Welcome to the TRUE NORTH COLLECTIVE PODCAST: SEASON 2! With co-hosts Rachel Bellotti and Jenell Riesner, this is a gathering of un-sugar-coated conversations celebrating the untold stories of everyday people fearlessly finding and living their true north. 

In our own search to discover and live from our TRUE NORTH, we have met so many interesting, courageous people from all walks of life, doing all sorts of amazing things to live life in their own unique way. Stories from all over the world. Stories with heart. Stories with grit. Stories with plot twists. Stories going untold - until now. This season, we continue to connect with and celebrate these untold stories of everyday people who are fearlessly living their true north and inspiring each of us to do the same.

Today, we are trying something different - we are doing a mashup of strangers talking about life - post-college! We have Preston Bowers (23 years old), a recent Dallas Baptist University graduate and friend of Rachel (36), and Jess Sohn (25), former co-worker and friend of Jenell (28).  We’ve dedicated an entire episode to unpacking that huge leap to life “after” college - the good, the bad, the ups, the downs, the ugly, the beautiful, and everything in between. And then we throw in some amazingly honest dialogue around unconscious bias, beauty comparisons, finding a new rhythm in life, and redneck archeology. Here we go!

*note: this episode includes explicit language appropriate for those ages 16+

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Artifact hunting
• Good As Hell by Lizzo
• Country Road by John Denver
• Back in Black by AC/DC
• Screamo music
• Beartooth
• Billy Bobs
• IG @TheBirdsPayaya
• IG @MikZazon
• Music from: https://www.jukedeck.com/

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. The power of people in your life that have your back and accept you as you are is a game-changer that can pick you up from your lowest lows because they always see the magic in you regardless of whether it’s shining brightly and fully expressed or not. And it doesn’t take much for people to know that you see them, that you are there, and that you care, but it can be easy to forget to tell people. Where in your life is there an opportunity to acknowledge someone in your life? Maybe it’s someone who is struggling or maybe it’s someone whom you assume just “knows”. We can never hear it enough that we are loved, seen, heard, and acknowledged.
2. Having a wall to certain people because of a past story or experience that you haven’t resolved and projecting it into the present moment closes you off from truly connecting to people and the world around you. Forcing people to play a role that we have created for them before they can actually show us who they truly are co-creates a world where we too are put into boxes and forced to play roles that are limiting and small. It’s so easy to just avoid and lean into our unconscious bias towards ourselves and others, but then we miss out on experiencing the depth that exists within every one of us. 
3. Your imperfections are truly what make you unique and different and special from everyone else. Stop normalizing perfection because it doesn’t exist and it keeps the weird, interesting shit hidden, and makes the world boring.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [1:30] Being an artifact hunter aka redneck archeology
• [7:40] Walk-up songs + dance breaks on IG
• [13:00] Being a terrible burper
• [15:50] Introducing Preston + Jess!
• [30:00] Phone calls vs text messages vs face-to-face connections
• [35:15] Navigating life fluidly vs when you are trying to simply fill a void in your life
• [39:00] Having 2 minor strokes by the time you are 19 + the impact when people in your life love you no matter what
• [43:00] Learning to make it a point to progress in some way every day
• [45:00] Entering the “real” world after college
• [47:00] Filling the void of loneliness 
• [54:00] Chunking life down into bite-sized pieces + saying yes
• [57:00] Identify crisis
• [1:02:00] Stepping past stereotypes + bias in a safe way
• [1:16:00] Post-college transitions + having to self-motivate
• [1:24:00] You are NEVER too old!
• [1:27:00] Unpacking commitment in today’s generation - at work, in relationships, in life
• [1:32:00] Beauty comparison in a world of swiping left
• [1:45:00] Stop worrying about being healthy - that is NOT healthy
• [1:47:00] Living your TRUE NORTH 
• [1:00:00] Contact Jess via IG @JessSohn and contact Preston via IG @APrestonBowers or email prestonbowers.ltc@gmail.com