Shadowing Practice: It's Time...Episode 1 - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hi everyone, this is Michelle here and I'd like to welcome you to Afterglow.

This is the first episode of my podcast and I want to thank all of you for coming.

being here, supporting me.

You know, I really missed a lot of you.

- Okay.

I've been...

making content and I've been this online digital creator for such a long time, almost two decades.

And I actually feel like I grew up with a lot of you.

this The whole internet generation has been so interesting.

I feel like this whole journey of discovery and lessons even It's,

it made me actually appreciate all of you, all of you who've subscribed to me,

who've been following me, I'm so grateful because I realize how we are actually all sharing this amazing journey together, this journey called life.

And I truly believe my story is a small little droplet in this ocean of all of our stories together.

You know, I may not know a lot of your stories, But I really hope that my story has inspired you to pursue your dreams.

This podcast is going to be so much more than what you remembered me as.

And for those of you who are new to me, hi, my name is Michelle Phan.

And almost two decades ago, I uploaded a video that completely changed my life.

I was in college, it was in 2007.

I was only 19 years old, and I was making these really cute makeup tutorials, not thinking it would take me anywhere in life.

And the moment I uploaded the video on YouTube, I went viral overnight.

And that completely changed the trajectory of my life.

In fact, it was, I like to call it my Cinderella moment.

So when that viral moment happened, it was like, what next?

What should I do?

I moved out to L .A.

I started essentially people call me like the first influencer.

I don't think I'm I'm not saying I'm proud of that.

It's not something I say to people, but essentially I was one of the first few online creators that became more mainstream.

And in a way, I made it mainstream to do this.

I mean, we don't think twice about people who are now dancing in front of their phones, making videos, talking, interviewing people, making a podcast.

Like back then in 2007, that didn't really exist.

you didn't really have influencers or creators.

the media was mostly still owned by the media.

When the media saw me, they called me new media.

They didn't even know what to call me.

It was so new back then.

And so I was basically pioneering this whole creator influencer space, there was really no Google Maps to this.

I was trying to figure it out along the way and And so I was making all these wonderful beauty, lifestyle, how to's.

And also I founded this incredible company called Ipsy.

So I learned a lot about business, too.

And that put me on the front cover of Forbes, which is crazy.

I saw myself on all these different magazine front covers that I dreamt of being on.

So like I said, it was like pinch me, wake me up like is this really happening?

And um, throughout my entire career, I only showed the best parts.

I only showed the happiest points.

I think a lot of us, we tend to do that, which is totally understandable, but I really believe that, um, A lot of people actually thought that I was living this perfect life.

And it was a life that I was trying to project, but behind the scenes, I'm just like you.

You know, I was struggling with anxiety, a lot of anxiety, because, you know, when you are a public figure, you're under so much scrutiny and that pressure of being perfect,

of being this or that.

I...

I put a lot of that pressure onto myself and that created a lot of inner turmoil inside of me.

And it was really hard.

I was struggling a lot behind the scenes that I didn't show online because, you know, there was a lot of shame that I carried with me.

The shame of not being perfect was something that I was struggling with because I think

there was this notion that I had to be perfect.

This persona that I created online, I had to live up to that persona.

That along with navigating and figuring out this whole new world of fame,

of business, money, a lot of that comes with the negatives, which can be fake friends, betrayal.

people who work with you who steal your money.

I mean, I was not equipped for this.

I, Like I said, I was just going to school I was just trying to become an illustrator.

I didn't really have any crazy aspirational dreams besides hopefully working for a really cool video game company designing characters.

you know, in a way it just shows you that the universe had other plans for me.

And thankfully, my intuition was open enough to kind of listen to that higher voice, you know, that was guiding me along this path.

And I'm a big believer in how stories can be like medicine for people.

I find I find stories really healing when I meet people and I talk to them and they share their story, I feel like I don't know,

I just feel like there's this connection where I just know them more.

And oftentimes I relate to a lot of these stories.

And so this is something I tell to a lot of people is, Everyone you meet in life is a mirror of you.

And every person you meet is a guru.

They're teaching you something about yourself that you're not aware of.

And so a lot of the people that I've met in my life, they taught me so much about myself.

And part of the reason why I wanted to do this podcast is because I want to bring

these people on so that you can also

hopefully you can be inspired by their story and learn from them too

and relate to them because I truly believe that stories connect all of us together.

And we're living in a world right now where there's a lot of division, there's a lot of, a lot of, um, Yeah, there's just a lot of hate and

instead of dividing how can we unite people And I truly believe this is where stories can be healing.

It can build bridges.

Because when you hear someone's story, you build more empathy because you understand they're just like you.

Another reason why I wanted to do this podcast is because selfishly, I I want to learn for myself.

For me, life is a school and I'm I'm such a curious person ever since I was a kid.

Literally, I'm always constantly asking why this, why that?

There was a point in my life before the internet came out, I read everything in my library.

I had like a little library in my room and I read all the books and I was so bored.

I started to read the encyclopedia.

And I think that just drove my curiosity even more.

I just became hungry and hungrier for knowledge and for wisdom.

And I'm constantly seeking wisdom and knowledge and stories.

And this podcast, Afterglow, is a love letter to that curiosity.

I can be curious like a kid and just learn from people, their stories, what they do.

And hopefully it can also help inspire you too, because I know a lot of you who've been watching me while you're a kid or growing up with me,

I was known to be this beauty creator.

But I feel like that was, I just felt so constrained in that corner.

There are moments when I really wanted to just evolve from just that, but I felt like I had to stay in character.

I had to stay on brand.

I had it.

I had I had to be Michelle Phan, the beauty creator.

And that's it.

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Because that's what people said in the comments, like, I only subscribe to you for beauty.

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So there was this pressure to just stay the same.

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And I realized that is not me.

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I can't stay the same.

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I love change.

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I love growing.

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I love evolving.

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And this podcast gives me the opportunity to

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nurture that evolution and and I just want to keep nurturing

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that because there was a moment when I stopped uploading videos

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because to be honest with you I just got tired of doing the same stuff.

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And I think a lot of people can relate to this.

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If you have a job where you just do the same thing over and over again, eventually you do get tired.

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I mean, not everyone, but a lot of people I know do.

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And so there was a moment when I just I just felt tapped out.

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I was burnt out.

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I didn't want to

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I just wasn't inspired by beauty anymore and I think the biggest reason why was because I was burnt out.

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Because I didn't take care of my mental health, my spiritual well -being, my emotional well -being.

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I, um...

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I was being too stoic and I kind of just shoved everything under the rug

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and eventually it was eating away at me when things became just too intense.

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- Yeah.

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And so, yeah, because I burnt out, I just left.

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I left Like literally I left at my peak.

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That's what I tell people all the time.

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I left at my peak.

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The whole world was my oyster.

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End.

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Yet I felt So numb.

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I couldn't even enjoy it.

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I felt so numb because my spiritual, emotional, and mental Wellness was completely destroyed.

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Like it was just not there anymore.

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I was I didn't realize how bad it was until I started the healing process. And so,

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The Michelle that you're seeing now is the Michelle after this crazy years

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and years of years long healing process and healing journey.

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And it's been such an incredible experience what I went through, what I've learned along the way.

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and I really mean this when I say it, I want to be able to share

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the journey I've went through and all the different techniques and wisdom I want to share all of this to you, just like how I shared Beauty with you.

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One of the favorite videos I've ever made was this video called "Why I Left".

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It's an animated video where it walks you through why I left.

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You know, if you haven't had a chance to watch it, definitely check it out.

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It's a beautiful short video.

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And I know like for me, it really came from my heart.

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I wanted to tell people why I left.

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It was because I was so broken.

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I was broken by everything and I was seeking Something.

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But at that time when I made that video, I didn't have all the pieces.

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I was still trying to figure it out.

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And I ended that video with, I can't, don't quote me on this, even though it is my video.

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But I basically said something along the lines of, You know, I...

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taught you how to look beautiful, but when I come back, I want to show you how to feel beautiful." And so, yeah.

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bitch, I'm back.

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I am back.

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I have so much wisdom to unpack with all of you on what I went through.

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because I know if my journey,

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my story has inspired you this much, You won't even Believe the journey I went through the past few years.

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It's even more inspiring in my opinion.

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You know, I don't think my story is really that unique.

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I actually really believe a lot of people can relate to my story.

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And it's a very simple story.

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I just wanted to live the American dream and I pursued it.

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But along that path, you know, There's vultures, there's people who try to hurt you, and you have to grow from that.

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And that's why I started Afterglow, because I truly believe When you hear other people's stories, it's not that different from yours.

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You know, we are all literally going through the hero's journey together.

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The hero's journey, if you don't know about it, definitely check out Joseph Campbell.

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He's he was the one that really coined the term hero's journey.

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The hero's journey is essentially a motif that exists in

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so many different mythologies and fairy tales and it's a story structure that we as humans we like.

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We like stories that follow the hero's journey like Star Wars, The Lion King, I mean all the Disney movies right?

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All the great movies they all follow this motif and it is something that seems very um primordial.

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this story structure.

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So we're all going through it.

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And if you ever have a chance-- Take a look at the Hero's Journey chart.

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Look at it.

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and see where are you in this journey?

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Are you at the beginning?

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where you're just kind of new to the world and excited, starry -eyed?

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Are you battling the beast, you know, and that's not even at the end.

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That's halfway, right?

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Because the other half is the journey back home.

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and Oftentimes, what I see is that is the moment when transformation happens because you don't truly know who you are

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until you face your biggest fear.

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And oftentimes, people's biggest fear is themselves.

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They don't even know themselves.

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And that's what I had to face.

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I had to face myself.

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I had to face all of my shadow self, my insecurity, my traumas, what I didn't like about myself, I had to truly face it.

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and befriend it not fight it.

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You know people tell you you have to fight it.

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No, no, no. you have to You have to actually you have to overcome it if anything.

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And sometimes you do have to befriend it because it's a part of you.

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You have to accept it.

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And for me, it was really just coming to terms with with everything in life that I went through. And, um...

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Moments like that when you truly truly accept yourself when you shed all the illusions and

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that's when the transformation happens and that's

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when you go back home on your journey you come back

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home transformed the whole point of the hero's journey is to come back home transformed.

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You don't come back home the same or else What was the point, right?

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You come back home.

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transformed.

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And so I didn't want to come back to this YouTube channel.

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I mean, when I say come back, not posting a few makeup videos, sponsored posts, like that's not the same I'm talking about.

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Blake.

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scheduled post, I'm consistently making content, I'm back back.

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I didn't want to come back until I was truly transformed.

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And boy, oh boy, we have so many cool things to share with you on Afterglow because

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That's actually the foundation of this podcast.

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It is about celebrating transformation self -development, growth, change, metamorphosis.

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That's something that we have to celebrate because Y 'all, we're living in crazy times right now.

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And what's interesting about this time is everything is so different.

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meaning A hundred years ago, we didn't have the internet.

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We didn't have all this technology that we have today.

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So we're living in such incredible times where we're at this inflection point, in my opinion, where We as a society, we can truly transform together.

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like we as a society, we're going through this hero's journey together.

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We can either you know, we can either be defeated by this beast

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by the ego or we can overcome it together as a species and come back home transformed.

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And I want this podcast to be a platform where I can share these stories.

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I can uplift these people who you know, I'm sure a lot of you don't know about.

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Some of these people are doing crazy stuff that no one even knew existed.

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Or even like stories of other creators like myself that I'm sure many of you can relate with.

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And also we're living in a generation where so many people want to do what we do.

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So many people would love my career, but I want to tell you that I'm only showing the good parts.

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I want to tell you about the bad parts, but how I overcame the bad parts.

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I want Afterglow.

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to feel like this cozy corner on the internet because That's how I felt like my channel was like back then.

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So I'm keeping this first episode really short and sweet.

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I just want you all to just enjoy this journey with me, this new chapter, and I'm excited to continue growing with you.

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But before we end, We're going to do a fun little Q &A.

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How did you come up with the name Afterglow?

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Actually, I didn't come up with this name.

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Chelsea did, my producer, Chelsea Ma.

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She came up with it, but I gave her the vibe.

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I was like, I wanted to feel inspirational and ethereal.

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And it's very me.

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It's very on brand, right?

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But I also wanted to feel deep and spiritual.

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And she went through-- so I'm telling you, this girl, she popped up like she had a freaking dictionary just going through all these different words.

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And it's funny because I'll ask people, hey, what do you think afterglow means?

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Right.

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And everyone has a different definition.

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So, you know, some of my friends are really into consciousness and plant medicine.

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They're like, oh, that's the feeling you get after DMT and ayahuasca, the afterglow.

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I was like, oh, yeah, that's true.

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Yeah, you're right.

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Um, I have other friends who are photographers, like, no, no, no, Afterglow is, you know, right after magic hour when the sky is still lit, right before it goes into,

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you know, um, I'm like, oh, okay.

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For me, Afterglow...

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It is that feeling of euphoria.

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That's what it means to me.

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And that's really That's really the intention I want you to to take home after you hear every episode is this euphoric,

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light, fuzzy, warm, a positive feeling.

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Are you still drawing and animating?

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I don't, I don't draw like I used to.

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Like, I think when I was a kid, I had so much free time.

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So I was literally making comic books and drawing and doing all these things.

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But as an adult, you know, I have like a full time job.

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I'm juggling so many different things.

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So I don't draw or animate, but we do have someone coming up this season that is an incredible animator and storyteller.

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So stay tuned for that.

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What's your favorite makeup look you've ever done?

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- Yeah.

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The Sailor Moon one.

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Just because Sailor Moon was literally my superhero.

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Because I remember as a kid, I mean, every kid in the 90s, right, especially girls, like, Well, I'm speaking for myself here,

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but As a child from the 90s, I loved Disney.

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I love Disney princesses.

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I always loved them.

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But I couldn't stand how they just needed some guy to save them.

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And it was like, why can't I have a princess and a warrior and boom, Sailor Moon.

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Literally, Sailor Moon embodied what I was looking for as kind of like my hero.

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She was a princess on the moon.

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that reincarnated back on Earth and became a soldier of the cosmos.

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and she fights evil with love.

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- Okay.

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It's so perfect for me.

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So cosplaying as Sailor Moon was probably a highlight of my life.

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I'll never forget that video and it really holds a special place in my heart.

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How are you spending your free time nowadays?

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I don't have free time.

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I don't.

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I actually, if I do have free time, it would be in my dreams.

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That's where I have a lot of free time and I do a lot of lucid dreaming in my dreams.

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So I go on a lot of adventures and I actually I meditate a lot in my lucid dreams, which is going to be a very interesting topic later on this season.

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Again, thank you so much for listening in.

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And, you know, I wanted to keep this episode really short

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and sweet and just get you ready for all the exciting conversations that we're going to have.

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And for all of you who want to know the uploading schedule, every Tuesday I will be uploading a new episode.

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And again, if you want to leave any comments or if you have any questions,

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recommendations for guests, please leave it in the comment section on YouTube.

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If you're listening on just audio alone, you can always like find me on my socials and just comment because we're,

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you know, we're actively trying to like find more guests and just find ways to just make this podcast better.

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But yeah, this is so exciting.

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Oh my gosh.

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new chapter, new Michelle, new era, new era for everyone.

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I am really looking forward to this -

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just this new phase for all of us to just grow and become better versions of ourselves.

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So again, thank you so much.

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I will catch you on the next episode.

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Good luck.

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What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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