Michaela:
Ladies, you are going to love this episode. I know a lot of you follow at dress up buttercup on Instagram like I do, but I also follow her husband ERAD Ted who shares such incredible hashtag edgy has been stories from behind the scenes of his fashionista slash fashion bloggers, wife's Instagram. And if you don't follow DD, she is just so cute and so adorable and their couplehood coupling is just so fun to watch unfold on Instagram. And it's really interesting. I know a lot of us struggle with what we post on social media and what our spouses think of that and he really shares some guy insight to that, but he's also hilarious. He posts these stories all over the globe of guys who are trying to get that perfect photo for their wife's Instagram. And it is so funny. So I hope you like this first guy that we've had on the BU find happy podcast and find him as hilarious and hysterical as I do. Hello, can you hear me? Hello? Oh yes. Can you hear me? I sure can. Oh, that's awesome. Cool. Well, um, it's neat to connect on the phone.
You our first guy, like our first legit dude. Yeah. I realized that I was looking through, uh, all, all your podcasts and I was like, does she know that would be the first guy on, it's just, okay. Yeah. I'm excited to be here. I just, after, you know, following your Instagram and stuff, I'm like, Oh my gosh, she is so funny. This would be such a breath of fresh air. Yeah. Your husband sterkel I'll, I'll try to do my best to follow through on that, but it's a lot of pressure to start. We'll see what I can do. Don't let my listeners down. Okay. I'll do my best. We'll see. But expect nothing. That's actually easier way to go in life. Right. Just expect nothing. Yup. That's my motto. That's great. Great life motto. So, um, so I wanted to start off by, you know, could you just give like a one minute kind of pitch on
Michaela:
the elevator pitch on who you are?
Ted Raad:
Yeah. I think in, in context of, of this, um, I think a lot of people will know me as, uh, at dress up buttercups husband. Um, that's, that's, uh, my, my wife has a fashion blogger and an influencer and a lot of my life, the past few years has been kind of revolved around helping her out in those space and just, uh, uh, working with her in different aspects of that. Uh, I worked, uh, at Hewlett Packard as an it manager for years. Um, kind of working on different things in the business side of things in the corporate world. Uh, and that's kinda how, um, I was able to help in a lot of the business aspect of things that kind of rolled into there. But most of the time I'm just the man that hopefully doesn't get shown very often on her Instagram. I try to stay behind the scenes as much as possible and just help out wherever I can.
Michaela:
Wow. So, so Hewlett Packard, where were you in the marketing realm or something like that?
Ted Raad:
No, actually I was in it. Yeah. Yeah. It was not in the marketing realm. I mean, I had a business degree and outside of the MBA, so I had my idea of the marketing realm. I'm actually worked on a lot of like contract negotiations with mergers and acquisitions within it. So, um, a lot of the business aspect of, of kind of the it department.
Michaela:
Okay. So you say you helped like with websites and stuff, you're, you're like the backend guy.
Ted Raad:
Yeah, yeah, for the most part. I mean my, my parents always said I could fix a printer. I have no idea how to fix one of those stones. But I did, I did what I, what I could where I could. So yeah, definitely that, that division though,
Michaela:
I'm, I'm actually really good at fixing printers. I just throw them out the window. Yeah. We had, we had a brother for the longest time and we called him brother bitch. He was just constantly such a moody printer all the time. Yeah. So, um, okay, so I have to ask you, cause you said this and so my husband hates social media. He hates pictures of him. He hates taking pictures of me, the whole thing. And so you said, you know that you try to stay out of her, out of her pictures, but you are so incredibly supportive. All the time. So, so how do you kind of balance, um, you know, having your life always on the internet?
Ted Raad:
Uh, it's, it's a lot more than what I, what I first expected. Right. So I think when, when all this started for her, uh, she started off in the event management space. She was a wedding planner. She helped out in a venue. She always had a creative outlet. And then when she got her degree, I, and again, she'll blame me for this. Every time I convinced her the corporate world was the way to go. Uh, she went into the oil and gas industry and you know, if you know guys and events, it's just bring some beer, leave the flowers out of it. Let's just have a good time. Right. So nothing like she was, she was miserable and she'll, she'll say lucky for her. That was an oil and gas crisis, which caused people to get let go. So I mean, it was more like a, they asked her, they said, look, when we're going to have to either move you somewhere else or we don't have a spot for you.
Ted Raad:
She's like, I like the ladder, I will laterally leave. And I was like, honey, think about it. Come on. But, uh, she, she couldn't do it. Um, so I think my eye, there was a few things at that moment. I felt a little bit responsible that I threw her in this corporate world after she had such a good thing with kind of, you know, event planning. Yeah. Cause that was a creative outlet for her. And, and, and I think the hard part for me with her and of implanting, cause I was working Monday through Friday and then she was working Saturday, Sunday. So it felt like we wouldn't see each other very often. Um, so I was trying to get on the same schedule with her. Uh, so then she, you know, she, she, she showed me what a fashion blog was. Um, and she will tell you, I laughed for saw, I taught like, get outta here.
Ted Raad:
This can't be a thing, like what's going on? And I was, um, all I was trying to do was help with her creative outlet. Right. Uh, there was plenty of times, I mean, don't make it sound like I was there, you know, cheering her on every two seconds. There were times where I was miserable. It was, it's hot in Houston, that's where I live. Um, there are times she asked me to take photos outside in the middle of the summer heat and I was like, honey, you have 35 seconds before I am out. Um, so it was just, you know, she learned what would, you know to learn what times of the day I was willing to do it and for how long and, and you know what that would take. So she, she definitely worked with me a lot to get me on board.
Ted Raad:
It wasn't like I was just jumping in with both feet. Um, but I did want to support as much as I can wherever I could and then, and then something just happened, right. Like it, like, like people were interested in what she was sharing. I mean, obviously I knew that she was good at fashion, but it just started to, to just develop into this, into this thing where she has an audience and a following and, and, you know, and she, I mean, I knew she was good. I just didn't think that it would actually get to this point. Um,
Michaela:
you were kind of like, that's cute. Well, we'll support you your little hobby and, and it makes you happy. So I'm along for the ride, but you didn't think it would blossom into what it is now?
Ted Raad:
I didn't on the back end. I was like fixing up her resume, sending it out. I was, I was fully prepared to just say like, honey, we tried it. You know, you gave it a shot. Like if we need to find you something that you can, that you'd be, you know, something you can work on, um, with, with the degree that you have. Uh, so, um, you know, it, it just ended up being this way. And I think as we got along, uh, we learned along the way, at least I learned what she responds well to. She learned what I respond well to and then we've kind of just worked on that. Um, and she's made it easy for me, so to speak. Right. It hasn't been really that difficult. So I mean, she's, she's brought me along easily and then at the same time it's just kind of, um, it's been a good working relationship, so,
Michaela:
so I remember seeing pictures from forever ago on her phone, on her page. And on your page, you guys have been married or at least together for quite a while. How long has it been?
Ted Raad:
We have, um, it's going to be seven years in August.
Michaela:
Oh wow. Yeah. So by a celebrity standards, you're your old, old, old full year.
Ted Raad:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's, but it's been, it's been great. I mean, we've, we've dated for longer than that. I mean, if, obviously, and we've just kind of known each other forever. Her family knows my family from before we even started dating. Uh, it's just been, we've been best friends for a long time. They kind of flourished into a relationship. And then, um, you know, been married seven years and it's been great. So,
Michaela:
so you guys had this super solid foundation before she even, she even got where she is I think then.
Ted Raad:
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It wasn't a, it wasn't a, she had this thing and I kind of just jumped on board with her with an established following, so to speak. It was a, um, uh, yeah, we've been way before, I think three and a half years or four years into our marriage is when she started.
Michaela:
Yeah. Because I started following, uh, champagne and Chanel and then dress up buttercup. And this was back when they, I think they both probably had, you know, six or 7,000. I think they hadn't even hit 10 yet. And then in the last, I'd say two years, three years, it's just blown up.
Ted Raad:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's been interesting to see both of them grow. I mean, Emily champagne and Chanel, um, you know, she's had an incredible growth as well. So, and in their friendship has just been, uh, it's just, it says organic and raw as it can be. I mean, they, sometimes they are, they are, they chat all the time. They're shooting the breeze, they're always hanging out. And I'm like, you know, it's good that you have a friend, but don't forget the husband over here. So
Michaela:
yeah, my husband and I think Savannah, so I do this podcast with another gallon. We're often like, you know, it's interesting to see how our husbands handle the podcasting piece, especially when they're like, Oh, they're in the room recording a podcast, or Oh, they're doing a promo video or what, you know, there, there's that sensitivity. But then they're usually just in the kitchen hanging out or whatever. Joking, making fun of us. Typically, they're like any conversation that, that we find interesting with them, they're like, it's not going on the podcast. It's not happening. Yeah. So,
Ted Raad:
yeah, no, yeah, with them. I mean, it's just, I think it's good for, for DD to have somebody who's going through the same exact thing as she is, as far as, you know, this business and it's a very, very off business. I mean, I want to say off as unusual. Right. And it's not your typical nine to five. It's very different, is much more involved than, of course it's shown in front or on, on Instagram. But, um, I think she should definitely.
Michaela:
So how has your travel schedule changed? Cause you go, you go along on a lot of these adventures, right? You, you typically travel with her
Ted Raad:
every now and then. I actually try not to travel with them as much as possible because it ends up being a lot more work. Um, so wherever, wherever I can, I mean if, if the w while I was working at HP, I was already traveling a lot because my, you know, my, my job demanded it. Um, so a lot of the times she used to go with me on these work trips and, uh, you know, we used to stay at whatever hotel we're and should we stick pictures in the afternoon and so forth. Um, but now as this has kind of kicked off, she has been starting to travel more and as she was traveling more and I was working my long hours at HP, um, we just wanted to spend some time together. So every time she would have a trip, I would just start to see if I can take some time off or work from home or whatever the case would be, work remote and try to join her on these adventures. But yeah, every now and then I, I, I do what I can to, to join those events.
Michaela:
So one of the things that I noticed is you seem to have like carved out your own identity and all of this. You know, you're, you're such a huge support to her and it is a lot of the focuses on her, but you kind of have this niche with the, with the IgE husbands and, and all of that. So, so is that what you've kind of done to make it more fun and creative for you?
Ted Raad:
I didn't, I didn't intentionally do anything. That's what's so interesting about this. Um, so I mean, I, I just was helping my wife out in this, this industry. Uh, and then along the way, I mean, back when we didn't even have any false whatsoever. The posts that you see that I typically post on stories is the same post that I've always done. Right. Like it's always, DD has always done something that I'm like, this, everyone love this. Right? Like they need to know what I'm seeing right here. Um, and I would just, I would just naturally post something of that nature, you know? And I think as the Instagram husband duties have developed, um, I've always tried to share my, my misery a little bit in some aspects, but also some of the, you know, the benefits.
Michaela:
Sure.
Ted Raad:
Um, but it's been,
Michaela:
I was just going to say I love, I love your stories there. They're just absolutely hilarious. Especially seeing like the curated picture on DDS page and then seeing your, like the pain is real. Like this is take 47 or whatever.
Ted Raad:
Yeah. Oh yeah. She is. So, particularly when it comes to, and I think all, I mean a LA, a lot of them are. Um, I don't think any of the guys I've taken photos have it easy, but it's just, yeah, she's very particular and sometimes we'll be out there for 30 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour, and sometimes it'll just be 30 seconds. I just, we just don't know, you know, with type of datas. So, um, but yeah, there's definitely a lot more that goes into it.
Michaela:
And so you're, you're kind of always sharing this humorous behind the scenes. Is that just who you are by nature, you're, you're, you just tend to kind of look for the humorous stuff in life.
Ted Raad:
Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think that's always been the case. Uh, I've always, I think my parents will tell you that I never tend to take things too seriously. Um, I try not to take things too seriously, and then when they are serious, I'll take that when it comes. Right. Uh, but, uh, for the, for as much as I can, I try to see the humor behind things. I try to have fun. Um, I, you know, and DD is very, very, very patient with my humor, especially when she's trying to get a photo done and I'm here trying to joke around. But, um, but yeah, that's, that's typically how I like to see things. Uh, not everything so serious in life and when they are, we'll treat it as such, but, you know, just taking everything, um, but what they really are and not, not kinda make it over dramatic in any way.
Michaela:
You guys are generally always like laughing and having fun. And I mean, of course, you know, a lot of that is probably just what you're showing on Instagram, but how do you kind of like squash them, add stuff? How do you guys like reset from, from fights and or disagreements and things like that?
Ted Raad:
Yeah, I think, I think what has helped us a lot is we have an incredible, uh, we, we have a really bad memory is what I have to say. We, we, we, we have arguments, we have disagreements. Sometimes some will last longer than others, but I think through our, you know, working on it in our time of marriage together over the past seven years, and by no way are we pros, uh, it's just, I don't think you can be. Um, but we've, we've learned to forgive quickly. Uh, and then we learn to apologize quickly and I've learned to adjusted to understand why that may have upset, um, either me or her in that situation. Uh, so I think being able to forgive quickly and adjust and move on, uh, is always, is always very, very helpful. And then not, not keeping a record of wrong, so to speak. I think what happens typically when we first got married, at least the first year, uh, was just wheat. Yes, sorry. Yeah, that just kind of there for a second while. I was going to say, I think for the first year or the first two years, I think we, I found myself kind of keeping this long list of things that bothered me about DNA, but just like not, it's not telling her at all. And then at the end of the year she'd made me a peanut butter and jelly with more jelly than peanut butter. Then that was it. Right? That was like the final nail in the coffin. So
Michaela:
we're getting divorced. You do that all the time.
Ted Raad:
Yeah. You don't know how to cook, you know. Exactly. I just kinda messing everything up. So I think we've learned and adjusted and uh, and you know, we've gone through our marriage counseling to start for the first year cause we knew we had these issues. But, um, and again, there weren't grand issues, but we knew that if we want our marriage to stay in a relationship to where I feel like we're best friends all the time, how do we make that work for the longterm and what do we need to do to make it work? And it's, it's worked great. I think there's, every day I wake up and I'm just happy I'm married to my best friend, so to speak. Right. I mean, it's a natural relationship that we worked on and it's, uh, and it's doing well. She may have different thoughts when she wakes up, but that's the thought that I typically have. We'll just not ask her. I actually would prefer if you don't ask her, cause I don't really want to know, but it looks good so far.
Michaela:
My husband and I had the first proper fight in a long time. It was great. We were in the driveway and we got to bicker and about something and then he's like, I'm not walking with you anymore. He turns around and then I'm like, can squashing my passionate did this whole big, you know? Yeah. Like I really felt like we needed one of those and I kept storming off down the driveway and you know, we'll then we'll just divorce the, you know, then I'm walking back up in here. He's coming down with a dog.
Ted Raad:
I think everybody needs their own little romantic moment where you guys argue and then the man always comes into play and calms everything down and every once in a while it's fun.
Michaela:
Yeah. Yeah. I feel like, I feel like they're important every once in a while. Totally. Especially when you can both, I think for, for us it's always just admitting our part in, in whatever, you know, and you don't have to own the whole thing, but at least at least some part that you were responsible for or whatever.
Ted Raad:
Yeah, absolutely. I think that's the biggest, the biggest key is understanding that. Like, I, I always, when, when we first got married, I used to tell Deedee like, even if I'm, I, I'm stubborn by nature, even if I know that I might be wrong, uh, I'm, I'm not, I'm actually a Gemini, but just, just, I mean, I, when we first got married at everything, I, even if I knew that I was wrong, I would speak as if I was right. I would just, I'm like, you know what, I don't care if I'm wrong, I'm going to win this argument somehow. And as we go along and marriage, it's definitely good to just, even if I'm right, let me just call it quits, you know, move on to head. Yeah. Yeah. And I always use the example like my, my, the wallpaper in my room is, it looks like a jungle theme with pink flowers in the background. I guess that's all right. Like go ahead and take the room. No problem. Let's not argue about this. Let's just move forward. So I mean, I'll pick my battles later.
Michaela:
That's hysterical. Well, in a recent picture, um, and I couldn't help but wonder if, if she made you wear it, but for the announcement, cause you guys are pregnant for the, for the gender reveal, did you, did you agree to wear that outfit or did you pick it on your own?
Ted Raad:
I will, I will say this, if I were to choose an outfit on my own, it would be jeans or shorts and a black vignette that that's like my uniform. So anything else you see is because Didi said you need to find something else to wear for this. So yeah, not now. Granted, I mean, she wanted us to be, you know, a team, you know, of course team blue or team pink or whatever it was for the gender reveal. Um, so she found me the brightest pink shirt possible and said, this is what you're going to go with. And I'm like, alright, whatever makes you happy, honey. I'll just do it and move on. So,
Michaela:
so you, you had to pick a team or you were leaning towards the team? Cause I think you were kind of leaning towards the team.
Ted Raad:
I was leaning towards a team by, I hate saying it because I would have just taken, I was taking it, I'm glad that we were having a child. Right. I'm not like a, but now that we know that we're allowed to choose, so to speak, we're past that first phase and now we're choosing. I did. I was, I was team pink.
Michaela:
I think that's fantastic. Um, so what, so what is it about the idea of having a baby girl that you were excited about?
Ted Raad:
Yeah. Um, and hopefully my sister won't listen to this podcast cause she's going to get big headed. But I think that, um, growing up, I think having an older sister, uh, really helped my, my framework of it looks like to be, um, to be, to be a, I guess a man around women, right? I got to see the things that she dealt with, with guys. I got to see the things that bothered her. I got to see, and me and my sister were close. So I think that it was just one of those things to where I think it, um, kind of shaped my perception and, and even the way that, you know, I, I saw things in life and she was very strong minded. So I mean, I was in trouble from her more often than I was in trouble. My mom, right. It was just like she put me in my place a lot.
Ted Raad:
Uh, and I just felt like that helped, that helped a lot, develop a lot of my, my viewpoint, um, growing up. And I just felt like, you know, I'm gonna, I, I, if, if, and if God willing, you know, I'm blessed with a son, so to speak. Um, I think that that, I would hope that he gets raised kind of that same, that same mentality. Right. I mean he'll have me in DD, but we don't, we're winging it for the most part at this point. So hoping that, you know, having an older sister would kind of help that, uh, character development and we can't guarantee it. But I just know that having an older sister really, really helped me out.
Michaela:
Oh, that's, that's so special. I hope your sister does listen to it cause I'm sure she'll get warm fuzzies.
Michaela:
Yeah. She, yeah, she might, she might get big head and say, see, I knew you liked me, so then, you know, we'll see what happens. I still don't like you that much. Yeah, no comment. Won't say anything there.
Michaela:
So, so what do you think, um, you know, you've been around a lot of, of women lately in general. Um, so do you think you're, you're going to be able to handle all of that estrogen and all of that?
Michaela:
Aye. Aye. I was telling Deedee, I mean I need to watch a lot more sports to kind of like balance everything out and you kind of had
Ted Raad:
no everything and granted, you know, I um, the, it's just, it's specific that I'm getting used to and, and it's not like in the corporate world, I can't say that the guys were much less emotional. Right. I mean guys will act like they're not emotional, but then it's a different type of different type of way. But yeah, I think that, you know, DeeDee's been having a great time laughing at the fact that it's just like my whole life is basically revolved around around ladies now and just getting used to that. So we'll see how it goes.
Michaela:
I loved this one. Oh my gosh. I think it was a boomerang and you got left out of it.
Michaela:
Yeah.
Michaela:
Sitting there with your beer and they're like toasting their champagne
Michaela:
lab and so on. That happens all the time. But you know, I, I don't want to be in it. It's just weird having them have two cute little wineglasses so to speak. And then here comes my manly beer with my big hands. I'm just like, I'll sit out of it. Stay out. They don't even, yeah they don't, the thing is, I know they don't even ask me to come in, so I'm just like, all right, let me just go ahead and sit out over here and you guys let me know. But that's okay with me.
Michaela:
I like, I hope, I mean I see, I see these kinds of supportive guys and I love that you're just taking this twist on it of, you know, finding the humor in it really. Cause my husband does, he's just, he tolerates, but like even pictures, he's like, you get one good and then I feel so much pressure to make it right. You know? And, and if he, if I ask him to be in it, I mean we could be literally going to the most gorgeous national park you've ever seen. And he's like, one picture, you better, you better wait, make account. I don't even ask. I've gotten really good at tripod timers trying everything.
Ted Raad:
I try my best. I have preferred, but I would like it to not be in any photos whatsoever. Um, I think that, you know, Didi has found a way to get me in more of them, but I'm just, I'm, I the same thing mean I'm in that same mindset still. Honey, you've got like three or four shots here and then I'm, I've got to go do something else. Right. I'll just take, I can't be in this many photos. So, and, and I think that's, that's okay. I think she understands that. And plus people want to see her in a way. So it works out for everybody, so to speak.
Michaela:
That's really neat that you guys have found a balance on it. I know my husband and I, me being very extroverted and, and kind of always having, even back before we were, we were married or even dating my Facebook, I shared wildly and he, and he is the opposite. He's a very private person. He doesn't, you know, like piano is lives. And so we've really, most of our big life blows have been over this balance. And, um, so how do you guys, how do you guys, like, do you talk about what's off limits to share? How do you kind of balance the sharing?
Ted Raad:
I think, I think that comes with it just comes with adjusting over time. I think at the very beginning, uh, I was just like, I mean let's say your husband so to speak, right. Um, to where I didn't want to be in anything. I didn't want to help too much. Uh, and I think through conversations and her understanding, well, she and she can negotiate with me very well. Uh, she does a good job of saying, well, what if I do this and when would that work for you? And I think communication helps us a lot. Um, and I think the fact that she'll approach me and say, look, I would like to get photo with you and this is the idea that I'm having. I'm having a, and this is where I'd like to take it and cause she knows I'm somewhat of a planner.
Ted Raad:
If she gives me all the details upfront, then I'm okay with it. And she knows if we go so much, like I want a picture right here and I want to post it on the, on, on the, uh, on her Instagram, I'm, there's a 50, 50 shot, I'm just going to say no. Right? And she knows, she knows that as a 50, 50 shot if I say yes and I'm very reluctant about it, right? So she knows to communicate with me beforehand. And in some ways I'm a diva in that sense, right? Where I just want to know when it's happening and uh, just kinda communicate with me beforehand and I've, I've had to learn also to kind of make it with her why I wouldn't like to not do it or I prefer to be behind the scenes. Uh, you know, it's not kinda my cup of tea. Um, at least when it comes to Instagram photos, and I don't mind sharing stories all day. Right. It's just a matter of I don't know what it is about me in photos. It just feels so in the moment. And, you know, I don't know if it's just, it's just how I am, but I think communication helps a lot.
Michaela:
Yeah. It's, it's interesting cause, um, this, that's kind of exactly the perspective my husband has. He just says, you know, I just want to know, like, I just want you to clear it with me before you put it up there because I just want to know what you, you know, what, what you're doing and what's going up there and that sort of thing. And that's kind of the approach that we've taken and we still bump heads about it sometimes, you know. But yeah.
Speaker 4:
[inaudible]
Michaela:
his big fear is soccer cause he's like, you know, you've already had people that are crazy and that sort of thing. How do you deal with that? Because she definitely, I'm sure it's not all females that are following them, her and there's definitely weirdos in the world. How do you handle that? How do you guys manage that?
Ted Raad:
I think, I think we take it on a case by case basis, which we definitely do our best to hide a lot of the information that, um, that we share that list. It's very personable, gives any idea of where we are so to speak, but for the most part we can't, we can't really hide it. Um, and I think we just kind of take it one issue at a time. If we feel like there's anything that's come led to a stalker, then, uh, we'll approach it when that day comes. But I think we're also very, very aware, um, to leave things out, uh, just because of that one instance if it were to occur. Um, and maybe, you know, they're probably out there now, so who knows. But I think it's just, we just try to be as careful as possible, uh, trying to give too much information away.
Ted Raad:
And sometimes when we're traveling, you know, D may, uh, post a day later, like our stories in her feet and such, so they're always, whoever it is could be like a day behind and so forth. Um, it's hard to do that when she's traveling in groups. Uh, but those are just some of the little safety precautions. We'll take a when necessary. But you know, I think at the end of the day, that's the one thing about being on Instagram, especially if not like in a private account or anything, is your life becomes very public. Uh, so those are some of the things that we just have to think about and adjust as, you know, um, stuff or incidents.
Michaela:
Yeah, I'm shocked at the amount of information that's, that's on the internet. I actually recently had super, super big scare with a guy who called and pretended to be a Lieutenant and said that I had missed a jury duty and wanted me to meet him at the jail. And it was such an elaborate as such an elaborate scam. That's really, I think my husband was like, lock everything down. You're going off the internet. And I'm like, Whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute. You know, it's this, this is part of my journey. You know, I can't just run in and ride and um, but I did, I did start bringing the dog everywhere with me. Yeah. Good idea.
Michaela:
Do you have, you have a, you have a big dog?
Michaela:
Well, he's got a big bark and he definitely is protective, so it's an Ozzy, so he's not the biggest dog, but yeah.
Michaela:
Oh, that's, yeah. I have a little Yorkie so my dog wouldn't help at all. D D D D D style, so to speak. Right. So my dogs for show and he doesn't really do much, but I mean, we could give it a shot.
Michaela:
Oh, that's funny. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I often wonder about, I often wonder about the little Yorkies and stuff, but they're not helpful. But the reality is he probably likes you the best and cuddles with you and sleeps on your face and
Michaela:
yeah. Yep. And Didi is super jealous of that, but you know, I, I mean, I'm the one that takes him out all the time, so you can see why he likes me, so to speak. But yeah, she tries her best to cuddle with them, but she's just not, or he's just not having it.
Michaela:
So you mentioned that you guys travel a lot, so what's, what's your favorite place? I noticed that you, you've been all over, you guys have done a lot of different things. What's your favorite place that you've been?
Michaela:
So I think there's two places that I've, I've really liked. And um, and the, the whole traveling thing that's like always been DDS adventure, right? I mean, growing up I didn't travel as much, but her mom was a flight attendant, so she's been everywhere. Uh, yeah. So I think that's kind of, she's always had a travel bug. So when we got married, she had to convince me that it's, that it's a lot cooler than how I've experienced it. And because of a planned trip with, uh, with your siblings or something, I mean, everything and with us, everything was kind of planned out. And where are we going? We had to think about things and plan things. But with, with her, her mom was a flight attendant, whatever flight was open and they just, and yeah, and they figured out as they went. So a lot of anxiety when we first got married.
Michaela:
But um, we went on a lot of different ventures. I think. I think the two that stuck out to me, I liked, um, I went to a small Island off of the coast of Belize, took a small ferry there. It was, uh, it was crowded with like maybe 200 people. I felt like the boat was at the sink. Uh, I don't know. We finally got to our place on the other side. I mean there was like a really nice area. You rode your bikes everywhere. A lot of different, you know, cultural foods were there. It was fantastic. Um, but yeah, I really liked, or like that trip. And another one was, was Thailand. There's a little Island there, uh, called PPI islands. Um, and that was something right out of, uh, a movie. I mean it was incredible to see. Um, but yeah, those, those two places. And we were able to go there cause I was flying a lot out to uh, South Korea for work. And so for one of the trips DD came out and I just said, Hey, let's take a flight to Thailand thinking it was close, it was still a nine hour flight. So
Michaela:
Thailand is still my favorite place I've ever been. Yeah, I love it. The people, the culture, the food, there's the water. Oh yeah,
Michaela:
yeah, it is incredible. And the funniest thing we were looking for, so DD sister had gone before and she was like, Oh you can do the whole trip for like a hundred bucks. And then we noticed that there was like a, a, it was like a five star hotel and I think it was like $65. I was like the best hotel and uh, in Thailand and I was like, you dude, we're booking this. And like stuff like five nights, whatever it was, it was like 300 bucks and her sister was living, she's like, how do you spend more than $300 in Thailand? Like, are you guys kidding me? I'm like, I don't know. I'm not going to do it here. Like I got treated like a King. That doesn't happen.
Michaela:
I was shocked by that too. Our our hotel each. Um, it wasn't even like a hood. It was like a mini like house with its own pool and everything and all of the rooms were like that. It was incredible with all this fresh fruit every day. And yeah, amazing. I totally want, I always say I'm never going to any place a second time until I've been every place once, but I would totally go back to Thailand. Yeah. My parents went to Belize and almost sunk on their boat too. So it must just be a thing,
Michaela:
I think. I think so. The funny thing is when like me and Eddie were where the fair was about to leave, like, Oh no, we can still fit you guys. I'm like, no, you guys can't. And we're literally, we're sitting in that like a standing in the middle of the boat while it was completely packed. And I go, goodness, this is going down, honey. This is how we ended, but it made it there. So,
Michaela:
so what, so, um, so that's a hysterical story. What is your, I mean a lot of times you capture people like, you know, mostly guys, men who are trying to capture the perfect picture for their spouse or whatever. What's your most hysterical story?
Michaela:
Uh, I mean at least when it comes to that, we went to London this past year and we've been a few times, but D this time did her research on like the Instagram spots and I could not tell you the amount of couples with the ladies sitting up on the wall and the husband's trying to get photos going. And I, it was like, it was a highlight reel. That trip. I probably storied like way too many times, but I mean, all of these guys, they just looked miserable. All the girls were like, just one more shot. I'm like, come on, how this is, this is my life in a nutshell. They're experiencing it just today. Uh, but it is, they have, it's incredible to see like how, how often that occurs or there's just all these couples going out. And I thought it was just me. But yeah, it seems to be definitely a thing going on.
Michaela:
Hard pressed to find cause the same way my husband doesn't really like social media. He, he does, he does okay. In a touristy spot for like about an hour. And then, so our trips are often to these remote wilderness places and I'll get to pick like one tourist attraction, one tourist picture and that's it. So, um, it's been harder and harder because of Instagram to kind of like escape. You know, we used to stay at BLM land outside of national parks and stuff and there was nobody, but now with like the hashtag van life, it's like all these real life people are on the BLM land and we're like, what the heck is going on? You know?
Michaela:
Yeah. I mean it's all the pros and cons about social media. I mean the good thing is like finally these, these places that deserve more value are finally getting it, but then it becomes crowded, which is kind of good. Gave you though. It gave it the value. But I mean it's, it's a definitely a trend. It is crazy,
Michaela:
crazy thing to see. And so this was the world that your daughter's going to be growing up in. And I know even for my son, you know, he, the other day he had my phone and he's like, what's up? Share family, blah blah, like doing his own selfie video. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, he's getting this from me. Like how are you going to manage that? How are you going to manage?
Michaela:
I have, I don't have a clue yet. And I think that's what I mean, everything keeps changing. I don't know what's gonna happen in five years. You know, when I was growing up, I didn't get a cell phone until I was in high school and that was for like safety purposes and all you could do is dial in a dollar number. But now there's kids out there that have cell phone numbers and it's common. And then for me, I don't have kids, so I didn't know it was a common thing, so I've just been shocked by it all. But you know, I don't know how we're going to adjust. I know that we're going to try to do the best we can to, um, I won't say keep her off, but you know, kind of keep her involved in what's happening in real life circumstances and not get so caught up in, in social media and everything else.
Michaela:
That kind of, um, you know, we'll keep her away from, from the now so to speak. Again, I guess my motto is one day at a time, I mean D D we're reading baby books and I feel like my honey, we're just going to do our best. So I don't know what's going to happen before parents. I figured we'll just figure it out as we go along. And you know, my, my mom said this to me once, she was like, look, I messed up on you guys plenty of times and you turned out okay my way. I guess that's helpful. So let's see. So we'll see how it goes. It allows me some leave room.
Michaela:
Well, it's been neat too to see just kind of the pregnancy journey unfolding too. And even the behind the scenes where you're like, this is DeeDee's third lunch today.
Michaela:
Yeah. That's been a great, great part of it. Her appetite now is fantastic.
Michaela:
It'll be, it'll be really neat to, to see, um, to see, you know, kind of your, your guys's parenting style and fold. It must be so weird for you to have such a public watch on, on what you guys are doing. But yeah.
Michaela:
Well we're experiencing it now a little bit. I mean, the second that she announced her pregnancy, we're getting a lot more eyes and comments on how to be pregnant the correct way. So I think there we're getting, it's definitely a new world we're jumping into, so there's a lot of good, a lot of bad, but you know, we're just, we're just taking it one day at a time.
Michaela:
I think that if you want to start like any kind of social media war, talk about like immunizations or, Oh my, it's unbelievable. Actually, our episode on mom guilt is one of our most played episodes. Yeah. It's, it's a, it's definitely, yeah.
Michaela:
Yeah. I believe it. I believe it's the amount of DMS that DD gets and a lot of them are great, but a lot of them you're like, what do we do? You know, you're not sure when you're pregnant. Exactly. Yeah. Something totally out of the blue. And we're thinking, huh, any, we asked somebody else, like, there's, they're confused as well. Something, I don't know. So there's definitely a lot of takes and a lot of opinions. And I think 10 years ago, your opinions came from those around you. And now it's coming from a vast, you know, uh, array of people
Michaela:
a little more entitled because they are kind of in that veil of anonymity and the Nim anonymity behind, behind the shield of the internet.
Michaela:
Yeah, absolutely. We've always said this at work. Um, or I was working at HP. People are much more brave behind the screen. Uh, you talked to them in person, they won't say half of things. They'll say in email and now even over a direct message and even when they can use a fake handle. And, you know, it's just, it's, it's incredible. But you know, we, we understand that comes with the territory, right? I mean, we, we know that we can't, um, uh, you know, we, we can't stop it, but at the same time we understand that in this same realm with the negative comes all the good. We have a lot of great people that are very, very positive and encouraging and supportive. And that's always a, we can't just say, Oh, we got one bad thing, there goes, there goes a life. But same time, we know that there's a huge audience that really loves to be involved in what's happening in our lives and that they, um, and that they are, you know, we've got plenty of DMS where they feel like they know us and they want to be, um, you know, they wish they could meet us.
Michaela:
I would say us meet D D right. And so I think there's a hangout with you do. Yeah. So I think, I think in, it comes with the whole territory. We know there's going to be bad and we're so we're actually very, very, very thankful for the good. Um, so, you know, we just, we just take it as it as it comes.
Michaela:
Probably awesome that, like you said, Emily and DD have each other and then D D has you as well. And Emily has her boyfriend. And so you guys have those kinds of people that you can, you know, decompress with or vent to about things that have come up and, and you're communicating with somebody who understands cause they're living it too, which is, that's neat. That's special.
Michaela:
Yeah. And I think it's very helpful for her. Cause I think when she first started, uh, I was no help when it comes to her, like, um, venting at all when it comes to this for the least, I was just no clue what's going on at the time. Yeah. You know, I come home from work and then, you know, she's talking about stuff and I'm like, huh. It's just a photo of relaxed, but uh, you know, none that it's much more behind the scenes in that she has a friend to talk to at least, you know, to talk about the social media world and the fashion blogging industry and how they handle this situation and it's been very helpful for her.
Michaela:
Yeah. My husband and I worked together at the, the industry I'm married into with him, which is a family business that he had. And so we definitely have that whole kind of piece together, which is good and bad. Right? Working together, we've had to find a solid balance, but then it's nice that we can support each other and I do understand what he's talking about when he's expressing different things that are going on. But when it comes to the podcasting and writing books and stuff, he's, you know, he tries, he really does, but he, he's like, okay babe. Yeah. All right.
Michaela:
Yeah, I get it. And I, well now that this has become more of my world, I think that it's, you know, Didi and I talk about it all the time and we have to find moments where we need to both unplugged and kind of get away with it all and try to find, you know, what hours of the day we're not going to have phones, so we're big advocates and not having phones over dinner and hanging out and we try to go on walks together and put our phones away. So, um, as much as we can, we do our best to unplug at the same time. It can. Absolutely.
Michaela:
I think, I think what, what you're talking about is so many couples deal with everything you've mentioned today. Really couples are dealing with, even if it's not, they're not Instagram influencers, still just social media in general and the sharing and having that kind of disconnect from the phone and having time together. I mean those are all definitely things that I think a lot of couples are trying to figure out. Really.
Michaela:
Yup. Yeah. And it comes with, I mean, we, we weren't pros at this at all. Um, and I think we're still not in, you know, DD will tell you I have got a long way to go because sometimes I can get so engulfed into everything that I'm doing on my phone that I completely can neglect that my wife is sitting right next to me. Um, but I, I think that when she communicates to me that she would like me to work better on it. And, you know, we, uh, try to do our best to agree on what makes sense for both of us and what's a good schedule and to completely at least go cold Turkey. And I think for a long time we had put our phones away from our bed, but then we realized we wouldn't set our alarms and then we couldn't do anything. Right. So we've tried to find, we're trying to find a good balance and, you know, not being on our phones too long while we're sitting in bed and being that couple, we're trying to find ways that we can spend more time together. And especially once the, well, once the baby girl comes, it's going to be a whole nother world. So we're gonna do our best to try to make things work and balance.
Michaela:
No. Yeah. Um, we kind of have, we do this fun thing when we go out to eat, where we put our phones away. We actually, we have a thing with our friends, with whoever pulls out their phone first pays. But, um, as couple of what we do is, uh, we, we put our phones away and then we play this game. Like how, how long have they been married or what's their status? And it's interesting how many people are sitting there on their phones and it's like, well, why don't you just go through the drive through then? Yeah, absolutely.
Michaela:
Yeah. And I, that's a, that's actually a good game. Uh, I think like when we go out, we typically try to do something that requires using our hands to use a crawfish is always one. Barbecue is another one. So we have, you got no choice, right? I mean you're just stuck there, but then we just, you know, we smell the rest of the day. But outside of that, it's all good.
Michaela:
I was laughing when you were talking about, um, a tire because when my husband and I first started dating, this was a long time ago, like 10 years ago. And he, he showed up to my apartment and he was wearing like cammo sweat pants and I was like, what the hell have you got on? You know, like, I was like, this is, I was living in San Diego and I was like, no, you need some Adidas workout pants. So yeah, that was like me and all that. And then what's funny as you continue to rock them just to be stubborn and then camera totally came in and it's all the rage and he's like, I see you were messing up my game. I had it like, I'm like, yeah, just like you know, five or six years prior to the trend. But Hey yeah, he was ahead of the curve. He knew it. What, what's he, what's he wearing now?
Michaela:
But it's cute cause he'll come out of the closet and he'll be like, does this go with this? You know like does this top match, these pants are these swords and, and I'm like, yeah, you know, you be you kind of thing. But and our son has like incredible style. Like he just always rocks it on the style front. But then some days he'll come out like just see other, just yesterday he was wearing, or two days ago he was wearing red shorts, neon orange shirt and neon green socks. And I was like, Oh my God.
Michaela:
And I said, I go, Oh is that, is that, what, is that what you want to do? You want to do that shirt with those shorts, you know, kind of thing. And he's like, yep. And I'm like, okay, you be you. You know? And then what was hysterical as we got to school and he, and then he got out of the car and this other mom goes, nice outfit buddy. And I'm like, well there it is. It brought, it's bringing smiles to people's day. You know, I was going to wear it again. You heard one compliment, you wearing that all the time? Yeah. It's fun when they're like infants and you get to dress them up, but then they start deciding,
Michaela:
yeah, Didi has already got closed lined up for ours. I'm like, honey, I just got one year outfits. I mean, it's a long,
Michaela:
I bet. I bet. Yeah. But that's, it's interesting how fashion become such a part of your life. Can you, I know, I know you've got to go just a few minutes left, but can you tell me a little bit about trends management and what you guys are doing with that?
Michaela:
Yeah. So I mean, it all kind of started, um, when, when DDS, you know, grow, started to, to get a lot bigger, so to speak. And we started to get a lot more brand deals and people reaching out. I started helping her with, you know, understanding what the contracts look like, what our deliverables are, kind of all the different things that DD doesn't really care about because all she cares about is fashion, but now there's some monetary value behind it. How do we make that work? Um, so I was working with her on a lot of those different things and finally she signed on with a management company and I was hoping that, that, that's great. She'll have her thing now she has a manager can handle all these different aspects of the, of her, of her blog. And then I can now focus a hundred percent of my career and let's get things moving.
Michaela:
Um, and it ended up being, you know, me managing her management all the time. Yeah. Uh, yeah. So then I was just like, we gotta find a way out of this. Uh, she was not with it at all. Um, we ended up, you know, working through it. It was kind of difficult to work their way out of the contract with them. And, uh, you know, I started helping her again and then, uh, Emily I was having kind of the same complaints. Um, and so, you know, we kind of were sitting at a dinner and, uh, trying to find a solution and I, we were just talking about the fact that I was doing this for a long time and if I could, if Emily needed some help, I could help her too. So I started helping Emily out and then it just kind of to roll into something.
Michaela:
Yeah. So then I, from that, you know, ended up, uh, getting a few more than I realized that there's no way I could have managed my, you know, demanding job, hold it backward and also do this the same time. So just made the jump over and it's been, uh, it's been good. It's been about six months since we are, since January 1st January 7th, when we officially launched as a, as a business, so to speak. And then we kind of just announced it this past weekend on a unaccompanied trip. And, uh, it's been some picking up fast and, um, I just want to be a way to, to help these influencers in this, in this industry that's turned more than just styling fashion, but it's become a full blown business. Um, they're getting contracts and deals and how do they decline things and what does that look like?
Michaela:
And you know, how do they stay true to who they are without, you know, um, taking on too much and there's a lot of different aspects of it that, um, that they don't need to worry about. And they can focus more about producing content. Yeah. Staying true to themselves. And then you can, they can, they can let me handle all the invoicing and everything else and tracking down everything and you know, seeing what, what works for the brand and them and you know, all the nitty gritty details that they didn't really sign up for. But it's kinda, it's kinda gone through it and yeah. And they're very thankful of it and they're not, you know, upset about it. But at the same time, it's something that they definitely needed help with. And, you know, just wanting to kinda,
Michaela:
yeah, I'm a psychotherapist and I absolutely hate dealing with like the insurance companies and just all of that. It's just not my forte, you know, it's not what, I don't want to express your town insurance payments and billing and all that. So I totally get that. So you guys, do you do primarily fashion influencers then? Or are you guys open? Are you doing more than that?
Michaela:
I think for now we're focused primarily in the fashion influencer industries. I think we've been approached by some people that are kind of out of that scope. And so we're, we're kind of talking internally to see what we should do as far as bringing on a different, um, type of niche market, uh, and then how would that look like? And, and also working with, um, with brands on influencer marketing as well. So, um, a lot of brands need help on this new industry. They've been used to loading things on. Yeah, yeah. Wherever it may be. And they're realizing that a lot of this marketing is happening online, um, and through social media. And so, uh, it's something that, you know, we're trying to see how it looks like to provide services across the whole realm of, of patients.
Michaela:
Well, hopefully we'll see a Ted line soon with uh, black v-necks and
Michaela:
I told her, I told D D yeah, I mean I was like, if I were ever to launch a line, it'd just be a bunch of different black Phoenix, that's all it would be. Yeah. I would gladly, I would gladly love that. As long as they don't put anything else on the line, I'm good with it.
Michaela:
Oh, that's awesome. Well, it's been so great talking with you and um, I really appreciate it and I'll circle back with you on email and stuff to kind of work out the details for the launch of the, of the podcast. But so awesome talking to you. And I really think you guys need to do a a couples podcast. You guys will be hysterical. You need to branch into that industry.