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Jace & Holly Barraclough are locals reporters in my town who recently did a story on me and also featured me on their Disney podcast, Navigating the Magic. If you know anything about me and my book, you know that I’m a particular fan of Frozen and Frozen II, but I also really appreciate the company of Disney, how they approach customer experience, and how they provide such an inspiration for innovation.
Holly was a cast member for Disney for a few years and she also worked at Disney Radio. So, there are several things she brings to the table when it comes to understanding how Disney was able to teach her how to be her best for the customers (aka, their “guests”). Holly also shares her take on how she went from not caring that much about Disney to loving her time working for them. We also talk about innovation and get Holly and Jace’s take on what it means to be a voice of influence.
Take a listen to the episode!
Mentioned in this episode:
- Navigating the Magic Podcast
- Navigating the Magic | Episode 85: Getting ‘UnFrozen’ with Andrea
- Navigating the Magic Podcast on Facebook
- Navigating the Magic Podcast on Instagram
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Transcript
People of influence know that their voice matters, but they work to make it matter more. I’m Andrea Wenburg, and welcome to the Voice of Influence podcast.
One of my favorite ways to find guest for this podcast is through personal connections. I do this a lot. I’d like to hire people through personal connections. I like to create friendships and networks through personal connections, and that is one of my favorite ways to find people for the podcast. And today is one of those special occasions where I get to bring on somebody who I have met and have a personal connection with.
Our local news station recently did a story on me. And through that opportunity, I got to meet a reporter who is super fun, and she and her husband who also works at the news station have a podcast. Their podcast is called Navigating the Magic and it’s all about Disney, so fun. And if you know anything about me and my book, you know that I’m a particular fan of Frozen and Frozen II. But also, I really appreciate the company of Disney, what it stands for customer experience, and how they provide such an inspiration for innovation.
So, as we’re in this conversation, I would encourage you to really think about and hone in on what Jace and Holly believe is so especial about Disney.
Holly was actually a cast member of Disney for a few years and worked at Disney Radio. So, there are a number of things that she brings to the table when it comes to understanding how Disney was able to teach her how to be her best for the customers, for the guests that would come in. So, we’re going to be talking about customer experience and how to create special experience for others. But then also, it’s interesting to hear about Holly’s take on how she kind of went from not caring so much that much about Disney to working for them. And in the process of working for them, really fell in love with the company and with the whole Disney experience.
I don’t know about you but I want that for the people that work in my company. I want people to believe in what we do, to want to go back. And even if they’re not working to think about the things that we talked about, to dig in a little more, to experience the things that we provide. I want the people, who, not only our customers, our clients to appreciate what we have to offer, but also for the people who work for us, who work with us, the people on our team. I know that that is something that a lot of the clients that I’ve worked with really want for their team. They want their team to buy in. They want their team to believe in the mission and vision of their company, to believe that what they do matters.
So, it’s interesting to hear Holly’s take on her experience with Disney. We also touched on innovation and what it means to be innovative. And we get Holly and Jace’s take on what it means to be a voice of influence and how you can make your voice matter more.
And just a side note, they actually interviewed me for their podcast right before we did the interview for this podcast. So, you can find that interview in the show notes of this episode at voiceofinfluence.net. In that conversation, we talked about Unfrozen, my book. And, we talked about Disney and my take on a bunch of Disney related items. So, I encourage you to go listen to that one. It’s a fun, fun episode.
All right, so just so you know, the audio might be a little bit different because we’re actually doing this live and in person. So, it’s a little different than usual, but I think that you’re going to love this conversation with Jace and Holly.
Andrea: So, today, I have with me Holly and Jace from Navigating the Magic.
Jace: Hello!
Holly: Hi!
Andrea: It is so good to have you here with us on the Voice of Influence podcast.
Holly: Yeah. Thank you for having us. We loved talking to you on our podcast and we’re so excited to be a guest on your show. Thank you for having us.
Andrea: So, first of all, tell us about your podcast. How did you get started with Navigating the Magic?
Holly: Yeah, how do we get started Jace?
Jace: You know, it’s kind of funny. So, I was actually the one that was obsessed with podcasts before and, because Holly and I were really into Disney and things like that, I started listening to Disney podcasts. And I was like “These guys are talking about things that we talk about in our normal like everyday conversations anyway, why don’t we just put a microphone in front of our face and push record and have these conversations.”
Holly: Did you invent podcast? No, but I was there.
Jace: Yeah.
Holly: No, he was like one of the first people I knew that was really listening to podcasts several years ago. And he was working at a radio station at the time as an intern and they said “Hey, we know you love Disney, would you guys like to do a podcast with our podcast network?” And that’s kind of how it was born and we’ve evolved a little bit since then. But that’s how it was originally born.
And my love for Disney comes from…I used to work at Disney World as a performer for five years and then I worked at Radio Disney after I left Florida. And ever since then, I’ve just become a lifer, as I call myself a Disney lifer, and so we’ve been back several times. I’ve been to the Pixar Fest. We went to D23.
Andrea: Oh, I want to go.
Holly: Yeah, if you know D23, it’s like the Comic-Con for Disney every two years. So, we are just obsessed with Disney and, you know, as you can see from our Disney room that you’ve been in is like a throw up of Disney just everywhere of my years of working for them. So, that’s kind of how our podcast was born was his love of podcasting and my love for Disney kind of gotten married together.
Andrea: So, Jace, do you love Disney now, would you say?
Jace: So, when she kind of got introduced to Disney, she was kind of lukewarm on the whole Disney thing up until she started working for them. But for me, like my family went to Disneyland every single year as a family. Like we’re not talking a few kids, we’re talking…
Holly: Nine.
Jace: Yeah, there’s nine of us. It’s like yours, mine, and our situation, but like all of my brothers and sisters went. All of our like 20 some of our nieces and nephews, we had to have like two of those 15 passenger vans.
Holly: With no window.
Jace: Yeah, and so we would travel. In fact, we would start off in SeaWorld in San Diego and then we’d come back up and finish the trip at Disneyland for three days. When we came, we came like right or rock and roll, you know what I mean?
Andrea: Yeah, you did.
Jace: So, my love for Disney stems clear back from then, you know, plus growing up with all the movies and things like that, which Holly wasn’t able to do. But like I could rattle off, you know, the classics of the classics with anybody like that’s my jam.
Andrea: I love it. OK, so, are there any particular movies or sets of movies in Disney now that you are totally into? I mean, are you Marvel people? Are you Princess people?
Holly: Jace is huge into, I would say, Lucasfilm. So, Star Wars and the Avengers series.
Jace: I love the Avengers.
Holly: He’s always listening to different podcasts, giving them downloads. No, just kidding, but about when they’re reviewing those movies or when they’re talking about the behind the scenes, he loves the kind of the inner workings of Marvel and Avengers and Lucasfilm. And so, he is really good at that, I would say.
Jace: Yeah. And Holly is definitely more like she’s got the cast member connections, if that makes any sense. So that’s more of, you know, her point of emphasis. But I would say as far as like the movies are concerned, her favorite is Wreck-It Ralph, I think.
Holly: Oh yeah, anything animation. I mean, I think part of the reason I love Disney is just the escape from reality, right? I think that’s why a lot of people love Disney as an adult. And so, for me, I feel like the animation films give me a little bit of that escape to reality and go back to being a child again. And so, anything animated is probably one of my favorites, and they’re almost always a feel-good ending. Maybe they’re a little rough at the beginning and someone’s parents die but usually by the end of yeah…
Andrea: Usually…
Holly: Yeah, almost always, there’s some kind of message to be gleaned from them usually. And so, I would say, the animated films are some of my favorites. And I love looking for the Easter eggs, Andrea. I don’t know if you know about the Disney Easter eggs, but I love looking for the Disney Easter eggs.
Andrea: Any particular Easter eggs that you always look for?
Holly: Which ones would you say?
Jace: I think the Pizza Planet van or truck is one that we always, yeah, are always trying to find. And then in all the Pixar films, they try to incorporate, the little Pixar ball. So, even if it’s like sitting on a shelf blurred out in the corner, they always have the Pixar ball somewhere.
Holly: One of the most recent ones that we watched that came at Frozen 2, I think I counted three different Easter eggs. But _____her snowman character she builds Baymax from Big Hero 6, you know.
Andrea: Yes.
Holly: So, I noticed that. There was just a few in there that I thought “They’re really up in their game with the Easter egg thing.” If I can catch them with the naked eye and have to pass them real fast, you know. If I could see in the movie theater, they’re making this emphasis and I think that’s always a fun thing for me to look for.
Jace: Well, we always love watching the Pixar films and then going back afterwards and pointing out some of the Easter eggs that we found after doing a little bit of research. And I think Toy Story 4 has like the record for how many…
Holly: _____.
Jace: Yeah, because they go into that antique shop and that’s like where they spend most of the film. So, at almost any scene, there’s always an Easter egg of some sort.7
Holly: True.
Andrea: What do you think is so special about the Easter eggs? Why are those so special to people like you, to any of us, like what do they do for us?
Jace: Well, first of all, a lot of them are kind of _____ to other projects that some of those creators have worked on, but there’s a couple different theories that somehow Pixar, like all the Pixar movies are connected. And I think they’re trying to kind of portray like keep that little myth or whatever you want to call it ethos whatever going by doing that. So, people are like “Oh yes, I knew it. They’re a part of the same universe, this is, you know, whatever.” But then you’re totally involved somewhere in Big Hero 6 or something like that, right? And so I think that’s one of the reasons.
But also Disney understands that, I mean, they’re trying to make movies appeal to kids, right? I mean, that’s their niche but they also want to do things to keep adults engaged. And so, when the word gets out that “Hey, oh my gosh, have you heard of Easter Eggs and blah blah blah?” And they start researching it on YouTube and whatever. And so from that point on, they’re going to the movies and being like “OK, I wanna see if I could see anything,” aside from, you know “Oh, I just have to take my kid to the movie,” if that makes any sense.
Andrea: Yeah, I mean the experience that Disney provides is just out of this world. I know Holly you spent a lot of time in Disney. You have a lot of experience with the Disney experience. What’s it like as a cast member? What did you learn about how to create that experience for people?
Holly: I would say, I learned the only other companies I had worked for called me an employee or they had different ways that they treated you. And so working at Disney World, yes I was a number but I was treated next level. I started as an intern. I started on the Disney college program, so I was intern level. And even as an intern for Disney, I was treated very well. You know, they gave you a Christmas present and all these things. They had 600,000 employees at the time that I worked there with all the resorts and the parking and all the things you don’t think of that aren’t just at the park. And so I thought “Oh I’m gonna be treated like a number.”
And so, the way that the company runs of calling you a cast member, everybody has a part in the show and they say it’s the show. And so, when I would go out and perform, we had a little, I don’t know what you call, but it’s called PASS. So, PASS and it would stand for something you were supposed to do on every shift. So, when I came out and signed autographs it was P was the Pre-show, so you would do pre-show with someone. Invite them over to you, say hi to them, wave to them; that was your Pre-show. A was your Animation so you would animate something of if the ring a birthday button, “How old are you?” “Is it your birthday,” something like that.
Andrea: So you’re doing that with your hands?
Holly: Yes. Yeah, over animating, and so part of being friends with the Disney characters, you had a tryout that was, one was dance and the other was animation. They want to see how well you could be expressive with your body. And so, we would do the animation part and then the S was Sign and Share. If they had an autograph book then you would sign and share and then S will Send off of wave and say bye and then you’d send them on their way.
So, they had everything broken down and you were set up for success so that even if there was a day you felt like a number you knew what you’re supposed to be there. And everybody is a part of a show being called a cast member not an employee. And even the people that were selling the popcorn or sweeping up the floor, cleaning the bathrooms; they were part of a bigger show. And as a performer I really liked that part of everybody had a piece in this show and we’re putting on a show for the guests.
They weren’t clients or customers, they were guests in our home of Disney and we were bringing that Walt magic and, you know, paying homage to this guy who set up this huge wonderful world for us and we’re continuing his legacy.
Andrea: You know, you told me earlier that you were kind of went from being somewhat agnostic or you know like ho-hum about Disney to being involved there and growing more and more interested to the point where you’re doing a podcast about it. You stayed for a long time that to me says something about the way that Disney was able to get you to buy in. They care they cared enough about you apparently.
Holly: Yeah.
Andrea: I mean, is that part of what it was caring about you and then also being a part of a bigger story, really?
Holly: They have a huge reach and I realize Disney had their hand in everything. Their reach, their voice was so worldwide. I thought if I work for this company, think of all the opportunities that I have out there. I mean, there’s ESPN, there’s ABC. There’s so many other opportunities. Even when I left Florida and moved back to Salt Lake City to finish my degree, I got a part time job at Radio Disney. So, I continued to work for the Disney company.
And yes, before, I remember sitting in the den, which is what we call my computer room at my parents’ house. We’re sitting in the den. I got the e-mail that said “Congratulations, you have been extended an offer to be a Disney college program intern in Florida from these dates. Do you accept and write us back if you do.” I remember, I almost turned it down like that was how much I was just lukewarm about Disney, that just I didn’t love it. I just was like “I don’t know, maybe I should be responsible and finish my degree.”
And I was talking to my mom and I thought “What else in my lifetime, am I gonna be like single, unattached, no mortgage, no kids that I’m gonna be able to just go work for Disney on a whim like this.” And I thought “I gotta do it.” So, ever since then it started this ball rolling for me of wanting to be involved with them in some way or another whether it was, you know, Radio Disney or podcast going back even just as a guest or experience it from the guest side.
And because their reach and their influence is so wide, I thought “I gotta capitalize on this opportunity to then continue to maybe work for them and keep my options open, leave the company on good terms, then I do have to leave because there’s so many opportunities and baskets that Disney has their hands in that I could potentially be a part of in the future.” Because they treat you well and you get to see like insider stuff. Like there was a cast member-only event all the time. We would preview the parade the night before they come out for Halloween or we would have cast previews of a ride before it opened to the public.
So, there are so many little opportunities that gave us that I felt were so special, one of a kind, first people in the world-type things that we got to experience by working for the _____ that maybe the general population wouldn’t be able to experience. And I think that’s kind of what kept me coming back.
Andrea: So, even though you were behind the scenes, and in times at least you had, you know, you could see behind the curtain, you still were a part of the magic. You still got to experience the magic.
Holly: Yeah, even like there were several days off that I had that didn’t align with my friends, and so I would just go to the park by myself because I just loved it that much. Because I got to experience the magic but then to even go as a guest even though, you know, I was working there but if it was my day off, I would just go single right or I would just go sit and just taken on and beyond of the castle. Maybe not even do anything and just kind of chill on a bench and people watch and just, you know, smell the smells and see the sights.
And that probably sounds really weird to some people or really boring to some people but until they’ve experienced the magic of Disney and gone there, they can maybe understand why you would go to the parks by yourself, which sounds a little bit intimidating maybe. But I actually love those moments. They were the quiet moments where I could go on the Country Bear Jamboree or do the little things that maybe if I was with a group they’d be like “We wouldn’t wanna do that. That’s a waste of time or something.” And I could just go and enjoy the moment and that’s really something special. So, come my day off, I wasn’t just ready to just go home and chill I wanted to be back at the park.
Andrea: Mm-hmm. OK, so you both you both love Disney.
Holly: Yes.
Andrea: This is fun. OK, so your experience with Disney, do you ever feel like inspired creatively by Disney? Are you this creative? Do you feel inspired in that way?
Holly: You’re the most creative one here. Yes, editor at the TV station right here.
Jace: I mean, so here’s the thing is Disney has a great formula for everything they do. But the one thing I always tell people that Disney does best is making memories, right? If they can somehow rope you in to having a good time and making that, you know, a memory that you’re always going to have then you’re going to go back to the park and be like “I remember when I sat on this bench with my dad when I was a kid and we had the $15 turkey legs, right?
You’re going to go back 10 years 20 years later, sit down on the bench, buy the $25 turkey leg because you have that memory and it’s just so special to you. So, with pretty much all of my stories, I try to I try to encapsulate that formula of what is going to make this memorable not only for the viewers but the person that I’m interviewing right now. What are they going do, you know, five years from now and they’re like “I remember when I was on the news, and oh yeah I remember Jace was my reporter and gosh he did such a great job on my story.”
And then I always know when I’ve done that when a few days later I get a phone call or whatever from our station manager saying “Hey, we got an e-mail of somebody you know thanking us for sending you as the reporter to do the story. They said you did an excellent job and they really enjoyed working with you.” And so, I feel like that’s kind of the Disney in me of trying just to make those connections and make those intangibles something that they’re never going to forget.
Holly: Make those stories memorable.
Jace: Yes.
Andrea: Mm-hmm love that. I’m always very inspired by the creative process and I love the idea of being more creative but when you walk into Disney World or you go on the ride, the Carousel of Progress and you’re going around and seeing these, you know, different timeframes and different periods of time. When things change and innovation just taking shape and you think of everything that Disney brought to that and now currently brings into that and then I feel like there’s so much then that we can be inspired to do. How can we be innovative, how can we tap into that in ourselves and be inspired in that way, I think it’s just really fantastic.
Holly: Yeah, and think about like the time period, you know, the 50’s when Disneyland opened and what resources they had then versus what we have now is amazing. And I think if Walt were to see it, he would be thrilled. He is a businessman, of course, he wants the dollar, but I think what they’ve done with the innovation and the changing of the times, and he even said like “I’ll find myself getting sad when Disney closes a parade forever or they take down a ride and they’re not planning on bringing it back.”
I’ll find myself getting sad but then I go back to the quote that Walt Disney even said himself “Disneyland will never be finished. It will never be complete, it will always be changing always be evolving.” And so, I think that that was a test him of like I should be OK with it because the founder himself was OK with evolving and changing with the times and realizing and adapting to what your audience wants, what your audience needs, and what they’re relating to at your parks and your movies and so they’re adapting with the times. And I think he’d be really proud of what they’ve done and adapting with the times what they’ve done with these parks.
Jace: Well, you’ve got to think too Walt himself was an innovator. So, like he was one of the ones that wasn’t fitting the general norm at the time of, you know, the way he did business and the way that he did certain things. So, a lot of people, in fact, them trying to find investors to help with Disneyland was one of the hardest things that they had ever done. In fact, I think Walt put the mortgage of his house like in pretty much all of his investments into this just on a prayer that it was going to work out. I mean, we can see today how big the Disney Company has gotten as a result of Disneyland.
So, I think it’s kind of a lesson for all of us that, you know, sometimes you have to be that change, sometimes you have to be the person that’s innovative enough to take the first step and follow what you believe is right.
Andrea: To be an influencer, you do have to put something on the line. What do you guys see for yourselves when you think about the kind of influence you have both with the podcast and your jobs at the news station? What do you feel like is on the line for you? What at stake?
Jace: So one of the things that I think is the hardest is, I think, generally, people are afraid of the rejection or not rising to the occasion of maybe in a successful as you want it to be. And thinking, you know, when we were talking to you earlier you said I thought my book project was going to take three months and end up taking two years. And I think having that patience is something that you really kind of have to do. Like we were probably the same way of we’re going to start this podcast and immediately we’re going to get thousands of listeners and it’s going to be the greatest thing in the world. And because we’ve a podcast in our profession, we’re going to be more marketable and that sort of thing.
I don’t know that anybody’s even asked us professionally, if they even care that we have a podcast or anything like that. So, that clearly wasn’t the case. And I feel like it’s all about basically just being consistent and learning to find ways to just enjoy what you’re doing and be in that moment rather than worry about the analytics or the business side of things all the time and just kind of live, if that makes any sense.
Holly: And I think what’s on the line for us, I think, we’re really blessed at North Platte is that we get to cover the fun and fluffy stories. We get to highlight fun people in our community, and we’re not always covering death destruction and crime. When we worked in Salt Lake City that was a lot of our stories that the reporters would cover is, you know, these big investigative pieces or these you know corrupt X, Y and Z people. And so I think we’re blessed here living in middle of America, you know, there’s low crime and low, I don’t know what you’d even call it but story of that give me anxiety.
So, for me it’s a blessing because I don’t have to put myself on the line of doing a three month investigative piece like they would in Chicago or a Salt Lake or a Detroit or something where they’re investigating these, you know, big city problems. And I think living in a small town America has been a blessing for me and for my anxiety levels and that because I get to go cover the dog kissing booth at the park or for Positive Partners. Or I get to come and highlight fun people like Andrea, that are getting highlighted in national magazine.
So, I think that that’s been a blessing for me of having less that I have to put on the line. Yes, my reputation is strong one every time I do a story but in a smaller way because I get to do some of the feel-good stories that I think are like kind of good for my soul.
Andrea: Mm-hmm. OK, so besides Disney what other big influences have led you to the place where you are in a place of influence yourselves?
Holly: So, Jace I recently just got asked to be board members for the Miss Nebraska organization through the Miss America organization, formerly known as pageants but they’re now called competitions. So that’s been a little bit tricky for us to navigate, but we have found that what that does for our voice, yes, but for young women’s voices as well. Sometimes, young women at that age are feeling like they maybe don’t have a voice or they’re not being heard or their ideas are dumb or what they’re trying to do is stupid.
And so, for me, I’ve loved being a board member for the Miss Nebraska Association because we’ve been able to help those girls find their voice. And then they all have formally called the platform but now it’s called a social impact initiative where they’re going out in the community and they’re using their voice for change. We have one that we did a mock interview with that does blood drive. She was really trying to push blood donations for the blood bank. And then we have another one that’s talking about social media and bullying and how people hide behind their phones and can create fake accounts and try to bully you.
And so, them going out and speaking to schools and speaking to their community and being on newsmakers on TV and putting their voice out there has been really fun for us to be a part of helping them push their voice forward and having their ideas heard. And their ideas aren’t stupid. They’re not too small. Every little bit that they’re doing is an extra thing. Maybe someone had never even thought about getting involved in a blood drive and didn’t realize we had an American Red Cross right here in town. Just little things that they’re doing are big things because their voice is getting expanded because of that sash across their chest and crown on their head. People take them a little more seriously and that opens more doors for them and it’s a vehicle for them to go and create change in our community. So, we’ve loved being a part of Miss Nebraska, specifically.
Andrea: Yeah that’s cool. I mean, Miss Nebraska, the competition is actually here in North Platte.
Holly: Which is crazy.
Andrea: Yeah.
Holly: I’m so happy because I thought that’s maybe at Lincoln or Omaha. When I first moved here and found out it was here in our town, I was so happy. I was so happy we got that here. That’s a big deal.
Andrea: Yeah, it is, it’s special. And so what are your thoughts on how to make that competition even though we’re in North Platte, we’re not in Omaha where there’s big venues, lots of people around, you know, how to make that the best it can be for the state?
Jace: It truly is advantageous, honestly, to have it in North Platte. If you open up any of the programs, in fact when we judged a pageant or I guess a competition about a year ago in Omaha and we had a big dinner and they pulled out these boxes that had all these old programs from all the Miss Nebraska’s since the 70’s.
Holly: Back to the 70’s.
Jace: But if you open up any of them like 90 percent of the sponsors in there are from North Platte. So, it almost made sense for them to bring it up here anyway because those are the ones that are, you know, donating all the money and, you know, doing a lot of the work and things like that. So, it just made sense, but also one thing about small town Nebraska, and maybe it’s like this other places, but I know for sure it is here is when the community finds out about an event or something like this program, everybody wants to jump on board and everybody wants to be a part of what’s going on.
And I think that’s a lot harder especially kind of looking at stuff. You know, we’re from a big city in Salt Lake City and I don’t feel like, I mean, maybe it gets some backing but like not everybody wants to be involved in a bigger city. So, it’s harder to get people excited whereas you get the buzz going in a town full of 20,000 people and they’re like “Oh, yeah did you hear about this? Did you hear about this?” And it makes kind of your job almost easier because of the word of mouth, if that makes any sense.
Holly: And there’s not as many distractions as there would be in Omaha and Lincoln, there’s not a million events to go to in the town here, so when there’s events, there’s more support. And so, I think it’s smart to have it here because the town does come out in support and that high school is full.
Jace: Yeah.
Andrea: OK, so wrapping up a little bit here. When you think about having a voice of influence and what that means to you, and my guess my question is what advice do you have for somebody else who wants to have a voice of influence?
Holly: I think, we scare ourselves the most from being a voice of influence because I’ll talk to myself down more than anybody else. Like, I’ll tell myself “People don’t wanna hear what you have to say or whatever,” and nobody else would ever come up to me and say that really. I mean, unless you know they’re just being hater and hiding behind the computer. But no nobody would say to my face, “Nobody wants to hear what you have to say.” And so, I always have to just remind myself that the things that I’m saying are important and valuable to someone and maybe what I’m saying isn’t for everyone and that’s fine. And what I’m saying maybe not someone’s variety but maybe somebody needed or wanted to hear that. And so, I have to just not be the one to talk myself out of it.
It’s the same thing like when girls want to go and compete for a competition for Miss America. And they say “Oh, I don’t know or I’m not gonna try.” And I said “The judges can’t pick you if you’re sitting on the bench. If you’re not even on the stage, how can they pick you if you didn’t even go?” And so it’s the same thing for me of like “Nobody can hear my voice if I don’t try and share it.” And so for the different platforms whether it’s podcasting, TV through Miss America if I share it then people can pick and choose whether that’s something that they want to accept or consume. But for me, I did my part of putting out there what I felt like maybe somebody needed.
Jace: I think one of the scariest things for me or most alarming things for me was when we first got into TV and people were starting to recognize us, you know, around town and things like that, I felt like I always had to be on 100 percent. And not even like I was being someone that wasn’t me, but I was just afraid to show people my normal self, if that makes any sense. And as we’ve kind of gotten here and I’ve gotten more comfortable on people who have actually seen the real me, I found that more people are interested in the real Jace rather than the one that is, you know, on TV. And not that the one on TV is necessarily a lot different, but you know you can tend to be more fun and exciting and stuff like that in your personal life than you can, you know, you’re professional and I think anybody can attest to that.
And so I would definitely say it’s just basically just allowed me to, I guess, prove the point that you’re a lot more interesting and fun when you are yourself and not somebody that people expect to see on television.
Holly: Not trying to be someone that you’re hoping that they like or that you’re hoping. Because the same thing with when we judge, Jace and I have judged several competitions and then formerly pageants in Salt Lake and then now in Nebraska, and it’s the same thing. I can always tell the girls that are trying to be the girl that they think I want them to be. Or if they’re trying to copy the former Miss Nebraska and think the outgoing queen is the only one that we’ll ever pick.
So, I can always see right through them when they’re trying to tell me something that they think I want to hear where if a girl tells me an answer that doesn’t align with what I think but they’re convincing me of it and they have backup points for it then I’ll always score them high because they’re convincing me and they’re truth and they’re manifesting their truth. They’re telling me their truth and their reality even if it’s not something I agree with maybe their point is a point that I wouldn’t take, but if they back it up I will respect their voice and I will respect their opinion and still judge them well because they backed it up and gave me valid points.
And so, for seeing them in that aspect, I always like the ones that are being themselves. Even if it might create waves, not everybody likes someone who’s creating waves. But if it’s creating waves, I at least know they’re being genuine and not just giving me a cookie cutter fluffy answer that they think they want to hear.
Andrea: Mm-hmm, keep it real.
Holly: That’s right.
Andrea: Love it. OK, guys so where can the listener find your podcast and find you guys online?
Jace: So, you can find us on Instagram, Facebook at Navigating the Magic podcast.
Holly: And we’re on all of the platforms for podcasting, so wherever you like to listen to it we have it on Google Play, iTunes, Spreaker, iHeartRadio.
Jace: Spotify, iHeartRadio.
Holly: And Alexa can even find it for you. So, anywhere you find a podcast, you can find this and we love when people engage with us on our social media pages too.
Andrea: Awesome. Thank you so much for being a voice of influence for our listeners.
Jace: Thank you.
Holly: Thanks for having us, Andrea.