Life isn’t just about struggling to live and sacrificing to advance your career. It’s about enjoying ourselves, connecting with each other, and using our money to invest in something incredible! It’s time to take back our power and live the lives we know we should be living. And we can start by listening to Arielle’s incredible story for inspiration. 

Arielle Diaz is a Peabody and GLAAD-nominated TV Writer-Producer with credits on GENTEFIED (Netflix), With Love (Prime Video), The Last Man on Earth (FOX), etc. She is a wellbeing advocate and passionate about beauty, ancestral reclamation, and exploring the intersection of wellness, heritage, and storytelling. Arielle mentors and occasionally teaches the art and business of television with The Gotham Institute, and is beginning her journey as an angel investor in clean beauty and wellness consumer brands. She began her career at Google before transitioning into television. Fun fact: Arielle is a neuro-spicy mystic, and her current hyper-fixation is fairies and gnomes—decorating her home altar with all things whimsical and enchanted. It might change next month, but for now, she’s living in a bit of magic.

In this week’s episode, Arielle shares how she left the cutthroat environment of Hollywood screenwriting when she listened to her intuition and reconnected with her ancestors in Mexico. The trip allowed her to follow her curiosity, which in turn led to her finding solutions to her chronic illness, finding the connection she was seeking, and meeting her future mentor. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear how she connected with her ancestors and connected with her highest self. 

Follow Arielle on:
Instagram: @she.is.that

LinkedIn: @ariellediaz

Follow Erika on:
Instagram @‌theerikacruz
TikTok @‌theerikacruz
LinkedIn

Website:
http://www.theerikacruz.com

How to work with Erika:

Join the waitlist for the Courage Driven Latina program here.

Join the waitlist for the Magnetic Mastermind here.

Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST.

Episode Transcript:

Erika: Hello, friends. Welcome [00:01:00] back to this week’s episode of jingo Net Revolution Podcast. If you are watching the video version of this, then you will see that there are some Pokemon posters behind me and some planets behind me, and I am obviously not in my office. I am at, I’m in my nephew’s room. So I am taking care of them this weekend.

I’m taking care of my niece and nephew and I’m really getting a little taste of what it’s like to be a mom. I’m sorry it’s not, it’s not the weekend just yet. I’ve been taking care of them since from Wednesday, and I will be here through Saturday. But I mean, morning drop offs, getting them ready for school at night.

I mean, I already knew I was gonna have a whole nother level of respect for mothers after this. Few after these few days. I was gonna say this week, it feels like a long week, but it’s not. It’s only a few days. But let’s get into today’s episode because I interview a guest who is amazing. So Ariel and I had not known each other [00:02:00] until this podcast recording, but we were introduced by Leanne, who is a good friend of mine and hers, and somebody that I just absolutely trust.

She will be on the podcast soon as well. And. When she made the introduction and I saw the different topics that we could possibly talk about, I knew we had to have this podcast interview. REL Diaz is a Peabody and glad nominated TV writer and producer whose work includes gentrified, which we can find on Netflix with Love, which is on Prime video, and the Last Man on Earth, which is on Fox and so much more, but beyond the screen.

She’s a storyteller with a soul and is Deeply committed to wellness, ancestral reclamation, 

Creating narratives that heal, empower, and reflect our full humanity. In this podcast episode, we talk about her non-linear path to Hollywood. How she went from Google to Hollywood. Two, being the screenwriter and now an [00:03:00] angel investor, there was definitely a moment during the podcast interview where, you know, in that movie stepbrothers where they’re like, did we just become best friends?

I feel like we totally had that moment. Once we realized how spiritually aligned we both are, how we’re, we’ve both really taken a path to reach our goals. That doesn’t seem logical, but more spiritual. And I’m excited for you all to listen to this episode because she dropped so many gems. Her story is just, it’s very unique, right?

But everybody’s story is going to be unique, and if you take anything away from this episode, it’s that we can’t control the step by step of how things are going to. Turnout in our lives and how it is that we are going to reach our goals and at some point we really do have to trust and lean into our intuition and lean into curiosity.

So with that being said, let’s get into the interview. [00:04:00] I.

Ariel, welcome to Chin Nat Revolution podcast. I am so excited to speak with you about storytelling, spirituality, Hollywood, angel investing, all the amazing things. How are you today? 

Arielle: Uh, I’m so great. Thank you for having me. I am, you know, I’ve been watching or listening to your podcast, um, and I’m excited to be here.

Erika: Yes, I’m excited for the robust range of convers of the, of the topics that we’re going to talk about today, because as soon as I saw spirituality, as well as Hollywood, as well as tech and angel investing, I was like, yes. This is all, all my stuff. So before we get into some of those, can you tell us a little bit about who you are, about your upbringing and anything that you feel, um, comfortable sharing with us?

Like what shaped who you are today? 

Arielle: That’s a great question. Um, yeah, so I mean, currently, uh, I am a TV [00:05:00] writer and producer. Um, I have been doing that for nearly the last decade. Um, mainly writing, uh, comedies and sitcoms on television, some on Netflix, Amazon, Disney Plus. Um, my very first show was on Fox tv, uh, which was a delightful show called The Last Man On Earth.

Um, before that I was working, uh, in tech at Google, and uh, largely I was shaped by, uh, where I grew up, which was in the Midwest. I grew up in Chicago, born and raised. Um, my mom was also born and raised in Chicago. My grandparents are from Mexico and my dad is from Mexico. And, um, I would say that I grew up really shaped by my culture because I grew up in a, uh, in an immigrant neighborhood that was primarily.

Um, Mexican American, some Central Americans as well, but mostly Mexican. Um, but even that like had its own [00:06:00] very unique Midwestern like culture to it. I wanna say it’s very specific to Chicago culture. Um, in the same way that I think, like when I moved to LA I saw that like the Mexican culture in LA is very specific to la and you know, the same thing with Texas and like Mexican, Texas totally have their own, their own subculture.

So it, it’s very distinct. Um, and you know, only recently, um, have I really started to reestablish a relationship with Mexico itself and, um, and that land specifically and really reconnecting with, you know, the land where my dad was born and where my, and where my grandfather was born as well. And yeah, so I, I wanna say that I never really started to think about even that question, like what shaped me or like what.

You know what really formed me until I got to Hollywood. And I think that the reason for that being is that people really ask you to package yourself in like a way that is not normal if [00:07:00] you’re just going about living your life. And what I realized that, that started to mean, it was that you were packaging yourself a, like a against a backdrop of, uh, of, of whiteness, to be honest with you.

So it was, you know, I, I had never really thought of myself as like Mexican American or like any, like, there was no pre-qual. I just grew up where everybody was like me. So there was no otherness until I kind of had to step into this space where, you know, people wanted to know who I was and I had to kind of package it in a way that they would understand, you know?

So anyway, that’s a very winded answer for like, no, this was so good.

This is so good. But it’s, it’s, you know, it’s, there’s so much nuance to that question. Um, and it’s really, for me, I’ve, what I’ve noticed is that it, it shifts depending on who I’m talking to, you know? Yeah. Um, and how to, how to answer that question. 

Erika: Yeah, definitely. You’re so right [00:08:00] that when you grow up in an environment where everybody around you is similar, you don’t think of yourself as other until you find yourself in different environments.

And yes, I can relate to that experience because I grew up in a community that was mostly Mexican as well, actually it was pretty diverse, but it was mostly individuals of color. Yeah. And when I went off to college and then started working in the tech industry, I was the only person who looked like me.

Mm-hmm. And I realized I was the only person who didn’t come from money, and I never had felt like poor until I was in that environment. Um, but anyway, back to you, because there’s a lot of things you touched on that I want to ensure that we come back to, but. You broke into Hollywood with no formal connections and yeah.

I’m curious, so looking back, what’s one thing that you would, well, first, how did it happen? And then what would you do differently? And then what’s one thing that you were really proud of now that you look back? 

Arielle: Yeah. Um, thank you [00:09:00] for these questions. They’re, they’re great. Um, how did I do it? Um, oh my gosh.

That was such a, like, not a linear path. Um, because I also, not only did I not have formal connections in Hollywood, I also didn’t have formal education in, um, in screenwriting, which is what I do. I write tel uh, I write television. I’m a TV writer. Um, so I went to college, um, in the Midwest. I went to the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana.

And it’s very far from Hollywood. Like, it’s just not, it’s, you know, the, the focus of. You know, what it’s known for is engineering and agriculture. You know, we’re very famous for our top tier corn. And, uh, and, and that’s about it. So it was, you know, a very, a long shot from Hollywood. Um, I did not study it, but I knew that I wanted to be a writer.

Um, going [00:10:00] into school, I knew that I wanted, I thought I wanted to be a journalist, and my college career was largely shaped by circumstance than anything else, because I didn’t get into the School of Media or the College of Media. Um, and I had to pick something because if I didn’t pick something, I was gonna have to do a fifth year of school.

And I certainly didn’t have the money to do a fifth year of school just because. So, um, I was like, I need to, I need to pick something. And I really love to travel, so I picked tourism and, uh, it was a major called recreation, sports, and tourism. I, um, focused on tourism management and I was like, I’m gonna be a travel writer.

And I had no idea what that meant. And her, how’s gonna do it. But, um, what I ended up doing was, uh, I ended up in advertising after, after college, and I knew right away that that world, um, like specifically the way that it existed in, in those times, like it’s the, you know, the pandemic has changed corporate life in so many ways.

But at the time it was like, you go into an office, you work a [00:11:00] nine to five job, you work with, you know, in this space with like really bad lighting and it’s, you know, really cold. And, um, you are there from nine to five in a cubicle and. I knew like, just like in my whole body that that was not for me and was just like, as soon as I started working in that environment and essentially I just, like, I, I just felt like I needed to break out.

And so I did this thing early in my career, like, you know, in my early twenties I did this thing called out of Office Revolution, which was a newsletter that was also a career experiment. And I knew that I was really interested in tech at the time. And so I was really fascinated by the idea of, uh, rapid prototyping and like design thinking and doing like design sprints.

So I was like, I’m gonna do that with my career. I’m gonna like, you know, experiment and find out like what I like to do and get to my MVP, which would be like, you know what, what’s the, um, the MVP of my, my career? Like a role that I would like to do and I’m gonna do it as quickly and as cheaply as [00:12:00] possible.

So I did that, and I did that by. Following a bunch of people on Twitter, RIP, Twitter. Um, but at the time Twitter was still like kind of a new platform. This was, you know, like back in like 20, I’m gonna date myself, but it’s like back in like 2013 era. So early social media. Yeah. Um, I’m just like tweeting at people that I find interesting that I’m reading about in online publications like Entrepreneur Magazine and like Forbes and like finding out what they’re doing.

And I quit my job. I wanna say like before a year was up, I think I quit my job around seven or eight months. I was living at home at the time, so I just like put away a bunch of money and, um, I started asking for micro apprenticeships and asking if I could bring people like coffee at, or lunch to their office.

But I was asking like these people that lived in New York, I was asking people who were in la people who lived in San Francisco and I would, meanwhile I was in Chicago and so as soon as somebody would agree to meet with me, I would buy a plane ticket and I would fly to their city. And then I [00:13:00] would buy them coffee or lunch and I’d ask them questions and I’d like get to know people that way.

And at the time, because it was a career experiment, I wasn’t looking for a job, I was just curious and looking to build an MVP, like what do I wanna do? Um, how do I put together something that like I would want to, you know, pursue. And so people were, you know, more than not, some people did say no, but more people than not said.

Yes. And that’s how I started to build my network. And so during that time, um, people in Hollywood were people that I had also been reaching out to specifically like executives. And I was really curious about what they were doing and like how they worked in the TV ecosystem and what the TV ecosystem even was.

And what I didn’t realize was that those meetings are called generals and. That, that’s kind of Hollywood. Speak for the meetings that your agent normally sends you on. But I was booking them myself at the time. This is incredible. I was so Erika, I was so naive to like [00:14:00] any of this. Like I had no idea how it worked.

I did not, I was so green, I had no idea how Hollywood worked. But I think it really served me that I had no idea because I didn’t know that there was a proper way to go about doing things. And I was just curious, genuinely curious that like, there was no pretense in my questions. I was not trying to like weasel my way into Hollywood.

I was just like trying, I was just asking questions like, what do you do here? You know? And uh, and people were receptive. So, so that was like early, early on. And then during that same time period. I, um, applied for a tech incubator, um, that was at the time done through Ted and like, like TED Talks. Mm-hmm.

And, uh, the Stanford Design School. And it was based in New York. And so I applied to that and it was like, you know, based also like it’s principles were wrapped around design thinking. So I got into that and I spent my summer that summer in New York, um, incubating a company with a group of strangers. And it was through [00:15:00] that network that I got onto Google’s radar.

And then through that is how I got recruited at Google. And at the time I was not interested in pursuing a career at Google. I was at, at that point. I knew I wanted to be in television, but I didn’t have a straightforward path to get there. And honestly, like, it just kind of ev everything kind of weaved in like this perfect kinda way at that time where, um, by the time Google asked me if I was interested in a career there and I interviewed there.

I was like, that sounds like the more interesting path than to go back to Chicago and, you know, work a retail job or something. I don’t know. You know? Right. Like, ’cause I had given up my, my advertising job. Yeah. So, um, I did that, but during that time also, one of the, you know, to rewind a little bit, one of the people that I was trying to connect with at that time was an executive who worked at NBCUniversal and she was also Latina, and she was a big advocate for having more, uh, diverse voices in Hollywood, more [00:16:00] storytellers, more people behind the camera.

That were telling diverse stories. And I was like, I have to meet this woman. And at the time she kept like canceling our meeting or her assistant kept canceling our meeting and it was like just kept getting pushed. It kept getting pushed. And until finally she, like the assistant was just like, she’s not gonna be able to reschedule with you because she’s actually leaving MBC and she’s going to Google.

And this is around the time, like all of this kind of swirls in my head together all at one time. But basically within that same time period, I got recruited at Google. So we ended up both in the Bay Area, both working at Google and as literally, I got 

Erika: chills as soon as you said that you cannot plan these things.

No. Oh wow. 

Arielle: No, that’s what I’m saying. Like it was, my path was so not standard. It was so not like the usual path. Like it took me on a, to a different career trajectory to a different city to meet with this mentor who took me under her wing because I reached out to her once we got to the Bay Area, you know, and through our internal system at Google, I pinged her.

I had [00:17:00] coffee with her, both of us now as Googlers. And, um, and she was, you know, my mentor, my Hollywood fairy godmother. Like she really like, took me under her wing and she was, you know, truly like, it was like having like a, a thea like in tech, but also like in Hollywood, like somebody just to like look after me, but also just who had my back.

Wow. And who like really, um, you know, was my advocate in those times and, and showed me the ropes and like how things worked. And so when it was time for me to leave Google, because early when you’re that young and working at a tech company, you’re either by the, you get to a certain point where you’re either gonna go on a management track or you’re gonna go to B school.

And I didn’t wanna go to business school. And for me that was like, okay, this is my time now to do the thing that I wanna do. And, um, and she, she kind of helped me make that transition. Um, she introduced me to my now agent and um, to, she sent me on, on my first generals, my official generals now that I knew what [00:18:00] those, what that meant.

And, um, and at that point, uh, that’s kind of when it happened. It was all happened within a year and it was crazy ’cause I didn’t know any, like when I left, I left Google before I had any opportunities in, in Hollywood. I was gonna take the year to focus on my writing to like, get more samples out to like really just, you know, do the work.

And it ended up happening a lot faster. I came back to Chicago to finish the comedy writing program that I did at the Second City before I got recruited at Google, but then before I could finish that program again. I, um, I ended up getting, uh, a fellowship, a television writing fellowship in Hollywood.

And so things just kind of snowballed from there. And, um, I know I kind of like skimmed, you know, over it a lot, but it was kind of wild because usually to, to break into Hollywood, like to get a sh uh, your first shot on a television show where it’s like a real, you know, like something [00:19:00] that’s produced, something that people have actually seen.

Yeah. Um, it’s like a 10 year kind of thing. You keep at it. You, some people are assistants for years and years and years. And I, looking back when I like to answer now, your last question, what am I most proud of? Is it like I look back and I’m like, oh my God, like I like. I really made that I, I really broke in one without knowing anyone, without having like, you know, an expensive film school, like education, but also like, I did it in under a year.

You know, when people spend years at it and when you say like, you can’t plan it, like you really, really can’t, like, it, it, it happened in, in the most perfect way for me. And I don’t know necessarily if that’s repeatable and if anyone can take anything away from it. It’s not that like, oh, I need to go, you know, work at Google and then meet through one, you know, or like, it’s not that, but it’s that you, to stay so connected to your intuition, [00:20:00] um, and to the opportunities that may not make the most logical sense because your logic is not really gonna get, is not the fastest way to your dream, but like your intuition is.

And so for me, like, I think that’s like the biggest lesson is to, listen to your intuition, which for me. I’m realizing was my curiosity. It was like literally sniffing my weight through to like the next steps and meeting people that lit me up and then going in that direction and just like, keep going in the direction that really spikes that enthusiasm, spikes your curiosity and you really have no idea like how quickly, you know, like things can, can go in your favor when you, when you do that.

Erika: Wow. I wrote down a few things while you were talking because I wanted to make sure I came back to them. So the first thing is, um, I coach, I coach women. I coach Latinas and I coach them in supporting them in reaching their goals. So [00:21:00] I specifically call myself a courage coach and the thing that I see with, with Latinas over and over, or just with my clients in general, is that they want to know the how, and they want to know the exact plan to get to where they want to go.

But what I love about your story is that it points out exactly how your journey is never going to be linear and it’s never going to look like anybody else’s. And what you said about how your logic isn’t the fastest way to reach your goals, it’s through listening to your intuition a hundred percent.

And I mean, obviously you’ve always been very spiritually connected to like follow your intuition and, and whatnot, but your story is such a beautiful example of how you could have easily given up on the dream of being a writer when you weren’t accepted into that school and you didn’t choose that you found a different way.

And the other thing that I wrote down is curiosity over control. Like you really looked for following your curiosity instead of [00:22:00] controlling the outcome and controlling how things were going to work out. Um, and then the, the last thing I wrote down just because I was like, I don’t know if some people know this, but um.

MVP in tech stands for minimum viable product. So it’s, in other words, it’s like what’s the cheapest, fastest way to get to the, to your goal? And for the people who are listening that are in my program, this is your ghetto first draft. That’s what we call it in my program. You’re like, I love that. Yeah. Get, get to your ghetto first draft, the fastest, cheapest way.

And you did such a good job doing that through leading with curiosity, through allowing your curiosity to guide you. Because your curiosity really is your intuition. And whenever people are having a hard time listening to their intuition, the answer is curiosity, which is exactly what, what you mentioned.

Arielle: Yes. Oh my gosh. A hundred percent. And also, um, I mean, that’s such a good reminder because even like I, I, I could tell you probably when I was neck deep in that, in that journey that I probably, I could tell you I wasn’t as zen or [00:23:00] Sure. About of course. I was like, what’s happening? I hope this is right. Yeah.

You know, so, gosh, I I, I would also go back and tell myself to have so much more grace and compassion and just know that, you know, it’s supposed to feel scary. It’s supposed to feel, now I know that, right? Like now I know like, oh, okay, yeah, this is, it, it it’s like training, right? Like, it’s like that was, you don’t know it the first time around, but now you’re like, oh, it’s supposed to feel scary the whole time.

It’s never not gonna feel scary, you know? It might feel to a lesser degree scary, but it, the nerves kind of don’t go away. Um, so yeah, I think intuition is, is curiosity, but it’s also, it speaks in all sorts of ways. It could speak also in, in your enthusiasm. Yeah. Which, you know, like, I, I realize too, it’s like this inner like lighting up feeling that I feel when I hear someone speak about something or read about something, like sometimes it like rushes through my body and I’m like, I have to stand up because I’m so excited.[00:24:00] 

You know? And, um, yeah. And that’s information as well. But I think that sometimes. Myself included. I find myself in situations where I think that there’s like this like God-like voice that’s supposed to be telling me like, yes, you’re on the right path. Or like this is the right thing to do. And it’s almost never that.

It’s always like what we’re saying, curiosity. Enthusiasm. And sometimes it’s even more subtle than that. Sometimes it’s so quiet you barely hear it. 

Erika: Yeah. But 

Arielle: that’s kind of like, you know, that that’s, that’s a whole other thing that we have to be available for. We have to like be so tuned into our bodies and to our nervous system have calm nervous systems for us to exactly like hear that, that subtle, more subtle intuition.

Erika: Definitely. I feel like we could end this podcast right now, and it was already a great interview, but luckily we still have time. So I have a question on intuition just because. A lot of people who, who are listening, I, I think we’re just so conditioned in society to follow the right or the wrong path, and we’re almost conditioned with our [00:25:00] educational system put to believe that there’s always a right or wrong answer.

And that’s never the case with our intuition and what you said about people you know, or like, even us, I, I feel the same way where sometimes I’m like, just give me a clear sign. And it’s, yes, sometimes it’s very much a whisper. So in order to be able to your, to listen to your intuition, do you have any practices?

Do you meditate? Do you journal, do you go on walks? What are some of the practices that have supported you in listening to your intuition? 

Arielle: Yeah, this is, this is a great question ’cause I feel like the last year of my life has really been focused on that word, specifically practices. Um, I worked with a, I don’t know what you wanna call him, maybe a coach, but he was honestly more like by sensei.

Like it’s what I was calling him, um, on. Nervous systems, what would you say? Like, not re maybe some repair, but honestly like nervous system coaching. Like somebody who really took me through [00:26:00] a series of practices to how do we tune in to a regulated state so that we’re choosing our state. It’s not something that, you know, is, is always contingent upon the outside or external world.

And I really needed that because, you know, I found myself at the beginning of 2024, um, in a very uncertain place. Like I, you know, I had just come off of, um, the 2023 strikes, uh, the Hollywood strikes. There were writers, directors, actors, all of us, we are not working. And, you know, that ended at the end of the year.

And then, which is a time when the industry is always just quiet anyway, so really coming into 2024. There was a lot of uncertainty. Mm-hmm. And instead of going back to Hollywood, I spent the year in Mexico, which is like a whole other story that we can get back to. But, um, I met this, 

Erika: uh, that was literally my next question for you.

So if you just go ahead and elaborate, because that’s exactly what I was [00:27:00] gonna ask you about. 

Arielle: Yeah. I, you know, I, I had like kind of, um, a wild ride in 2023. Um, I had a, uh, I had my first plant medicine journey that happened as, a deeper level healing to the path that I was already on.

’cause I was dealing with chronic illness, from 2021 to, in 2022. And then in 2023, I just kind of reached like a plateau in the healing that I was doing through very deep nutrition and like just physical practices, functional medicine, nutrition, that kind of thing. And I reached a kind of level where I was like, I kind of just.

Hit this. Yeah. A plateau where I was like, I, I felt like I was staring at this glass wall and I could see the other side, but I couldn’t get to it. I couldn’t like, push past it or even like, walk through it. And I was like, there has to be there. I could see it. I know there has to be, brighter colors on the other side.

And there’s like vitality on the other side. There’s like [00:28:00] life and joy and playfulness and it’s crazy ’cause like plant medicine really, it really did come into my life. I didn’t pursue it. I wasn’t, you know, looking for it that, um, and I went to Peru, uh, to do on an, uh, for an ayahuasca retreat.

Um, something that came into my life through reconnecting with a friend who I hadn’t seen since my Google days. It had been nine years and we reconnected and there was one space left and the retreat she was going on. And I, you know, like. Just said yes, my whole body said yes. And that really just like one, I mean, after that experience, like all of my symptoms were gone, um, under, physically from a physical standpoint, I was, it was just gone.

Wow. And that had been from having two years of like, you know, trying to figure, you know, going through doctors to specialist office, doing different protocols. And so that was like a, you [00:29:00] know, a, a miracle on its own. But then when the strikes happened, it was like all of a sudden I had this time and my health back.

And so I went and I was traveling. Um, I was traveling. I, you know, was in a new relationship at the time. I was really just kind of living my life and having like, uh, you know, like really reclaiming the years that I feel like the pandemic and, you know, those, those first few years of in isolation, um, took away and.

I ended the year, um, just kind of in a space with, with a lot of questions where it was like, okay, well now that I am healthy, now that I feel connected to something much deeper and I feel transformed in a lot of ways. Like, what now? Now what do I wanna do? Can I go back to my old life? You know, is it, and I, the answer for me was, no, I don’t think I can, I don’t think I can just go back to LA and do the grind of looking for another TV writing job.

And, um, I had a message that was [00:30:00] very clear for me at the time that was to go back to Mexico, that was to reconnect with my ancestors and to, reconnect with like the original mother. And so for me, that was the land. That was earth, but that was, you know, like, it was very clear to me that. Whatever journey I was on that it was, it was for me, it was gonna be in Mexico.

And looking back, I can see how one does not need to be in a specific country in order for it. ’cause it, it doesn’t matter, you know, I, I could have had this healing anywhere, but that was my intuition guiding me. There was like, for me, there was something that I needed to see and experience through that land for me to reconnect with what I needed to reconnect with.

And so that took me to Mexico. But [00:31:00] in that experience, like I did, I met somebody around a fire, after the mezcal. And for people who are not familiar, but at the mezcal is something that is an indigenous practice, ceremonial practice in Mexico, but also in, but also in like Native American.

 Communities as well. So like, it, it’s something, it’s called a sweat lodge. Um, and then if you, the further south you go, it’s a thecal and it’s essentially just, you know, like, um, it’s so hard to describe because on the surface it’s like a sauna, right? But it’s, but, but I don’t know if you’ve ever done one, but it’s facilitated by a shaman and there’s four doors and the process is like this detoxification that happens and every four door is a representative of something else that you are purging and then also of what you are calling in and you are, are working with your ancestors the whole time.

And there’s usually like also medicine, like different herbs involved. [00:32:00] Um, and so I met this person who I just felt intuitively like, had something to teach me and I didn’t even know at the time that he was a coach or that he was somebody who like worked with people. I just felt like. I needed to learn something from him.

And, um, I didn’t reconnect with him until a month after that. And, um, and we had a conversation just kind of about like, you know, where I was in my life. And, um, it just made sense to work together. And we spent that whole time, um, just working on practices, on connecting with intuition. And so there was, um, a Zen Practice sitting practice, which is a, a style of meditation that, uh, we practice.

Uh, I also practiced, um, apart from him, but as a result of working with him, encouraged to go on of a ana, um, meditation, uh, retreat, which I did, which is, oh my gosh, like, I recommend it [00:33:00] if you feel called to something like that. Like, I, I can, I can’t recommend it enough, but it’s a, it’s a 10 day silent meditation where you’re meditating for 11 hours a day in total noble silence.

You’re also fasting. It’s a whole experience. Um. And then we also worked through nutrition. So like there’s a lot of things that, um, the food that we eat can, you know, in a lot of ways if it’s not clean, if we’re not, if we don’t have a relationship to our food, it can like, really like, clog our channel. And it blocks like those messages that, you know, we’re getting on a daily basis if they’re not, if it’s not a clean channel.

So nutrition, meditation, um, also doing things like stuff that’s like actually really simple, but a lot of people don’t think about it. But like, washing your dishes and like cleaning your floors and like doing your laundry, folding your clothes, like all that stuff puts you into like a flow state. Yeah.

And when you are not thinking, when you’re in your, not in your mind, but you’re like doing something with your physical body and you’re doing [00:34:00] it in a very repetitious way, you are a perfect channel to be receiving messages in that moment. And so something that, like, he taught me that. Really blew my mind because coming from starting my career in the Bay Area, everything is about optimization, right?

And about like what you should be delegating because you’re, you know, because your brain is too big, right? And you need to be doing all these big vision things and not like the menial things that, you know, with what we’re conditioned to think are menial things like taking care of your own house, which is insane.

But these, it’s really like a very, it’s actually the other way around, right? Like, these tasks that we think are not important because we’re supposed to be, you know, like having these big vision things. And so we delegate the house cleaning to like, uh, you know, someone to clean our house and somebody to cook our food, and somebody to walk our dog.

And actually it’s like we’re, it’s like we’re giving away money [00:35:00] because, and, and not in the sense of like, oh, ’cause we’re paying somebody, but because meditation is money, meditation is like, what’s generating. Like these moves that set us on a rapid fire path to our goals and to our desires. And when we’re connected to that and when we, or when we delegate that away, we’re really like, losing time with ourselves.

Like for washing our dishes is like a privilege. It’s a gift. It’s like what? It’s one, it’s a, it’s an act of service to ourselves and Right. And it shows that like, we care and love ourselves because we’re taking care of our home. This is like, it should be our sanctuary or our temple. Um, but it’s also, yeah, time, time with, you know, I’m, I’m gonna call it God ’cause I’m comfortable with that term.

Whatever it is for, you know, for you or for, you know, anyone listening. It’s your time with your higher self. It’s your time with God, with the creator, with light. Like whatever source, [00:36:00] um, is in those small moments that we often think of as not important or, you know, yeah. That we delegate away. 

Erika: It reminds me of how whenever people are in the shower and then they suddenly get an idea.

Yes. Like the name for this podcast came to me in the shower and I was like, oh, I know exactly what it is. Or when I’ve been washing dishes as well, like after I’m done cooking, after I’m done having like a nutritious meal and I’m sitting there washing dishes, I will have some of, I’ll just like make connections.

I can feel like, yes, not actually right, but like the new Neuropath connections in my brain, I’m like, oh, and things just kind of start clicking or I’ll have ideas for my business or, and even an idea for like a video or a piece of content and it just kind of hits me and it hits me whenever I’m doing things like that.

Where you are allowing yourself to be in that flow state that you talked about. 

Arielle: Yeah, exactly. It’s like it’s creating the spaciousness within ourselves to receive and when [00:37:00] we’re overbooked or when we’re like too busy to do those things, like we’re not available for those messages. So it is about making ourselves Yeah.

Available for those things and not to think that we’re too good for those things. Like it’s a very backwards way of thinking actually. Exactly. 

Erika: Yeah. Yes. Oh, I think it’s funny that we both started off in tech and, and then ended up being like these meditation, mindfulness, spiritual use. ’cause it’s like, those are two opposite ends of the spectrum.

But in order to be as productive as we wanna be, uh, like we were programmed in the tech industry, I think what we’ve both discovered is we do that through the mindfulness, through the non-doing. That’s how you actually get more done, which is like a mind fuck for society today. Right? Like, what do you mean?

If you do more, then you do more and it’s like, hmm. If you could let yourself be, then you actually have more space to create and do. 

Arielle: Yeah. Yeah. It’s like, it’s, it’s a strange [00:38:00] thing because, you know, we already know, like, not just, not just from a spiritual perspective, but from just like. A scientific perspective that like time is not real.

Exactly. So when we pause, it’s actually like time like kind of expands right with us. Like it’s not that we get less time if we stop. It’s like the opposite is true. We can create space through the pause. Um, and I, for me, that that’s been, that’s been very transformational for me because I think, like I spent so much of like my, my early career and all of, all of my twenties, to be honest with you, like really feeling like I had to do, do, do, do, do.

And it’s been this practice and unlearning that way of being. Um, and even so much so like that, I don’t know if you find this to be true, but sometimes even though I feel it, like sometimes I, I, if I’m around enough people who are still in that old. [00:39:00] Program, so to speak, that like there’s a, like a, is it a, I don’t know if it’s a guilt or like this kind of like, like I have to explain myself or like feel guilt, like I have to perform my guilt for doing less.

Erika: I totally know what you mean. I feel very seen, heard and validated in the conversation right now because I’ve tried, I tried telling some of my friends, yeah, time isn’t real and they like, they just don’t get it. And I’m like, well, we can go into the scientific explanation of this, but um, yes, I totally know what you mean.

Um, whenever we’re surrounded by folks who are still in the old program, it’s like, oh man, should I be doing more? Or like, how do I justify where, where I am? But I feel like I’ve tried both ways in my life and the more mindful spiritual way always leads to more abundance and more productivity. Yes. Even if it’s not happening in that moment.

And I’m sure you’ve seen that as well. Yes, a hundred percent. All right. So I mean, I could literally keep talking about that forever. But you briefly [00:40:00] mentioned, um, in our conversation about your chronic illness and that’s something that I had, I wanted to ask you about. So you’ve talked about your chronic illness shaping or reshaping your creativity, and how did that chapter in your life influenced the way that you now show up in your work?

Arielle: Yeah, so I mean, when I, when I got sick, it was, I, I wanna say that like the, the previews for it kind of started to appear in 2019. And, you know, it was, I would say that the biggest, you know, foreshadowing I think that I got was on, um, it was on, I remember it being on, on my birthday ’cause I spent my birthday in the emergency room, but I was working on a television show in la I was on the paramount lot and.

Um, I went into anaphylactic shock, which for people who don’t know, it’s an allergic reaction that you [00:41:00] have when your esophagus completely closes and you’re unable to breathe. And, um, they, once I, once people figure out what was happening is I was at work when it was happening. I was in, in a writer’s room, I was rushed to the infirmary on set.

And then one of the nurses realized what was happening and they gave me an EpiPen, and then I was rushed off the lot in an ambulance. And, um, and that was the beginning of it. And it is really crazy because I, I went to an allergist office after the whole incident and had to be tested for all these things.

I had to write down every single thing that I ate because it, this happened like kind of like around, like after my lunch hour in the writer’s room, and I got tested for all these things. And everything came back negative. Like every, they’re like, you’re not allergic to anything. And um, and so they called, yeah, they called it idio idiopathic anaphylactic shock, which [00:42:00] means anaphylaxis without cause, which is kind of terrifying when you think about it.

Like not knowing like what could cause you to go, to go into anaphylactic shock. So, um, that was kind of the first of like a series of really bizarre kind of things that were happening with my health. And it was like these, like these kind of different organ systems and different parts of my body that were kind of just in dysfunction from 2019 all the way through the end of 2020.

In 20 end of 2020, I would say it was like kind of where my health kind of hit a rock bottom and um, it was coinciding with the pandemic, right? So it was not easy to get, like in the beginning of 20, like when the pandemic started easy to get the care that I needed because there was all these like, you know.

Restrictions on how many people could be in a ho, you know, like in the hospitals and there, you know, the hospital rooms were filling up with people. So it was, it was kind of like scary times, you know? Mm-hmm. It was, it, it was really weird times. [00:43:00] So by the end of 2020, I, I, I had already been in like specialist office.

I had been like poked and prodded, and I had gotten like scans and X-rays and MRIs and like all these different, like, I had seen the inside of my body through all these different, you know, now what I look at, I’m like actually kind of cool ways, right? Like to through all these like, you know, scans and, um, and mirroring images, but no one could say what was wrong.

Like everyone was just, you know, they were like, well, we, you do have these symptoms, but there’s no, like, there was no disease that they could. You know, like diagnose me with, and so my doctors called it a mystery illness and or invisible illness, which is like what a lot of autoimmune conditions are categorized as.

And so I really, I decided to take things into my own hands and, um, also shout out to my mom because my mom is also someone who, you know, is, you know, very intuitive. And she was [00:44:00] the one, I wanna say she had like gone like through, like gone on like this YouTube rabbit hole of like looking for like different things.

And she was the one who brought functional medicine into my awareness. And I decided to find a functional medicine doctor and work with a functional medicine doctor. Um, and also I found like all these protocols online, there was like the autoimmune protocol. So that was like my exploration and like kind of how I dove into, um, like taking healing into my own hands.

And um, and it was through food, like food as medicine. And that’s kind of like how things started to transform for me. Like I, I wanna say, um, I also left LA at the beginning of 2021 to stay with my best friend who lives in Puerto Rico. And I was with her for, I was supposed to be there for three weeks. I ended up staying for three months.

It was so, um, it was so deeply healing to my soul. Oh, my bet. But this, yeah, because it was like one, I’m like, I had spent 20, 20 [00:45:00] isolated by myself in la and all of a sudden I’m like, in the ocean, have my toes in the sand. I have my best friend and, you know, I’m eating, you know, papaya and like fresh fruit every day.

Yeah. And, and my, my health is starting to come back, you know, like, not, not fully, but it’s like, like obvious improvements, right? Like, we’re going in the right direction and I. That was also what I realized, like how healing nature is in our, like what, how important our relationship to nature is, because it was this that I, I like that island is so healing for me.

It’s, and it’s been kind of a pattern that I’ve like, found myself on the island and like these very, in these times when my body needs to be replenished and it’s just always been so good to me. Um, so, um, oh my gosh, I can’t even, like, I I’m like so deep into like this story. What, what was your question?

Erika: Don’t worry. It is a great story. Um, I’m going to Puerto Rico in a few months to see Bad Bunny and I cannot wait. [00:46:00] It is the trip I am the most excited about. Um, but I do find that we, I don’t, the universe takes us to the physical spaces that we need to be in. I feel like that’s Mexico City for me. Like I always kind of end up there when I’m going through a difficult time and it always ends up being so healing.

Yeah. But the question was around the, um, your chronic illness and how that has reshaped your creativity. 

Arielle: Oh, okay. Got it. Yes. Thank you. Um, yeah, so that, so the basically like my, my chronic illness, like took me on like a, like a, a literal physical journey right. To Puerto Rico. And then I left LA went back to Chicago.

Um, and then it took me to the jungle. Um, and I wanna say that like, the plant medicine is really what, like, was like, this just went, it went so much deeper, you know, on it, it, it’s what healed me beyond my physical symptoms. It went to like this energetic, emotional and ancestral place that really went to the roots and asked me to go like deeper [00:47:00] into like my, my feeling of the things that I needed to feel in order to like, like process them through my body and through that healing and, you know, which, like I said, like took me back to Mexico.

I, I feel like the way that it’s reshaped my creativity for one. The way that I access my creativity has changed. I used to, because I, I, I, like I, my profession is in, in a creative field, is that I think that I used to approach it in this very, maybe this is the right word, um, like capitalist way, right where there it needed, there was no such thing as like play for play’s sake or creativity for creativity’s sake. Like it needed to have an outcome. 

Erika: Mm-hmm. 

Arielle: And it was really shaped by my, um, like the trauma of [00:48:00] survival and scarcity that was kind of encoded into my DNA or just being from the lineage that I’m from.

Erika: Yeah. 

Arielle: And so, because no one in my lineage had the. Freedom to be able to play right? And to be able to just freely express, to be able to, you know, to explore what, to sing the song in their heart. And so I didn’t know how to do that. I just didn’t, you know, there was just a part of me that felt like I need to produce something.

And it was like, if my inner child was the one, you know, who was in charge of this creativity, in this play, it was like holding a gun to her, her head and be like, you’ve gotta do something because we’ve gotta pay this rent in la you know, we’ve gotta, yeah, we’ve gotta pay it for the, for the car and for the Melrose apartment.

So like, think of [00:49:00] something and that’s no way to create like truly when I think back to those times, obviously like you’re. Yeah, I’m, I was doing it in such an unconscious way. I was so not aware of the way that I was speaking to my inner child or the way that I was, you know, the demands that I was placing on that part of me.

Erika: Yeah. 

Arielle: Um, that, like my healing journey, the, like, I’ve had to have so much compassion for the, for the parts of me that were sick when I was, when I couldn’t get out of bed, right. When I didn’t have the energy, when I needed to be recovering there. I couldn’t produce that, that, that was just not something that was within my capacity at that time.

And so I had to have a new relationship with my body. I had to have a relationship with my body and with my creativity and with my, you know, my, my output that was [00:50:00] respecting the seasons that my body was in, that was respecting the ener natural energy cycles. And what that, that was another thing that I was like realizing, was that my body was never in, uh, allowed to be in a natural cycle where like there’s a, a very like western and a very capitalistic way of thinking of things that is linear, that goes like in a straight line.

Erika: Yep. 

Arielle: And it doesn’t honor the cyclical nature of life. Um, which also happens to be a very like, feminine way to be. And if I would like, I had been even existing in a, in a state of constantly overriding those cycles and forcing myself to, to fit into other, um, production cycles. So I didn’t even know like what my, like, how my, I wanted to flow, how my thoughts wanted to flow, how my body wanted to flow.

And I, there’s so much more allowance for that to happen now. Like to, like, where does Phi, [00:51:00] where is my mind going? Where is my, um, where does my energy wanna go today? And that takes like a certain level of trust that I feel like I’ve cultivated over the last few years and I’m still cultivating. 

Erika: Mm-hmm.

Arielle: But when I have something that like comes up, it’s like, like trusting it and then like trusting it enough to like follow it down a path and then not like getting angry at it. If it does, if it leads to somewhere that doesn’t, you know, that if it leads to like a dead end, it’s kind of like allowing, like following the, like the white Rabbit and Alice in Wonderland and like just seeing where it leads you and maybe it’s gonna lead you to like a, a, a dead end, you know?

And then it’s like, oh, how, how do I get myself out of this thing? Like, that’s creativity. You know? Like it’s really not having it all figured out. And I don’t know if that answers your question, but it’s, I think in a nutshell, it’s been about like allowing my natural cycles to like come online. Mm-hmm. And then [00:52:00] trusting that those cycles are gonna take me where I need to go.

Erika: Yeah. 

Arielle: And trusting and like also giving my inner child like some freedom. Mm-hmm. And playtime that like takes the pressure off. Yeah. And, um, and yeah. Is there, there’s just been some I I’m allowing more fun in, in the process and, um, and kind of like building trust again with that inner child that like, just wants to be like, is it, are you, can I just play?

Can I relax? Like, is it okay to mess up? Is it okay to try and to fail? You know, like it’s, it’s more of that. 

Erika: Definitely. I love what you said towards the beginning about, um, creating from this place of scarcity and almost like having to produce versus now creating from this place of like abundance and joy.

Because the creating is, is. Fun, [00:53:00] right? Yeah. Like it’s, it really is supposed to be fun. And sometimes we really try to force creativity for the sake of like getting it out and to, to be in that linear path that you mentioned. Um, speaking about creativity, you posted something on Instagram that I found very interesting.

I think a lot of people who listen to this podcast are either looking to be on podcasts or they’re either looking to create content or maybe start blogs and things like that, and storytelling is a big factor in, in all of that. So you posted on your Instagram about how storytelling isn’t actually talent, it’s about psychology, archetypes and energies, and you even compared it to specifically writing.

You even compared that to pregnancy, which I absolutely love. So can you walk us through how these elements show up in your creative process or just kind of tell us about that post? 

Arielle: Yeah, so I, I guess like, when, when I posted it, I, I kind of wanted to demystify. The, the process of writing. ’cause I think a lot of [00:54:00] people think of, they think like, well, I’m not a writer or I, you know, I, I don’t know what I’m doing.

Or like, I, I’ve never written anything in my life. And the truth is that we’re always constantly living in a story like our life, like exists in a story. And we’re constantly going through these archetypes and these story arcs just naturally, organically in our life. Like, it’s just the way, like, like we are meaning making human beings.

So we are natural storytellers. And I would say people like, they’re right in terms of, in, in the way that like, it’s unnatural to write things down. For the longest time we were oral storytellers, not story writers. Right. So it is, there is like, it’s a little bit unnatural, but once what you, when you do wanna put it into a writing practice, there is a structure like that is as old as time that.

Every single, like, great story, recreates or [00:55:00] repurposes, like, it’s like there’s no such thing as an original story, like the story of Jesus Christ. It’s the story of Luke Skywalker, and it’s just, it goes on and on that way. Um, and so if I remember the post that you’re talking about, like the elements of storytelling, like psychology, it’s really understanding our base desires, right?

And so this comes from, I would say any good storyteller should know themselves really deeply. Um, and that comes from knowing your motives, knowing your desires, and also a lot of shadow work. So, uh, like, specifically like Carl Jung is somebody who, um, has really shaped my writing practice because Carl Jung was a psychologist, but also a mystic.

And so he worked a lot in archetypes. And that’s really like where I find the most pleasure and joy in exploring and like, I get the most lit [00:56:00] up because human beings are, if we’re being, if we’re really honest with ourselves, like we’re, it’s not just like what we say we want, like there’s always something beneath the surface.

And if, if one is not able to understand their own psychology, like what is beneath their own surface, then you’re never really gonna get to like the really good like character like creation, like character development, right? Like if to understand, to make some, a character truly three dimensional, truly human, you have to get under their skin.

You have to understand not just what makes people like them, but you have to make them understand like what is, what’s like their darkness, right? Like what is like the, what is their shadow? Because we all have a shadow. And so if we understand like. Our base desires and we understand our, our deepest fears.

And if we understand, um, what it is that like, really moves us on like a, an [00:57:00] emotional level, on like a deeply psychological level, then we can create like such rich characters. And if you’re not in, if you’re not like a fiction writer, if you’re not a screenwriter, like it’s also like how do you understand yourself, right?

Like how do you understand like your own role within your own life to know where you are in your own timeline? And like, really that’s, that’s the crux of like understanding the psychology of something. Um, in terms of understanding the energetics of something. This is like where I compared it to pregnancy.

Um, because, so when we’re in our mother’s womb, we are connected to her nervous system. We’re sharing a nervous system. So everything that is within the, you know, her energy field and how she’s, how regulated or dysregulated she is. Is what we’re receiving in that time. And then we are basically like, uh, we have that, that carbon copy of a nervous system.

Like when we’re born, [00:58:00] we also have, you know, a separate conversation like the power to rewire that nervous system. But for all intents and purposes, the energy that our mothers are in is the energy that we were born with. And so the same thing when we have, uh, where we’re in the creative process and we have an idea whether it’s for a story or for, for business, we have that energy that we’re holding within ourselves that like, when that idea comes to fruition, it has encoded within it that energy, that nervous system energy.

And so if you are creating like a business in survival mode, like, or a story in survival mode, like what you receive on the other side of that is gonna be that energy. Like it’s just gonna, yeah, like. Yeah, that’s the energy that it will be like, uh, that you’ll find surrounding the project. Whether it’s the people that you attract to work with you, whether it’s, you know, how you launch or how [00:59:00] you share the story.

Like it all really depends on like the energy that you’re in. And if you create something from a place of curiosity, from joy, from like, oh my God, I love this thing. I can’t wait to share it with the world. That is like what you also receive back. Like that’s also like people will be excited to receive what you’re excited to put out.

But if you are in this mode of scarcity and this mode of fear and this mode of, you know, just deep fear, you will also attract. And you’ll also bring collaborators. You will also bring outcomes that mirror, um, that same energy. So. I can’t. And then I like, I’m like having trouble remembering the post that, um, the third thing, um, that I wrote in the post, it was psychology, it was energetics and there was one more thing, 

Erika: frequency.

Arielle: Um, I think that was the energy. 

Erika: Um, I thought so too, but that’s what I had written down. Hold on, lemme look. But I think we get the gist of what you’re saying. Yes. Especially, [01:00:00] and I just wanted to tie it back for, I know a lot of people who follow me have a personal brand or they’re also coaches and things like that.

And a lot of my clients are aspiring coaches, um, or are coaches and everything that you shared is even relevant to us. And the storytelling that we do on social media. So, for example, people I feel are drawn to me in my podcast because of the shadows that I share. I don’t try to come off as this perfect person.

Like some of my most viral stuff are about me calling off an engagement or me leaving behind the tech job to do this. And. Moving back into my mom’s house and like still being there, right? So like all of these different things that, no, I’m not living my ideal life just yet, but I’m bringing you along the journey with me.

And I think people just feel seen in my own story how it’s a story of following courage, but like I’m still scared and it’s still not perfect yet. Or what you talked about with energetics. Whenever I’m recording content, um, I can have the exact [01:01:00] same script, but based on how I’m feeling whenever I record that piece of content, it’s either going to perform the way I want it to or it’s going to totally flop.

Yeah. And there’s been moments when I am like, I don’t know, after a breakup and I’m like forcing myself to do it, and I’m showing up and I’m still proud of myself, but the energy behind it is. Not the energy of creation. It’s almost like coming from this lack energy like we were talking about earlier.

Yeah. So, um, yeah, I think that that was super, super valuable and obviously you being such an expert when it comes to, to storytelling. Before, whenever we were in the green room, before we started recording, you also mentioned that you are working with, um, some companies around consulting, right. For storytelling.

Do you wanna tell us mm-hmm. What that is in case somebody who’s listening might be a good fit for that? 

Arielle: Yeah. So specifically within the realm of storytelling, like I really help whether it’s a brand, um, a founder or someone who is a writer like me, [01:02:00] um, positioning themselves in their own stories, whether they’re, so if it’s a founder for example, it would be like helping them position them for investors or for collaborations and like telling their story, but also telling their their brand story and like, what is the.

Um, the origin story and, you know, to the conversation that we just had, the, like, the energy that they really want to like, put out there so that it’s crafted in a way that is attractive to the right audience. But, and I don’t mean the right audience in terms of strategy, I mean in terms of authenticity.

Um, like I feel like there is such a distinct difference in, like we were saying, our logic brain. Like, oh, it would be so great to be with, you know, to, you know, get access to that VC firm or to that brand. But it might not be authentic to like the founder. It might not be authentic to your audience, to your customer, um, to, you know, in my case, like a studio or a specific collaborator.

[01:03:00] So it’s really like getting to a place of authenticity and then creating a story that brings that. Results that brings to bring like the right to be a lighthouse essentially, and like to bring that in. Um, Ooh, I like that analogy. So, um, yeah, it’s kind of like in the, the, the chapter, if I had to name this chapter of my life, it’d be like, let, it’d be my lighthouse air out.

Right? It’s like this is, you know, I’ve been out at sea for a while and now it’s like, okay, like let’s, let’s share the stories and like Yeah. But like, in an authentic way. Which is why like, I think even finding, finding you was so interesting. ’cause we were connected through my friend Leanne. Yeah. Um, who is amazing.

Um, she is, yeah. Yeah, she’s great. Um, so, so yeah, so I’m working, so I’m working with a few people there. It’s not, um, it’s really been on a word of mouth basis, um, which I also feel super, you know, fortunate for. But it’s been, it’s been so fun and something that’s been so fulfilling [01:04:00] for me. Um, I just made my first angel investment, um, in, uh, in a company.

And so it’s just been like a space that I’ve really enjoyed, like being in. And even that, like, you couldn’t tell me like a year ago that this would even be something that I was doing because it was just not on my radar. But like, what, like I said, like when you’re open to like, life Yeah. And when you really are tapped into your heart, um, in, in, in actual way, like the, like not when I say these things, like sometimes I worry that like I’m gonna come off as like, 

cliche because I don’t, I don’t mean to speak in cliches, but it’s like an actual, like our heart has an actual frequency. There is an actual electromagnetic field Yep. That it projects out into the world that can attract like. What’s on its frequency. And so, um, I feel like since I’ve been able to do that, since I’ve been in my heart more, [01:05:00] I’ve been like finding that life has taken me in a lot of really interesting directions.

One of those being angel investing. Um, and so yeah, I’ve just been my first angel investment in a period care period care company and Amazing. Congratulations. Yes. Thank you. Yeah. And a lot of it has been, like I said, like, um, because of my own, um, story, my own like journey through chronic health and stuff, like, it’s like I’ve gotten to, I’ve had to be so much more mindful about what I’m consuming Yeah.

That I’ve just by accident. You know, like have become like an expert in like these brands that, you know, because I haven’t been able to go to like big box stores and get like, what, you know, just all the things because there’s so many toxic chemicals and a lot of the things that we consume 

Erika: Yeah. 

Arielle: That a lot of the innovation in the, that is happening in these startup companies.

And so what that, for me, what that lit up was like, oh, I wanna be a part of it somehow. Right. I want to. Yeah. Um, you know, for me, what I find the most joy in is supporting female [01:06:00] founders who have a vision, who wanna make, you know, the world, um, a healthier place for, for, for us to be in. Um, and anyway, one of the company, the company that I just invested in, it’s called Sunny Period Care, and they’re, um, an applicator, uh, a a period company, an applicator company.

And um, you know, they are. Uh, it’s founded by two wonderful women, um, Cindy and Drew, who are doing a fantastic job RA fundraising for their company, but also just like being advocates for self-care. And, um, yeah, I just, I wanna be able to support more, uh, more women like them. 

Erika: Beautiful. I am all about, um, period care as well.

Sustainable and non-toxic period care. Yes. We’re gonna have to do another episode later on. Um, all on that. But [01:07:00] I have had such an incredible time speaking with you. Honestly. I feel like we could go for like a whole nother hour, but for the sake of time, I think we should probably cut it here. Is there anything though that I didn’t ask you that you want to say to the listeners?

Maybe something that’s on your heart, on your mind that you want to ensure that you have an opportunity to say, 

Arielle: oh, uh, thank you for giving me the space. I feel like we have covered. So much honestly. Um, I love that. Like we went, um, gosh, from the beginning of my, my journey from, you know, pre TV to now post, um, you know, post tv, I guess like, it’s like new era.

Um, so I feel like we’ve covered a lot, but um, I share a lot on my, um, on my Instagram and on my LinkedIn. So if people are interested in, in those stories, um, in what’s next, they can definitely find me on those two platforms. 

Erika: Perfect. And those are both linked down below in the show notes. So [01:08:00] for those of you listening, if you took anything away from this podcast, which I’m sure you did, but whatever was your favorite moment of the podcast, please take a screenshot of the podcast episode and ensure that you tag us both because we wanna see what it is that stood out to you.

And thank you all so much for listening and we will be in touch. Thank you so much for being on. Thank you.

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