Megan (0:00)

What's up, guys? Welcome back to an all new episode of the Authentic Society. Wow. Coming off a very interesting week, you guys ate up that last episode on Friendship Break cut. What's up? Welcome back everyone to the Authentic Society. What an interesting week this week has been. You guys ate up last week's episode about friendship breakups, which I appreciate, but. And we're going to get into. But before that, just a weekly updates. Not that many of you care about. But yeah, this week was good. I hope everyone else had a great last week. We finally started seeing some warm weather here in North Carolina as well as still some cold weather. But it is warming up. We definitely got a touch of spring. It's March, it's a new month. February mental health check recap. February was a lot better month than January and I really do think it's going to keep going up and up and up. I encourage you guys to just get out in the sun. It really has changed my whole mood. It's amazing what weather can really do to impact our mental health. And just even going out, sitting outside reading a book or if you are scrolling on your phone, going on your back porch and scrolling your phone is way better than your mental health, than riding in bed. So I'm excited for March. There's a lot of exciting things that I can't wait to share with you guys. I have a couple things up my sleeve that I'm excited for, that I'm planning for. And I just really want to keep this podcast as positive but as real as possible. And so today, when thinking about what I wanted to talk about, you know, and how I wanted to rebrand this podcast, this is my seventh episode alone, you know, again, the day of the new year is the day that I decided, or we found out or whatever you want to say, that I was going to do the Authentic Society solo. So it's, it's great to watch back my episodes and really figuring out what people want to hear from me. I know there's so many people here for the tea or the drama. And you know, that's life. I follow people because I'm curious about pop culture, tea and drama too. And I get fascinated with it or the news. People are just curious human beings. I'm nosy as well. I completely understand that a lot of people are here because they're watching what I'm doing and saying and they're taking it apart piece by piece. So today I thought, since you all are here from last week, I'm glad for you guys tuning in that we would clear up some misconceptions about me and clear up some rumors, some drama, some tea and maybe not really necessarily have a talk topic, but for you guys to get to know me better, you know, that's my number one question is people want to get to know me more. And I realize you guys don't know too much about me. I do try to keep parts of my life private because people are just so mean and hateful and will tear it apart. And so there's a lot of misconceptions that I see, a lot of questions people ask. And I thought today that I would clear some of those up for you guys. So I have a list of like most misconceptions that people have of me and I let's just get right into it because why talk about a topic when you guys are curious about my life? Really big misconception that I get a lot is people really don't know much about my marriage. It's so funny because there have been questions people ask if I'm still married or where's my husband or this and that, or I don't post him very much. And I always think this is really interesting because I don't do it on purpose necessarily not posting my husband. But if you know my husband personally, you know, he's not a big picture guy, he's not a big social media guy. He's never has been. And as the older we've got, usually when you see a picture of me or a video of me, it's because my husband is the one filming it. My husband loves to be the behind the scenes person. He does all my editing for me on these podcasts. Thank God. I don't know what I would do without him. He is an engineer and he's very tech savvy and he just doesn't like his photograph taken. He's not a big let me put a camera in your face, let me videotape you or let me put a camera in your face essentially. And so you probably never will see him too much on my social media. He's doesn't get on his social media. He has Facebook and TikTok because he likes to scroll through TikTok. He likes Facebook for Facebook, Facebook Marketplace. Any other girlies that have a husband or boyfriend that just scroll through Facebook Marketplace like it is their Instagram feed, let me know because my husband just loves to do that. And, and he doesn't even have. He has an Instagram, but he doesn't even have the Instagram app downloaded on his new phone. He doesn't get on there at all. And I've always found it fascinating because we love to ridicule women that post their husbands too much or don't post their husbands enough. And just because I post a lot of my brand and myself, that is because I've chosen to. I can edit and post what I want to my liking. And I necessarily don't think it's fair that I have other people in my content constantly and they don't get to edit or post what they like. That's why if you don't see a lot of videos or pictures with necessarily certain of my friends, it's because they aren't camera people either. I have a lot of friends. I actually have more friends that could care less to be in videos and pictures than I do. I have like one good friend named Kylie who I did somewhat basic with that we both do content and that's kind of our. Where we had like mutual love. So when we post each other a lot, it wasn't a problem because we were both mutually okay with that. But I think when you have friendships and you choose to put yourself out there and you choose to make TikToks or you choose to post on Instagram or have a podcast, that doesn't necessarily mean that your friends or family or your husband sign up for that. They're supportive. But I know that if I didn't want to be photographed or filmed and then I got on a tick tock or a podcast or I had people watching me, it would just be uncomfortable. So I always think the best relationships sometimes are kept offline. Not necessarily offline completely because I do post my husband. You're never going to see me post a long sentimental post. That is not who I am. I'm short, simple, to the point. My husband knows I love him. I know he loves me. He never has to post me again. That's not how I receive love. That's not where I think he shows me his love. I know some women want to be posted and they want their husband to post sweet things and pictures of them on their social media accounts and that's fine. I totally understand that and I totally think that is a great, valid way to feel love. That's just not how I. That's just not how me and my husband are. Social media to me in a lot of ways is like a job I'm trying to do. It actually is my job and I spend a lot of time on my phone. So therefore I don't really care about it in a sense on like a personal level. And therefore, yes, me and my husband are together. Yes, we are. We celebrated our third year wedding anniversary. We've been together for almost eight years. We had a breakup during our dating period, not when we were married for about six months. So if you want to count that, you can. If you don't, you don't. So, yeah, we're Gucci on that. But just clear up that rumor because I see that a lot. Like, where's your husband? Here in my house. Just not on camera. I don't know. It's interesting to me because I think you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't a lot of the time on this social media world that we're in. And yeah, my husband is just a private guy and I respect him for it. And I, I understand. I see a lot of tick tock families and a lot of Instagram families and couples that show so much of their lives and their relationships and kudos to them. I don't think that could ever be me. I don't know if I could ever just lay it all out there and show so much of my personal life. I don't think I'm built for that. I like, I like, I would like to show more, but also at the same time, for what it's worth, like, I don't, I don't know if it's worth showing everything. What does it cost you? You know, privacy is so, so important to me. Another misconception I've seen is that people, for some reason, like, okay, I love that people think this about me. I'm rich. I wish. Yeah, rich, which is great. Like, I love that. Like, do I give rich vibes? That's just. That's lovely. No, it's so funny that you can show certain clips and people are like, oh, my God, she's so rich. She's so stuck up. She's so not down to earth. I grew up not poor, but also very, like, low middle class. My dad and mom, My dad was a cop. They don't make very much. He was a cop for 25 years before he retired, so he worked his way up. And my mom was and still is a nurse. We grew up in a tiny little farmhouse that my great grandparents owned and gave to my dad. And we grew up on 34 acres and we had everything we needed, but we didn't have much, if that makes sense. We. I never grew up feeling like I was missing anything, but also in the town I grew up with was a lot of more ritzy southern moms. I could tell that we had less than other people that I was friends with or you know, I remember I would go to like a kid's house and I thought if you had a two story house, you were rich. My, both of my parents worked. I remember being so jealous of all of my friends, which was almost all of them had stay at home moms. I was so jealous. I always told my mom, why can't you be a stay at home mom? Just she was. And at a very early age I remember her being like, we can't afford that. Not really knowing what that was. And so, you know, growing up I was very blessed. I don't ever want to come off that I was blessed. It's just the truth of what it was. You know, we were. My parents did the best with what they had. They were both very hardworking people. They both worked to put food and clothes and give us great Christmases. And my grandparents helped them a lot as well. And so, you know, we were, we, we had everything we needed and more. You know, as a child, you know, I, I had everything I needed and more. But definitely not rich. Very hand me down clothing. I had an older sister. I always got hand me downs. Um, I knew how to thrift a good pair of jeans and top. When I was 15, 16 years old, I got a job four days after I got my license. And I worked at a jewelry store. Plus it was like a gift shop boutique. And I remember working there, which I loved because I love jewelry and gifts and clothes and like I've always been into that. I've always been into, you know, all of those things. But I remember we got Lily Pulitzer. I don't know if you, anybody listening knows that brand, but it's like the brand that has like all the bright colors and like crazy patterns. But I remember we got Lily Pulitzer as the brand which a dress from them is like 400. And I was making $8 an hour working after school and on Saturdays. And that money that I made were was to go to make sure my car was taken care of or if I wanted to go out eat with my friends. That was like my spend money. And you know, my mom didn't give me any spend money. Her and my dad gave me a used car. And they basically said if you want to fill it up, if you want to go eat with your friends, you need to get a job. And I remember these Lily Pulitzer dresses were like $400 and my boss like raiming Me. She was a nightmare of a boss. She was terrible. But she was like one of those ritzy Southern women that, you know, really loved the glitz and glam and stuff. And I remember her like Raymond Way, because I never wore Lily Pulitzer. I would always be wearing dresses or stuff that I thrifted from the Goodwill down the street. And it's because I couldn't afford it, and my mom couldn't afford it and my dad couldn't afford it. And I remember one time her blasting May and being like, you work here, you need to wear the clothes. And I remember looking at her and be like, I cannot afford it. And she was like, that's what your paycheck should be going to anyway. That's a whole different story on terrible bosses. She was terrible. Um, If I ever see her in my small town, I run from her because. Traumatizing. She traumatized me in so many ways. She was horrible. She's a terrible person. But anyway, yeah, so I always worked, and my parents definitely told me and my sister that we needed to go get some type of higher education. Whether that was a trade school, cosmetology school, go to college. They didn't care. But we needed to get some type of higher education. And so, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, I obviously went to college. I have student loans. You know, that's a whole other topic for a whole nother day. I'm really thankful I went to college. I don't know necessarily if I needed it for the career I've decided to go into. I think it definitely helps to show that I have a bachelor's in communication degree with media studies. But, you know, I am glad I did it because I had a great college experience, and I grew up a lot. But, yeah, I just. And then I. I've worked. I worked during college as I worked babysitting during the summer. I had. I was a waitress. You know, I was a hostess. All those things. Like, I've always worked. And, you know, when I got out of college, I started working right away and started paying a lot of my own bills. And, you know, my husband and I, we are very fortunate that the land that we built our house on was given to us by his family. I mean, the house we built, we. We do what normal Americans do, and you take out a loan, and now we have a mortgage. So I think the. The rich thing is interesting. I'm really proud of everything we have. Um, but I also feel. And I'm very thankful for all the things we were given. Those don't go unnoticed. I know that we were given a lot more than a lot of other people. But I've also worked for very hard for the things I have and so has my husband. So I think I'm rich in other ways. I think I'm rich because I have a home I love and a husband I love and my dogs. And I'm rich in that way, but in the bank account. Not necessarily. But I'm average. I just feel like I'm average. And I think I grew up average. And I think people are obsessed with other people's finances. But I'm definitely not rich. I would love to be. That's the goal. Not going to lie to you guys. Hustling, because that would be the goal. Who doesn't want to be rich anyway? That's a misconception, but hopefully it won't be one day. A lot of people think I'm dumb. This is another misconception. I don't even want to, like, address this one because if you think that, that's fine. I don't care. I could care less if you think I'm an idiot. So I'm not even gonna address that one. And also, for the people that do call me dumb online, I just want to, like, ask, like, ask yourselves, how smart do you think you look to somebody else when you put a negative or hate comment under somebody's video? Do you think you look intelligent when you do that? Because when I look at people that just write hate comments on hate comments on hate comments, you look like an idiot to me. So take that with what you will, I guess on that misconception. Another big misconception that I think also people realize is that I, I, I don't know how to word this. I mean, let's just get into it. Let's talk about it. I think a lot of people think that I wanted, when I started, we started the authentic Society, and when I started it with Maddie, people think that I just wanted her for her followers or I just wanted her for her followers or that that's how I wanted to grow my following. And it's really not, it's actually been really almost. I feel like it set me back a little. I'm so thankful for the people that are here and still listening. And I'm so thankful that 9 times out of 10, I read a really nice comment. And I do feel like the people that are still here and that engage with weekly are the best type of followers. Like, I feel like I got the best type of her followers and they're here. But with that being said, I didn't want to get my followers this way. Like, I didn't want. I want it. I want people to follow me because they genuinely think I'm funny or nice or they can relate to me. I don't want to just have a follower account because it's really not been what you think it would be just to be really real. A lot of times people will see the following and yeah, like, it's great. Like, I got. I got some followers from it, but also at the same time, like, what cost for people that think that I just use somebody for people to think I'm an idiot or rich or stuck up or. Or what? Like, at what cost? What cost are we going to do to have a follower account behind her name? Like, it just hasn't been that worth it to me. And, you know, not that I'm not thankful I am, but I don't know how to get out of the place of this podcast where people are always going to tie me with another person. I don't know if I will ever, like, how long? A year? Two years? Let's say I keep doing this podcast for two years. Are people always going to tie me with a family that I'm not a part of? Are people always going to tie me with a person that I could do seven episodes and not talk about and they're still going to ask. I don't know the right answer. What was really. What's really frustrating is I love podcasting. And I feel like a lot of the times not to toot my own horn, I come up with these really great ideas and that's what I felt like I did with authentic society. And it just. I saw a vision in it and I saw a brand. And sometimes when you attach it to somebody else, they don't see the brand or the vision. Not talking about Maddie, but talking about the followers. They don't. You just see the drama and you just see the tea. And that sucks because I can't even imagine what it feels like for her because she has it on a greater level than I ever will. But, you know, it sucks because no matter what you do, I'm. I'm always going to be attached to drama or a family that I had nothing I have no part in. Like, I have no part. Like, I don't. I feel like a lot of times people think just because I'm friends with a certain person, I know more than the average viewer does. And that's not necessarily True. So, speaking of, like, last week and, like, the friendship episode, so many people thought that was about Maddie, which is so crazy to me, guys. Like, it was so crazy, I didn't even think about it until it was brought to my attention by so many people that I was talking about Maddie until I saw t reviewing it and picking it apart and thinking it was about Maddie. It is wild to me because when I made the episode, I didn't think. I didn't think about her at all. And then, of course, blasting it everywhere, everyone was like, this must be about this friendship. And it's just. It's so far from the truth. And, like, of course I could play into that to get views and drama, but again, I just don't want it. Like, I just genuinely don't want it. And I'm just here to say that episode had nothing to do with Maddie. It had nothing to do with the podcast. I was talking about friendship, breakup, friendships in my life, and not a single ounce of that was about this podcast or how she exited the podcast. Hate to disappoint you guys. I also think that there are different levels of friendship. And, you know, you have your really, really close friends that you talk to and you see all the time and you've been friends and stuff, and then you have more of, like, that acquaintance friendship level where you keep up with each other on social media. You talk every once in a blue moon. And I think that sometimes people on the Internet or whatever will mistake that you're really close. And I just. I don't know how to do this podcast and get it away from a certain fandom that I want not to be a part of anymore. I don't want that fandom. I think some fandoms have a lot of people that get too involved in somebody they don't know's life. I love the followers that I have kept around that are so nice and real and keep up with me every week and have never said a main comment that are always just positive and real and authentic and are here because they want to be and because they like the content I put out, not because I'm going to spill a little ounce of tea about something. I don't have any business spilling that tea on. I don't. I don't know the right way to put it out to the world that I want nothing a part of that anymore. I don't know how to say this or that because no one's going to believe me. There's no point to say the truth because y'all that's not what you guys believe anyway. But yeah, again, this isn't to all my followers. Genuinely. 90% of you guys are here for the right reason. It's 10% of the people that are never going to stop. They're going to berate me and ask the same question 99 times. And here is it. I. I'm trying to remove myself from a family and fandom that I never had anything to do with in the first place. Nothing. I don't want to build my brand off that. It's almost been a curse, more than y'all think. It's like, oh, Maddie gave her all these followers, okay? It's, It's. It's not what you think it would be because people are going. Are people going to associate with that fandom and that crowd for the rest of my life if that's it? I don't. I, I just. I. I think I stepped in then, to be honest with you. And that's not any shade or tea. Me and Maddie are fine. We are fine. I told the truth in my very first episode, and that's it. There's nothing else to say. So I just want to clear up that misconception that there is more than I've let on. I am. I'm just so trialing to heavily remove myself and to build a brand and a platform that is not based on drama and that. I don't even know. Like, I don't even know. I don't even know. You know? I don't know. Yeah, so I, I think when we get online with people, and I'm guilty of it, too. You know, we put all. We, we have all these, you know, tiktokers or Instagrammers that keep up with certain pop culture narratives in the media, and we consume it, and we consume it, and we consume it. Then we get on Reddit and we. We start reading all of these Reddit threads and people are like, I have a source. I know this for a fact. And we just believe it. We just believe it because it's. It's. It's online and somebody is. That has thousands of followers is saying it's true. It must be true. And I'm guilty of it, too. I'm guilty in going down a rat Reddit rabbit hole about a celebrity or somebody in the media. I'm guilty of it, too, believing the media and what's put in front of me online. But just because we believe something a hundred percent doesn't mean it's true. Just because it's shoved in Our faces doesn't mean it's true. Just because we have created a narrative in our head and we've decided that that's the narrative that resonates with us most, it must be true. And that's just not always the case. And by no means do I have any type of big following or big platform, but seeing an ounce of it behind what really goes behind the screen really makes you think twice about the media and Tick Tock and Instagram and how much we consume of it, because it just doesn't. It's not reality. It's. These reality TV shows aren't reality. They're not reality. None of them. And I love. I love a good, trashy reality TV show. Okay, nothing I love more than taking off my makeup, putting on my pajamas and getting in and watching a trashy reality TV show. It is like taking a Xanax and soothing myself. Nothing is better. But I know it's not reality. I've. I've interviewed enough reality TV stars and enough influencers that half of what you see is just not the truth in reality. It's for views, it's for click bait, it's for whatever. And the more you get into a fandom or into this narrative that people have decided your role is to play in, no matter what you do or no matter what you say doesn't change the discourse. And this is coming from somebody that has just decided not to say anything. I can't even talk about my real life perspective, perspective about friendship breakups without people only hearing, only thinking it's about one person. That sucks. That sucks that I. Anytime I want to get on here and talk about something real, people are going to trace it back to one, one situation when that's not even the situation I'm talking about. And so. And it's just like all misconceptions about my marriage, about if I'm rich or if I'm dumb or why I don't show this or my friendships. It's about every misconception it is because I am only show you guys a certain part of my life, like 5% of my life. And because I don't want to beat a dead horse, I don't want to talk about the same things over and over. I don't want to sit there and talk bad about a situation that isn't bad. You know I'm rambling. I know I'm rambling, but that's what a podcast is, is rambling. I just think I needed to clear some things up because I. I don't think it's clear enough. There's no tea or drama that I'm going to spill that you guys are going to be satisfied with. So therefore. Yeah, I don't, I don't know. It's really made me rethink this week because I was really proud of that episode. I was really proud of the friendship episode. I was really proud of talking about and giving good advice of what I've learned because I have had several really bad friendship breakups and they have really affected me. And I remember I've gone through several friendship breakups where I just thought it was the end of the world. And I was completely devastated and sad and I don't feel that anymore. I feel like for the first time, I just really have a great group of girls around me and how important that is. And I was really excited to share that episode and I really think it was one of the best episodes I've done. And instead of taking a moment that I thought I could be really proud of it, somebody, some people, some fandom think it's about a certain someone. When I wasn't even talking there was an ounce in that episode, I was talking about that certain someone. I hate to disappoint you. I didn't even think about that situation. So I don't know. That's my little rant today. I encourage you guys that, you know, if you don't like an influencer, if you don't like a certain narrative on your screen, block that person, delete them. Life is too short to get pissed off about a stranger's life. I think watching something and being entertained by something is completely different than being so invested that you have to comment under everything. You have to put your $0.02 in about everything. You're spending every day on Reddit threads or you're spending every day on updates, or it's. It's all consuming, right? It's not healthy. And maybe that should have been my topic this week is like, social media and how healthy it can be and how I have to tell myself that I consume it too much as well. I know I consume it too much because there are some days where I'm like, I don't want to even get on my phone for the job I have to do because I consume it so much. You know, me and my four friends were sitting at dinner and we all looked at our screen times for the week and none of us had less than four hours of, like, screen time. I had six hours. And that's because it's part of My job. And I. I guess I need to start working on not being on social media and consuming things, especially about myself, because it will just drive you crazy, what people think about you. That is just so far from the truth, even if you are sitting here with your wholehearted chest telling the truth. But, yeah, for the people that think I'm a dumb, rich blonde, please, thank you. Write that on my headstone. I mean, honestly, there are worse things to be, right? A dumb, rich blonde that has a shitty marriage. I'm like 90% of the population. Yeah. So I'm a little. I'm a little pissy in this episode, if you can't tell. Just because it was just brought to my attention so much about an episode that I thought I did a really good job on. And it. It's. It. It's always going to connect. I feel like no matter where I take this podcast, no matter, you know, what I say, it's always going to lead back in one direction. And maybe I did it to myself. Maybe I didn't say enough. Maybe I should have really spilled more tea, but there was just no more tea to spill. So I don't know how I could have done it differently. But, yeah, after this episode, I'm not talking about it anymore. Like, I really don't want to talk about it. I had several other podcasts reach out to me and says, hey, can you come on my show and talk about the family or talk about this person or talk about, you know, what really happened? And it's like, I talked about what really happened. I. I don't. I don't know what else you want me to say. Like, I would get on there and I'd be boring, as you know. So I don't know what else there is to say. I hope you learned a little bit more about me this episode and my upbringing if you continue to stay. Because I don't know why you would continue to say I'm a dumb blonde, but if you do, yay. You know, I'm at. I. Everyone gets discouraged, and that's just how I'm feeling this week. And I think that's natural. And I would. I would just go. I would be getting on here lying if I just. Just didn't tell you. I was a little peeved. Yeah. So I. I was trying to think of topics on, like, what to talk about today. And so I just thought I would come on here and talk about misconceptions because I really do think that they can be really, really not okay. I think we're in such a world that we just judge a book by its cover all the time. I'm guilty of it. I like pretty book covers. And then we don't realize how damaging it can be to judge somebody before we get to know them. And instead of even judging a person and then people judge a person and then decide they don't get to know them, and that's just what they think. But again, I have to take my own advice and say what people think of me is nobody's business. But I also am trying to build a brand off of just trying to be authentic to myself. And I have this vision of how I want to build this brand, but then it's connected to a fandom that I don't want any. A part of anymore. So, yeah, that's. That's all I have left to say. Thank you for tuning in on a ramble session. I know rapport is a little down, but that is because. I don't know. Maybe I'll redo this whole episode. Should I. I don't know, guys. No, it. I'm gonna. I'm gonna do this episode because maybe people will shut up. I don't. I don't want to say the wrong thing. I don't care. I don't care if I say the wrong thing. My personality traits are coming. Okay, guys, stay tuned for next week on a new episode of the Authentic Society. I am not going to be hopefully in a different mood, but, yeah, I hope you guys have a great week. I hope it's spring weather where you're at, and I hope that you don't believe everything you see on the Internet. Thanks. Bye.