Roy Samuelson on The Emotional Power of Audio Description Nobody Talks About

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Hello everyone, and welcome to Bubble Blind Beauty on A.I.R.'s newest segment, Connected and Curious with Andy, the podcast where stories shine and understanding grows.
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I'm your host, Andy Chadwick, and together we're diving into the lives of incredible blind and visually impaired individuals who are changing the world in big and small ways.
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Here, we ask the questions, share the laughs, explore the challenges, and celebrate the triumphs without judgment, with curiosity and with heart.
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Whether you're sighted and you want to learn, or blind and you want to be understood, or educate, this is your safe space to listen, learn, laugh, cry sometimes, and connect.
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Where curiosity is always welcome and no question is off the table.
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So let's get connected.
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Let's get curious.
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And let's jump into today's episode.
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Hello everyone! Welcome to Connected and Curious with Andy.
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And today I am absolutely excited, ecstatic, giddy, nervous, all the above.
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I have the fantastic, wonderful boy Samuelson with us.
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He has so many credits to hit to his name.
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So just to give you a little bit of a background, Roy has thousands of 80 credits across Netflix, HBO Max, Disney, A24, and other major studios.
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He transforms accessibility from a compliance checkbox into a creative and strategic advantage.
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The work became personal when a close friend lost his eyesight.
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And they stay connected, laughing and debating their favorite shows because AD was good enough to carry the experience.
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Roy makes it possible.
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He's been closing the gap ever since.
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.
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Roy Samuelson.com for the AD Play Back Lounge, a membership-based audio description performance practice place.
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Roy is pretty awesome.
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So I'm giving him a a little bit of uh um I'm cheering.
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I'm fanning right now.
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And I'm I'm sorry, I'm like having technical problems, but you know what?
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I'm here for it all.
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We're here.
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It's great.
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Thanks for the warm hug here.
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It's so great to be here, Andy.
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Thanks for having me.
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Oh my gosh, thank you for even considering to be here.
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So I yeah, I got your email and I screamed like a soprano.
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No, you didn't.
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Tell me, did I?
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I did.
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I actually did, because I'm like, oh my god, Andy's doing a podcast and I get to be on it.
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Come on.
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Oh my god.
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Oh my god.
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I'm very ecstatic right now.
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Yeah, I'm really giddy.
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So, but I want everybody to get to know you, Roy.
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Um uh in a personal manner.
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Here we go.
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Let's let's get soft and what you got for me, Andy.
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Yeah, let's get going.
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Oh, you know, I kind of did a little introduction, but tell tell us about yourself.
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Tell us where you're from and how do you get here?
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How did I get here?
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I came from Pennsylvania many, many years ago, and I've been living in Los Angeles for a really long time.
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This is 30 years now, and it's gone by so fast.
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Maybe it's because things have been happening, and I just I haven't really been clocking those individual moments.
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Yes.
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Uh I really love the people here, the the de the dear friends, the the colleagues that I get to work with, and especially in the last five or six years, being able to connect with more people outside of this particular location, thanks to Zoom and everything.
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Yes.
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It's uh it's it's been wonderful.
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So about me, the the big thing on the career side is I ensure that blind people enjoy watching video, and that enjoyment is the thing that I think is the the secret sauce.
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You do have the secret sauce.
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You really do.
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Oh my god.
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So I am going to ask a few questions if you don't mind.
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Um not in any particular order, but I just want to to ping some things with you and um, you know, get your point of point of view.
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So you help bring stories to the life of people who can't see them.
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But what's a moment in your own life that you wish someone had audio described for you?
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You know what I I love this question.
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Um I'm gonna start off by saying that I'm wearing a maroon t-shirt underneath a gray long sleeve uh kind of striped, textured shirt.
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And that maroon is the color of passion.
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Uh when I think about bringing stories to life that you know, I guess navigating the entertainment industry um as someone whose work is genuinely invisible, that like you said, I've I've worked on thousands of projects, and there's a lot of people that have worked on a lot of work here.
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And those people might not be able to be named, let alone what is audio description.
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There's no necessarily the credits rolling, there's no red carpet.
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Well, actually, there is a red carpet.
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I know the uh AD Gala has really been celebrating the people behind this work.
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But aside from that, someone describing this experience from the outside, I think that's something that would be really enjoyable.
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And it's kind of why I started the ADNA Presents that podcast to billboard the people that are doing this work.
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That's awesome.
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So uh let's take it uh back a little bit.
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For those who really don't know what AD is, could you just give a little description of what exactly it is?
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And yeah, you know, there are some people and like, what's A D?
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Please pray, tell, give us an idea.
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Okay, I am not ready for this question, but let me try and see if I can answer it for you because I think it's a really important it's something pretty important here.
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So audio description is bringing visuals to life for any video or anything that's that's visual.
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And it's usually by uh an audio description script.
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In other words, there's uh a voice that's sharing what's happening.
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But what I'd love to do is expand a little bit on that.
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And when it comes to the world of audio description, that's also called video description or descriptive video or descriptive narration, a describer who might be the writer or the performer, maybe it's another writer or performer, or maybe it's the company, but not the production company, in order the distributor, but a special other company gives the creation of a split track or a mixed track of a performer if the film or TV show even has it, which is depending on the distribution channel, like streaming theatrical broadcast physical like Blu-ray or DVD, which is still around, or downloadable to your iTunes or Google Play or even YouTube, with any of these, each of which offers varying levels of access to the audio description, either on an app or a TV or a cable box or a Chrome browser with a special plugin or with YouTube.
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Maybe it's a separate YouTube video with audio description, but maybe the audio description is separately downloadable and it syncs up, and then you listen to a narrator or a synth voice, so it sounds like a conversational robot, or maybe it's a narrator that sounds like a synth voice, but you don't know if the audio description is there until you hear it, which is kind of like a few minutes into the video.
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So you wait and wait and hope, and then you don't hear it.
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So you have to decide either to stop and complain or just put up with it.
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But if you do just decide to complain, who do you complain to?
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Is it the local broadcast affiliate or a movie theater manager who's dealing with someone's misaligned seating, or do you contact one of the 47 Plus streaming services by email, message, TikTok, or Facebook, a direct message on X, or by phone.
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But to find that phone, you have to hunt down a number.
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And you go through that number, go through a press one, press three, sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed, or try a different number.
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And is that the main line?
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Okay, another press four, press zero, oh good, it's a real person.
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It goes something like this.
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You say, uh, yeah, my speakers are working.
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No, audio description isn't closed captioning.
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Sure, I'll hold.
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Or go through an accessibility web link that's buried so deep.
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It feels like they don't want to talk to you.
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And even when the audio description is there and it's bad, what does that even mean?
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Is the writing indicating things the visuals don't have?
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Does the narrator of a suspenseful movie talk to you like you're a baby toddler?
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Does a kid's show have an uninterested adult voice who sounds as tasteless as cereal too long in the milk?
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Or is that four-mentioned synth voice, like our friend Melody calls a puppet, or even kind of creepy, like a horror monster made to describe the light-hearted comedy romance film to you?
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And who chose that voice and why?
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Does the voice even get in the way of the experience?
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And do you have to keep fiddling with the volume up and down and down and up to try to find it, depending on what's going on in the background?
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Or maybe the production audio ducks out of the way, so you can hear the narrator, but all the other audio disappears and it's jarring and it takes you out of the story.
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And why are they called narrators and not performers?
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And does this work that's created for blind people actually include blind people in the process?
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Maybe.
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Does that answer the question?
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Oh my gosh, yes.
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That was brilliant.
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Wow.
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So I hope everybody's taking notes, because that was fantastic.
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That really truly was.
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Kind of went off the rails because it's gone off the rails.
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That was wonderful though.
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It really was.
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And so since we're in this realm, is there a moment where audio description stopped being a job and became personal for you?
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Kevin Thompson.
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Um he's uh he's my late friend.
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He was a collaborator.
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Um when I lost him, I understood that this work was a continuation of that relationship.
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In other words, because of Kevin, this is not about a service.
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It's about that connection that I had with him.
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And I think that changes everything about how I show up.
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Absolutely.
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It is your it's your heart is is more than a job, it's it's your heart, is your being.
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And he'd be proud.
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He'd be proud that this is still happening.
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He'd be proud that audio description has has grown as much as it has.
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That's so sweet.
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Yeah.
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So we're gonna go keep going in this realm.
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Um, so if accessibility were treated as a form of artistry instead of accommodation, how would the entertainment industry change?
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Wow.
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Uh I'm thinking about the process.
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And I think that audio description would not be in the distribution side, which thankfully distribution has handled this, that they've created the pathway, the the process, distribution, like the the streaming services primarily.
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Yeah.
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If this work was treated as artistry, I think the the home for audio description would be in production or post-production.
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And that that means that audio description writers would be on set, which by the way happens on a lot of shows now.
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This is not new.
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Uh I think the stories would be shaped with blind audiences in mind from the very beginning and not retrofitted afterward.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Yeah.
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I love that.
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I think, you know, we talked about invisibility earlier.
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I think audio description would be seamless.
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And there's something about seamlessness that has to do with craft.
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Maybe I'm thinking about the t-shirt quilt that my friend mom made for me of all my favorite t-shirts.
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That that seamlessness, you know, it's like it's just looks like it's supposed to be a part of it.
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Yeah, it's patchwork, but it's it's a thing.
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And I think when audio description performers understand the difference between that seamless performance and an invisible performance, yeah, I think something shifts.
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That's so beautiful.
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That's so beautiful.
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It's a great question.
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Thank you for asking.
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I know, you know, I uh I'm I'm just curious.
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I I I I know I'm I'm trying to learn.
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I'm learning every day.
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Everything is a a learning experience, but you're in the trenches, and when I say that, you are you're there all the time, and um you're seeing and you're building, you're creating, and you're opening doors for people, um, blind, visually impaired, because though, you know, we have such talent out there, you know, so you're you're opening those doors for everybody.
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So I just was curious, you know.
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And I'm gonna say something else when it comes to because you are you have so many titles, Roy.
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I'm just going to say this.
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You're just so awesome.
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But when everything is stripped away, awards, titles, accomplishments.
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What do you most hope people uh feel when they hear your voice?
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Now, I will say you're just wonderful, but what do you want people to feel when they hear your voice?
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I heard a story the other day about a CEO of a really big, recognizable company.
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And I wish I remembered the reference of where I heard this.
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But they were talking about how important it is to uh I think it was in the context of authenticity versus showing up consistently.
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And it's Seth Godin, there it is.
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And Seth Godin was talking about how this CEO was talking about consistency, and it had to do with the hospitality industry.
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And at the end of the talk, the CEO went over to the other people that were on the panel and bust their coffee mugs and plates to where they needed to go.
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That that act of service came from hospitality.
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And hearing that story, I locked in on hospitality, that there's this sense of welcoming someone into an experience that they'd otherwise be excluded from.
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And I carry the weight of that.
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I get how important it is to be present to that sense.
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So yeah, it's similar to service, but I don't like the idea of service because there's this I like the concept of service.
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Let me be explicitly clear.
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But when it comes to service, there is this it's almost like a status thing, which makes me really uncomfortable.
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And I think hospitality frames it in a way that's more platforming the audience instead of what I'm giving the audience.
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And so, you know, the the craft of audio description, that's obviously what I deeply care about.
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But the the takeaway from that craft is not, look how good I did this craft.
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It's someone like I want somebody to say, somebody made room for me here, and I belong in the story.
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I want them to say, I belong in the story.
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I want them to say somebody made room.
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And that's like going to a hotel room and somebody made the bed so you don't have to make the bed again.
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I don't know.
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I'm comparing myself to a hospital.
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No, no, no.
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But totally understood.
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Totally understood.
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It's um it's what you're giving to others.
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Yes, I I understand what you're meaning by hospitality service, but it's a lot more than that.
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You're giving a hand, you're reaching out.
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Yeah, I love that.
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So all of these things that you're doing, sir.
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Um, and you're an author.
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We have to talk about your book.
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We have to talk about the book.
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We have to, we have to, we have to, we have to.
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So, what was the moment that made you realize you needed to write your book?
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I have so many conversations with voice actors and others that are interested in audio description, and the same questions kept coming up.
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And with those same questions, it's like there's something here.
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Like people were responding.
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And you know, there I also think that some of the facilities that are creating audio description, there's also some assumptions there, and there wasn't a resource to share with what uh I believe audio description performance for film and TV is about.
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Yeah.
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And so I I didn't want the conversation to end.
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I wanted it to continue.
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And so the book's there.
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It's like it's this launching pad.
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Um and I think with that book as a launching pad, it leads pretty naturally into the AD playback lounge.
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And that's the that's what I've been working on for the last six or seven months now to use those concepts that we talk about in the book and make it actually practical.
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Can you talk about the AD Playback Lounge right now?
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I'd love to.
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Do you mind?
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Yeah.
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So I've been coaching for quite a long time, and there's a lot of times where people aren't available to make a certain virtual workshop.
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Or there's this excitement of getting into audio description at the end of a class or a workshop, and then it's like, well, what do I do with it?
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Now I want to keep going.
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And it's like, oh, it's like this deflated balloon.
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And there's also a lot of people that were getting opportunities to perform audio description and they weren't ready.
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And so all three of those kind of sausaged themselves together and squished into this idea of a membership.
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And uh an advisor of mine had suggested it, which is basically uh a monthly subscription where everyone gets uh an hour of coaching, group coaching.
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Everybody gets an hour of training for audio description every month, and then every week, there's a audio description script and a scene from a film or TV show, and we workshop different aspects of audio description.
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So the idea is that when those opportunities come up, people are ready.
00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:21.599
And the if somebody can't make a live recording, it's available for them.
00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:23.759
So it's like opt in when you're ready.
00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:37.519
And I it's something that I wish I had when I started an audio description to be able to have that practiced because conceptually I can understand it, but until my body actually experiences it, I think that's that's the thing that was missing.
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:54.720
And I really appreciate the people that are in the lounge as members because there is this rising tide lifts all ships, that there's that sense of support and community and feedback for not I'm better than you, but like, hey, here's something I heard.
00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:55.599
Is this what you wanted?
00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:00.079
And so there's this creative kind of tinkering, collaborative tinkering.
00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:01.200
I just made that up.
00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:03.200
So that's the AD Play Black Lounge.
00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:04.640
I I love that.
00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:08.160
Um I'm I'm hopefully able to join soon.
00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.680
That that's my that's my goal.
00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:10.480
That's my goal.
00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:12.640
And that's what that's what you said, right?
00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:24.640
There's um it's community, it's there's people there that you know can help one another, I think um audio description is it's it's such an art too, right?
00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:36.640
But until you know um how it feels, how you should behave, stand, you know, and if you're around people that are doing it and can help, I think that's wonderful.
00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:45.279
So if somebody's interested about the AD playbook, how would one get connected?
00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:46.160
Sure.
00:20:46.160 --> 00:21:00.720
There's uh if you go to Roy Samuelson.com, uh at the very top there's uh AD playback lounge, and the website for that is Roy Samuelson.com slash ad playback dash lounge.
00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:01.119
Okay.
00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:04.640
It'll take you to the uh it'll take you to some more details.
00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:11.920
Okay, that's awesome, and I'm sure we'll have it in the notes for everybody to go and um log on.
00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:16.240
I want to ask you something.
00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:28.079
I I I know this is gonna be added, but I didn't want to take too much on on this topic because everybody keeps talking about it.
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:30.079
But AI.
00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:32.559
I'm gonna ask you this.
00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:38.799
Where do you see that um in the audio description world?
00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:40.640
Is it a a plus?
00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:41.680
Is it a negative?
00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:46.400
I you know, I have my my my thoughts, but what do you what do you say?
00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:48.000
What say you, Mr.
00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:48.480
Boy?
00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:49.759
What say I?
00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:55.680
I have a lot to say about it, just like most people, and I'm sure there's some nuance to it too.
00:21:55.680 --> 00:22:05.119
I think about AI has been I think problematically centered on all or nothing thinking.
00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:11.839
That there is this temptation to be absolutely not, no, don't.
00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:26.720
And then there's others that are slapping this like blanket of AI over everything with the reasonable argument that, well, we just want to give more access to more things, and this will help it scale.
00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:28.480
This will bring more audio description.
00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.319
Don't you want more audio description?
00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:33.519
I think both of those extremes are missing the point.
00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:46.400
I've been talking about uh not necessarily synthetic voice, but the difference between a poorly performed audio description track performer.
00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:56.160
That I've heard some synthetic voices that are incredibly conversational in the context of a very conversational film or TV show, like a documentary.
00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:04.240
And that's actually been better than a voice performer who doesn't know how to how to bring those words to life.
00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:13.599
And also, I've heard performers in audio description who know what they're doing that will blow a synthetic voice out of the water.
00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:20.559
And as synthetic voices get better, what I'm interested in is our audience's experience.
00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:24.960
This are we aware that it's synthetic voice or not?
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:28.000
Because that I think is a pretty important question.
00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:33.920
And then the other thing is, is it serving what our audiences get?
00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:40.960
Are the are the audio description audiences getting the same experience that a cited audience gets?
00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:47.759
And if that is not in parody, if that's disconnected, then we're not serving our audiences.
00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:56.160
So to bring it back, there's some really interesting AI applications that aren't just the voice and not just the writing.
00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:59.359
I think the output is what a lot of people are focusing on.
00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:06.000
With AI, there's some other things that could really remove some of the barriers that are happening behind the scenes in audio description.
00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:18.079
In other words, being able to do a a f uh listening to the track and see if there's an inconsistency of a character's pronunciation.
00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:31.680
I think a really great use case, and I'll wrap up with this, is if I'm performing a feature-length film and at the end of it they want the credits read, that can sometimes take hours.
00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:35.279
And I usually have to come back because some of the pronunciations weren't accurate.
00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:59.599
A synthetic voice for literally reading a phone book, the equivalent of, assuming it's just information, not storytelling, not emotional compellingness, but I think that that application of AI for audio description in reading the credits would help in a way that I am not sure if humans would want to do.
00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:11.599
I find those to be the most tedious and most uh you know, I'll still do it, but it's you know, we used to joke about, oh, you you could read the phone book, and that's basically what audio description credits are.
00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:12.480
Yeah.
00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:20.720
So there's a lot of nuances here, and I I don't think that we're at a point where that all or nothing thinking is the best answer.
00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:23.119
I appreciate you saying that.
00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:28.880
Uh thank you for giving your two cents, and I appreciate that.
00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:32.319
So, uh I have a question.
00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:44.160
If someone from the blind community and someone cited both read your work, what do you hope each of them walks away understanding differently?
00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:45.440
This is a doozy.
00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:47.039
This is what I'm to think of.
00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:48.640
It's a great one.
00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:50.960
Could you repeat the question one more time?
00:25:51.200 --> 00:26:01.680
Yeah, if someone from the blind community and someone cited both read your work, what do you hope each of them walks away understanding differently?
00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:05.279
Well they might start with blind Yeah.
00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:06.640
What's that?
00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:08.079
Well they might not.
00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:12.079
They might walk away understanding the same thing.
00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:13.920
They could, yeah.
00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:25.680
Um if they if I think about a blind audience member, that I'd want them to walk away with knowing that somebody in production was actually thinking about them.
00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:32.000
Uh we talk so much about not checking the box.
00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:42.240
I think about how many decisions are made on behalf of blind people that maybe they actually want to be involved with.
00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:51.039
I think about the implications of of what it means that somebody was thinking about them.
00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:53.759
And I I hope that the book reflects that.
00:26:53.759 --> 00:27:01.359
And then for sighted audiences, um let me think about this for a second.
00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:22.880
That there's this world of audio description where things that sighted people see is being communicated in a way that they might never notice.
00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:37.119
And that communication, that that difference between a sighted person watching something and a blind person watching using audio description, that that helps close a gap.
00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:40.400
It helps keep that connection alive.
00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:46.880
Yeah to be able to laugh about a TV show or a movie without all those speed bumps on the freeway.
00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:47.279
Yeah.
00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:50.240
I think that's I think that brings in the humanity.
00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:52.160
So those are kind of related.
00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:58.720
I think if if we really dissected it, it it kind of one leads to the other and the other leads to the one.
00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:00.640
Oh my.
00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:04.079
Oh my god, you're just so touching humanity.
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:20.000
Just like Okay, so um what do you have any new projects or anything that's happening in your world that we can be privy to?
00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:23.200
Yeah, I'm gonna be on this um, sure, yeah.
00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:26.480
I'm gonna be on this amazing podcast with Andy.
00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:32.079
And I can't wait.
00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:42.160
The projects that I'm working on, in addition to that podcast episode, where Andy asks me some kick-ass questions.
00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:59.119
I'm uh I'm still performing audio description, and some of the projects that I'm working on are there's this, there's certain companies I work for where there's just this understanding, and I find myself being in the flow.
00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:00.640
And I'm sure you felt it too.
00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:02.400
Like that that kind of connection.
00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:04.400
It's like there's this trust that's already been formed.
00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:12.960
There's this it's almost like safety, I guess, and being able to know, oh, I can I can swim out to the deep end and I'm not gonna drown.
00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:15.680
Or that's a feeling, I guess.
00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:18.160
That's it's like the that's the feeling.
00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:21.759
And I think about the A D playback lounge growing.
00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:30.480
I'm also working on some corporate and executive offerings that take the concepts of audio description and apply it in a way that I haven't seen done before.
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:37.200
And there's some there's some exciting things happening there, and I hope we can talk about that maybe on a future episode here.
00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:41.119
If you don't mind coming, I don't mind asking.
00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:43.759
I think it's established we both like each other.
00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:52.559
Can I give you a walk-on?
00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:55.680
Can I before we leave and we go?
00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:58.400
Um I'd love to ask you this one question.
00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:20.480
So if someone is listening right now could experience the world the way you do, even for just one audio, one moment, what would you want them to notice and maybe feel or understand about what you see the world in your in your lens?
00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:28.160
I love to find the win-win, even when it means disassembling my assumptions.
00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:31.920
That's the first thing that comes to mind.
00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:33.119
I love that.
00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:34.319
I love finding that.
00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:37.519
I eat that, I eat that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:50.640
When I can find that alignment that breaks something, that assumption that I have, that I can break that assumption and and go into a place of curiosity and and connection, that lights me on fire in such a good way.
00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:52.720
And there you have it.
00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:57.920
What did we just do?
00:30:58.079 --> 00:30:59.279
Did we just wrap that up?
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:01.759
Is that just like do we connect?
00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:04.000
Our hands are like doing the Vogue here or something.
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:06.480
We're doing the Vogue, Vogue.
00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:07.599
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:10.720
You know, boy, you know how I feel about you.
00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:15.200
So, you know, I'm just everybody, I think he's awesome.
00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:21.440
Just fantastic, a fantastic human being, totally talented.
00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:24.000
I met you.
00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:30.799
I you didn't know who I was, but I felt like we have known each other forever.
00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:35.039
So that was in Sovers I finally met you face to face.
00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:35.680
That's right.
00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:36.640
Yep, yep, yep.
00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:50.000
And I and we connected through the illustrious, talented, beautiful, and amazing, funny as anything, Stephanie McCoy, founder and creator of Bold Blind.
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:52.319
Bold blind beauty on the t-shirt.
00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:54.400
On the t-shirt, yes.
00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:56.880
She is definitely our connector.
00:31:56.880 --> 00:32:01.119
So I appreciate Steph with all my heart.
00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:05.759
Do we got like two minutes to flip the script and talk about how amazing Steph is?
00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:07.599
Because she's not here right now, is she?
00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:08.799
Yeah, yeah, let's do it.
00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:11.119
So she's fantastic.
00:32:11.119 --> 00:32:13.119
You know, I I Let's gossip about her.
00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:14.079
Yeah, good gossip.
00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:16.960
I'm really Steph for your LinkedIn.
00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:19.039
Everybody, understand this.
00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:21.839
LinkedIn, you can get connected on LinkedIn.
00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:24.160
So that's how I met Steph.
00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:28.559
Um this is two years ago, I think, maybe now, three years?
00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:29.839
Two years, wow.
00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:30.720
Uh huh, yeah.
00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:37.599
And then uh through Steph, I met the love the wonderful boy Samuelson.
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:40.480
So what do you love about Pulpline Beauty?
00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:44.400
I love it's family to me.
00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:45.759
Yeah, yeah.
00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:50.960
I came on as a volunteer.
00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:56.160
Um and they're just family.
00:32:56.160 --> 00:33:08.720
Uh the ladies are wonderful, they we check on each other, and like I said, it was from a LinkedIn post that I reached out and made a comment.
00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:18.240
And initially, for me, I was researching information for my mum because my mum was having eyesight issues, and that's how it all started.
00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:21.039
That's how my whole journey started.
00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:24.000
So this is very important to me.
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.400
This is heart, this is love, this is everything.
00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:41.759
So um, the fact, Roy, that you are here on this podcast that I dreamt of one day, and Steph was so gracious and said to me, you know, we should do this.
00:33:41.759 --> 00:33:44.720
And I'm like, no, absolutely not.
00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:46.400
And she's like, Yes, why not?
00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:49.599
And then so and and then it was born.
00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:57.839
So um my you know, I have a uh great respect and I adore Steph.
00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:00.720
And here's here's where we are.
00:34:01.359 --> 00:34:02.160
I love it.
00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:03.519
Yes, yes.
00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:09.440
So Roy, if anybody wants to reach out to you, how do they do this?
00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:13.039
Go to Roysamuelson.com.
00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:15.280
That's the that's probably the best place.
00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:24.239
There's uh a a little bit too much information, it needs to be tidied up a little bit, but I think you'll get a good sense of of different offerings and perspectives.
00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:26.960
There's a blog there, and um, yeah.
00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:27.760
Roy samuels.
00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:29.519
Yeah, the blog's fantastic.
00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:31.760
The blog is fantastic, everybody.
00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:41.440
You really need to to um sign up and look at the because you send out fantastic information, really cool information, actually.
00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:42.320
Thanks, yeah.
00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:44.400
Yeah, that newsletter, the weekly newsletter.
00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:45.760
I've I've really enjoyed that.
00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:46.719
Yeah, yeah.
00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:49.119
Wonderful! Wonderful, thank you.
00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:54.400
Okay, so before we we say bye, Cherio, to everybody.
00:34:54.400 --> 00:35:01.679
One last do you have one last thing to say about what you do?
00:35:02.239 --> 00:35:03.119
About what I do.
00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:07.920
Um I interviewed uh Joanne Levine recently.
00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:12.639
She is the she basically created Al Jazeera English.
00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:34.960
And one of the things that she said about the challenges that she had in in launching that was a conversation she had with a really close friend during some of the harder times when Al Jazeera was being, at least in the United States, uh treated in a way that it didn't deserve.
00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:40.719
And she said how she connected with this one friend and it it kept her going.
00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:48.000
And I've had some, as most people have had, challenging times in their lives.
00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:58.480
And uh I've found that my connections with people that I trust and have built that trust over years has really kept me going.
00:35:58.480 --> 00:36:03.039
And uh the founder of Bullblind Beauty, Stephanie McCoy, is among those people.
00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:11.440
Oh my gosh, I'm really I treasure calling her a friend because it has gotten me through those times.
00:36:11.440 --> 00:36:20.400
Those, you know, Steph, those little things that she kind of throws off just like a casual thing, and it's like, oh, oh yeah.
00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:20.960
Okay.
00:36:20.960 --> 00:36:24.159
And I can keep I can take that next step.
00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:24.960
Yeah.
00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:29.360
She she is definitely my cheerleader.
00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:34.880
Um she has she came into my life at the right time.
00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:36.000
So nice.
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:40.079
That's how we are going to end this podcast.
00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:41.760
Thank you, Steph.
00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:46.000
Thank you, Stephanie McCoy, for everything that you do.
00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:50.079
It's been wonderful, Roy.
00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:50.960
You've made me smile.
00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:51.599
Thanks for having me.
00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:54.159
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
00:36:54.159 --> 00:36:56.000
Thank you for being here.
00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:57.519
Bye, everybody.
00:36:57.519 --> 00:37:01.119
Hope that you uh uh come in or what do you do?
00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:02.159
Tune in.
00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:10.400
Tune in next time, you know, and make sure you listen to this and like and comment.
00:37:10.400 --> 00:37:13.119
Comment, tell me what you think about it.
00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:15.199
Bye everyone.
00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:23.679
Thank you for tuning in to curious.
00:37:23.679 --> 00:37:34.320
Educate it and look at the story.
00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:38.400
Every story shine somewhere.
00:37:38.400 --> 00:37:40.719
Until next time.
00:37:40.719 --> 00:37:46.159
Stay connected, stay curious, keep shining.