Podcast Episode 61: Special Guest, Krystal Kenny

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Episode 61: Interview with Paris Photographer, Krystal Kenney

Krystal Kenney is an American living in Paris for the past ten years. She is a photographer and author, as well as the host of a popular podcast where she interviews creatives connected with Paris. Krystal loves starting new projects and recently started helping others grow their businesses and bring their projects to life. Learn more at www.missparisphoto.com

EPISODE 61: Interview with Krystal Kenney

SHARRI – Yeah. So, we are welcoming Krystal Kenney today. And Krystal’s going to talk about what she does. What’s kind of behind the scenes which would be the brain of Krystal Kenney and the motivation and inspiration all of that’s behind you. Krystal, you do so many things? So, why don’t you just share what I’ll what all that is?
KRYSTAL – Yes. So, I’ve been a photographer for over 15 years, and I work in Paris mainly shooting events and portraits. I also recently published my first book. It was a memoir about my life in Paris the last 10 years – building my life here and everything that happened along the way.
And then I recently started a podcast as well about interviews with artists inspired by France. I love it. It’s so in that podcast just called

SHARRI – It’s all kinds of creatives, right?
KRYSTAL – Yeah, yeah, I don’t like to just narrow it down to just artists because we’re all creative, whether we know it or not, and years of schooling and the creativity lives within all of us and I really want to inspire other people to try to find that inside themselves by listening to other people’s stories
SHARRI – Yeah. Very cool. That’s I’d listen to a number of your podcast episodes and everyone should listen. Actually, because they’re all interesting people. Excellent. But let’s talk about the fact that there’s all these pieces to your business. So, you’re an entrepreneur, right? You’re not part of a company. How do you how do you manage that because a podcast is very different from writing a book and marketing a book and that is entirely different from photography. You also teach photography classes, don’t you?
KRYSTAL – Yeah, yeah, I have some lessons next week.

SHARRI – Oh, wow. So, how do you do all that because so there’s still a lot of people you know who do have multiple interests maybe and want to explore the interests and see if they have the talent. So, how do you manage that?

KRYSTAL – Yeah, I mean, really, I do them all at the same time but I didn’t start them all at the same time so when I’m learning something that I want to try I make that my main focus in that moment. So, photography I’ve been doing for a very long time and it’s kind of running on autopilot at this point.
So, when I wanted to learn something new, you know, I still have my photography business but then I really started to focus on how do you start a podcast? I watched videos. I talked to other podcasters. The same with the book. I started reading things online. Even just find a great mentor. So, if you’re someone who’s struggling, then you have so many things that you want to do. I would say, you know, focus on what you’re drawn to the most in that moment.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, which means you don’t have to give up the other things. You just have to put them on the back burner for a second. That’s and that’s key.
SHARRI – And also, I’m sure when you started photography 15 years ago you never thought in a million years, you’d be doing a podcast
KRYSTAL – Oh yeah, I never, I mean, I don’t think podcasts even really existed. Yes, I mean, technology is changing so quickly, so rapidly. There are new things happening. So yeah, I never imagined I saw podcasting. I wanted to get into journalism. I wanted to be a writer I always knew those things and podcasting just feels like another way to do that
SHARRI – Yes, but that’s a that’s really cool to remember. Sometimes what you’re imagining today that you want to do that you may be some of the things you have to put on the back burner
What you will end up doing as time progresses might be entirely different from anything or outside the realm of what you can imagine today. Yes, and maybe the technology doesn’t exist yet for what you want to do. That’s what we’re learning right now.
SHARRI – Yeah that’s funny so but you talked about you just kind of throw out a couple of things and I know I should be transparent in the fact that I know you and I have worked with Krystal she has taken all kinds of photographs both of myself and now she’s taking photographs of some of the people that were highlighting in magazine so I know Krystal and I know I’ve known of Crystal for a long time. She’s amazing.
SHARRI – But so some of these questions might feel silly to Krystal but I think they’re important for the people to hear about whoever’s listening to this. So when you come up with new ideas you talked about how you pivot and you really focus on that and that photography really became kind of almost, you know, an autopilot so to speak, but yet, you’re constantly thinking of these ideas because photography is for you now is not just taking people’s pictures; individuals and couples used just for those of you that want to look she just posted on her Instagram with top wedding photos
Those photographs as beautiful as all of them are but yet you’re teaching the photography classes. So, how do you think about loving photography but what else could I do in the photography realm
KRYSTAL – I think that the most important thing is having periods of rests. It’s important that I think we kind of have three periods where the idea period or the action period and where the rest period
nd I feel like the resting period is where all it comes from and some of my newer ideas have come from.
The pandemic because I didn’t have work. You know, things stopped. The world stopped. It was a resting period for me. That’s really when I started to look into podcasting and to courses and to helping other people grow their businesses like thinking outside the box.
But I hope that we don’t need a global pandemic to come out with ideas like I think it just proved to me how important rest is so I think it’s important we can afford ourselves some rest and the other thing that’s really important to me is connecting back to nature and especially sources of water.
Anytime I can be near a body of water, a vacation for me is a beach somewhere with a cocktail and that’s actually when I can really count with some great ideas. Not just from the alcohol but from relaxing. Not from the alcohol, not the water, and the alcohol, but relaxing in that space is really interesting.
Water’s really fascinating how I think water and so many ways actually create inspiration, it’s like something moves within us when we’re around water
SHARRI – You grew up or you grew up right on the ocean. Didn’t you?

KRSYTAL – Yeah, yeah, I grew up on the just big bay and I really miss the water. I mean, just spending my whole life there and we have the sun in Paris but it’s just not the same, you know, I need that big body water that’s naturally flowing to really like reenergize myself. It makes me feel better.

SHARRI – Yeah, that’s interesting. We all wonder what it is. If it’s salt, we don’t know, right? You know, I don’t get the same feeling from the sun that I do from the ocean
I agree now. It was vacation though. What’s your point is and not everyone can live by the ocean. Or even take vacations by the ocean but what you’re pointing is find your that’s what I hear from you is find your place and find the area you can reenergize and have that create the thinking. Yeah. Yeah.
SHARRI – There’s been a place that you felt different when you were there and it’s important you go back there if it was a good feeling. You know, have you felt relaxed? Have you felt good?

When you’re in that you saw your sitting on the lounge chair you know in Mexico or in Florida or whatever and you’ve got the umbrella drink and you know, whatever. So, what what’s the process? Like, do ideas just come in?
KRYSTAL – And like goodness why you know why don’t you start a podcast and you know and I mean what happens what’s going on?
SHARRI – Do you have to put yourself in a certain I guess mindful place to have those ideas come in
KRYSTAL – I am not a yogi lady by any means; I would like that. I think for me, it definitely just comes randomly.
It’s actually for like writing and projects I want to work on. I’ll just be sitting there and also, I’m just like, light bulb, pops into my head. But also, I think a lot of that has to do with
surrounding myself with other creative people but living in a creative city with being around beautiful things and when you’re in like this little mixing bowl of arts and life and energy and people doing what they’re dreaming of. You can’t help but find ideas yourself.
SHARRI – Yeah. So your environment is what I’m also not. Not just rest but your environment and what is going on in the environment around you so we also you know hear about the importance of special supportive community
SHARRI – Who is yours? What and how did you develop that? Yeah, so many people are creatives. I mean, I have a lot of photographer friends. I love that I’m part of a company that has a global
conference every year and we get to meet somewhere in Europe usually and then I meet all these other photographers around Europe. So, just being around other people that share your passion. It really just brings me to life and I never really thought about that because in the states I didn’t really hang out with photographers it was just seen as operating in different cities.
So it’s indirect competition and often times I give even work to other photographers in Paris because I’m double booked. I’ve tried to develop over time this idea you know sharing and helping wherever it’s possible and you know not just. Not just to do but also people do the same for you. People are really gracious when you help them.
KRYSTAL – And so for me, I find my people by doing what I love. So, I love photography. I love the arts. So, I love museums. I mean, Paris is full of these kind of people. I find that attracts the certain type of woman who is usually adventurous and open-minded. May have had an independent when she first arrived here. So, I mean that is like my people, you know, that’s who I’m hanging out.

SHARRI – Do you bounce ideas off certain people in your life in the past.
KRYSTAL – They would be my closest friends like these are the people that know me the longest they know me inside and out because you know, when we are our brand, we can’t always show our entire self. Yeah, but these people know me so well. They know my problems, they know my good stuff too. Writing a book, starting a podcast, coming up with titles,
I email these four people at the same time and I say, “hey, what do you think about this? You know, what do you, what do you want”? And they are so helpful because they love me and I love them. You know, this is the kind of friends you really need.
KRYSTAL – Oh no, there’s none of them are in the same city but I think a really important point is that you’ll find them all over the place but that doesn’t mean you can. Bring them together kind of as a yeah they didn’t even know each other. They’re in this email chain and sometimes they’ve never even met but they’re just really kind and I’m very lucky to have friends like that.

SHARRI – Yeah. Yeah. That’s you bring up a really important point that when you’re especially when you’re a solopreneur where you know it’s Krystal Kenney as an example, or whomever if your face is the front and center because you have multiple aspects of your business and you don’t have to be on TikTok.
You know, letting everyone, everything about your love life, about your family, about this, or that. Yeah. I think the internet is new territory. You know, it’s still so new. We’re still evaluating how to use it, what’s right, and for me I’ve never been super comfortable with sharing much about my life in general and it’s just because I’ve listened to all these marketing things and read and they’re like authenticity.
Sharing yourself, sharing who you are. I mean, this comes down to even before the internet, marketing, it’s people buy from who they trust in like.
But now we have these massive platforms to talk about ourselves. But it doesn’t make me feel super comfortable. I’ve had to learn to learn to do that and I think often times that’s a problem for women in general but I definitely keep a lot of things for myself as well because it’s just doesn’t relate to the business.
SHARRI – Do you think women share too much or they hold their cards too close, so to speak, like we don’t want to share anything.

KRYSTAL – We’re often embarrassed to talk about our projects to talk about ourselves. I think that we live in a society where we don’t have a problem sharing about what they’re doing.
SHARRI – That’s really interesting. I also I don’t know if it’s true but I also have a viewpoint that women tend to come from a place of scarcity and therefore I don’t want to share because someone might steal my idea
First of all, not that they don’t care. They don’t come from the scarcity. But I think men tend to say here, here I am. Here’s my deal. You say that’s true. Right. Do you experience something different than I do? Because we’re a different age group.
KRYSTAL – Yeah, yeah, I mean, for me I think in my 30s it’s all about it’s been about collaboration so I don’t ever have this fear of people stealing things really because nothing is original. I mean, we’re all just putting a spin on something with our own personality.
So, once you understand that it’s like very freeing but I can see how men and women
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Would have that feeling. I think that men help each other more. I think women can be quite caddy.
You know gender specific it’s just kind of happens that way because a lot of times when I see creative and I see young women starting out any age, I know what that felt like. I know what it feels like to be alone and you know, to need help but be afraid to ask, you know, it’s kind of endearing to me.
SHARRI – Yes, you are probably one of the I would say one of the most confident networkers I have ever met in your age group, truly, and maybe beyond.
Were you always that way? Were you always like the kid that was connecting people. In Strengths Finders, we call a connector a person that connects people the projects and each other will you always that way
KRYSTAL – I was a total opposite of that as a child. I was very shy. I was very introvert. I didn’t talk to anybody I don’t think I had friends until I was like 11.

SHARRI – Oh my god.
KRYSTAL – Hey something I learned is to be successful as an entrepreneur you really need to network you really need to put yourself out there and it was very uncomfortable in the beginning. I definitely had a lot of social anxiety but it’s just like anything, the more you do it, the more comfortable you become.
SHARRI – So when do you say though to the woman that says you know I’m starting this but I don’t want to reach out to the people that might really help me especially on social media because you know they have 30,000 some followers or subscribers or whatever.
Why would I reach out to them they’re huge and then they stop themselves because they’re connecting with people who have the same number of followers that they have.
What would you tell them cuz you’re somebody who’s been out there now for a while? Would you say contact the big the big fish?
KRYSTAL – I think that it’s become more complicated with the big fish because they have so many people asking them for things and when they have found some people wanting something, wanting to just basically use them for the numbers and they’re often times not answering anymore and I have some friends that are like this. They have a big following and they’re used to constant texts, emails, constant messaging.
So I think that if you really want to work your way up in the world as far as networking it’s better it’s better in person. The internet is a powerful tool but if you really want to make that your energy, connect and not just talk to a screen. I would be reaching out to people that you can actually be in contact with in the real world
Well, that’s not to say don’t use the internet. Don’t connect. Don’t reach out to these people. Definitely do that. But keep in mind that these people are often overwhelmed by all the attention they’re getting.
SHARRI – Yeah. Now, you have this, I think I read, you have this business that you just starting which is really helping other, you know, basically coaching to some extent. People who are starting businesses. What are the challenges that are similar?

I do see a pattern of the same issues and that’s why they come to you and ask you know ask for you to help them.

KRYSTAL – Actually, the pattern is kind of what you talked about. They have a lot of projects. They have a lot of ideas. They don’t know where to start. They feel lost. And the other biggest thing is the confidence. It’s often they don’t feel good now. They don’t feel good.
Who are they to go out and do their dream, you know, because we get caught up in these social constructs and we get caught up in our own ego too and it becomes a real block, you know?
SHARRI – Yeah I can relate so what do you tell yourself because you were a young girl and I know
I read your memoir and we’re gonna talk about your book a little bit. So, it was either you know, starve or get going. But how did it did you give yourself the confidence because when you were first here it was a rough road. No benefits of a salary and you’re just working up the ladder.

KRYSTAL – Yeah, definitely. Well, I’m a big believer self-work. I read a lot of self-help books. I listen to a lot of inspiring like shows whenever possible. But also for me and this is not for everyone but it was like you said it was basically like get going or fail because I didn’t have a home. I didn’t have the right visa. I didn’t have money.
So it’s like kind of put a fire under my butt. Figure it out. Because the other option was just to go home to Mom and Dad and that would have been a complete failure complete failure to me Even if that would have happened it probably would have worked out somehow but I just felt like I needed to get things moving
And I really believe that once you get rolling on the direction of what you really want to do and what you really need to be doing things fall into place and you just can’t see that until you start moving.

SHARRI – Yeah, that’s really interesting.
KRYSTAL – It’s interesting. I say that, you know, that’s it again, nobody’s ever had an original thought. Certainly, I haven’t. But it’s like dreams are great on paper. They’re wonderful on paper. It’s the hard part is to get going. Getting started. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
SHARRI – I’d rather not go to the gym, quite honestly, I like to just, you know, take the happy pill. What were your favorite self-help books?
Do you have any that you think everyone loves and should read?
KRYSTAL – Yeah. I really like a big magic. Elizabeth. Yeah, I’m a big fan of hers. Especially when I came to creativity, that’s a great book for anyone struggling with believing in themselves, and creativity, and things like that.
Also Maria Forleo? Everything’s figure outable. Yeah. When I read that book, I was like, that’s all I’ve been living my whole life. Why didn’t I write this book? You know, you have many. I feel like and they talk about something magic.
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Those ideas are floating around out there and you if you don’t use it it’s going to move on to somebody else so you have to jump on it.
SHARRI – It’s a really interesting concept though that for those of us that maybe procrastinate or say I have to make it perfect is to switch that up and say if I don’t act on this idea it’s going to go it’s going to go.

That’s a whole different perspective from, oh my god, I need to make it perfect or you know, I’ll look like a fool. So, I mean, every woman that’s been super successful and is doing great now they felt a lot so start feeling right now because it really is helpful honestly it’s not the only way
SHARRI – I wasn’t going to share this but Krystal and I had to give this interview a second go because the first time the platform absolutely didn’t work
We were like two minutes in the recording so you talk about a fail I had to go crawling back to Krystal and say could you be very kind to do it again but here we are doing it again. Because this is not a, you know, find your man and just bat your eyes at somebody in a cafe and you’ll have this. Fabulous, you know, French romance, whatever.
So, tell us about the book because it’s very real.

KRYSTAL – So, I mean like there’s so many books I’ve been written about Paris like this but it’s my story about coming here and the things I went through. Kind of some of the bad parts of being here, the bad parts of starting a business, bad parts of dating, but also the fun stuff. Like the crazy things that have happened because I’m in a photographer and I’ve worked with many different types of people many different types of billionaires and it’s so interesting the things that have happened and I felt like I needed to put that in a book
SHARRI – Why a memoir? So, and are there negatives because a lot of people think about writing memories?
KRYSTAL – Is there a negative to writing a memoir? I mean, writing a memoir is like doing a type of like therapy. Yeah. I believe that. It brings back memories that you had buried. It brings back emotions that you had buried and you think you forget this stuff but you don’t. It’s all there and you know, you really had to reflect about who you are and the decisions you made and also you it’s scary because people are going to judge you.

When I first released the book I didn’t sleep for like two weeks. I was like everyone’s going to hate me. I had written about things that people didn’t really know about me.
Because some people decide who you are before they even meet you. Right? And then I started to calm down because I just thought, you know, people are going to forget you in five minutes. They’re going to read the book and be like, oh, Krystal, this, oh, Krystal’s horrible. Oh, Krystal’s great. Whatever. But then they forget you, you know, it’s in moving on and the people that really love me for that book are the ones that are going to hire me anyway. The ones I want to hang out with. So that’s fine. Yeah.

SHARRI – But what’s there you talked about going back and revisiting it’s hard because you go back and revisit some of those experiences and those emotions from that time
KRYSTAL – Well, it was there a was the feeling. I’m so glad I talked about that and I share that story it was a fantastic feeling that I wrote a book and published it
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Oh I think the it’s both you know I didn’t expect that first part you talked about like oh I felt that and I’ve gotten close writing a memoir I didn’t expect to have some kind of closure about my life but really putting that all I didn’t always want to publish a book and I just want to keep writing books but I didn’t expect that part to feel like I kind of shut the door on 20-year- old Krystal. If I met that girl today I’d be like, Girl, calm down what are you doing. Yeah, I would mentor her but at the same time.

That’s why I am who I am today, that’s what built the person I am, so I don’t see anything wrong with the things I did or the way I felt it’s just is you know. Yeah, but there was a bit of closure then it sounds like acceptance yeah I mean, you know, we all know what we did and what our mistakes were and what our successes were and the great moments as well as the very terribly sad moments.
SHARRI – You know, it’s what I’m hearing you say is when you do write a memoir you do get a bit of closure.

KRYSTAL – Yes, because now that chapter in your life, however long. Yeah. I literally wrote the ending of that. Part of my life.
SHARRI – Very cool. So, what was the writing process was like when you were writing. Everyone has this vision of somebody sitting in a cafe in France or in Paris right? But how did you write? Were you supporting yourself at the same time as you were writing a book?

KRYSTAL – Yeah, I am not someone who can write a cafe. I need complete silence. No distractions, everything was put on silent mode my phone my computer. I’d lock myself away in a room where I couldn’t hear anybody ,and I would commit to at least 2 hours a day. Even if I had nothing to say, I’m just sitting there with my computer, annoyed that I have nothing to say.
You show up and it’s just kind of like muscle memory like you’re activating your brain.
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Do something when you shop at the same time and try to do at the same time whether it’s the morning or the afternoon every day. And sometimes it goes way longer than 2 hours. It just starts free flowing. And another time as you know, you just do nothing but you’re there. You know, you have to show up.

SHARRI – Yeah, that’s really great advice. Same time every day. Do it every day. So, you’re really training your brain to go into that mold. At the end of the day, it will kind of snap into what you’ve potted if you allow that. Interesting. And why did you self-publish versus find a publisher and maybe you’re going to be published again with that.
KRYSTAL – Actually when I started writing a book I reached out to a lot of writer friends that I admired and said I reach out to one who had publishers and one to himself published and I was really sold on the self-publishing just because I know a couple of women have done really well so I’ve publishing them make it their full time living now and have complete control over everything, but also you have complete control over spending the money to get all that done, I had to pay for the cover, I had to pay for the editing.
A publisher would take care of all that but also publisher would completely change the book if they wanted delete things move things. They had complete control over the cover and it could take years to get a publisher.

For me, I had this story and it felt very important to share it as soon as possible. Yeah. So, that waiting process, that courting process that hat we all hear about trying to obtain a editor in a publisher and all of that. Yeah, yeah.
SHARRI – But publishers also are using a publishing company. They actually assuming they do some marketing.
KRYSTAL – Not really.
Editing and things like that and getting it made that they really don’t complain about this how they really are kind of left on their own to get it out the world. Now, it is going to be in bookstores and many more places than you can.

SHARRI – Wow, so what do you do? How are you selling your book besides podcast?
I do a lot of book clubs. I’ve been lucky a lot of lovely people that follow me on Instagram have reached out and asked to do like features their book club, people are so kind and then putting things on like good reads and on Amazon.
Making you pay for advertising on Amazon on Kindle and things like that where it pops up when you open your Kindle. Now, things like that.
Honestly, this book for me was more of a passion project like I probably could be marketing more. I probably could be trying hard to make money off of it but my main income is other things. So, for me, this was just kind of fun, you know, and of course, I would love to make writing a full-time job and maybe I will.
KRYSTAL – But at this moment, with this book it’s hard to spread myself to thin. Yeah, yeah. Is photography because Paris is just for those of you who are questioning whether or not they should get on an airplane and come to Paris. It’s wide open and you can do that and it is are you finding your business is super busy once again after. Yeah, life is back to normal and
In some ways I miss lockdown. I couldn’t do anything. Nobody was emailing me, or asking me to go anywhere. Hey, it was nice to relax after eight years of running around like crazy.
SHARRI – Speaking of COVID. Yeah, are you different because of COVID? Is there anything that you take took from Covid that is something that’s now a part of Krystal and Krystal’s life?
KRSYTAL – I think COVID really taught me to slow down. I know that I’m still not slowing down but I really felt how important it is. And how to say no to things because at the beginning of my photography career, I thought if I said no to anything, I was losing the chance of something greater, you know, but now I’m realizing saying no I’m turning down projects can be a good thing.
Rearranging to make everything work but my body is really just made me realize like you can’t do that anymore. It’s even if my brain is fully there, my body’s not there anymore. Yeah, that’s really interesting that, you know, basically 18 months practically of closure or whatever it was that you learn to listen to your body
Because obviously the Body was tired before too. Yeah, like an adrenaline high and I didn’t realize it. And now I sit still permanently like ugh. And I think often like entrepreneurs we
say our word is direct to our business and that’s something I’m learning too. It’s like I don’t need to be the best. I don’t need to be perfect. I don’t need to be working so hard all the time to be like to even like myself. You know, it’s like
SHARRI – Just relax for a minute. That’s an interesting concept. I hadn’t thought of that. That when you’re, especially when you’re a solopreneur. But even an entrepreneur who’s got a little staff of some kind you show your personal identity and with your overlap it with almost your profession. And yes, it can be really unhealthy. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and how you view yourself? Up and down. How successful your business is.

KRSYTAL – Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

SHARRI – That’s really interesting. So what’s ahead forkCrystal? What’s on the agenda? know don’t tell me what you’re going to do because you know you’re going to do you’re going to do classes and all of that but where is Krystal? What do you want to create with the Krystal Kenney brand going forward?
KRYSTAL – I think I’d really like to just focus on podcasting and writing more books around creativity doing more consulting to hel people grow their businesses because for me that brings me a lot of joy and I enjoy finding solutions you know and helping other people do that. It’s just something that comes really naturally to me and I didn’t know that was like a gift.

Part of my mastermind friend group was like Really, you know that’s not normal that you can do that so easily and I think often times we don’t realize like what we can do is not easy for others you know and you kind of need people to help you discover those special things about yourself
SHARRI – Yeah. Yeah. Often our strengths because they are easy for us. We think they’re easy for everyone. Yeah. Yeah. You’re very direct and you’re a very straight shooter.
And yes, I know that’s been a very American term and maybe only a midwestern American term. Seriously. But truly, you know, if I was to work with you as an entrepreneur you’re you’re very upfront this is what you know try this think of this what about this?
Rather, there’s no dancing around what might be going on and whatnot and that’s refreshing. Really! It’s crazy and valuable. Yeah. Truly.
So the business, have you named your business? Your consulting/coaching.

KRYSTAL – Like everything that I’ve been learning is to use your name but it’s all kind of sensory around the podcast as well because whenever I talk to people on the show often times, you know, I’m giving them advice while we’re like after the show. So, I randomly started doing that.
I hear a lot of women say I want to start a podcast and a number of my coaching groups
SHARRI – So, what I mean other than, you know, obviously, you need a platform. Do feel there are some success tips that you would share with someone who’s thinking about starting a podcast
KRYSTAL – I think that it’s important to release it down and figure out your topic, you know, and see what already exists and how you could put a spin on it.
I was honestly very surprised that there wasn’t another podcast in English specifically about creatives and friends who related to France. There are friends for sure and there’s some other ones that are just interviewing everybody who lives here but there wasn’t anyone like focusing on creativity. So, I did a lot of research before it kind of see about that.
And also, my first couple of episodes I interviewed my friends, you know, because like that felt more comfortable and if I made a mistake, they’re more understanding. And I built some confidence and get over the hump of figuring out how to do it
SHARRI – Yes, now you do only audio or do you do audio and video?
KRYSTAL – I do only audio, but everyone’s been saying I need to do video too because people love seeing videos and that’s where the internet’s going and even Instagram and all that. It’s going to become a video platform. So, I’m definitely looking into it, but I’d like to lose my pandemic weight. I know I’m saying like it’s jumping out. I’m like,
SHARRI – That’s pretty funny. Mine wasn’t just pandemic week. Yeah, I’m old enough to be your mother, obviously. You get to a certain age. This is my advice for you. When you’re not really young anymore because people are more interested in what you’re saying than whether or not you’re perfect.

KRYSTAL – Yeah. I need to get over that vanity. People on YouTube and all that and they’re like models.
Well, and just remember that, you know, half of that’s fake. Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry. I should take my own advice and just go for it. Oh, Coco’s waking up.
SHARRI – Hey you’re also just revealed that it’s really hard sometimes to give advice to ourselves and that’s why I get home to your really close group of friends or your mastermind, or hiring a coach or sitting, you know, interviewing people who are doing things or whatever.
To give you some feedback because it’s really hard to see yourself and see your own problems and as well as your own gifts.
SHARRI – Yeah. Like your mom. That comes easily to you. You don’t understand Krystal. Not everyone can do that. And yeah, I know it’s so true.
Yeah, yeah. So, that’s that’s a really interesting, interesting point.
SHARRI – There was something else I was going to ask you. So I’m jumping around a little bit because
your conversation is so interesting to me but talking about this networking and connecting how important is that?
KRYSTAL – Yeah, that’s like the number one thing in the success of my business. Like I talked about earlier kind of helping other people and they want to give it back and
That’s the other great part of podcasting? You’re basically listening to someone’s story or listening to that I normally would probably never meet. It’s like dating for friends, starting a podcast, you know, like we’re talking about something we’re both passionate about learning about each other. Yeah. Wonderful.
SHARRI – Final question. What can you not live without? What must you have in your life to, live

KRSYTAL – Oh I don’t know. My husband. He’s pretty great. I mean, he is just wonderful. He’s very supportive. He’s always pushing me to do the things I want to do. He was the main reason I wrote my book because you saw how I looked up when I talked about writing a book and he’s like, you got to do it. You have to write a book. It’s so important. So, he’s my biggest cheerleader. I love any kind of challenges me because he’s a southern European. He’s from Sicily. So, he knows how to relax, and he knows how to settle down and that’s something I’m learning from him. So, yeah, He’s a huge advocate for you. You don’t need a man and bubble.
SHARRI – It’s really nice to have someone you can depend on. Yeah. Yeah. That that’s your teacher, your supporter, your cheerleader, you know, he brings obviously gifts to the table that you don’t have and vice versa
KRSYTAL – Yeah now. Exactly. Yeah. He helps me see parts of myself. I didn’t realize all my words were about my dreams, you know, because I thought I’m just going to keep talking about writing a book and he’s like, no, you’re going to write a book. Do it like right now.

SHARRI – Yes. Right. And you tell him that’s enough relaxing.
KRYSTAL – That’s enough. Yeah.
SHARRI – Yes, absolutely, well thank you, thank you, is there anything else that you’d like to add?
KRYSTAL – That was great, I really enjoyed talking to you and thank you so much for having me on. I really appreciate it
SHARRI – Oh, Krystal, thank you, and like I said this to telling everyone this is round two so Krystal went the extra mile by doing it again. Thank you. Okay, I’m going to hit the stop record button.

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