rich & REGULAR: Align Your Passions with Work You Want to Do – Episode 019

Chris and Debbie are joined by Julien and Kiersten of rich & Regular.

Laugh along with the four of them as Kiersten and Julien dive deeply into:

• Why they decided to break the mold in creating their new YouTube show, Money on the Table
• “Codeswitching”–what it meant for Julien while being raised by a Jamaican immigrant mother in Brooklyn, and what it meant for Kiersten in her corporate career
• Finding the confidence to leave a corporate career for entrepreneurship and create a business of his own for Julien
• What it took for Kiersten to realize that she loves herself more than she loves her job
• The privilege of doing the internal work and unlearning old habits and routines after leaving their corporate careers
• Releasing control
• Embracing conflict
• Why they created rich & REGULAR and what it means

Notable quotes from this episode:

• When I started asking myself a different set of questions, the question wasn’t, “Should I leave my job?” It was, “What work do you want to do?” – Kiersten
• “Plenty of people have made fortunes with a lot less. I could fail a couple of times and still be okay. Why not shoot for the stars?” – Julien
• “Stop discounting your dopeness.” – Julien

We leave you with this thought:

“Have you ever had friends over for dinner? You know, the kind of dinner where you’re all in the kitchen together. The drinks have been poured, the pan’s sizzling in the background, and everyone’s gathered around a cutting board or the sink or the stove helping prep the meal. Then you all sit down at the table, across from each other to enjoy warm plates of food made from scratch, with love, by your very own hands. Now, you look each other in the eye, and instead of talking about the weather or the latest ball game or TV episode (okay maybe you spend a little time talking about those things), the conversation goes deeper. You ask and answer questions; you listen intently; you focus on truly getting to know and understand and learn from one another.

That’s exactly what this conversation with Kiersten and Julien felt like. It got real. It went deeper. That’s what it feels like to watch their YouTube show, Money on the Table, too. It’s an invitation. They welcome you in. They share their life and their experiences with you, and you come away from it with a greater sense of who they are and perhaps who you are in response.

When Brene Brown writes about the values expressed in her book, Braving the Wilderness, she says it: “is a call to courage. A call to move closer to each other, because people are hard to hate close up. A call to speak truth to bullshit. But be civil. And to hold hands. With strangers.”

When we move in closer, as Brene puts it, we learn that in most cases, we are more alike than we are different. When we have real, honest conversations–the kind where we’re courageous enough to let ourselves been seen and do our best to see others–more often than not we come away with a greater understanding, deeper connection, and if we’re really lucky a better foundation from which to learn and grow.

Doing this takes getting to know and understand ourselves first, questioning our own actions, behaviors, and desires. Just as Julien and Kiersten did, we must first decide if and when it’s time to quit going with the flow and begin forging our own path into the vast wilderness ahead of us. This is, as Julien put it, a privilege; yet, it’s a necessity to any life fully lived.

Because, as Brene Brown also says in Braving the Wilderness, “True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.”

Let’s get to know ourselves, you guys! Then, as Julien says, let’s stop discounting our dopeness. That sounds pretty dope, right?

Our wish for you, at Go Bucket Yourself, moving forward is that you may find the privilege of time and space to learn more about yourself. May you begin to question what it is you value; what it is you want; and if your current actions and behaviors align with those values and desires. Then, may you find the courage to show up as yourself, for yourself. And, most of all, in showing up as yourself, may you find others doing the same to connect with, listen to, and learn from. Because, after all, you’ve got just this ONE LIFE. What better time to begin to truly LIVE IT! than now?”