are your staff going at home? I know I watch a lot of your Insta stories and I've seen the group's skype chats.
How is that going?
I think that, to be honest, I've always been like a really I guess I'm a micromanager, which sometimes has its good things and bad things, but it's I've always been like quite a hands on boss, and I think I have a pretty great relationship with my team, So I've always been able to stay like really close and connected to them, so that even in saying that, I've had to like really sit down and come up with a plan of action and how I'm going to make sure that all of them are engaged every day and
feeling like they're not in this alone. So I've done a few things. So obviously we do the daily Zoom meeting and that's just like a major thing I think most companies are doing at the moment. But we also have like a group chat on Facebook Messenger that we message throughout the day, and I kind of get everyone to take photos of their lunch and I'd like for lunch today, or like I'll say, screenshot the music that you're listening to. And it's just like little things to
get people going. And actually one of our stuff. I'm not sure if everyone's cottoned on yet, but one of the guys in our team has been like finding crazy meals online and posting those photos and saying he's eating them. So the other day, who's saying that he was eating mac and cheese with ntella and he was like it's so good. Everyone was like, oh my god, I have to try it, but you're just googlings. So yeah. So
it's like little things like that. And then I also do like afternoon Trivia challenge through Zoom, so it's like ten minutes where everyone pops on. I just ask them some sort of pop culture trivia or I might say to them like, you know, the first person who can get to the screen with a toothbrush, or like little challenges like that. It's like silly, but it makes them feel like it's a little break up during the day, and it makes them feel like a bit more connected.
Have you seen all the videos going viral of people having their massive fails on Zoom? I think there was a lady who didn't realize she was on camera going to the toilet.
Yeah, but what kind of staff ever records that and then like puts it online as well, that's horrible, that poor woman.
Well do you have any advice to people who might not have used Skype or Zoom? I mean, obviously don't go to the toilet while you're on there, but is there sort of any etiquette tips you could provide.
I think that lighting is a major thing that I'm finding. So when I'm looking at all of my staff on there, it's like this real big blackout. And that's like my mom and my dad because they work from us, the one's not observing it where it's like the young people
are like looking for the perfect lighting. And even though it seems silly, it is actually important because I can't see when my mom is talking because it's so dark, and so she's like obviously got the sun behind her, like so she's the windows behind her, and it's like makes it very dark where is Everybody else is looking into the sun, so it means the light's lighting their area. So I think lighting is a big thing. And then also like Google stuff, if you don't understand things, Google
is there. That's why I say to all of my stuff, like how do I do this in Excel? Or how do I do this in Zoom? And I'm like Google it. The Google's available to everyone can use that.
I'm just impressed that your parents have it, Like you know, when parents have it like zoomed up on their nostrils or something. It's impressive that they've actually, I mean, they've got to get there. Well. No, no, our dad just if we ever skype him, he just pretends Skype's frozen all the time. He still finds it funny.
Yeah, No, my parents are pretty good. They have. Given that they work for us, they kind of have to be good with like emails and stuff like that. But we just had We just showed them the one time and then they kind of got the hang of it. So good.
Well, you work really closely with influencers, and there's been a lot of talk about how they're going to be affected by COVID nineteen. What do you well, how do you think the industry will change.
It's obviously hard to tell because it's early days, but I think we already have seen a big shift in the way that people are using their platforms, and I would say the biggest shift would be on Instagram. So I think it's gonna be pretty interesting. So I think it's going to depend on the style of influencer. You are obviously travel bloggers, people that review restaurants, those kinds of people who are going to have a hard time.
There's not a huge it's not easy to shift from like, hey, I'm a travel blogger's like here, I'm at home now, you know. Or if you don't have any of your own cooking skills and you're usually reviewing other people's food,
then it's hard to pivot. But I think that, you know, people that do beauty, fashion, fitness pages are seeing a real, really big surge of being able to do more things at home because there's more eyeballs on their Instagram at the moment, and there's an opportunity to utilize Insta Story Live, which is our Instagram Live, which we haven't I haven't ever seen this many lives in my whole life on Instagram and so, and there's a lot more Insta Story content.
I think it's a great way for influencers to really build on their community at the moment and make the most of kind of what's happening and figure out how they can engage in new ways. And people are gonna have to think outside the box, you know what I mean, Like you can't keep posting throwback photos, you know what I mean, Like, I don't want to keep seeing someone like when I was in Bali every day.
Yeah. It's a little bit time, Jeff, isn't it.
Yeah exactly. So people are going to have to get more creative and figure out how to be more authentic with what they're doing. And I think we're going to see less polish, I guess, and a bit more authenticity. So, you know, for a travel blogger he usually posts these perfectly curated photos, or even a fashion blogger who has these perfectly styled photos, you might not be able to do that from your own home anymore. So we might
see a little bit more authentic content coming through. But I did sort of read an article online from there was a comment from Tarren Williams, who she works for or she owns like a I guess, an influencer branding
kind of agency. It's like a marketplace where people can directly communicate with influencers, and she was saying that she's sort of seeing a big shift with increase in brands wanting to work with fashion bloggers, beauty influencers, all that kind of stuff, because they're at home and they're online stores. They're trying to people online shopping at the moment, so
it's going to be interesting to see. But I think the people that are able to grow and really build their community right now and like work really hard on it. If you have the time, now is the time to really invest in your Instagram, then I think some people will see some really good results in it when we come out of this.
Exactly.
There's never you know, when you're watching a vlog and an influencers like, oh sorry, I left my camera at home and I didn't actually capture any of my day.
There's like no excuses.
Now, yeah there is, But I also think people have to be so careful as well with what they're doing, and like I'm trying to I'm not an influencer by any stretch that means, but I do share my life online and like even the other day, there was an fluencer who was doing like a styling thing, and so she was like every day a new styling outfit, and she was trying to get people to like challenge people to do it, and she was tagging people saying like I'd love to see your style. I'd love to see
what you're doing. Here's day one challenge wearing a blazer day two, double dinner or whatever. And then she was like, use the hashtag Corona chic. Oh, And I just messaged her and was like, look, I'm thanks for tagging me, but I really feel like i'd feel shit if I didn't say that hash is a very bad idea. And I felt like I didn't know. I'm like, should I say anything, like it would be one of those people. But also it's like that is a very poor decision.
So I was like, look, I just think you should be careful. That's a bit insensitive about it. People are dying. I don't think you want to make that chic, you know, think of like your son was like, aid, shee, you know what I mean, like cancer. She No, that's wrong. You shouldn't be doing that.
And plus we're all wearing pajamas at home anyways. Yeah, to be honest, I.
Was like, also, I'm not getting dressed every day.
That was one thing I was hating about the Zoom meetings at work because I'm like, i feel like I've got to, you know, get ready where I mean, But then you do feel better once you have sort of gotten out of the pajamas.
I mean, moved into active wear, but it's still a still a step in the right track.
Every day is active wear, but I definitely get out of my pajamas every day. But yeah, she changed the hashtag getting more all the stories that was good.
Did she changed it too so we can look it up?
Is it? I can't even remember what it was. It was just like every day sheep, very very general.
Then we're talking about influencers. I've noticed a few who have been posting I'm assuming sponsored content of them wearing specific branded face masks. What's your take. Do you think that's a clever move or do you think it's It sort of fits in the same category as the Corona chic hashtag.
Do you mean like the like the medical kind of masks.
Well, I've seen I think it's culture. Kings have released some face masks and I've seen a few influencers donning them, and to be honest, I mean, they look better than the surgical mask. But I don't I don't know how I feel about it. Do you think that it's sort of okay to be I suppose profiting or.
Taking selfies, I suppose making light of it.
Yeah, Yeah, I mean I think it's like at the moment, it's a really hard mix. We can't deny that businesses are going to have to capitalize in some way in what's happening to stay afloat, you know. And if people can make a mask more shiki geky or whatever and people want to buy it, then you know, more power to them. It definitely is a fine line. Like I think a hashtag is definitely not the right direction. But my issue with those mass is like, are they actually doing anything?
Yeah? I mean I suppose at least they're stopping the strain on people, you know, using the medical ones, but yeah, it doesn't really seem like they do much from what I've googled anyway.
Yeah, that's what I think as well. It's like, I actually don't think there's And then do you see people wearing them but just over their mouth and not over their nose? Really not doing anything.
I kind of want. When I was looking at I love Michael Jacks, and I must say, and I know he was wearing the masks way back in the day, and if you google it some of the masks he was wearing. I was like, people should get onto that, you know, there should Yeah, I'm sure they will in six months time we might all be wearing them regardless of if the coronavirus is around.
Yeah. Well, I was just thinking the other day I wonder what's going to happen with fashion, Like are we just pausing and will the trends remain the same or we're going to get a whole new trend, Like what's going to how are we going to come out in a totally different season? Do you know what I mean? Like are we going to go in and autumn and come out in you know spring? Who letty knows what's going to happen.
It's interesting, I know, and it's so bad because I keep getting emails with all the sales and I'm so tempted, but I'm like, oh, I don't know if it's the right time to.
Cloth. That's why I'm like, I'll have no where to wear it, and will it still be like trendy when I'm going to wear it? I don't know. I'm trying to like hold back, But then I'm also mindful that, like I want people to spend with my businesses, so I want to be supporting people as well. So it definitely is a fine mix because you want to save your money in case anything happens, and then also you want to be supporting people, so it is difficult exactly.
Well, one thing I've been loving particularly, and you've touched on a few of the tips already, but is the tips you've been sharing at home to be productive. Now we've spoken about getting out of your pajamas and the zoom meetings, but are there any other things you can share with us that help you get productive and motivated when you're working from home.
Yeah, I think that it's a lot about sort of setting yourself up for success. Working from home is really difficult. You know. Even I'm pretty good at sticking to my work, and I work from home regularly at night on weekends. Being a business owner, that's pretty like it comes pretty naturally to me. But even me sitting there for eight hours every single day, all alone, I'm single, so I
do literally live alone. It's really hard. And if you just think you can just turn your laptop on in the morning and sit on the couch and you're going to do that day in and day out for eight hours, you're just setting yourself off of failure. So I think there are definitely things that you can do for me
It's about getting a routine, getting a schedule. So I make sure that I wake up at the same time every day, and then whether it's like then I make my breakfast or then I work out or whatever it is, it's about having those all things that you would normally do get having a shower, getting changed into even if we said activewear or like you know, tracks, trackies, whatever
it is. Having a designated workspace is really important, I think, because I think it's going to be an issue with people not knowing when to turn off work life and turn on you know, like you personal life, I guess, or certain life it's not really social, and then it's going to be the flip side. You know, if you start the morning watching a favorite Netflix show, at what point does that stop and then you actually are productive with work, you know. So we're going to find that
is an issue. So that's why I always try to be like, well, I'm at my desk by eight point thirty every single morning, ready for the day, and I only get up to like go to the bathroom, walk her outside if I want some fresh air on my balcony or to make my lunch, and then I sit back down, like don't sit on the couch because I know if I sit there and I turn that TV on,
I'll be there the rest of the day. So it's about kind of like setting yourself up for that, and then you know, opening the windows and stuff like that. I find really helps letting the light in, not working from your bed, all those kinds of little things. I'm just I brought as many things from my office that I could that I always have on my desk so that what I'm looking at is a similar thing to
what I'm always looking at. So I have like these little cubes that I have on my desk, and I have my pen holder and all those little things that I normally have. I tried to put on my like dining table at home.
Love your little flip cards and your motivational quotes, Like I always see them in the morning and I'm like, oh, that's so cool, Like I think it's great that you keep doing that. And I just sort of sponge off the quotes that you keep putting up.
I'm like, that's a great one for the day.
Yeah, it's funny, how like timely some of them. Bar It's like I'm like, wow, that's really poignant today.
Yeah, I think it was.
Sorry I sound like some sort of weird stalker, but I did see the one this morning and I'm like, that's a really really poignant today.
Yeah, I know it's crazy, isn't it. Yeah. I really enjoy that, and a lot of like my followers are always like, oh my god, I love these quotes, please keep doing it, So I was. I like doing it so I may all share. It doesn't really hurt anythings, so that's why I keep doing it. But it is that routine every single day, that ritual that I always do, and that's how I kick my day off every day. So I think it's important to get into a routine to kind of get your head in the right space.
Now, we had your brother Sam on the show probably a few months ago now, and he is, of course fabulous and we love chatting with him. How do you think you would go if you two were in lockdown just with each other.
Well, we used to live together like a year and a half ago, so when we basically I lived with my boyfriend years and news and years ago, so I moved out of home and then when I was deciding to start a business with Sam, I moved back in home to home so I could just crazily save and then when I was done and we were ready to kick off Spin and Co. I then moved out with
Sam and one of his best friends. So I've lived with him, like actually just him and his friend for like I guess, four four and a half years, only a year ago, so it wasn't you know, I have done it. But Sam is a very sort of not reclusive, but like on his own, we had very separate lives, so we barely ever saw each other at the house, but he did live in a large house. If we lived in a very small place on top of each other,
I think he would kill me. I'm pretty him, but I think he'd probably kill me, So I don't think that would work out very well. But yeah, usually we have pretty separate lives. Even at work, I handle very different stuff to what he handles, so we don't cross paths very often. I'm actually seeing more of him now every day on Zoom than I normally do at the office.
I think that's cool because my sister, she's not in this interview. Kate's obviously my sister, but I run a business with my sister, and that's what we find troublesome sometimes working out who is the boss. So we've recently just given each other different titles and roles and and that kind of thing. Is that something you would advise to other people who might be running a business with their family.
I mean, for me, there's always going to be that power struggle and Sam's always going to win that. That's his personality. He's always going to be the boss and he wants it that way, and I'm fine with that, and so I'm comfortable with because then I know, if the shit hits a fan, it's like, well, okay, you wanted to be the one that was ultimately in control, and that's where he's most comfortable. And I was never
someone who wanted to start a business. If Sam hadn't said let's do this, I would still just be a manager or a high level management at a business. That's kind of what I wanted to always wanted to be sort of in leadership and helping lead people that I
never wanted to go out on my own. So it was his idea to do this, and we sort of utilize my skills in managing staff and his skills in networking and being able to you know, bring in new business and all that kind of stuff, and then we combine like our creative ideas and all of that and are hard work, and so I guess it's a little bit different because that's how we kind of set it up, that he'd be like the headhon show, and that I'd be the person behind the scenes kind of wrangling everything,
and that works best for us. I mean, not gonna lie. Obviously, we still by the head. Sometimes he has these crazy ideas and he's a risk taker and I am not. But ultimately his risk taking skills is what's made this business so successful. And it's his you know, networking skills that has you know, have built our company. So I have to trust his decisions and he backs himself one hundred percent. So that's kind of how we do it.
I think if you get into a power struggle of like no I'm in charge or in charge and you don't figure out where each of your places are, that's just going to be a toxic environment.
That's some great advice. You guys also run James Cosmetics together, and you have some amazing self care products. Are there any ones you'd recommend for people who are looking for a bit of self care Iso day.
I mean, their iemasks are probably my favorite product that they have, and that's sort of their the James Cosmetics iconic thing. There's something like ten different ie maasks for all different things from like depuffing too dark circles to you know, fine lines, all that kind of thing. An I mask is one it makes you feel like you're doing something hydrating. It's nice and pampering and you can
multitask with it, which is what I love. And that's why I love podcasts because I can clean, I can cook, I can exercise whilst I'm also learning something. So if I can also like do something good for my skin whilst I'm cleaning, cooking, working out or sitting watching TV and pampering, then that's that's the kind of product for me. So yeah, I recommend their iemasks.
They're sab One of the other things other than I've noticed you've been dotting the iemask a little bit. But one other thing that stands out on your Instagram is the fact that you've been really authentic and it's a really I find it a really positive place to go. I saw you last night, I think was wrangling with you, know, how do you be positive in this time, But can you talk us through how you do remain positive to your audience and why that's important.
I think thank you for saying that. I appreciate it. I think for me, I was never you know, like if you looked at my Instagram in October, I was sharing maybe what I ate at a restaurant, like here's a photo with my food, and that was pretty much
all I was sharing. And then in December I was diagnosed with stage four melanoma, which has now been rediagnosed as stage three B. So that kind of I had, you know, a bit of a world when finding out that I'm thirty three years old with quite a serious, you know, disease, and I felt really out of control in like I couldn't control what was happening to my body, and so what I wanted to do was sort of help people control themselves. So I was like, wear sun cream,
you know, go get skin checks. And I really wanted to be like an advocate for skin can sorry, I guess, to try to really raise awareness for this issue that I think is very serious and it's you know, the number one cancer for people age fifteen to thirty nine, and we don't really know a lot about it, other than just wik on some suncream when you're at the pool. That's kind of all it is. But we you know, the reality is I likely got my first skin cancer.
It's my right shoulder blade, which is exactly where the sun hits me when I drive in my car every day. You know, I have very fair skin. I never went outside and got some burn. I always lather it up, but I wasn't lathering up when I was driving to work, when I was walking to get coffee, those kinds of things. So it's kind of born out of me doing that.
And I talk a lot about my cancer treatment, and then I went through fertility because my cancer treatment could affect my fertility, so I had to harvest my eggs. It was like all of that, and I just said to myself, like, if I'm going to show some of it, I'm going to show it all. So I've been on my Instant story crying because you know, I'm having a bad day. But then I'm also there being like, well, I'm working my full hours today and here's what I
do at work. And I have cancer, but I'm still living with it and I'm working and doing all of these things and then you know, I was I've always been kind of like pragmatic, I guess. So it's not like the glass is half m fior, it's half full. It's like there's water in the glass, you know. It was just like it is what it is, and that's
like good sometimes. But in this kind of position where it's easy to be like, Okay, well you know this could be bad, it could be good, like we just got to get through it, I thought a bit of positivity could work. I watched a documentary called Heel on Netflix, which is really interesting about the power of the mind over the body, and so I just thought, look, you know, if that's bullshit or it's not, I may as well
do it. Like if I can try and like be more positive, and that could potentially help the position that I'm in, Like why not. Thankfully I'm not susceptible to mental health issues, so that's a blessing. However, like we can all still do more work positive and so now that I don't really want to be like, hey, guys wear sun cream every day when everyone's sitting at home, I don't want to be talking about cancer right now.
So I've thought, okay, well, maybe I need to share other things that I'm doing to try to get myself in a good mental place and be really positive about it, because there's a lot of influencers right now, which rightly so are talking about like stay inside. This is going to be really bad, you know, like don't go near people, and like, you know, we do need that awareness that people need to understand right now, it's important that we're not fucking around with this, like we have to stay
inside and isolate and do our best. There are still people going out shopping and having a good time having parties at home, and we need to do like normal shopping, sure, but you don't need to go with your friends. I saw like a group of like seventeen year old people the other day or like doing a group shopping session together, just like seven or eight of them, and I was like, oh god, what are you doing.
It's so frustrating.
Yeah, And like for me, it's a well, you know, like we all know someone that's in that high risk category. But for me, it's like, although my immunity isn't compromised with my immunotherapy my cancer treatment, if I get this, I have to go into quarantine. And that means I can't get my fortnightly treatment because I'm in quarantine, and I can't not be getting my cancer treatment, you know. So it's really important to me as well that like
people are careful with this. So I wanted to then be like, Okay, well I want to be really positive because a lot of places are really negative. But then also like everyone wants to hear about all the business techniques I have. But then I feel really insensitive because it's like people have lost their jobs and then I'm every day being like here's my schedule, here's all the work I'm doing. So it's really hard. I don't really know. So last night I was just kind of asking my followers,
like what do you want from my page? Like I'm not going to do anything that's not natural to me. It's obviously got to be authentic that do you want to hear that? Like today I did Wait, I don't really know what I'm doing with waits. I could only do fifteen minutes because I'm not very strong and I'm really unfit. Do you want to hear that? Or do you just want the little fast forwarded video of me doing my workout and pretending like it was thirty minutes and I did it so easily. I don't know. So
I was kind of just asking what people want. Overwhelming the responses. Don't overthink it and just do whatever you're doing and just share that with us. But yeah, I'm just trying to make sure that I'm being sensitive to the fact that people are going through a hard time. But I think people just want honesty and people feel better with positivity, but then they also feel less alone when you're honest and you say, like, I'm scared to.
Well talking about you obviously mentioned your battle with cancer. Do you think that. I mean, I've seen a few campaigns trying to tell I suppose really young women about the dangers of sun tanning. Do you think people are actually getting it? Because I see it?
Yeah, it's frustrating, Yeah, I mean it's I mean, Mecca has done a great job with call Time and Melanoma to really raise awareness. I think they call it Generation SBF and so, but that was just a little campaign. It's it's not just you know, that's just around summer, but the sun in Australia is all the time. You can still get cancer and winter. But yeah, I think
that for me, it's the glamorization of tanning online. You know, like if an influencer was on an Insta story right now smoking regularly, people would come for them and they would say, like that's irresponsible. But someone being like going out to get some rays or like working on my tan or whatever, no one's saying anything to them, and that's just as damaging as smoking. And I think that people don't fully realize the impact that they have. And
it's like, well, I'm not telling people to tan. It's like, no, you're not that you're also not really being responsible with your platform. So I would love to see influencers that have a big platform, especially you know, people that have
a big following. Often that following is usually quite young, you know, and it's in those younger teen years, you know, or you know, any teen years where you're really forming your patterns and routines and what you think is good for your body that they really need to understand that, like it's not just about looking skinnier because your tanned,
you know, like that could kill you. And so I don't think that there's enough out there and even for you know, like for instance, my second my bad cancer. I guess my first one was a melanoma on my shoulder blade. That was a mole, and that was three years ago, and this time it was a lump. Nobody told me to look for lumps. I didn't know. Yeah, I know breast cancers lumps. Yeah, I didn't know melanoma
was a lump. You know, there's just so many things like, well, I had a very serious melanoma three years ago, Why didn't someone tell me it was a lump that I'm looking for as well as a suspicious mole. You know, there's just so many things that we don't know. And people don't go get regular skin checks and they just think if they put a bit of suncream on while they're having them a heater by the fool, than they're fine, or like, you know, I'm tenned ready, so I don't burn, so that means I'm safe.
I feel like there should be I feel like there should be some campaigns aimed at men as well, because I feel like, oh, yeah, men just go, oh, it doesn't matter, I'm fine. And I mean I don't think our dad's ever worn sun cream before. I mean he smokes like fifty cigarettes a day as well. So it's that one thing at a time.
But yeah, yeah, I mean that's that's definitely true. Girls more often will wear suncream because it helps with anti aging, but men don't really often give a shit about their anti aging issues. So so my dad has had You should see his back. There's scars everywhere and he plays golf all the time. And like, Dad, you're sunburd Did you wear suncream today? Oh? Yeah, I forgot. What do you mean you forgot? You get melanoma and you're outside
like it's crazy. People just don't take it seriously. And even I didn't, like, you know, I got that melanoma on my shoulder and it was fairly straightforward. It was. It was bad, but they cut it out. They got good margins, they took a lymph node and they were like, yep, you just got to get checked regularly now, but you're okay. And I was still, you know, wearing sun cream and stuff when I knew I was going to be out
in the sun for long periods. But there I could have definitely been more careful, you know, And it's just like you don't. You don't think about it till it's like, hey, this actually could kill you now because you weren't careful enough. That you're like, oh shit, like what was I thinking? You know, like, it's not like I was trying to get a tan. I was just being lazy, well a lot of it.
So I think that's I think that's great advice because yeah, you just don't think about it when you're in the car, You're like, oh, I'm fine. I was going to ask you. A lot of the campaigns have been around promoting fake tan, and I know Kate and I have debated it before whether we should just be promoting, you know, a paler skin instead of just the skin you're in. Yeah, just the skin you're in, not particularly glamorizing the fact that
you have to be tan. Do you would you prefer to see a campaign around you know, you just love the skin you're in, rather than oh, here, lather yourself up in this fake tan product.
Yeah. I mean I think i've you know, Shameless have debated this before as well, where they talked about it. It's kind of like, you know, everybody type is fine, every skin type is fine. It's that that kind of idea. But I think that it's a pretty big uphill battle with tanning, especially in Australia. Your skin, you know, it's like, oh, you've got that healthy glow. You know. Even when I fake tan, I get like, oh my god, something's different. You look great. What is it? And it's like it's
fake tan, you know. Like I think, I think that we've got an uphill battle. If we can get them wrong doing fake tan first and then we are loving the skin we're in later, then you know, that's what we have to do. It's going to be baby steps. I think. I would love to say that, like, you know, pale skin, dark skin, tan skin, whatever, olive skin, whatever you have is great. And obviously I think that because
I wear fake tan, probably wants to. But I don't think it's realistic to think that we're going to change everyone's mindset on you know, tan skin being like healthier looking, prettier looking, whatever makes you look thinner, whatever people think. So I think like, if that's what we've got to do to get them out of the sun, then let's do that first and then we can work on love the skin, your room, whatever is working. I guess baby steps, I think is probably the easiest direction.
Well, with all this quarantine, maybe it might go back to you know, olden days where it was you know, the people outside having to work, they're getting the tan, and us people who have the luxury working from home a pale. Maybe it's all my and you can't be bothered to do your tan in this time? Who's tanning self quarantine?
So yeah, no, I definitely, like I just take the feeling of like the waiting for it to dry on your skin. I just hate it, so I can't do it. But yeah, I think maybe that would be great if that sort of vampire skin would when we came out of.
It, well just to leave it on. I suppose a positive note, I would like to know if we go into lockdown and like full lockdown, what are you stocking up your cupboards with?
Like do you mean like food?
But yeah, sorry food wise.
I mean like I am certainly not somebody to come to for health advice like food wise, and I'm a terrible wouldn't I'm a terrible cook. I just hate it, so I barely ever do it. But for me, like, I'm big on protein, so I'll probably have like lots of chicken breast and things like that mint steaks. That's the kind of stuff that I'll then have with like veggies and potato and gravy. Don't forget like the things
that make your meal pleasant. But I think like those seasonings that you'll get to the end of this, you'd be like, oh, I have no onion powder or I have no gravy powder. It's all those little things. So it's like, wow, this is really bland. I wish I had remembered to get the grave box. It's that kind of stuff that I think I'm gonna really have to sit down and be like, what are the essentials to make my meal feel like normal? I think that's what I'll be doing, but I mean, yeah, I guess pastors
rices those kinds of things. I'm trying to not think about stocking up on canned goods, Like who wants to live off baked beans?
Oh my gosh, that's literally what my boyfriend went out and bought this slab of baked beans. I was like, we're holding baked beans. Where those people I'm not gonna eat this.
I just don't understand, because it's like it's when you think of like a crisis like the apocalypse and stuff, it's people stuck up on tin goods. It's because there's no electricity, but like we still have electricity so you can still freeze your midt. So what are getting canned goods? So I don't understand that.
Well, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate you taking time out of your busy day and just thank you for being such a positive light and so inspiring and bringing really great messages to the public. We've really appreciated your time today, so thank you.
Thank you for having me on. Guys.
Thank you.
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