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- [00:00]
A
I have turned that the past few years, and it's been amazing. And so I do. I loved. I just slow down, I relax. I enjoy the time with my kids. I soak in all of the moments, all of the time together and take lots of photos, obviously. And I love. I love Christmas, and I just love the time we get to spend.
- [00:18]
B
Hey, hey, hey. And welcome back to the Difference Maker Revolution podcast. And we have Janine all the way from Tampa, Florida. We have Steve from Melbourne, and I'm Ronan, and I'm here in. We owe Little Ireland. And it's December 22, so season's greetings to you all. We wanted to talk.
- [00:35]
C
Merry Christmas.
- [00:37]
B
Merry Christmas. Yeah. And Seasons Greetings has her Christmas hat, if you're looking at us on YouTube. She has her Christmas gap on. So I know this is a time that's close to your heart, and it's close to my heart, too, and it's close to Steve's heart, too. But the reason why it's close to my heart is this is the only time of the year that our business actually closes. So it's. It's. It's the only time that my mind actually switches off for a little while now. It doesn't last very long, does it, though? It does.
- [01:12]
C
Does it really?
- [01:14]
B
It does. It does for just a couple of days. Like, it's not for the whole holiday, because in Ireland, like, we close from the 22nd of December all the way through to the 2nd of January. Right. So it's quite an extended break, but it's the only time that the business closes for that period of time. So I don't last all of that time, Steve.
- [01:34]
C
Right.
- [01:35]
B
But I do last for a few days. I do last for a few days. But, Janine, you know, you were saying, like, what an important time it is for you and your business, you know, just to take some time to recharge. Because we all need to recharge, don't we?
- [01:50]
A
Yeah, it is. And we actually close as well. Uh, we. Our last day is the 23rd, so we, we. We work till noon on the 23rd. And then for, like, you know, people who are picking up and for people who. We do a home for the holidays. So for kids that are coming home from college or families coming into town, they usually arrive. Kids are home from college usually, like the 13th of December. So that whole. That week between the 13th and the 23rd tends to be very busy for us as we're photographing families. But then come the 23rd, I'm done. Like, peace out I am going to, to be making Christmas cookies, wrapping presents and spending time with my family. And, and I, I do. I shut the studio off for a couple of days and then it's all back. Like, I have a hard time shutting off. But I, I will be honest, like the 23rd, 24th, 25th, I am, I am. It's peace out work. And I'm all about making Christmas amazing for my kids and my family and, and, but it's fun because I. What I love so much about what we discuss all the time about slowing, like what we try to get our clients to do, slow down, connect, talk, enjoy, love, you know, all these different things. And I'm very much in the studio. Like my, like, I talk a lot about nostalgia and traditions and things like that. And so it'll like, I love that sense that when we hit Christmas time, it allows me to do that. And I'm very conscious about it. And over the past few years especially, I'm very conscious about slowing down with intent, enjoying what purpose? Not being stressed. So it's a very different Janine on Christmas Eve than it was Janine on Christmas Eve, like 10 years ago, where I was almost like militant about, all right, I'm up at 6am I'm getting this cooked, this is going on the stove and everybody's doing this and everybody do this. And it's like, I'm military leader on Christmas Eve now. I am very much like, let's relax, let's enjoy, spend our time together. If things get made the right way, if there's something, you know, whatever, something's, whatever, it's, it's, it's all good. And I just want everybody to remember a happy mom partner, not a stressed out one. And so I've, I've turned that the past few years and it's been amazing. And so I do, I loved. I just slow down, I relax, I enjoy the time with my kids. I soak in all of the moments, all of the time together and take lots of photos, obviously. And I love, I love Christmas and I just love the time we get to spend. The kids like Erin will be between semester, so she's not going to be thinking about school. Obviously, James is done with class. You know, they're out of school, so they're not thinking about school. And, and the world just slows down, which I like. You know, we have. We're lucky in our profession. I mean, obviously my sister's a nurse and I know people that are in service industries like that where they don't get to slow down. Right. Emergency workers are still working Christmas and things like that, but we do get to slow down.
- [04:52]
C
They're in overdrive.
- [04:53]
A
And the world slows down with us. And I fully enjoy every moment of it.
- [04:59]
B
So, Janine, before I ask Steve about this time of year for him, you mentioned the 23rd, 24th, 25th. Do you guys not close the 26th as well?
- [05:10]
A
Why?
- [05:12]
B
Oh, we do. So we in Ireland, we call it St Stephen's Day. In the UK, they call it Boxing Day because at that stage, the family have all fallen out and they're boxing their heads off each other. That's not why they call it Boxing Day. I actually don't know why they call it Boxing Day. I always wondered. Because we've. In Ireland, we call it St. Stephen's Day. That's the day after Christmas Day, which is a holiday here as well.
- [05:38]
A
Okay, so.
- [05:39]
B
So you guys don't have that as a holiday.
- [05:41]
A
We don't have a holiday here after Christmas this year. We're not worried. It falls on a week like the. The way the week falls. It's a day off anyways, so. But, yeah, no, it's not normally a holiday, but this year we're not working the 26.
- [05:58]
C
So, Steve, for you, Australia has Boxing Day.
- [06:01]
B
You've Boxing Day. Is that the reason why it's called Boxing Day, though? That you've all fallen out of that stage? So it's left hooks and right jabs and all sorts of things? No.
- [06:12]
C
Well, my days are usually consumed in getting rid of all the cardboard boxes that all the gifts came in. So maybe it's Boxing Day because of that, because we're getting rid of, you know, all the cardboard boxes.
- [06:26]
B
Okay.
- [06:27]
C
It could be that.
- [06:28]
B
We need to ask ChatGPT, why is it called Boxing Day in the UK and Australia?
- [06:33]
C
Yeah, well, we tend to follow what the uk. You know, UK was a big influence in Australia. So, yeah, it's a. It is a time. I mean, we give so much all year round. At some point you've got to recharge and you've got to do what you're asking your clients to do for your own. For your own people, your own family and for yourself. It's important. And it probably isn't enough, really, just that Christmas break. But, hey, um, it's a. It's a special time of year and it's a time when lots of businesses do close down. So you're right, the world slows down, but it's a mayhem all the way up there. And it's like you're running this, running this race on the lead up to Christmas. So by the time the 24th hits, you cross that finish line and you, you just, you're, you're ready, I think.
- [07:33]
A
Absolutely ready for a long winded nap. Just like Santa.
- [07:40]
C
Well, nice for some fun in the sun.
- [07:43]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [07:45]
B
It's summertime. Yeah. That, that does not compute with us at all here in the Northern Hemisphere. That it's, it's, it's Bondi beach and sun and all that. On Christmas Day, it just doesn't go. But it's what you're used to, I guess. But Steve, I'm curious.
- [08:01]
C
Beaches.
- [08:03]
B
Yeah. Yeah. But I'm curious, Steve, you being the master chef, you are. So, like, what does, what do Italians eat on Christmas day? Like, what's dinner?
- [08:13]
C
Lasagna. Like, really? Lasagna?
- [08:18]
B
You don't do the turkey thing?
- [08:20]
C
No, we do turkey as well. Okay, so we do turkey as well and we tend to do a lasagna, but we also will do lamb and chicken. It's a huge feast. Way too much food. Way, way too much food. But, you know, it's having it on a duros thing where, you know, you're using coals to cook meat and it's just rotating slowly and you can shave bits on all day long. Shave bits off all day long. Amazing. It just makes you want to fall asleep under a fig tree.
- [09:09]
B
Does the Barbie come out? You know, the way you Australians are mad into your Barbies, the Barbie comes out.
- [09:15]
C
But it's, you know, a slow cook Barbie.
- [09:19]
B
Right.
- [09:20]
C
Barbie is more. A barbecue is a Boxing Day thing for us. We'll do a barbecue Boxing Day.
- [09:29]
B
Okay. Is that sort of a self defense strategy, Boxing Day?
- [09:34]
C
Well, you can take it to the, you can take it to, you know, take it, you know, places with you.
- [09:41]
B
All right.
- [09:41]
C
I thought it was a portable thing and you can still cook.
- [09:45]
B
I thought, I thought it was. If you're fighting with somebody, you know, you could get the coal out. They wait for me. Whip it out. So, Janine, are you double on Christmas Day or are you into the double turkey?
- [09:58]
A
We don't do turkey on Christmas. That we do that on Thanksgiving. So we do turkey for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve. We. So it's funny, it's kind of changed for us because of some allergies. But our, like, Catholic Italian was always the feast of the seven fishes for Christmas Eve because there's no meat. And so it was always seafood. And we cooked lots of seafood dishes. Well, now my mom and my sister are like deathly allergic to seafood. So like we've had to totally change the menu and so that's kind of amusing. So there was always a lot of pasta, so it's now just a lot more pasta and things like that. And I obviously don't want to kill my family members, so we're not going to make trips to the hospital for anaphylactic shrimp allergies on Christmas Eve. So anyways, we do that, but on Christmas Day it's usually like a prime rib. So we usually do prime rib, some raviolis, salad. It's a big, It's a lot of food. A lot of food all day long.
- [10:56]
C
So still pasta, still the ravioli.
- [10:58]
A
Oh, yeah. Gotta have pasta.
- [10:59]
C
So do you, do you hand make the ravioli?
- [11:03]
A
Sometimes. It depends. Depends on how, how Janine's feeling or if we're in a store bought. Well we have an Italian market here now and they make amazing raviolis. And so sometimes it's that, you know, like, you know, might as well just get someone else's. But yeah. So eggplant parmesan is another one we like to do.
- [11:25]
C
Oh, yes. Oh, yeah.
- [11:28]
A
Now you're making me hungry.
- [11:29]
C
Oh, yeah.
- [11:30]
A
But yeah, no, we, we make a lot of yummy food and it's a lot of food all day long and we eat kind of all day and we do. What I love to do is for the kids, we do like a Christmas morning breakfast, like a little brunch. And I, I make their pancakes in the shape of snowmen. So I do like two pancakes and bacon for the scarf. And I do like a, a Santa hat with strawberries and whipped cream and like blueberry eyes and stuff. So I, I decorate their pancakes as snowmen and we do a nice little Christmas brunch after everybody's open presents.
- [12:01]
B
So I know a lot of people from Poland, you know, some friends in Poland. And they do the fish thing as well, Janine, you know, because like we Irish, we seem to do things completely different to everyone else. So, you know, they have the fish for their Christmas dinner, but they have it on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day.
- [12:23]
A
Yes, that's the. Our Polish Catholic.
- [12:28]
B
Yes.
- [12:28]
A
Okay. Yeah, that's why. Because there's no meat on Christmas Eve. So they eat.
- [12:34]
B
That's not a thing in Ireland. And we're supposed to be Catholic.
- [12:37]
A
But you guys are bad Catholics. You're not supposed to have Christmas Eve.
- [12:43]
C
There's no such thing as a bad Catholic.
- [12:45]
A
You're a bad Catholic. No, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Yeah. No, no. That's where the tradition stems from in Italy, anyways, Like, it was. There's no meat on Christma Eve, and so you eat the fish leading up to midnight Mass. And you know Italians, you got to celebrate with food. Right, Steve?
- [13:02]
C
So, yeah, yeah, lots of food.
- [13:04]
A
Yeah, lots of food. So is fish on Christmas Eve and then meat on Christmas Day.
- [13:08]
C
My first Irish Christmas last year.
- [13:10]
A
Was it lots of potatoes?
- [13:14]
B
Yep. Think of Jermaine. So there's roast potatoes and there's garlic potatoes, and there's mashed potatoes.
- [13:22]
A
Twice, big potatoes.
- [13:24]
C
Potato medallions. Potato croquets.
- [13:27]
B
Potato croquettes. Yeah, yeah, please. We always have turkey and. And then we'll have a ham as well. And I love cranberry sauce. Do you guys like cranberry sauce?
- [13:39]
C
Yeah, I love it.
- [13:41]
B
Love cranberry sauce. So, cranberry sauce, a little bit of mustard with the bacon, all the potatoes. And then do you know the colors of the Irish flag, Janine? Yes, Green, white and orange. Right. So our Christmas plate looks a bit like that. So the white is the potatoes? Yeah, the green. Then we will have peas, you know, and probably some Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts are always done so green.
- [14:06]
C
Are they mushy. Mushy peas?
- [14:09]
B
No, no, no, no.
- [14:10]
C
Or normal peas?
- [14:11]
B
The proper peas? No, those mushy peas. Normal peas, yeah. No, And. And then we'll have carrot mashed up with parsnip, which is the orange. So our plate on Christmas Day almost looks like the Irish flag.
- [14:24]
A
Is that on purpose?
- [14:27]
B
No, it's just some of the stuff that we know. And there's always green, white, and. And of course, the cranberry is red. Right. But we don't talk about that.
- [14:35]
A
Well, you know, there's a bit of.
- [14:36]
B
Yellow in there as well with the mustard. So do you do. Do you do a Christmas pudding, then?
- [14:42]
A
No, no.
- [14:45]
B
So we always do a Christmas pudding and then we light it. So we pour whiskey over it, and then we light it and there's a blue flame. So that's great for connection. We're talking about connection. Like the whole family's round the table.
- [15:00]
A
The pudding is out, each other on fire.
- [15:02]
B
Dad puts the whiskey on, we light it, and then there's this blue flame, and we're all celebrating together and. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [15:11]
C
Everybody tries to put. Put dad out because.
- [15:18]
B
All the fire brigade.
- [15:22]
A
What's your favorite Christmas movie? Ronan.
- [15:25]
B
Oh, that's a good one, Janine. I'm the wrong person to ask. I don't really watch Christmas movies, Susan. Susan. Susan. Susan. My wife starts watching Christmas TV in July, and every story is the same. And the amount of stories that feature a photographer is insane. I don't know why. There's always a photographer somewhere in the Christmas movie. And it's always this couple, and they meet and they're fighting, they can't stand each other, and then they fall in love, right?
- [16:02]
A
Yes. And it's the same movie. Yeah.
- [16:06]
B
That's cool.
- [16:07]
A
I read something that the. Like that, like, if you put all the Hallmark Christmas movies together, like, literally the formula is so formulaic that at the exact minutes throughout the movies, the things happen. Like at minute 23, they have their first fight or, you know, they have a formula and it works and they stick to it.
- [16:28]
B
So sometimes I'm really bold and I say to Susan, right. Do you want me to tell you how this ends up? Think. Why do you spoil that? What you want to say. You don't want to say it. It's not what you want to say. So, Janine, what's your favorite board game at Christmas with the family? Like, do you guys play board games or cards or.
- [16:46]
A
We usually play cards. If we play cards. So spades. You've played Aaron and Risk. That's why, you know, we usually don't play those games because Aaron always wins. But no, we're you. We're big card game people. So spades, hearts, and things like that. Maybe we'll get a game of a friendly family game of poker. We'll do Texas hold' Em and everybody will play. We all. There's also a fun game called Left, right, center. I don't know if you guys have ever played that. And it's a fun one. It's a strictly luck game, but it's fun because all the kids can play. And there's dollars. And so you put. Everybody starts with $3 and you roll the dice and it's a left, right, center. And anyways, by the. It's. Whoever has the last dollar remaining wins everybody's dollars. And it's fun. It's a fun game. So the kids love it because a lot of times the kids will win and they are very excited to win, like, $50 or something like that. And it's fun. So those are the kind of games.
- [17:40]
B
We play special times, aren't they?
- [17:43]
A
It is. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun.
- [17:46]
C
We always do a Naughty Santa where you're meant to bring a gift and put in the center, and then you pick it from the middle, and then you get to steal the person next. The person next to you's gift, if you like theirs better. So last. It just goes on and on and on because people are stealing everybody's gifts all the time. It's just fun. Fun afternoon.
- [18:08]
B
Sounds like fun. We've never done that. We've never done that. Yeah. And, like, is gifting a big thing? Is gifting a big thing? Like, do you guys buy gifts for people?
- [18:18]
C
We pretty much do the naughty Santa thing. So you buy one gift, it goes in the center. It's gotta be a generic gift. And you want to try and get a gift that everybody wants to steal. And we put a limit. You can only spend this amount of money.
- [18:39]
B
Right.
- [18:39]
C
And it's towards the game. You know, present becomes a game, and it's fun.
- [18:47]
B
What do you guys do? Janine, I know Santa Claus looks after all the kids. Right. But what do you do for Christmas gifts and things? Is it.
- [18:56]
A
Oh, we do lots of gifts. So we obviously, you know, besides Santa bringing gifts for the kids, we also do gifts for the kids. And. And then the cousins all do a Secret Santa. So that way they're not. It's. It's. We do. We draw names and all the cousins, will you do your name? And then there's just one. That way each cousin's only buying one, but they all get something. And then, yeah, we do gifts for our siblings and our parents. And so, yeah, it's quite a bit of gift giving going on. It's fun. And so, like, our tradition is on Christmas Eve, we'll each open one present and then the rest is done.
- [19:38]
B
We do that, too. We do that, too.
- [19:40]
A
Yeah.
- [19:41]
C
Yeah.
- [19:41]
B
One present Christmas Eve.
- [19:42]
A
Yeah, it's really.
- [19:44]
B
They love it.
- [19:45]
A
Yeah.
- [19:45]
B
Yeah, it does. It doesn't make it fun. Yeah, we do. In the family. In our family, we do Secret Santa. So we have a budget. So someone gets a decent present rather than hollow the little presents. You know what I mean? So. And you can put up in Secret Santa a list of what you might like. And then, you know, the person who gets you or is matched with you with computers now, you can do all this, Right? So, friends.
- [20:11]
A
Yeah.
- [20:11]
B
So we get an email saying, secret Santa's here now, of course, she was onto a suit today. I'm going to Kenya now. I'm going to Kenya and I'm going to be away for a number of weeks. So I only have two weeks left now to do all my Christmas shopping. And none of you have taken down what you had in your list last year. So can you please Refresh your list.
- [20:31]
A
That's funny. That's funny.
- [20:34]
C
I was going to ask if Freya is the one that organizes Secret Santa.
- [20:37]
B
Yeah, she is.
- [20:39]
C
She does.
- [20:39]
B
I'm playing.
- [20:40]
A
I Can't Believe it's not Jonathan.
- [20:43]
C
I know, I know.
- [20:45]
B
You'd expect it to be Jonathan.
- [20:47]
A
Well, here. So I'll tell you this interesting story because sometimes I think as parents, we wonder what our kids actually remember and what holds and what sticks. And I was working last night on content for Instagram and I'm working on a carousel on Christmas traditions and how the things that we do with our kids, no matter how small during the holiday season, becomes what they remember and traditions they'll pass on to their kids. Right? Because I think about some of the things that we do is because my mom did them with us, you know, and. And such things. So I actually asked James last night because I wanted to, like, I wanted to be. I was curious, like, what is it that you think we do every Christmas? You know, and so asking a 9 year old. And it was funny, like, and it was fun because he was like, oh, well, I love that we set up the hot cocoa bar, Mommy. And we do that every year. And we get to have hot cocoa every night during, during winter, we have a hot cocoa bar for Christmas and we do that all through December. I'm like, oh, good that, you know, I'm glad that he remembers that. We do special mugs and we have a little hot cocoa bar out. And he's like, and I know you always buy a new ornament every year for me and Aaron, so we each have an ornament every year. And he's, you know, he's like, we always watch Christmas movies. I love watching Christmas movies, even though I don't always like the ones you watch. He's like, but we always watch Christmas movies and we always get new Christmas pajamas. And so it's funny, like, he was listing off the things and I was like, oh, good. Yay. It is making like he does remember what we do. So I thought that was very interesting. And I'm working on that post now, so it's fresh on my mind for parents, you know, like, we do these things and you wonder what they remember. But it is, it is that magic. We make the magic as parents for our kids and then that magic they then take and it'll be passed on to a future generation once they're doing things with their kids. So I thought that was kind of cute. I had fun hearing what he like, the things that we do that he remembers as traditions.
- [22:44]
C
Wait till he gets to 16, he'll say, and I love how last year you promised me a brand new car.
- [22:48]
A
This year I know I won't be asking him his favorite Christmas edition at 16.
- [22:58]
B
So. So, Janine, what you said, a very important thing there that, you know, our clients like to see the person and the people behind the business. Right. That it's not, you know, and, and you creating that content, not only is it timely and seasonal, but it's shown the Janine and our team and our family who are behind the business.
- [23:19]
A
Right, Right. Yeah, it's true. And that's part of the purpose of, you know, I want people to see the human behind it. And it's even more important now if you listen to our podcast, you know, on where on things are going. But yeah, content and the personal branding of who we are as a person behind the business, it allows our clients to connect with us on something real that they're going through at the same time. Yeah.
- [23:46]
B
So, Steve, what's our wish for all of our listeners at this special time, December 22nd?
- [23:52]
C
Our wish is to treat yourself to an amazing Christmas and be kind to yourself. Look for the gifts that you have because we all deserve to be celebrated. And the hardest person to celebrate is yourself.
- [24:14]
B
All right, take the time, take the time, enjoy it. And we will see you after the Christmas break on the next podcast. In the meantime, treat yourself for Christmas. Join the difference Maker Revolution. Click on the link below and join a community of difference maker photographers who are changing the world, who are on a mission. And we want to see you in there. Have a great one from us. Bye for now.
- [24:47]
A
Merry Christmas, everybody.
- [24:48]
C
Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, everyone.