Episode 304: Wrestling is Life with Samee Junio

It’s Kate’s last episode hosting Forever35! But before we send her off, she and Doree bring producer extraordinaire Samee Junio on for a full-circle moment. They discuss how the pod has changed them all for the better, Samee’s latest “foot care as self-care” practices, the intensity and joy that watching wrestling has brought into their life, and how someone might be stealing their Tatcha products one face-sized scoopful at a time.

Transcript

 

Kate:                    Hello and welcome to Forever35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I'm Kate Spencer,

Doree:                And I am Doree Shafrir.

Kate:                    And we are not experts.

Doree:                We're not, we're two friends who like to talk a lot about serums,

Kate:                    And welcome to my last episode of Forever35. I'm asking that like a question, but it's the truth.

Doree:                It is the truth.

Kate:                    We're here.

Doree:                We're doing it.

Kate:                    Wow. I have a lot of feelings

Doree:                And we talk about a lot of them on this episode because we talked to Samee,

Kate:                    We talked to Samee, our producer, who has been with show almost as long as we have been with the show. A friend recommended Samee to you, right?

Doree:                Yes.

Kate:                    You were like I said to you, do you want to start a podcast? You were like, yes, I'm on it. And then you were like, we need a producer. My friend says we should meet with this person. Is that right? Yeah. That's how it went.

Doree:                Yeah. That is how it went.

Kate:                    And then we met at a coffee shop,

Doree:                And the rest is history.

Kate:                    Samee walked in with a helmet under their arm and I was like, well, this person's cooler than me, and we'll always be cooler than me. And the rest is history.

Doree:                The rest is history. But that was more than six years ago, and a lot has changed in Samee's life.

Kate:                    Yeah,

Doree:                A lot has changed in our lives there.

Kate:                    That was 2017 that we met Samee.

Doree:                Yeah. Well, Kate, I think we should just get right into our conversation with Samee because we had a lot to say. We had a lot to talk about. Before we do that, I just want to remind everyone, please visit our website Forever35podcast.com. We do have links there to everything we mentioned on the show. We are on Instagram @Forever35podcast, our Patreon. We're kind of figuring out what to do with it, but you can check it out at patreon.com/forever35. Our favorite products are at shopmy.us/forever35. We have a newsletter at Forever35podcast.com/newsletter. You can call or text us at (781) 591-0390, and email us at Forever35podcast@gmail.com. And here is Samee.

Kate:                    Hi Samee.

Doree:                Hi, Samee.

Samee:               Hello, Doree. How's it going?

Doree:                Welcome to the pod.

Samee:               Thank you so much. Anything new?

Kate:                    Nope.

Samee:               Any news to tell me?

Kate:                    Oh my God, everything's the same.

Samee:               Very good. How is everyone?

Kate:                    Well, I have COVID, I mean, what else is new in 2024? Right?

Samee:               True.

Doree:                I mean, yeah, but we didn't want you to have Covid.

Kate:                    Yeah, we did. I didn't either, but I did have this feeling of like, it's coming for me. It's been two years since the last time I had it.

Samee:               Wow. Gosh.

Kate:                    I just feel like eventually it's going to get you

Samee:               Sure.

Kate:                    We're all going to keep getting this. So I've made it two years, which seems pretty, a pretty solid run.

Samee:               Yeah, that's good.

Doree:                Totally. Wow. I can't believe that was two years ago.

Kate:                    Two years. I know. And I also now measure my life in Covid. That's an updated lyric to the rent song, but you know what I mean? You're like, oh, the last time I had took Covid, it was this time and this was what was going on, and now this will be my new Covid marker anyway, but I'm feeling okay. I'm just kind of tired and run down.

Samee:               Did you know right away when you had Covid, you're like, this is crazy.

Kate:                    I don't know if anybody else feels this, but I feel like I can feel the Covid turn on inside my body.

Samee:               Whoa.

Kate:                    I felt it the first time I got covid, it felt like my veins were on fire. I felt weird. And it's different than when you get a cold or the flu, and I felt it. I felt it at night, the night before. I tested positive and I tested and I was negative. But then of course, eight hours later I was positive. But yeah, I felt this. It's almost like it shuts. You can feel your body being like, whoa.

Samee:               Yeah. Yeah. She feels different.

Kate:                    Yeah. It's such a bizarre virus. Anyway, but I mean enough about Covid. We've been talking about it for four years.

Samee:               That's our special guest today. Right?

Kate:                    Special guest today is what's so funny, or this is not funny, but the new variant is called Flirt.

Samee:               What? Also, I didn't really put any thought into the fact that they're still naming variants. I thought they were like, that's just happening. Flirt.

Kate:                    Flirt. It's called flirt now. Even the, which also kind of reduces it to something cute, which it's not. It's still a dangerous illness. And calling it the Flirt variant, just to me, I'm like, oh, I can't. Anyway, that's what I think I have. I think I have flirt.

Samee:               You came down with the flirts today, Kate.

Kate:                    I got the flirts. Well, Samee, the Flirts. You are my final podcast guest.

Samee:               I'm honored and also so shocked that you would waste it on me.

Kate:                    What? Samee.

Samee:               Oh man. I'm honored. Truly. Yeah.

Kate:                    I feel like this is a very nice full circle experience in terms of the Forever35 iteration with Kate and Doree, because you were essentially the next person we went to after we were like, let's do a podcast.

Samee:               That's true. That's true.

Kate:                    We went to you.

Samee:               The circle is now shut now. We can never leave. Sorry, Kate. Turns out it does feel

Kate:                    Like it does feel we're closing the lid on that box, which is very nice. So thank you for being our guest today. Sam.

Samee:               Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Kate:                    Do you want to answer a question you've answered many times before as a person who's been a guest on this podcast?

Samee:               Yes, of course.

Kate:                    A lot. And that question is, what is your current self-care practice?

Samee:               My current self-care practice, it's gotten kind of medical, I guess I have tendinitis in both of my Achilles heels.

Kate:                    Oh, woof.

Samee:               Which is the biggest bummer ever, because walking is difficult.

Doree:                Oh my God.

Samee:               So my self-care is KT taping my ankles and soaking my feet in a collapsible little foot tub.

Doree:                You're so middle age now.

Samee:               I know. 30.

Doree:                So when you started, you started with us. You were such a young Sprite.

Kate:                    You were in your twenties,

Doree:                you were in your twenties.

Samee:               I was in my twenties. I was zooming around on a scooter. Now I can't walk.

Kate:                    You're soaking your feet

Doree:                In a collapsible foot.

Samee:               Collapsible, yeah. That I had to return once because the bubbles feature wasn't working, and it's not a remarkable bubbles feature, but I was like, I need this rumbling bubble feature.

Doree:                Okay. Wait, can we pause for a second? Because when I was having all those issues with my toes,

Kate:                    Oh my God.

Doree:                All these gross issues. Sorry, this has turned into the middle aged gross body conversation.

Samee:               Wait here, baby.

Doree:                But I also had to soak my feet, and I always looked at those little foot tubs and I was like, eh, I can just soak them in a plastic container. They seem like a waste of money, but now you're making me think maybe I should have gotten the foot spa. Would you recommend, I guess is my question.

Samee:               Oh gosh. Maybe this is prying. How big are your feet?

Doree:                They're enormous.

Samee:               Okay. I would say maybe skip it. So my feet are a European 41, so that's like I think 10 and a half.

Doree:                That's the same size as me.

Samee:               And so the experience isn't as luxurious because when you're, and maybe you're different, but when my feet are in the water, I want to tap around and have a good time. But it really is just a straightforward, like your feeder here. That's it.

Doree:                Your feet barely fit in the

Kate:                    You're wedging 'em in.

Samee:               Yeah. I mean, I'm not like in Cinderella when the stepsisters are trying to put their feet in the glass. At first, it's not like that. They feet comfortably, but it has texture for massaging your own feet. But I could only go like this, this, It's like, who is this for? Tiny little darling feet.

Kate:                    So I wonder if there's Excel size tub, because I have a size 42 European foot.

Samee:               Oh yeah. There's got to be.

Doree:                We just all have such big feet. Wait, and my second question. Yes. Yes, I do.

Samee:               Big shoes.

Doree:                I have been dealing with tendonitis in my arm, tennis elbow. So I'm right there with you with the middle aged ailments. Do you know how you developed the tendonitis in your heels?

Samee:               Yeah, so I have flat feet. I have, so it's all connected. So I have the flat feet, and then I genetically have knock knees a little bit, so my feet are flat, and then they're turned in a little bit. And then I have a partial tear in both the ACL and MCL in my left leg. And so my little flappers are not great. And then I started trying to run a little bit more. And then also when I moved to New York, I started wearing boots and they're heavy turns out, and so with the boots and the running and not properly stretching, my Achilles tendons are like, you're a fool. Time to feel your age, buddy. So here we are.

Doree:                Wow. Yeah. Age comes for us all.

Samee:               And fast.

Doree:                Then fast.

Kate:                    I've had tendonitis in my Achilles and it's extremely painful. I'm sorry.

Samee:               It's a bummer.

Kate:                    And a tendonitis is really hard to treat. Nothing you can really do except stretch and take care of yourself.

Samee:               It's basically like don't move it so it can heal or get surgery. I don't really want to be,

Kate:                    neither of those are options

Samee:               Immobile, right. It's like don't walk for six weeks or get surgery and then don't walk for six weeks. Okay, sure. Great.

Kate:                    I'm sorry.

Samee:               It's fine. We'll figure it out. I'm soaking my feet.

Kate:                    The fact that you are soaking your feet in a little tub is really charming. Me.

Samee:               I'm glad. I'm glad I have salts for it. Is it more the one that I got has a P stone? Yeah. So it has a room temperature, medium temperature, and then a hot water. So you can sit in there for a while. Oh yeah. It's fun. That's really nice.

Kate:                    Honestly. Sounds nice.

Samee:               I rescind my comment. Maybe you should get one, but for one it's like XL or something.

Kate:                    Also, do you keep it under your desk while you're working or is it kind of like you go to watch TV at the end of the day and you soak? Or are you here recording a podcast, soaking your feet?

Samee:               What have I tilted my camera and I'm soaking 'em right now?

Kate:                    I would respect that.

Samee:               I don't do it in my room, but I'll go sit outside, not outside in the living room and soak my feet while I'm working or while I'm watching television or something. Yeah.

Kate:                    Well, welcome to your mid thirties.

Samee:               Yeah, I hate it.

Kate:                    Do you really hate it or is this just one thing that bothers you, but otherwise it's okay.

Samee:               I mean, otherwise it's okay. I think the whole me moving to New York thing, and this is like am experiencing, I dunno, mid twenties stuff like, oh, I have to figure out a new job situation and I don't have any friends and I don't know what that's like. So I think that all of my issues aren't actually tied to how old I am. It was more the random thought to move to New York all of a sudden.

Kate:                    Okay, wait, this is interesting. You mean the things that you're experiencing are a result of moving to a new city that you've never lived in before that's very different from Los Angeles and trying to rebuild a community, that sort of thing. That's kind of what the challenges are right now for you.

Samee:               Those are the things that are bugging me or bothering me, I guess.

Kate:                    Are you feeling like you want to stay in New York? Is this kind of where you're deciding to put down roots or are you thinking that it might just be a pit stop on the longer road of your life?

Samee:               I would like to stay in New York for a long time. I really like it here. And there's a silver lining, so I got my hours greatly reduced at the job that I had. But while I was working the hours that I was working New York hours in the morning and then closing out la, so I was working nine to nine every day.

Doree:                Oh shit.

Samee:               Which was really huge bummer. And I didn't have any free time. And now that I have kind of a loosey goosey freelance schedule again, I'm able to actually go out and experience New York a little bit more. And what I've been experiencing is really lovely. So I do like it out here

Doree:                Also. It's like it's the best season in New York right now.

Samee:               Oh, you betcha. We went to the botanic gardens to see the cherry blossoms.

Kate:                    Speechless. Are the tulips, are the tulips out?

Samee:               I think so. The tulips are out.

Kate:                    Wow. That sounds heaven.

Samee:               It's really nice. Yeah. That's one thing that I had that having seasons, like actual seasons, I really appreciate it so much. And I didn't know that that would be something that really got me.

Doree:                And I find that the northeast, especially, I mean I guess anywhere with really four seasons, but they really know how to do summer because summer is so fleeting and so they really do it up. Whereas in LA it's hotter, but it's just a little hotter than it normally is. It's not that different. So you don't get the same sort of like, Ooh, it's summer vibes.

Samee:               Yeah. Like a whole entire different wardrobe.

Doree:                Yeah, totally.

Samee:               It comes out of the closet. Yeah, it's great.

Doree:                So we're just going to take a short break and we will be right back.

Kate:                    Samee, I was wondering if you could tell us and our listeners a little bit about your current obsession with wrestling, which has manifested into a podcast.

Samee:               It has.

Kate:                    But you have traveled for wrestling.

Samee:               I've crossed state lines for wrestling. Yeah.

Kate:                    Yeah. It's definitely more than just a fun hobby for you. It's something you seem to be really passionate about. And I'm also curious if it's something that you've loved your whole life or is this an adult discovery a year ago? Were you like, oh my gosh. Wrestling.

Samee:               I was, but last year I was only months into it. So I went to my first wrestling event with my friend Michael Classic in December of 20, not 2023 or 2022. One of those years. What's time? And it really was only, I don't know, five minutes before I was hooked in. Just going to any live event is so fun. There's an energy there that you get swept up in. And then with wrestling, it's just wild. I don't know if either of you have it out to a wrestling event, but there's something different about it that feels really special. And so it didn't take long for me to really get into it. And then in my obsession, I was talking to my mom about it, and she said that when she was courting my dad, or when my dad was courting her, she would steal money from the register at work to take him to wrestling. So it was kind of like in me, little Samee egg was floating around watching wrestling while my parents went in the Philippines.

Doree:                Well, your parents were courting each other,

Samee:               So it almost feels like a birthright, to be honest.

Kate:                    Whoa.

Doree:                Wow. Wow. I feel like there's, I've not been to a wrestling event, but my husband, as you know, Samee, is, we talked about that also very into wrestling. So I have watched just by osmosis. I've watched a lot of wrestling in the last few months.

Samee:               Yeah, baby. And how are you feeling it?

Doree:                It's very interesting. He's always trying to tell me the storylines and the, what are they called?

Samee:               The Factions?

Doree:                Lineage.

Samee:               Oh yeah, the bloodline.

Doree:                Yeah. Bloodlines. That's it. The bloodline. I don't know. There's just a lot happening all the time, and I'm always like, whoa. This is, the fandom of wrestling is very intense, and the intricacies of it rival any other sort of complicated fandom. I see how people who are maybe into Marvel are also into wrestling because it has similar sorts of characters and storylines and it's a whole universe.

Samee:               Hundred percent.

Doree:                And people come back from the past and

Samee:               Yeah, it's very referential. Well, that's why we started the podcast. Mia Michael started the podcast. Wrestling Academy is to kind of break down wrestling and make it a little less intimidating for someone who's new or curious or even try to bring the spark back into people who have been wrestling fans but kind of lapsed. Their interest has lapsed because it goes through ebbs and flows and stuff of interest and storylines and whatever. So yeah, it's been a ride. And I'm truly so happy that Michael took me to that show because there before wrestling, there really wasn't anything that got me this good. You know what I mean?

Doree:                Yeah, Totally.

Samee:               I realized when, so we went to WrestleMania in Philadelphia and being, there was this wild feeling that I thought I would feel super welcome and Comic-Con or whatever, because I'm a geeky dork guy. But I really felt clicked in WrestleMania the two days. It was just so great. And then there are other independent wrestling promotions that I go see, and it's just that same energy. It's because everybody talks about, oh, wrestling is fake or whatever, but it's like, yes, of course. Course. I don't want to actually see these guys flip over and hurt each other and break each other's bones. That just not, that's not interesting to me. I don't want to watch UFC and I don't. But there's a thing with wrestling that you kind of have to meet it where it is. And so when everybody meets something where it is in a collective, it's just so much easier to fall into the group thought of everything, and then the spectacle. And then I kind of compared it to a little bit like peekaboo because there's a buildup and then what's going to happen? I don't know. You know what I mean? So yeah, if you want to play peekaboo with people scantily clad and throwing each other around, go watch some wrestling.

Kate:                    It kind of reminds me of a fish concert.

Samee:               Sure.

Kate:                    It's kind of like any fandom. There's the inside jokes and the kind of insider things that only the true fans understand. And there's recurring bits that keep you coming back and make you feel a part of a community. I think there are certain characteristics of these kind of large fandoms that are similar across the board, no matter what it is being celebrated. I find it intriguing.

Samee:               Yeah. It's just, I don't know. Big fandoms are tricky, right? You don't want it. I don't know. Nevermind. I lost my thought.

Kate:                    No, big fandoms are tricky. I mean, period. There's weirdness ups and downs with every fandom.

Samee:               Yeah, true, true.

Kate:                    Doree, would you say you're in a fandom?

Doree:                No.

Kate:                    I feel like you're more in, I don't know what you would call, you are in communities. I feel like you're in a Mahjong. Is there a Mahjong fandom? Maybe not, but I do feel like you are an active

Doree:                That's Interesting.

Kate:                    In a community.

Doree:                Yeah, I am, and tennis. But I don't watch a ton of professional tennis, and I'm not obsessed with all the stars of professional tennis. I'm interested, and I kind of follow it, but I'm not crazed about it. But I do want to play tennis all the time.

Samee:               Is there anything that, if tickets popped up and you immediately go, well, I got to go. I got to go. Or you get to the checkout and you're like, wait, I need to check my schedule with everything. But you get to a point where you're like, I need this right away, like a reflex almost.

Doree:                I mean, there have definitely been some concerts where I've felt like that, but it's not like I haven't seen, there's not one band I've seen more than probably Three or four times. I'm trying to think if there's anyone I've seen. Okay. Let's say five times. But even that feels high. I don't know that there's a band or musician that I've seen. I've seen, I've seen Taylor Swift three times.

Samee:               Huge.

Doree:                I've seen, I don't know, it's like a real range. I've seen Taylor Swift three times. I think I've seen Bell and Sebastian three times.

Samee:               Oh, cool.

Doree:                I really contain multitude, Samee I mean,

Samee:               You're so impressive.

Doree:                I'm so impressive. But yeah, I mean, lately concerts have gotten so expensive. Sometimes I see concerts and I'm just like, well, that's not happening. But Kate and I are actually going to see the Indigo Girls in September.

Samee:               Oh My

Kate:                    We Are.

Samee:               That's so nice.

Kate:                    We are living,

Doree:                I've never seen them live.

Samee:               What?

Doree:                Yeah. I've somehow missed them. I've seen so many other icons. Ani, Sarah McLaughlin, Tori, I've seen them all.

Samee:               Of course,

Kate:                    I've seen the full white feminist icon of nineties music,

Doree:                full feminist, lith fair music Pantheon I have seen, except for the Indigo Girls. So this,

Kate:                    Have you ever seen the Indigo Girls? Are you an Indigo Girls person?

Samee:               No, unfortunately. I don't know if I could name a Song of the Indigo Girls. Off the top of my head.

Kate:                    We should make you a mix.

Samee:               I would love that. Actually, I have so many blind spots culturally that it is very embarrassing. I dunno, anything,

Kate:                    What is an example? I mean, we all do, right? We all have them.

Samee:               I mean, just being a queer person, I am dating somebody who is very much in the culture. I don't know. She has to step me through things a lot because I just feel like, I don't know, I was just not immersed into culture much. And then music, it was my parents who it was like Rat Pack and Doop, and then oddly, the Black Eyed Peas and Snoop Dogg from my mom. And then movies. I kind of got some Lucas film stuff from my parents. And then I was going off with my brother who showed me Requiem for a Dream and weird stuff. So I was always in very niche, niche things. But then the larger culture that everybody's tuned into, nah, not a lick of it.

Kate:                    Samee, how do you feel that you've changed over the six and a half years that we've been working together?

Samee:               Oh my goodness.

Kate:                    As a person inside and out, what has changed about you? And why don't we also ask, what do you feel is a consistent quality that you find as the years pass you retain?

Samee:               Let's start with what I've retained. Okay.

Kate:                    Who are you still?

Samee:               I'm still mostly a rambunctious little guy. I like the goofy stuff. What has changed? Oh, man. I think I've been humbled by the world quite a bit in between these six and a half years, but I've also had an easy time. Yeah. I don't know off the top of my head if I could list it all out. How have you changed Kate?

Kate:                    Oh, how have I changed? I think I am more aware of what the working operation is of myself as a person and what's needed to make the trains run on time. I have a better understanding of myself, and I think a better understanding of what I need in order to feel. Okay. I think I've learned, I think doing this podcast, I've definitely, I think part of this is a lot of learning from Doree in a way, as a kind of modeling. No, seriously Doree. I mean, we've talked about this so many times, but I really do think I feel like I can make harder decisions or have harder conversations, or not always just say yes to everything that seems like the easiest thing to do, or the thing that'll make everybody happy. Those are all things I still struggle with, but I've definitely gotten more comfortable with those things. I think in doing, I think the influence of working on this show, that's something that's changed about me for sure.

Samee:               Yeah, I think that working with you two has definitely helped me step into myself for sure.

Kate:                    No, I'm going to start crying.

Samee:               Oh, Don't.

Kate:                    It's going to come. It's going to happen.

Samee:               But yeah, I agree. There's something, I mean, you guys are just, you're powerful gals in your own different ways, and so it was easy to grow from that.

Kate:                    Do you feel powerful, Doree? I don't think I've ever described myself as feeling like I have powerful, but that's nice to hear somebody else say that. Thank You, Sam.

Doree:                Yeah. That's interesting. I don't think that's a word I would use to describe myself, so it's interesting to hear someone else describe that. Use that word to describe me.

Samee:               Well start using it. You guys are

Doree:                Okay.

Samee:               Well, your little lighthouses. Come on, man.

Kate:                    Little lighthouses. Oh, that's nice.

Samee:               I mean, I just feel like you wouldn't be as listenable if you weren't powerful. You know what I mean? Look at the science you guys.

Kate:                    Is there science about this?

Samee:               I mean, just your downloads.

Kate:                    Okay. But yeah, we do have numbers to back things up. That is true. We do have actual data points, but yes, I don't think I've ever used the word powerful to describe me, so I'm intrigued by that. I'm Intrigued.

Doree:                Yeah. I guess when I hear you use the word powerful in this context, I think strong. Not necessarily we are super influential or anything, but I mean, maybe you mean that also.

Kate:                    Well, but here's maybe I think what do and I are both like, huh? Is I think it's interesting to hear somebody else's perception of you.

Samee:               Oh, sure.

Kate:                    Any, but in kind of a professional slash friendship way, because I think obviously we're friends and we also work together. And I think that's actually what's been interesting about doing Forever35 is a lot of getting feedback about myself or about the work that we do that was, I never knew, or I never saw or never realized. And for the most part, that's extremely empowering and gratifying. You learn. I think you learn about yourself when you create something that people consume, I guess. I don't know. But I mean, that's just what it's felt like to me is when people say something and I'm like, oh, I never have thought about myself or this show or what we make in that way. And it's always kind of interesting to hear that, the positive and the negative.

Samee:               Sure, sure,

Kate:                    Sure. I can go both ways.

Samee:               You're telling me.

Kate:                    Okay. Well, let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.

Doree:                Samee, what's next for you? What do you see on the horizon in the world of Sam?

Samee:               Oh, gosh. So I have the opportunity to do less podcasting and be seen less as a podcast person as far as behind the scenes. And so I'm doing a lot of sound mixing on set, which for the uninitiated is the person who's putting mics up and running that sound during productions. And so that's been really, really fun. But I think deep down inside and not even that deep inside, I want to be able to tour the country with my dumbass podcast. I think that that would be super fun. I think what it really is is I just really love a live show, and now I have the opportunity to put one on and to kind of conduct the energy of a room. And so I am excited to continue to achieve that goal.

Kate:                    I feel like that's very full circle, because when we first started, you were producing KO's, show, her live shows and a tv. You were doing a lot of producing of live stuff. And I also think in terms of what is your friend and peer seeing you? I feel like Samee, the forward facing person, is emerging. Do you know what I mean? You've been a behind the scenes podcast person for so long, and you can do that so well. But I do feel like as a commentator, as a personality, as an entertainer, even, I feel like there is something there and not enough. You're a very genuine person, and I think that comes across in everything that you do. And I just feel like the world's ready for it.

Samee:               Oh, they ain't ready for this baby. Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate that. And I agree. I think that there's a new, it's a Sammy V 0.35 that's coming out.

Kate:                    Okay. Not four.

Samee:               No, not four. Three five. Three five. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited. I think it's good. I think I really was kind of sitting on my laurels in la, and that was a bit of why I wanted to move, is that I was sitting in my living room in LA kind of taking stock of my life, and it dawned on me a little bit that I could just be doing that forever. And I didn't want to just be doing what I was doing. So I moved, and then everything changed a lot.

Kate:                    I did. It shock your system a little bit moving, it kind of forced you out of your comfort zone in a way, and kind of pushed you out in all different areas of your life.

Samee:               Yeah, I kind of played it cool. Nothing was going to change or be hard, I think throughout the entire move. As I was saying, it's just a lateral move. It's not really going to change a lot. But then looking back, we are five days away from my one year anniversary in New York. I know, right? Wild. And just taking a look back at what has happened in that year. Yeah, A lot has changed despite me being like, oh, it's a lateral move a lot. Yeah, everything has changed. Yeah.

Doree:                It's interesting because I feel like I also, when I moved from New York to la, I also felt like that was a very, that move made a big impact on me. And I felt like I had a shift in perspective and that the change in location was very significant. But I feel like there's also a school of thought that's like, and I've heard people who are in 12 step programs talk about this, that you can't outrun your problems kind of just because you move, you're still the same person. And if you think moving is going to be the thing that magically makes everything better than you're not actually dealing with your shit. So it's interesting because I had a similar experience to you where I did feel not like it solved everything, but it was a jolt that I needed. And so I do think that sometimes a shift in perspective, a shift in location can be a really significant catalyst for change. Which is not to say that of course everything is perfect after that, but I don't know it, it's nice to hear that you felt sort of stagnant here, and you knew that going to New York was going to jolt you out of that. And it has.

Samee:               Yeah, totally.

Kate:                    I think sometimes you have to do those, make those big moves. It's like the risk. It is high risk, high reward, but ultimately I think you get something out of any sort of big move out of your comfort zone. I think you always get some sort of clarity on something.

Samee:               Yeah. Yeah. It's like that hindsight is 2020 thing, which is a bummer that it's real, that cliches, it's like, dang it.

Kate:                    You're right. That is one of the most annoying truths in the world.

Samee:               Yeah, because it's so simple.

Kate:                    Samee, has your skincare practice changed at all? Did you move to New York and were you like, oh, I'm going to try these new Yorky skincare products? Do you use anything aside from your foot bath?

Samee:               Can I

Kate:                    To take care of yourself?

Samee:               Can I tell you guys something?

Kate:                    Obviously,

Samee:               do you remember that Tatcha stuff that came with your book?

Doree:                Yes.

Samee:               I still have some of that.

Doree:                Do you really?

Samee:               Yeah. I feel like the face cream, I still have the products that were sent out. I haven't used it all.

Doree:                Oh my gosh.

Samee:               But I feel like the face cream has finally reached the bottom of it, because I think my roommate has been sneaking into my bathroom in year. I have it.

Kate:                    What?

Samee:               Or somebody. Somebody, yeah. But I did use the lip mask that came with it recently.

Doree:                Love the lip mask.

Samee:               It's really nice. It's really nice. I'm washing my face with something that's not CeraVe. The CV is a backup, and then I'm using the gel. I think it's gel Cera v moisturizer with SPF in it as well.

Kate:                    Can I ask you a question about styling short hair?

Samee:               Yes.

Kate:                    What products do you use to, because you always have a nice hold. I feel like you have a good flip and a good hold in your hair. What do you put in?

Samee:               Well, here's what's going to shock you. I just got a haircut that I fully changed where my part is.

Kate:                    Whoa.

Doree:                Okay.

Kate:                    Where was it? Was it on the other side?

Samee:               No. So it was, well, maybe you'll see it better with this off.

Kate:                    Oh Yeah, I could actually see it now. If you don't have headphones on, I can see your haircut. Oh, look at that. It's real short in the back. Samee. This is cute. I like your haircut.

Samee:               Thank you. But my part was over here, and then last week I moved it over, and so everything is short right now in regrowth, in a regrowth period. So to answer your question, Kate, I use powder. It's not dry shampoo, but it's powder that kind of holds your hair. And then something that I've been doing for so long that I'm not sure is good for your hair at all is I have a, because my hair is super straight and kind of fine, not fine, I think fine. But I use a hair straightener to give it some body. So this is manufactured by a hair straightener. And also this too, the hair straightener.

Kate:                    Oh, I see. Okay. So you're flip the kind of flip up that your hair does. You are bending it with a straightener.

Samee:               Yeah.

Kate:                    Oh man. Everybody has a secret. I would've never guessed that. I just thought that was your natural curl pattern or something.

Doree:                Hands,

Kate:                    some cloth.

Samee:               I wish. No, my hair is so boring and flat when I don't do my hair. It's a real bummer.

Kate:                    Okay. How did you figure out how to do that? And sorry, then we can wrap up. But this is an eternal question I have. I didn't know that hair straighteners were even a thing until I was in my twenties. Did you watch a video? Did your parents teach? Who taught you to do your hair?

Samee:               Nobody taught me to do anything. I don't remember how this happened. I think, gosh, I started using a hair straightener, maybe junior or senior year of high school when I got my hair super short. And then I started getting jealous of people with wavy or curly hair. I wanted that shape. I wanted that interesting unpredictability of wavy or curly hair. And my mom had hair curlers. Oh, this is strange. I just remembered that my mom had us get perms. Did I have this realization the last time I was on the podcast? I feel like this is something that happened before. But my mom,

Kate:                    this is vaguey familiar,

Samee:               And my mom would have us get perms, and my hair was super long, so I had long perm. So maybe I got used to seeing my hair curly, and that's why I crave it so badly. This is wild. So we had curling irons in my house, but I didn't, I was pretty scared of them. And then for some reason, I don't know whose hair straightener it was in the house, but I used it and I got one good wave. And I think that was it. That's a wrap.

Kate:                    Childhood discovery.

Samee:               Oh, Wow. Really healing.

Kate:                    Well, Samee, thank you so much for being my final guest on the pod, not the final guest.

Samee:               Thanks for asking me, Kate. Thanks.

Kate:                    But mine, Sam, if folks want to find you and listen to your podcast, but also just follow along with your adventures, where should they do that? Where can they find you? Where can they get more of you?

Samee:               Oh gosh. It is it your YOUR Sam on Instagram. And my podcast is @wrestlingAcademypod on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. But if you're typing youtube.com, it has to be at symbol Wrestling Academy pod. And if you follow us on YouTube at 1000 subscribers, I will put my co-host through a table.

Kate:                    What? Physically put them through a table.

Doree:                Wow. Kate, I think we need to go subscribe so we can

Kate:                    Yes. But how are you going to physically put them through a table?

Samee:               I mean, that is all up to, well, I mean, an ongoing joke is me asking every time we get an escalated version of somebody going through the table. So last week we recorded an episode where a wrestler, so there's a ladder going across the outside of a ring horizontally. Then he set a table up on top of this ladder and he put someone through it. And then I went to Michael and I said, Michael, is this how I should put you through the table? So it is an ongoing running joke to see how I'm actually going to put Michael through a table. But I think the safest way right now, to me seems like a spear, which is you just, oh my God. Run and throw yourself into somebody else is doing. Remember that? My legs are just mangled. This is going to be fun.

Kate:                    Yeah. You have tendonitis in your feet.

Samee:               It's true.

Kate:                    Don't hurt yourself.

Samee:               We'll figure it out,

Kate:                    Samee. All right. Well, Samee, thank you. You're the best.

Samee:               Oh, you're the best. Kate, thank you so much for all of the years of laughter and working friendship and the power that you brought to us, the gentle power of your journey, of figuring yourself out isn't really nice. Thank you.

Kate:                    I appreciate you.

Samee:               I appreciate you guys.

Kate:                    That was a blast. I'm glad we got to do that.

Doree:                It was a real full circle.

Kate:                    It felt very full circle. And if you really want to have a chuckle, go back and listen to our first ever interview that we did with Samee.

Doree:                Oh my Gosh.

Kate:                    Where we learned so much about their life

Doree:                So much.

Kate:                    Sometimes I remember that Samee is a trained massage therapist, and my mind is blown every time I remember this.

Doree:                I know, I know. It's very cool.

Kate:                    They have lived,

Doree:                Sammy has lived, lived many lives,

Kate:                    many lives, and now their life is wrestling.

Doree:                Yeah, also true.

Kate:                    Also true.

Doree:                Well, Kate, for your last round intentions, do you want to talk about how things went with your phone Lockbox

Kate:                    Doree? I haven't even touched it. I feel like this is my last intention on the pod to get to share if I did it or not. And that stupid thing has just sat in my kitchen. I haven't even picked it up. I've thought about it. I have not locked my phone in it or my iPad.

Doree:                Okay.

Kate:                    So it's a bust.

Doree:                It's a work in progress. Kate, it's not a bust.

Kate:                    I really want to lock my phone up, but it just hasn't seemed practical.

Doree:                Look, I get it.

Kate:                    Which is maybe the problem with all of this social media detoxing is can we even do it anymore? Is our world set up for it? I don't know.

Doree:                Can we even do it anymore? I know it's tough.

Kate:                    It is tough. And this week, I think I'm just going to roll out of here with an immense amount of gratitude and appreciation for this experience. I just am trying to kind of not be too overwhelmed by an ending of something and just kind of figure out how to appreciate it and honor it, and also just not rush myself into any which way and just kind of sit in the gratitude of the experience.

Doree:                That sounds lovely.

Kate:                    I'm rolling after this. I have my book coming out in two weeks, so it's like two very big intense experiences kind of happening at once. So I'm going to try to maintain that mentality for the release, my next book. And I appreciate anybody who is pre-ordering it or supporting me there. That means a lot to me. But yeah, that is where I'm at this week. Doree, how about you?

Doree:                Okay, well, I think last week I was talking about my birthday and I did end up having a lovely birthday.

Kate:                    I'm so glad

Doree:                things went a little sideways with my birthday party, but

Kate:                    I wonder why

Doree:                We rallied and we pulled it off, which

Kate:                    The host got sick. The person who was going to host the party, who is me, they got sick the day of the party. They tested positive for Covid. So that plan went out the window.

Doree:                It did,

Kate:                    but you know what? You and your husband figured it right out.

Doree:                We did. One of his friends who has hosted trivia in the past, and my party was a trivia party, offered very generously at the very last minute, offered to let us use her backyard, which was amazing. And then our babysitter bailed like an hour before the party because her son got sick. And I was like, what is happening? But shockingly, one of our other babysitters was available again at a moment's notice.

Kate:                    Amazing.

Doree:                And came over and really saved our butts. So that was awesome. And this week it's a week of change. It's a week of change. So I'm just going to kind of like Kate, just going to try and navigate that. So it's where I'm at right now.

Kate:                    Well, Doree, if you'll allow me the honors of saying, please, for one last time, that Forever35 is hosted and produced by Doree Shafrir and Kate Spencer. It's produced and edited by Sam Junio. Sami Reed is our project manager, and our network partner is Acast. Thank you all so much for listening.

Doree:                Alright Bye everybody.

Kate:                    Bye.

 
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