Wine Down Wednesday: Kristyan Gilmore

Wine Down Wednesday: Kristyan Gilmore

Aired: December 15th, 2021

Audio and Photo Source: Kristyan Gilmore and Instagram

Episode Summary

Where would you be if you let your heart speak and your light guide you? Our guess? Limitless! "Use your energy to get where you want to go, not where others are trying to lead you; Go where you feel aligned," is the sage advice of seasoned expat, lawyer, and WDW special guest,  Kristyan Gilmore, shared.

Our special guest Krissy takes us through a powerful conversation on the perception of Black people from a global lens. She shows us how letting our light lead us pays off in a big way and she talks about the importance of seeking out Black spaces.  Get put on with travel advice from a seasoned expat and stay for the meaningful conversation

 

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Episode Transcript

Wine Down Wednesday: Kristyan Gilmore

Orion Brown (00:00:02):

Hey, Hey, y'all look at this hair. Wind swept. Like I had wait, you can see there were curls popping. They still trying to pop in the back. It is so windy in Denver. Y'all my curls popped. They we're popping now. They just popped. They pooped. They popped, they go, they're a full Afro. I'm gonna pick this out later. I didn't have a chance to do it before I hopped on, but Hey, y'all Hey. Hey people, people, people, it is Wine Down Wednesday. I got my low carb wine and I got my French fries. We do what we can do. We just do,

Orion Brown (00:00:50):

How are you, how y'all doing for those of you who don't know me? My name's Orion Brown. I am the founder and CEO of BlackTravelBox. And this is Wine Dowb Wednesday it's hump day. You know how close we are to Christmas? Y'all we're almost there. Oh, hello? Hello.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:01:10):

Hi.

Orion Brown (00:01:11):

You turned sideways on us.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:01:13):

Okay.

Orion Brown (00:01:14):

I could try to get over that. We kind -

Kristyan Gilmore (00:01:16):

No, no, no. Hold on. All good. All good.

Orion Brown (00:01:20):

So thisis Wine Down Wednesday where we kick it, we chill. We talk all things travel. My favorite thing to talk about travel, beauty, being Black, whatever we feel like y'all know, we get into all kinds of stuff. So we gonna get into it. I'm so excited for this Wine Down because y'all, I, I feel like I'm saying it's like the last few weeks, but it's been a whole week. Like this is my third, like day, this week. I'm like, oh, wow, I'm ready for I'm ready for Friday. I'm ready for Christmas. I'm ready to, to chill. But until then, let's jump into it. What did I eat for dinner tonight at home? I ain't gonna lie is Mickey DS. I ain't gonna lie. I got the Mickey DS going. I needed some French fries for my soul. And then we did the low carb wine. Cheers, Solano. <laugh> so I'm so excited to meet our guest Kristyan today. I'm so excited to meet you.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:02:15):

Thank you. Hi!

Orion Brown (00:02:16):

Thank you so much for coming. Hi. Hi.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:02:20):

It's my pleasure.

Orion Brown (00:02:21):

Yes, yes. I love it. So, so, um, since this is your first time, we gotta, we gotta get the basics out the way. So tell everybody who you are, where you're from, if you, if it's not where you currently live, so where you're from, where you live and how many stamps do you have on your passport?

Kristyan Gilmore (00:02:39):

Ooh, good question. Okay, so I'm, Krissy Gilmore. I'm originally from Huston, but I am a New Yorker. Um, so I've been living in New York for the past eight years. Oh however <laugh> yeah. <laugh> is that where you are?

Orion Brown (00:02:55):

I'm in Denver.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:02:55):

That's a beautiful backdrop. Okay. Beautiful. Pretty there. It's pretty cute.

Orion Brown (00:03:00):

It's windy as hell, that's why I look like this.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:03:03):

Look okay. So it's very windy in the city that I'm currently in, which is Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the wind really does come sweeping through the Plains. Okay. Oh God. Yeah. And I'm here working on Black Wall Street to build, um, minority owned businesses. I've been here about eight months now, which is the longest that I've been anywhere for quite a while. So it's nice. I'm enjoying it. Um, how many stamps?

Orion Brown (00:03:27):

I love that. Yes. Tell us how many stamps and it doesn't have to be the actual number. I know people be like, oh, I dunno how many.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:03:33):

Yeah. I'm guessing about 10 to 12 at this point. Yeah. That's good. I've, it's a, I'm almost ready for a new one too. Cuz the pictures played out. And um, I remember when I first got my passport, I was all excited and you know, that excited faced <laugh> mm-hmm <affirmative> it's not, I know where let go. <laugh> right. So it's top for a new passport, but yeah, I'm just really excited to, to be here, to talk about traveling, to talk about working, remote, being a lady, working remote and not being inhibited by that. These are all things that I love and wine and by the way, yes <laugh>.

Orion Brown (00:04:13):

And let's talk a little bit about that because you, you said this, this is the longest, you've been any place eight months and I'm like, dang girl, where you been like, and we've had a few remote workers on and we've talked a bit about whether it's the remote work lifestyle as in, oh, I've been doing this for years, bouncing around doing what I do or it is. I happen to have a great opportunity. And we, we talked about the Tulsa Remote program before we got a lot of great guests from the Tulsa remote program. <affirmative> y'all are so dope. I'm trying the city of Denver to do the same thing. That's a whole other conversation.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:04:45):

That would be awesome. I've heard really good things about Denver. So I know people would be willing if you could spearhead, if there's anything I can do to help with that, I would love and, and TR always consults with people and getting that going to, if you wanna talk, make I can make the connect.

Orion Brown (00:05:01):

I love it. I love it. I love it. But tell us, so how did you get into this remote work lifestyle and mm-hmm <affirmative> where have you been that you like Tulsa is like the place you've been the longest in a minute.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:05:13):

I think that I'm just a nomad by nature. Like I was that child that was getting, you know, always trying to do something, getting lost, leaving the neighborhood. I would take the bus. Okay. So I grew up in Houston. I would take the bus to different little neighborhoods and just kind of spend the day exploring. Um, I think I just have an adventurous nature. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and so, um, I, it started out with me like leaving for college, you know? So at first it was like every three to five years I would be in a new place and I kind of used my education as an excuse to do that. So I got my college degree, then I wanted masters. So I started off actually where I am now I went to OU I was in Norman and then I went to DC, went to Howard for, I was there for three years.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:05:58):

Then I moved to Virginia Beach and picked up a master's degree at Regent university.

Orion Brown (00:06:03):

Y'all she said I picked up a master's.

Orion Brown (00:06:05):

I picked it up like seriously, cause it really wasn't this master here. Let pick, now mind you, let me say this. The master's was harder than my law degree, to be honest. But um, yeah, it was because I really wasn't, I didn't realize what it was gonna take and when I thought it was gonna be cute, I'm in Virginia Beach and all, and then they really put it on me. So I learned my lesson about using education as an excuse to travel. And I had to switch that. <laugh>

Orion Brown (00:06:32):

I dunno if I need to learn, learn, I could just learn a little bit, I don't know if I need to be picking it of whole diplomas. Yeah.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:06:39):

I've always thought that like, you know, learning from, uh, from culture, talking to new people, you know, doing the architectural tours, learning about the history of new places, it's like the best place for me to like expand your worldview. Yes. And I knew I didn't wanna be boxed in, so that's kind of where it started. You know, I got the degrees that a lot of opportunity and I was able to translate that into kind of working online really early. The other thing that did it for me was I got a tech job straight outta college. I went into tech and tech is that kind of thing that, you know, you really just need your computer. I mean, although I'm an attorney, I have a niche for creating, um, like you technology to streamline legal processes for people mm-hmm <affirmative>. So like for my small business owners, I try to help them get location and time freedom by using technology in different applications so that they can be free to travel or do whatever they wanna do.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:07:33):

Cuz that's what I had to do for myself in order to make it possible for me to live this life. So I, I use Google, everything calendar, I got Calendly, all the stuff that I can automate. So I don't have to be like on the computer all the time or on the phone. Like that was one of the first steps in like minimizing all the stuff, you know, how we just have stuff like I had to not, I don't buy stuff, you know? Like just don't buy stuff. You cuz when you have all that stuff, you feel like, oh, well I can't move. I can't do that. So it really became a lifestyle over time. It was mostly just being bored, wanna stay outta trouble. Um, thinking that it, you know, I get bored mm-hmm <affirmative> like I start getting mischievous if I don't have something going on. Like, and you know, I, it ended up with some really interesting situations at times. So we could talk about that.

Orion Brown (00:08:23):

That's how you get in the fun though! That's those that was the best trips

Kristyan Gilmore (00:08:26):

<laugh> look. The one thing I can say is I am lacking nothing. Like there are very few things that I feel like, well, I haven't done that. Like, you know, starting to get to where I'm having to reach for and that's awesome. You know, it really is very, are very exciting. So, um, and that's,

Orion Brown (00:08:42):

That's a place of, of peace that I think we, we don't know, we don't learn in our twenties, maybe even in our thirties, but you start getting up a little bit and you're like, oh, peace is just, it's not even just a, a lack of want for, for having, having all, having had all the things it's also a lack of want because you just, you figure out what you want and what's really good for you. And every shiny thing isn't necessarily it mm-hmm

Kristyan Gilmore (00:09:11):

To that own self be true. So it's always, it's also the self-awareness piece. Like certain places. I know I'm not like I've never been and I'm sorry to say this much love to all my Asian brothers and sisters. I've never been to the continent of Asia. Like it's not a priority right now. Like I know eventually I'll get over there. People talk about how amazing Tokyo is. I see my sister she's on tonight. She was a flight attendant for United in Tokyo was one of her favorite places. So I was like, I'm taking my time. Um, another thing that led me, like I spent a lot of time in Mexico city last year when COVID struck, I was in Mexico city. And um, one of the things that leads me is like this wanted, still wanted to acquire like cultural fluency. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I really wanna be fluent in Spanish. I speak pretty good Spanish, but it's like, I try to focus on right now I'm focusing on Latin America because it's like, I insist on being fluent. So in a way it still is kind of being led by my desire for education too, you know? Um, I wanna be fluent, so I'm gonna spend as much time as I can figure in that part out, you know, that's

Orion Brown (00:10:18):

Awesome. And you're like, I'm I, you have got to be the fifth or six Black woman I've spoken to in the last couple weeks. That's been like either on her way to Mexico city or had just been in Mexico city or had been somewhere else in Mexico.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:10:32):

I loved - Have you been to Mexico City?

Orion Brown (00:10:33):

I have not. I've only been to, you know, basically Yucatan peninsula area. I have never been inland. And so I'm hearing great things.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:10:42):

I loved it. I loved it. Yeah. I mean, it was so much like New York in a way, very cosmopolitan, but then you have like the, the colonial architecture and stuff. And I mean, the other thing about Mexico is it's so cheap. Like, like the American dollar goes super far. So was living live in pesos girl. I was living in like a, a, it would be the equivalent of central park west. Like in New York, you look out, you know, it's the big, the central park, huge terrace that spread the entire apartment. Like I could walk out my bedroom and go down and end in the kitchen. And like, I mean, it just, it was beautiful and all of this probably for about the equivalent of 800 us, it was a three bedroom and it was huge. So it's

Orion Brown (00:11:28):

I'm so mad at you right now, I don't want to talk to you no more,

Kristyan Gilmore (00:11:32):

No IM telling you all of these opportunities are available. You have to do your research. And like I do use organizations, like I was in Mexico with Remote Year mm-hmm <affirmative>, which is another, not, not, not like Tulsa remote a little bit different remote year. They send you somewhere different every month. So I, um, I took that opportunity and that's how I ended up in Mexico when COVID struck. And then it was a nightmare trying to get out of there, but all worth it, all worth it for sure.

Orion Brown (00:11:59):

Oh, wow. And so, so you mentioned that you're a lawyer. Are you, are you a lawyer by trade? Do you also, do you actually also practice or do you just leverage that into your cause? The reason why I ask is I know you have to be licensed in all the places that you're working

Kristyan Gilmore (00:12:14):

Oh, so good question. Now this is a, this is a little pointer for all my professionals that have to be licensed. You gotta have a network. Okay. So yes, I'm only licensed in the state of Texas, which is my home state mm-hmm <affirmative>, which I did so that I can do things for my friends and family, if I need, like, I'm not a litigator, I do transactional work. So I do copyrights, trademarks, um, contracts, business development, all that kind of stuff that really doesn't require, um, licensure to be honest. Mm. Um, but then having gone to Howard law school gave me the opportunity and a network where as long as I'm collaborating with, with a professional and working kind of under their supervision in that location, then I'm able to do the work. And so I leverage my network like crazy. You know, we partner up, we create a little contract between ourselves and that's how I've been able to practice in New York practice in Oklahoma or practice in Virginia practice, wherever I need to be.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:13:14):

And I think it, I don't know the rules, but I think it kind of works like that for most professions mm-hmm <affirmative>. Um, but everybody needs to look at, look, I'm not giving legal advice. You need to look at your ethical rules, but that's how it works for lawyers. And that, you know, Howard is the kind of school where people are all over the place instead of it just being, cuz DC's not a state. Right. So yeah, we all, when we graduated, we all spread out throughout the world and started our practices. And so now I have access to that network, which has really made it really possible for me to be able to do what I do. So

Orion Brown (00:13:47):

That is super smart because essentially what you're saying is, excuse me, mm-hmm <affirmative> I got so excited. I coughed on it. <laugh> so essentially what you're saying is, is that you're coming in like a contractor under an umbrella of, um, you know, another agent that is licensed within that space. Mm-hmm <affirmative>

Kristyan Gilmore (00:14:08):

And you're just, it's more of a partnership than a contract. Okay. You know, it's, it is a joint venture in a way, especially if I'm bringing the work, like what happens is somebody will reach out to me say they need this and then I go to them and I'm I propose this to my attorney friend and we decide on the profit split mm-hmm <affirmative> so it's similar to a joint venture. Yeah. Gotcha.

Orion Brown (00:14:29):

That's really good. Y'all drop in knowledge over here. For those of you who have, have to have licensure. I can imagine that could work with real estate. I can imagine, uh, I can't necessarily work with psych

Kristyan Gilmore (00:14:41):

That's yeah. Probably not medical. Right. I think that would be the exclusion, but um, you know, it's just, we, you gotta take the limits off people feel, I was talking to somebody about this other day. Okay. So let's say you have a nine to five mm-hmm <affirmative> and you have certain tasks that you need to accomplish and you're working remote. How come you can't hire like a VR to do some of this stuff so that you can go sit out by the pool as long as the work is done. Right. I mean, just make sure, you know, I spend it more than you making, but who said we can't

Orion Brown (00:15:13):

Do this? Well, you definitely not. If you sitting in Mexico city with a three bedroom apartment for $800,

Kristyan Gilmore (00:15:18):

Look, I worked. I mean, but we worked like the people that I was with, you know, everybody, we have our little blocks of time. Where's like, okay, we're gonna work. Uh, you know, even if it's about a pool or whatever, you know, you gotta get the work done. Yeah. So it does require discipline. I will say that, but it also is just has been a really amazing experience for me. Um, but I have systems, you gotta have systems.

Orion Brown (00:15:43):

So, so tell us a little bit about how you create that work life balance, especially in places that are tempting, right? Like, so you like, I can sit by the pool and do this. Yes you could. Yes. Technically. However, when you're sitting there by the pool and the sun is so warm and the breeze is so cool,

Kristyan Gilmore (00:16:03):

Like you carry me away, look, you taking me away right now. I'm having some flashbacks.

Orion Brown (00:16:08):

How do you get yourself in the proper head space to maintain that discipline? And cuz you've talked about, you talked about systems, you talked about technology. So like what does that ecosystem look like for you so that you are able to carve out enough time to, to actually focus and do the work that you need to do. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but you're not kind of tempted to, to have a cocktail while you're doing it. Now I just say that you can't have a cocktail depending on what you are working on. I'm exactly.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:16:36):

Sometimes

Orion Brown (00:16:37):

That's true. You gotta read something with a glass of wine, cuz it's just, that's the only way you gonna get through it.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:16:40):

Right. Or if you're trying to do something creative, like let's say you're writing. So what I do is I try to block my schedule. Right? Mm-hmm <affirmative> so I take on like Mondays, my planning day, I try to not take meetings and then I map out the week. And so then I have like call blocks of time that are for calls mm-hmm <affirmative>. So, you know, you know, if you're taking calls, you need to be in a quieter space. You gotta think about who the audience is and if they're gonna be open to the background noise and all that stuff. Yeah. So I block out the call time when I'm working on projects. Um, I, I tend to I'll admit, I got, I have ADHD part of the way I manage that is I need background noise. Like if I work with my TV on, I don't watch it, but I work with it on I'm okay.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:17:24):

Having a lot of stuff going on around me and still being able to focus. That's something I know about myself. You know? Like if, if that's not true, then you might need to do the work in your hotel room and they say, okay, I'm gonna go out in the evening. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. So, um, what I do is I block my time. I write a lot of contracts. I do a lot of documents and that's something that I feel like I can do anywhere. I try to make the most of my time at the airport, you know, I take my laptop. Oh, here's the other thing, wifi in the car. Like if you are a road tripper, they have it now where you can get unlimited wifi in the car. That is a, oh my God. It has saved my life. <laugh> because like, and when COVID happened, you know, we couldn't travel internationally.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:18:11):

So I bought a new, like a small little crossover mm-hmm <affirmative> and I got the wifi. And so now when I'm driving, I can stop, pull over, take a zoom, get back on the road, all of that. I mean, that kind of stuff really makes a difference. Um, that's really smart. I also think like you have to, I know I'm not like a fitness guru. You have to work out at some point. Like if you're sitting around, I'm sorry, girl, look, I'm gonna tell you're not you completely right now. Even if you just walking, just walk, like you have to do something, get up from that chair and move because then you feel like it's almost like recess. Like there's a reason why we had recess when we were children. Like they knew we couldn't sit down. It's the same thing when you are working. So like my, I look forward to my little walk in what city, whatever city I'm in. And it makes me feel like even if I've had a long span of days where I was working a lot and didn't get to really like go out and see a show or anything, at least I'm still taking advantage of environment I'm in because I'm out, you know, I feel out, you know, I just went for a walk, but Hey, I'm out. Like I make it all cute stuff. That's one

Orion Brown (00:19:18):

Of my favorite things to do. I mean, even in the states, like going to New York, I usually try to get one long walk in during my stay depending, cuz you're gonna have those days where like you're a hotels over here and your office or wherever you're going is over there. That's right. To me, that's not the enjoyable walk. I'm like the four o'clock in the afternoon. I might just walk all the way up to central park around

Kristyan Gilmore (00:19:43):

Down and

Orion Brown (00:19:44):

Get a cab on America. I'm too

Kristyan Gilmore (00:19:45):

Tired. Yeah. You know, get lost, get lost in the city. You know, thank God. Now we have these tools, GPS or whatever. You can share your location with your friends and family. I think that's important. Find at least one person that you're willing to share your location with. That's fair. That's fair. I should <laugh> oh good. I'm glad. Uh, Janique is inspired to go for a walk girl. Go for a walk. Okay. And tell cute

Orion Brown (00:20:12):

Tulsa is really, really cute.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:20:15):

I, I mean, I think any place can be cute. Any place can be cute. You gotta, now when you go in there, you gotta think about what you talking about. I, I plan my hotel stays in the place. Every town has at least one little place that they think is cute. For example. Yeah. Like the little city center, like we just drove, we went to Colorado Springs, me and my boyfriend for to the broad more, by the way, the broad more dope. Oh my God girl. I was blown away. So we were at the Broadmore and then we drove through Santa Fe and made our way back to Tulsa. And so driving through there, there were all these little towns, like I'm talking about one traffic light type of town, but each one has this little place where they had a gazebo and they had a Christmas tree. Like they trying to make it cute right there. So that's where you gotta take

Orion Brown (00:21:07):

You. You love free. Yeah.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:21:09):

<laugh>

Orion Brown (00:21:12):

But you're right though. I think that there is something about the, a adventurous spirit where you can make any place interesting and compelling. If you're open to what makes it quirky, what makes it unique? What makes it beautiful? Now one little stoplight, you know, sometimes you go through too fast. I'm like the way I drive, I need to walk that main street <laugh> <laugh>

Kristyan Gilmore (00:21:35):

So you can really take it in

Orion Brown (00:21:38):

Exactly. There's a spot, um, near Colorado Springs Manou Springs, which is just to the, just

Kristyan Gilmore (00:21:44):

To the left and we went through yeah, yeah. Close to garden of the God.

Orion Brown (00:21:48):

Super cute. Super cute. They have an outdoor arcade that I'm obsessed with. What? There's an arcade. I make that it's like indoor outdoor and it just feels very much like a, either this is the beginning of a horror movie. Let's be honest. Like when you see like the old it's like, wait, is that what they have? Like the, um, the, the SOS Sayer and the box, like, you know, the, the, the lady with the crystal ball, like I've never seen one of those except for only a horror movies. <laugh> but um, but they have all these arcade games and things like that. You walk through, they have, I think it's like five or seven different mineral Springs that are just like water fountains that you can go up to. Oh my goodness. It tastes terrible. I'm just not real. Mineral water does not taste great. Right, right, right. But it's supposed to be very good. Very medicinal. Well,

Kristyan Gilmore (00:22:34):

See, you're glowing. So I think it worked girl, that's

Orion Brown (00:22:37):

A filter. <laugh> That's a filter. I wish we could turn it down just a little bit. Cuz I feel like, I feel like I'm glowing a little too much, but you know, we gonna go with it. It

Kristyan Gilmore (00:22:46):

Looks good. Oh

Orion Brown (00:22:47):

Thank you. Because I'm, I'm looking crazy when I got on. So I just get that filter life in there. <laugh> um, but I love that. What are some of the, what are some of the places that you've been that most people might go, eh, and you're like, no, there was some real magic there. And like where did you where'd you find that magic?

Kristyan Gilmore (00:23:07):

Mm that's a good question. Okay. So when I went to Buenos Iris mm-hmm I was in Argentina. Most people would stay in Buenos Iris. I decided to go to this little town called Tigga, like the tiger mm-hmm <affirmative> and I was amazed now, number one, I had no idea that this was where the black people were gonna be. Okay.

Orion Brown (00:23:31):

The tigers tiger.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:23:33):

But what it's they're tigers, it's kinda like new Orleans in that. This is the place that they, there were a lot of canals. They had river boats and this was the place that they brought the slaves in. And I had no had I not been looking for a cheap Airbnb, I would never have found this place. Yeah. She said, I ended up in the hood by accident. Cause what happened was no, it was not, it wasn't the hood. It was kind of like, I mean, it was like downtown, uh, new Orleans in like the garden district. It was old trees, canals. People were sitting along the side, the banks of the canal with their little picnics being cute. Um, I had a big, like a big Afro at that point. And they were take coming up to me like I was a celebrity because they don't and the one lady told me in Spanish, we don't get to wear our hair like that.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:24:24):

You know? Like they it's a very conservative place, especially no, we don't either. That's why we do it there <laugh> <laugh> okay. They just were so nice. You know, seeing like my people now I expect that in certain places, right? Like if you go to certain parts of south America, central America, you expect it. I did not expect that in origin, Tina and I had such a wonderful time and it was close enough to Buenos Iris. You could take the train one, stop and get there. But I just had such a good time in teeing and here I was staying on the penthouse. Oh my God. And I'm talking about a penthouse real now in, in Mexico city, it was the top floor of like an eight story building. This is like the baby penthouse. It's this was like the 30th floor. And it was, I had the whole place myself.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:25:11):

It was all Mar modern gut renovated. And guess how much I, I want you to guess how much it was a night per night. Per night. Yeah. $56, $20. Ah, hate. Oh, I hate you so much. And there was a lady there. No, there was a lady there who, um, like was at my Beck and call inclusive. I just, I mean, I just Butler lady. I had a Butler. Yes. So, okay. And this ISGA, or this is in BU this was Antigua, but it was close enough. Like, you know, a lot of, I think, especially black people, like we're so used to consuming and like wanting to be me and my partner were talking about this other day. Like we had gotten into this wanting to be where the white people are thing instead of, so we tend to say, oh, I'm, I'm going to London.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:26:02):

I'm gonna stay H park or whatever. Like we need to be where our people are. Yeah. In these spaces. And there's always, some of us, I was in Oxford. Um, that was about, it was a while back. Like, let's say 20, 20 0 8. I was in Oxford Smith of summer there. And I took like, I was going to London a lot. But then I started going out to the countryside girl. Do you know the black people out? Like on the outskirts of London, I'm talking about li I felt like I was at home. Everything really? There was, there's something about black culture that like, no matter where you are. Oh yeah, we're all the same. And I couldn't believe that I was experiencing that in a place that where Shakespeare had been in all, you know, like <laugh> such a, but we bring it with us. We,

Orion Brown (00:26:48):

We bring that flavor. We're the salt of the earth. We bring that flavor with us, wherever we

Kristyan Gilmore (00:26:53):

Go. It was so live. It was so live outside of Oxford, outside of Oxford. So you can take a train 40 minutes. So if you go to London, most people out to fly into London. And then Oxford is about 40 minutes outside. And that's a real academic town. There's a lot of stuff. It's a college town. But then on the outskirts to Oxford, they call it like the cots walls. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and there's all these little towns. Like the one in Shakespeare grew up in the one that Winston Churchill was born in. I, I went to those, but I also skipped their and found some black people out there. <laugh>

Orion Brown (00:27:27):

Jumped your man on the board.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:27:30):

<laugh> so yeah, it was, it was really nice. Um, so TGA was awesome. Another place that I went to that people have probably heard of, but maybe didn't realize they need to go bath England bath. I okay. Girl. Okay. I spent my birthday there one day. I just went by myself and I, I had like, basically, this is the kind of place where you can walk. Once you get into it, you can walk naked from one bathhouse to another and you feel like, like, I'm just like the queen of sheep. But I had like a little just so a saw on mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, and like no shoes, barefoot flowers in my hair, clean feeling like my skin Ripton

Orion Brown (00:28:14):

Album cover and go through here, do what I gotta do.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:28:18):

It was amazing. I loved bath. And

Orion Brown (00:28:22):

I'm assuming you were there in the summertime, so cuz you weren't, you weren't

Kristyan Gilmore (00:28:26):

So I'm yeah, I'm a, I'm a Leo. So July that's when my birthday happened. So yeah, it was, it was really, really nice. So, um, you know, I tried just to what I'm doing now is like getting out of the main spaces. Even when I went to, uh, Mexico city, we, we ended up going to, um, this, they call it the magic town and basically this is where yeah. Magic. <laugh> no, it's a magic. There are lots of magic towns in Mexico where historically this is where the shamans live. Oh like you would go out. Yeah. You would go out there when you needed to get healed or something was going on. Right. And so I got some stuff

Orion Brown (00:29:06):

Just like we're all my aura out.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:29:09):

We went to this retreat place and they put us in, it was a thing that looked like a turtle. It was like the shape of a turtle and it was all stone. So it could have been an Gloo, but it was made of stone. They call it a TA Mecal. Okay. And we got in there and they, they put, they had a, a pile of rocks in the middle. They were pouring water over the rocks. The lady said it was me. And like a group of five friends, the lady said, we've never had allowed Americans into this thing. This is just for our people. However, okay. She said, we're getting ready to defeat capitalism. That was her. So we gonna need some Americans up in here. He said, we need some American representatives.

Orion Brown (00:29:48):

<laugh> we need some American energy up in this. Cause we about to do some stuff.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:29:53):

I could not believe it. We had, we sat in the thing for a good hour. I mean, it was a very spiritual experience. She was singing basically worship songs in Spanish. Mm-hmm <affirmative> uh, we were so high. I'm talking about pouring sweat. It was the weirdest thing where it's like, eventually you just have to give into it. Mm-hmm <affirmative> the whole ground. The ground became mud because of all the sweat and the steam and all this stuff. So it was kind of like a mud bath and to warm, to cool off, you would just pick up the mud and just rubbing on because you were so high. I never felt so one with the earth ever in my life, I didn't care that the stuff was in my hair or anything. <laugh>

Orion Brown (00:30:31):

I'm telling you these native peoples, they knew what they was doing.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:30:34):

They know something, we don't know.

Orion Brown (00:30:36):

It's the colonists that messed it up.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:30:38):

All of us, they know something. We would've been

Orion Brown (00:30:40):

Relaxed. We wouldn't need Ray. We wouldn't need nothing. We'd be like,

Kristyan Gilmore (00:30:43):

Well, the thing about, um, I would just say a thing about Mexican culture that I love is they have, although they're Catholic, most of them are Catholic. They did not let go of their native, um, spirituality. And they have meld it in a way that is so beautiful. And they're not conflicted about it. They're not feeling, you know how we feel funny about it. Oh yeah. Food, you know, we start to make fun of the people who might practice something. We don't know like, Ooh, they're witch or whatever girl we need to let go of some of that too. But don't give me, don't give me all that. Um, so I just, I learned a lot from that. So that was magic town was a TA TA Mecal outside of Mexico city. Mm-hmm

Orion Brown (00:31:24):

<affirmative> now how are you getting into these? Like how are you figuring out where to go? Is it that you're just traipsing around? Like I know I'm in the main city, let me close my eyes and pointing something on a map. Are you identifying people that know these little hotspots? Like how are you getting yourself into these situations? And is it, is it one of those things? I know some people just attract stuff and they show up places and it's like, and then we were in a movie and it's like, what?

Kristyan Gilmore (00:31:51):

Um, <laugh> now I, I admit I have a little bit of that spark. Okay. Um, where I've been into some situations that I just couldn't believe. Um, but I think it's being led curiosity, like, um, I'm, you know, I'm very, I let my light lead me. Um, and so that's part of it. However, I believe in a good WhatsApp group, a Facebook group. So before I go on a trip, I'll find the expats page and I'll go on there and see what people are talking about. Start setting up some meetings and stuff and see what people are doing. Yeah. Before I go, like people who live there, um, also like meet up. People make fun of meet up, but meet up is still a good place to go and find stuff <laugh> yes. Meet up is a place. Um, so yeah, Facebook groups, uh, WhatsApp groups meet up and then also having been a part of these organizations like remote year in Tulsa, remote, I have access to slack channels where everybody's traveling.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:32:52):

I've made friends along the way. So we have our own WhatsApp groups. I got people right now, all over the world, like, girl, are you at spending? Where are you spending Christmas? You know, all of that, because this is now a lifestyle. There's a lot of people doing this. And so we kind of check in with each other and we hook each other up with stuff along the way. Like I have a tour, I can't wait to go. I've been to Africa. You know, I went to Ghana, I loved it. I went to Ghana during the height of the pandemic and was, is so amazed by how well they took care of everything. I felt more safe over there than I have anywhere in the us dealing with pandemic. Really. Absolutely. For some reason, they, it took them 15 minutes to give me my test results for my COVID test. Whereas here we still gotta wait two days, you know? Um, they, so they got

Orion Brown (00:33:39):

That PCR test. Yeah. I mean they did things is they were very thoughtful and mindful. And I would say the same thing for places like The Bahamas that was like, we're trying to bring people in. So Bahamas was doing it during COVID Ghana was like, what? 2019 was the year of return. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so they were, I, I am very impressed. And, and this is where I say, dare I say, for the folks that's listening, you cannot say all things that we own is a little bit, you know, customers are because when we put our minds to it and especially countries and peoples that think community, they don't think themselves. Cause individuality is, I think what messes up a lot of Americans just in general, doesn't matter what you look like. Mm-hmm <affirmative> you start thinking about what you need before other me. And that's where you get the friction. They're like, we want you to come here and we want you to feel at home. So we're gonna be friendly. We're gonna put in infrastructure. We're gonna create things that not only practically, not only make us welcoming, but make us practical for you actually be in the space, which I think is fascinating and wonderful.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:34:39):

And we that's what it, that's what it takes. I think that here in the us, we haven't given in to the fact that we are now becoming just a tourist destination, like people, you know, we're losing our status in terms of a lot of other things, people are coming to see like, what is going on over there? You know? Like you need to, that's what they're doing. Embrace bathroom at target that's

Orion Brown (00:35:03):

Yes.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:35:04):

<laugh>. We need to embrace that and start to really look into how we're treating people when they come over, you know, um, Ghana treated me very well and I love that they had the hand washing stations outside of the restaurant, before you go in, everything was, everything was just really, really good. It was really good. Basic

Orion Brown (00:35:23):

Too, rather for you to be touching the handles and the doors and all of that stuff. Yep. Wash before you come in, come in clean, do what you gotta. Okay. So see, I need to make my butt, get my

Kristyan Gilmore (00:35:35):

Butt to Ghana. So I was saying that to say though, the next place in Africa that I would like to go is to Egypt. Right. And so one day I was sitting, I was sitting in a restaurant in the, in Manhattan. I think it was, it was in Morton's. It was something like that. Flemings and one of those that was, yeah. Myro that was a girl. Yeah, it was thank you. It was Mastro. Okay. So the hostess had this beautiful head wrap on and I asked her about it and she told me she got it in Egypt. And I said, oh, I really wanna go there. And she was like, oh, I have the perfect host for you. When you go, he's a tour guy, he's a native. And he cl you know, he's black. Like, you know how some Egyptian people don't claim to be black. He's a black man. So yeah. I be hitting him up. Like, I'm already setting it up. Like, I'm establishing that relationship ahead of time. I'm not just going, wait until I'm getting ready to go over there. So I follow them on Facebook. Sometimes I just check in and see what he's doing. I'll comment on his post. That way, when I get ready to go, we already have built a rapport. Mm. And he's gonna give me the, your hot sauce on whatever it is that I'm doing, because he knows

Orion Brown (00:36:41):

Me. Don't be giving me that Chipotle sauce. I want losing the red hots. And I need exactly understand that about me.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:36:49):

Yes. He knows me. So he knows what kind of stuff I wanna do, what I don't wanna do. He's watching my posts and seeing other things that I'm doing, that's kind of where you have to stay. And to me, this is a part of my job. Like I like it so much that I make it a thing. It's not like, oh, it's just a high BS in passing. I know some people don't have time for that. Yeah. But it's important to me. So I prioritize it.

Orion Brown (00:37:14):

You know, I love that. And, and this idea of building poor and the funny thing is, is you're working off of a behavior that most of us already have, which is follow the person and pay attention to their content and interact with them. You don't have to be like, let's have a call and sit down and get to know each other. It doesn't have to be a whole thing. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. But just even getting to know each other, the way that honestly, most of us know our class high school and college classmates now.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:37:41):

Right. Right.

Orion Brown (00:37:42):

I feel like I know you, I haven't talked to you in 20 years, but I feel like,

Kristyan Gilmore (00:37:45):

I know you I've been because you've been connected. You staying connected online and you making an effort and you know, I'm not the one to go, just sit and look at reels or like random reels. I only have so much social media time. So this is how I spend my time. I don't have a, a million followers, you know, I follow, I don't follow a lot of people. I just follow the people I need to, and really try to focus on what they're doing. So, and it's opened so many doors for me, professionally, personally, and cetera. So, wow. Stop just watching reels. You know, people just sit and watch wills for hours. I'm not, it's hard with the baby stuff. Like the babies get me every time.

Orion Brown (00:38:27):

Okay. Real has figured out. Real has figured out that my ovaries are like, so now it's sending me all the cute babies from like all the countries. And I'm like, I hate you, reals. I hate you so much. Yes. That'll get you. But I will say, especially with TikTok making this snackable content that keeps popping into y'all I'm I swear. We're gonna get, we're gonna get on TikTok at some point. I, I won't let the brand be as old as mean, but <laugh> um, but seeing, I, I, lot of the TikTok stuff I see comes through Instagram. Mm-hmm <affirmative> there's that, that short, quick format where, you know, to me, it's like a standup comic that can just like drop a joke, drop a joke, drop a joke. I'm like, oh, oh,

Kristyan Gilmore (00:39:08):

Oh yeah, it's

Orion Brown (00:39:10):

Hilarious. Cause you can sit up in there and watch cats all day.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:39:13):

<laugh> it's hilarious. Yeah. And that's the thing. That's how they get us. And you know, we gotta be more smart than that. We really do have to be smarter. We're the ones they want. Like we're the ones that trying to attract. So like use your, use your energy in a way that's gonna get you where you wanna be. Not where somebody's trying to send you. Mm.

Orion Brown (00:39:33):

You know? Mm. I love that. Get your energy where you want it. Point your energy in the places that you want it to be in. Not places that people are trying to pull from. You

Kristyan Gilmore (00:39:43):

That's look, let me give you this. I'm not sure if you're familiar with human design, human design is a constant. Okay. So I got my blueprint done by this. Like, I can't remember her name. Claire, Aaron, Claire. Mm-hmm <affirmative> is not expense, but what she showed me is, okay, I'm a generator. So I'm oozing. I'm always producing energy and oozing it out. And then when I realized that I was like, Ooh, that's why like, people are drawn, especially needy people. They need it. So then I had to say, okay, and I have it. And I have, I'm happy to give it. Like, I very generous, you know, I don't mind. But then I was like, Ooh, let me focus on channeling this. What if I can channel it? Mm. And I'm like, I'll figure it out. Like, I'll kind of put walls up with certain not to be cold. Not being cold can be, yeah. I'll put like a levy, almost like a levy up with somebody. Like

Orion Brown (00:40:35):

<laugh> I like that. It's not, it's just meant to slow. It's

Kristyan Gilmore (00:40:39):

Lev. Exactly. You're

Orion Brown (00:40:40):

Not telling them. No, you just slowing down that

Kristyan Gilmore (00:40:43):

Flow. Like, look, I gotta levy you. And then so then sometimes I'll, I'm gonna keep

Orion Brown (00:40:48):

Opening. Somebody gonna ask me something. I'm sorry, I gotta levy you. Sorry, I gotta, this

Kristyan Gilmore (00:40:52):

Goes back to the self-awareness thing. Like you really have to know yourself, certain places you go, that's be your place. It's gonna be your, your spot to really produce. And like, I kind of know that, cuz I know myself, if it's something I'm really like, I keep on thinking about it. Like for example, I've mentioned Mexico city a lot because when I left, there was like, Ooh, that really, I been to a lot of places, there was something about that that really worked for me. And like now I'm kind considering going back to spend more time there, you know, because I'm like, I need to get more of that. So like know yourself, go where you feel led, like what lights you up and then like dig in, dig in, you know? Um, but we gotta get out of this hole. Like really black people. We too good for this. We can't be sitting up over here. Like this being treated badly, working hard and stuff. We can't be sitting up like this. How many people do you know who haven't been anywhere a lot. Right. Like, you know, it's just so, but we're breaking

Orion Brown (00:41:50):

Out of it too though. Right? So yeah. It's travel has been growing exponentially. That's one of the reasons why I created black travel box. Cuz if you look at the years leading up to obviously COVID so up through 2019, it was growing exponentially where it was like $63 billion in like 20 16, 20 17. Mm-hmm <affirmative> $109.6 billion in 2019. Wow. So just a few years later, I mean doubling and tripling year over year, over year, it's like, we're figuring out that one, the boxes that were put in here in the states are not necessarily a real and two existing outside of this space. And so we can go places and they there's, some places we will stick out and there's some places we won't and there's, there's something I think kind of fun for me. The thing that I really love is being able to go to a place and be Orion, not being the black woman, you know? Okay. Not that I'm leaving the black woman behind, but there's a whole soul inside of this that has nothing to do with the gender and the color, her and the, the way

Kristyan Gilmore (00:42:56):

That stuff wants to be free. She wants to be free

Orion Brown (00:42:59):

And just wanna chick kick it and meet people and laugh about dumb stuff. I say one of the FA one of my favorite things is when you end up sharing an eye contact and a laugh with a person that doesn't speak your language and you don't speak theirs, you both mutually see something. Maybe it's a kid and they're true in it. You both look at each other like this morning. Yeah. This child ain't been here long enough to do that. And you look at each other, you laugh or you have a great meal or you eat something. You're like, oh that's good. And they're like, yep. I told you

Kristyan Gilmore (00:43:27):

Laughter's a universal language. Mm-hmm <affirmative>

Orion Brown (00:43:30):

Yes. Joy. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, and that's where the person inside sees the person in side because there's that, that universal connection. Yeah. They don't know nothing about you. They can't tell anything about you. There may, there may be stereotypes and all kinds of things covering you. But at the end of the day, they're connecting with that thing that connects with them. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and I love that. I love that about travel. Even in less than hospitable places, I still find grounding in <affirmative> what God made. Number one and the, the differences in ways of life. And I also wonder at what human beings have been able to do. So like when you go to places and you see this architecture and it's so old and

Kristyan Gilmore (00:44:10):

I'm like so

Orion Brown (00:44:11):

Beautiful, there's no reasonable way. <laugh> that they should have been able to do that.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:44:16):

Like how did they get those big rocks up there? Right. <laugh>

Orion Brown (00:44:20):

Egypt right there. I can't tell you how many shows. I've seen these people. And we are trying to figure out how they got the, and they're doing like a replica. That's like a one 52nd, the size of an actual pyramid. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and they still can't get the rocks up there. I'm like, I'm here for all of that. <laugh> I'm here for all of that. That is so wonderful. Yeah.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:44:38):

But somebody did put in a chat that they treat us like Kings and Queens, um, when we are overseas, um, I think the thing is, is like we're American, like obviously, right? Um, even some black people speak better English than even people from great Britain. Like we speak generally speak proper English. People are really yes, yes. People are really impressed with this. They also know our history. They respect our resilience. Um, a lot of them are aware of who we are, um, in the bigger, in the grand scheme of things, you know, I'm not gonna go into, you know, black Israel life type of stuff or any of that. Um, however, I think that we are the ones who are ignorant. And so when you go somewhere else, they really honor that like I've had conversations with people who have told me, like, like, do you know who you are?

Kristyan Gilmore (00:45:27):

Like in, in a cab once this man, he had this urgency, like, do you know who you, I was like, yeah. You know, blah, blah, blah. You know, I didn't know, like I didn't, you know who you are. And he was telling me like, I can't believe he said, do y'all know, the whole world is waiting to see what's gonna happen with black people. And I was like, it was getting deep and that's not the first time or the last that I heard, that kind of stuff. People coming up, taking pictures, people asking questions. They're so curious. They can't, they don't understand how we've been able to do so much with so little, like it's magic, like in their mind for you to be in the situation you're in and still be here and you have more, you have money. You like doing, you kicking it, you having a good time. You still have joy. That's my a to them. Yeah.

Orion Brown (00:46:14):

You know, <laugh> cause they see, they see how it go, how it's gone down. And yeah, they make a really great point because historically it's, our histories have been raced systematically over time in the United States. Not necessarily outside of it. Cuz even looking at the Caribbean, you talk to a person that's of your age or even younger and talk to them about like the history and they can take you all the way back to the 15 hundreds. They're like, oh yeah. And then this is what happened. And that happened. And this change ends here. We're like we have a revisionist history that is, is permeated through our public school system. And it doesn't just affect us. That's one of the biggest things I mm-hmm <affirmative> I real realize that a lot of our modern culture is predicated on ignorance because we didn't realize prior generations suppressed a lot of knowledge and not in the, you need to read more books kinda way. Yes you do. But in a way that you, we almost lost and forgot the levels of layers and the institutions that were put in place and why they were, mm-hmm not just a Ooh, he raises and this, that and the other. That's why he did that. It's like, no, no, no. They had, they had meetings that had minutes that are actually recorded. Places planned. The discussion was here is a problem. We need to solve it with this. And you know, you get a couple generations past that and people really don't know mm-hmm <affirmative>

Kristyan Gilmore (00:47:37):

Yeah. Um, which is, and everybody else knows, you know? Oh no. They're like, yeah, they business mm-hmm <affirmative> yeah. So they can't believe it. You know, they really can't. And even of my Caribbean friends, African friends, et cetera, you know, they just like, even their story is different and they don't, they still are like, man, they really did. Y'all dirty. <laugh> when y'all gonna, when y'all gonna do something like what we supposed to do, you know? Yeah. But that's another conversation. Well, and

Orion Brown (00:48:06):

You know, it's so funny that you say that cuz people are looking, we're looking back for hundred years, they're looking back thousands of years. And they're looking back at histories that we all know history repeats itself, no matter who you are, no matter what people's, you are, history comes back and forth in cycles. We, we ebb and we flow and things like that. And so it's like, we don't typically know a lot about our history on the continent. Right. So it's like, you know, there were, there were entire not, not tribes, not those kids on the save, the children videos, but like there were entire empires yeah. That came in and that ebbed and flowed. And I think, think the question ultimately is is when is your empire come? And I think it's coming. And I think we're in a very tipping

Kristyan Gilmore (00:48:55):

Point. I love Ooh girl, that, that lit, Ooh, when does your empire baby? I gotta sit with that. I love that. <laugh> I think that in a way we're walking it out, we're walking it out, but we're not naming it and we're not being intentional about it. Yeah. You know, but we are something special in the world. Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, the fact that we can keep the, a global economy going on our backs for hundreds of years, with many minimal resources with every type of obstacle and block and we do carry the global economy. Oh yeah. Everybody knows. Yeah. The culture, the economy, everything, the sauce, the, you know, the, the sparkle

Orion Brown (00:49:44):

Salt bay, we are it's

Kristyan Gilmore (00:49:46):

It's magic

Orion Brown (00:49:48):

And mysterious diva said tipping point. Yes. There's an <affirmative> tipping point.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:49:52):

Hey David, that's my mom. Hey mama.

Orion Brown (00:49:55):

<laugh> and it's not about overthrow. Hey mama. It's not about overthrowing anybody or any of that stuff. It really is about stepping into our space, our power taking up space and allowing what's always been inside of us to be outside of us as well. Yeah. Which is, you know, and again, this is where I really love travel because I feel like it gives us a lens, especially like I'm from the south side of Chicago. I didn't really have an expanded point of reference until I went to college. And I went to a PWI, which I think was a great experience because I needed to be around people that I assumed I had a monolithic stance on what I thought white people were. I had a monolithic stance on what I thought rich people were mm-hmm <affirmative> I hadn't even been around brown people. I hadn't really cut, kicked it with Jews.

Orion Brown (00:50:42):

I had, there were so many things I hadn't done that, you know, within that space, I was able to, for me to center who I am by understanding difference. Um, mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so for me, I love that's one of the things I really love and travel because I get to understand difference and understand sameness. Yeah. And sometimes I love you food. Can't stand how y'all do drink. <laugh> right. Love your language. But you know, don't really like drink whatever it is, but I can still find those pieces. Like I was in Croatia, me and my friend were in Croatia and we were looking at this waiter. This was years ago. They was so delightful. And we were like, would you like to have a drink with us? We over here trying to Cougar this poor little boy. Okay. And, um, it was the longest, most boring conversation ever. We were like, okay. So we're sitting there sipping whatever their local decor is. It's like little honey wine type stuff. And it, it was like, this is so much fun. And then like 30 minutes later, we're like, this is so much fun. And then like 45 minutes later, we were like, this is,

Kristyan Gilmore (00:51:46):

Hey lingered. Oh

Orion Brown (00:51:48):

No, no. Because in that space, people love to just sit and you know, you're on the

Kristyan Gilmore (00:51:53):

Ter, the ter they're having coffee.

Orion Brown (00:51:55):

Right. It's beautiful. We're out at night. It's beautiful weather. And they're just talking and it's not, um, labor, like English typically is like, mm-hmm, <affirmative> most English speaking countries and cultures. We try to get as much in, we can, it's almost, I mean, Spanish got us beat. I'm not even gonna lie. I don't know how many words per second. It's like typing. Right. But you're like, it's beautiful tonight.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:52:20):

And just sit with that for a second.

Orion Brown (00:52:22):

<laugh> and you just like, and while that was, well, all the, the, the irritated American part of me definitely came out. There was a part that also learned how to sit with the moment mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative> there was a part of me that was like, I could appreciate that. I ain't gonna do this again.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:52:41):

<laugh> yeah, it was a good experience, but

Orion Brown (00:52:43):

I can learn, but now I can learn how to sit with other moments a little bit longer than I normally would. And so I really of that stretch about travel and whether it's in a country, out of the country, you can find that

Kristyan Gilmore (00:52:55):

You can, you can, and you can find, like, I'm finding that right here with you. I wanna say I love this platform. Thank you. Um, I love that. It's not just about the products, but the experience around the products and that you're giving people an opportunity share, you know, what they really love about travel. Um, so I'm just really excited and wanna thank you for the opportunity to share from my heart. Um, you know, all the beautiful things I do wanna get on wine though, for a minute, because like you said, that honey wine, one thing that I try not to do when I go overseas or anywhere I wanna drink the local beverage, right? Yes. Like don't go over there and get the, um, the same thing that you get from Kroger or whatever your local story is. Yeah. And then I, what I find is when I come back to the us and I'm at the wine list, I'm like, Ooh, I see something. I know something that I wouldn't have otherwise known. Like, I feel like I'm real fancy now because I've had that wine and like, Ooh, you have this. Yeah. Let me, let me get that. Like, I'm familiar with it, you know? And so you feel all cultured and like upscale and everything. Fancy. Yeah.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:54:07):

I'm I got this wine that I'm familiar with. Um, also I try to bring back, you know, when I was in Greece, they had the Meza I think they call it mm-hmm <affirmative> you drink it after you eat. Um, and I Moosa something, I brought back a couple of bottles of that. I brought back some good olive oil, you know, just bring something back for yourself. We get so focused on buying stuff for other people. I don't even do it anymore. <laugh>

Orion Brown (00:54:32):

Unless it jumps off the shelf at me, I've definitely had things where it's like, you, you came here to this country to take me home, to give me

Kristyan Gilmore (00:54:38):

To this person. Right. If you, if it speaks to you and it's calling that person's name, right. But at the end of the day, like you're the one and who has created that memory. Mm. You can give them that. They won't have a frame of reference. When I drink this wine. I remember that beautiful scene in Croatia, for example, where I was, I learned how to sit in a conversation and then it takes me back and I'm able to, that's what carries me through when I'm working really, really hard. Cuz we have those hard working seasons where I'm not gonna be able to go anywhere for several months or whatever, or, you know, even years like our, like right now I'm planning something something's happening in my life. Actually. I'm I'm having a baby. I'm got a big belly right here. Yes. Thank you. And so girl, you got the little slim face girl, look, I'll be going for my walks. Okay. Lemme tell you the walk <laugh>.

Orion Brown (00:55:32):

I said I'm not pregnant, but maybe I need to walk. I don't

Kristyan Gilmore (00:55:35):

Know <laugh> but I'm say so having this baby is making me think, okay, well, you know, you're gonna have to sit down for a minute. Right. And like, if I'm happy, like I'm happy to do. It's a good reason. But so, but I have all memories and stuff that will carry me through this time period until she gets old enough for me to be able to take her with me. And that's that keeps me going, you know, it's a motivation for me. Like I'm a moment's person, you know, you have five love languages, quality time is mine. So I spend quality time with myself and I have like a whole love bucket, full of memories with me or with other people that I've met. And it carries me through. So like I said, self-awareness that's I created this.

Orion Brown (00:56:16):

Cause that feeling you get either when you're planning something or you're remembering a trip, like when you looking back on a trip and you're like, you can close your eyes and put yourself back in the place and you remember the stars and the yeah. Ness of the air and the, the, the linen on the table or whatever it is, whatever space you're in. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, there's that. And then there's also that anticipation when you have something booked and you're like,

Kristyan Gilmore (00:56:40):

I made them.

Orion Brown (00:56:41):

So I'm definitely going,

Kristyan Gilmore (00:56:43):

Girl, let me tell you what happened a few weeks ago. Okay. So my man was gonna take me to Cape town for our baby moon. We had it all paid for and everything. And you know, ONR came through and tore our little stuff up. <laugh> you have to be flexible. We were disappointed. But then the bra moer didn't disappoint. Once we fit to get out, okay, we're gonna pivot. This is what we're gonna do. We went, stayed at the Broadmore for a couple, for a week, week and a half. And it was fine, you know, but yeah, that planning, I get into the planning. I love finding a deal. I love when the flight is super cheap so I can spend a little bit more on the hotel. I love that. You know, so sometimes I'll do is go and look just, you

Orion Brown (00:57:25):

Know what, sometimes these happen for a reason, cuz that flight to Cape town is long. Like I heard you have the layovers. I mean, I, I did it from North Carolina to DC cuz DC had the, the flight that would go straight over. But even now it was like Senegal, stay on the plane, men with guns <laugh> they leave and then no. And it was, I mean, it was fine. It was weird. Cuz for me it was like two in the morning on my time. So I'm half asleep and then we land and I'm like, okay, we landed. And then next he's like AK 47. Okay. That's what we doing.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:57:56):

Wow. I didn't know. They do that in synagog. Yeah. So I there's

Orion Brown (00:58:00):

A decade ago, so

Kristyan Gilmore (00:58:02):

Okay. There's a direct, I, the new work mm-hmm <affirmative> that we took that we were gonna take and it was I think six, six something round trip. So it was a good deal. That's not bad at all. Yeah. Direct there and back. And so United is doing that now. So look, you know, there's a lot of stuff out there. Of course, you know, you already Don preach to the choir, but

Orion Brown (00:58:25):

You're right though. And, and it's gotten to me, it's gotten more democratized. And if you do have a few more dollars, go ahead and book it at the lower ticket price and then see if you can get a upgrade at when you get there. They often, sometimes those upgrades will come in thousands of dollars less. They'll be like

Kristyan Gilmore (00:58:41):

Dress somebody on the flight. Yeah. Dress the part, you know, I dress the part and I try to sit up in the front. Yeah. Cause they'll come and get the people on those first few roles to fill the, the business class because they don't wanna be up there by themselves. They wanna have, you know, boring, rewind who we gonna exactly. <laugh>

Orion Brown (00:59:00):

My gosh. So look, we've already been on here for an hour. I'm honestly you you're coming back. You gotta come back. Thank

Kristyan Gilmore (00:59:07):

You. I would

Orion Brown (00:59:08):

Love to, you gotta come back, but tell everybody, uh, where they can find you cuz you're out here supporting these entrepreneurs. You got all this information. Yes. You got all the legalese. You got all the how to get you. How to, how to get it in by the pool. Not get it in, get the business in, get the business in.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:59:25):

Right, right.

Orion Brown (00:59:26):

<laugh> get the she pregnant now. Y'all she? I mean she know how to do that too, but that is about the business. So tell everybody where they can find you and where we gonna find you next in the world.

Kristyan Gilmore (00:59:37):

Oh, absolutely. So I, um, I'm my I, how out I was committed to a year in Tulsa. That time is just about, uh, I think that we're going to probably go to Houston for a while so we can, my family can spend some time with the baby and then we'll probably be back in Mexico city. I know. I don't know if my mom and sister are still on here, but they're probably like, oh, there she go. We wanna spend some time in Mexico. Um,

Orion Brown (01:00:00):

Well I can do get like a six bedroom ha Enda village and have

Kristyan Gilmore (01:00:03):

Everybody can come. And that's what I told them. I told them that the last time I went, we'll see if they take me up on the offer this time we can have a live in made and everything. Uh, it's pulling resources. I just wanna say, I just, okay, look, you are welcome. You are welcome Sy. Okay. You are so welcome. The flights to Mexico are cheap, but um, yeah, that's what we're doing. Um, and then we are still gonna try to get to capetown cuz I have a credit that I need to use. So we going, oh, we'll do it at some point. Yeah. We're going and go to stone.

Orion Brown (01:00:33):

Wash the wine is on point. Get all the peanuts. You're

Kristyan Gilmore (01:00:36):

Fine. Oh, so yes, I'm writing it down. Okay. So in terms of how to get in touch with me, I give everybody, um, and so you can, I'm gonna put it in the chat. Okay. You can go to my website and just book, um, that free hour I'm at Christie rose on everything, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. And then my website is the same. So you can book an hour. What I SpecialEd is helping people to get location and, and time freedom so that they can like, we, we strategize on how to create, how to automate your business. So you can be where you wanna be and do what you want to do and have control over your business instead of your controlling you. So I use legal tools and strategic staffing to do that.

Orion Brown (01:01:24):

Yeah. And are you focused primarily on like service based business?

Kristyan Gilmore (01:01:29):

Um, it can be any, Nope, not just service, mostly service based businesses come to me because, um, products you can set up e-commerce and some like you're in the tech space, you know what mean? But with service people, we think we have to talk all the time and you know, be on the phone. I was like, no, um mm-hmm so it has been a lot of service based companies, but I have a client who makes these very large, beautiful Charry boards and she, you know, needed help with how to Mon monetize that and how to streamline. And they're beautiful Graz, delicious shout out to GRA delicious. Um, I have another client, some sausage

Orion Brown (01:02:09):

And some cheese too.

Kristyan Gilmore (01:02:09):

I'm just saying <laugh> I have another client. She shops global. She goes out and travels and, and kind of imports things. And then, you know, does vendor booths here? So lots of different types of clients that I've worked with, I've been really, really blessed and happy to give anybody that free hour. And then we'll talk about if and how I can be the one to help you do what you need to do. If not, I'll point you in the right direction.

Orion Brown (01:02:33):

I love it. I love it. Christianity's been so dope. Oh, go ahead. I

Kristyan Gilmore (01:02:37):

Was gonna say you and I should have an hour too.

Orion Brown (01:02:40):

Oh, we Def we just gotta kick it anyway. I already, so Jenique I think is still on. Uh, and watching us, she's been so amazing in getting us, uh, you know, awesome, awesome women in the seat for Wine Down Wednesday and many of which are in the Tulsa remote program. And I'm like, we are just gonna have to have a BlackTravelBox, like brunch down there and get everybody together and talk. Cause I wanna meet all of you. You guys are fascinating.

Kristyan Gilmore (01:03:07):

So we're gonna hold you to that. You gotta come what's what's happening. Okay. Yeah. To me it's like, yes.

Orion Brown (01:03:13):

Hey, I'm right.

Kristyan Gilmore (01:03:15):

I'm here. I'm love friend Michelle. Hey Michelle. Good to see you. Thank you to everybody that came and I really appreciate y'all coming and checking

Orion Brown (01:03:23):

Out. Yes, yes. And you have been such a blessing. This has been so much fun. I'm like reinvigorated particularly about Europe. I feel like you had a couple European stories and I'm like, I haven't been to Europe in a minute. That's gotta be back on the list. Mm mm-hmm

Kristyan Gilmore (01:03:35):

<affirmative> thank you. It's so easy to travel in Europe. Like once you get, you know, the U rail, get your UIL pass and do it

Orion Brown (01:03:44):

And just dip, just dip and pretend like you are spy, but don't do it when you're going through the customs. Cuz they don't like that. But look,

Kristyan Gilmore (01:03:50):

One time I traveled from Rome to Venice under the cover of night on a train and I would wake up and there would be some mysterious gentleman next to me. It just, I, I felt like Carmen, San Diego, you remember Carmen San Diego girl. She inspired me.

Orion Brown (01:04:06):

She sang, she had that big hat on her hair.

Kristyan Gilmore (01:04:09):

Uhhuh that trench, that London fog trench coat <laugh>

Orion Brown (01:04:14):

Oh my gosh. This has been, I needed this. Sincerely.

Kristyan Gilmore (01:04:18):

I, me too.

Orion Brown (01:04:20):

I'm all my feelings. I needed this. Thank you for being a respite in the week. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and your, my pleasure energy that you've been pouring out to people. You poured out energy

Kristyan Gilmore (01:04:32):

In a way I channeled I'm channeling. Yes. Channel pick it up, take it, take it, take it. Love it.

Orion Brown (01:04:38):

<laugh> and for those of y'all who've been watching. Thank you for kicking with us. Us. Many of you I've seen y'all in the comics. Y'all come every week. I love you. Hopefully you're getting out, um, the same kind of energy that I'm getting out of it. I honestly, at some point I was like, when I created, when I created wine down Wednesdays, I was too nervous to go on live. So I was like, well, we gonna have to drink. So it's gonna have to be in wine. <laugh> and, and now that I've been doing it, I'm like, even if I wanted to stop, I can't because it just, it, it fills me back up. It refills my cup, cuz I also like am pushing and giving all week and this has been, huh? Okay. Not to get into hole soapbox, but I just really love that. And thank you so much for being a guest. Thank you all for being up in the comments and being like, okay girl, and what you doing and what?

Kristyan Gilmore (01:05:25):

Yes. We love that. It makes it so much easier. Appreciate

Orion Brown (01:05:28):

It. Yes. Yes. So thank you all. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead. We're in the countdown to the holiday, whether you are looking for your, uh, wait what's this, I don't know why I got a little error thing, but um, whether you get you're into Hanukah and you're like, where's my next gift at which I'm not mad at y'all yes. <laugh> I convert. I convert for the gifts. I'm not gonna lie. Um, whether you are up for Christmas, whether you're looking forward, Towan it doesn't even matter. Whether you just looking forward to I'm off. We're almost there hanging there fam not only do I do this for myself, I do do this for you. Cause I know if I'm frustrated and tired and burnt out at times in the middle of the week, then you know, others must be feeling that as well. And we just, this

Kristyan Gilmore (01:06:11):

Is a good way to spend Wednesdays. I'm gonna have to join you even more often. This is really good come. And I'm gonna go wrap gifts now and play Mrs. Claus. So <laugh>

Orion Brown (01:06:22):

I love it. Mama Claus.

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