Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, everyone, Welcome back to you Connections. I'm Evila Gloria.
I'm excited about today's episode because we're going to talk
about our connection to a new digital space which is
called Web three, and a big part of Web three
is n f T S. You may have heard this
word n f T. What is an n f T.
(00:21):
It's not that complicated, but it is intimidating. And I
did a deep dive into this area. I was just
fascinated by the space as a creator, as an artist,
as a content creator. And one of the first persons
I ever spoke to about this space was my dear
friend Yam Krkai. Yam as a digital illustrator. She's really
(00:46):
a trailblazer in the n f T space. She's the
creator and creative director of World of Women n f
T S. It's this awesome, inclusive digital space. It empowers
women through art and through promote diversity. It's super philanthropic
in how it's set up. And so I was like,
you know what, I think would be really interesting because
(01:06):
I get to have conversations with Yam privately and personally,
and I asked her like, what about this, what about that?
What about this? And I was like, you know what,
everybody should hear this conversation, and I just want to
welcome to the show. Yeah, hello, how are you? Hi? Hi? Hi?
Thank you so much for having me. We've done some
I G lives and you're such a rock star in
(01:29):
this space. This is a super intimidating space. And I
like to, you know, set it up to where people
go web what and I'm like Web three. I didn't
even know what Web three meant. So for all we
all who don't know, Web one was the Internet and
that's when this huge dot com first came onto the
scene and it was like a big thing. And I
(01:50):
remember people said, oh, the Internet's a fad, that thing
is going to go away, and it obviously did not.
And then Web two was really about connection and it
was all these social media and well my Space first
and then Facebook of course on Twitter, uh, Instagram and
now Snapchat. And also like I remember the first time
(02:10):
I was putting my credit card on a website right,
Like I was like, I don't know if I should
be doing this, Like it was super scary. That was
Web two. Web two was also like Internet dating. Remember
when people like, wait, you're gonna put your information up
and somebody's gonna say, hey, let's go for coffee, or hey,
do you want to sleep together? Like no, Now that
(02:31):
is like the means in which people meet. So Web three,
for me, the way I understand it is the next
evolution and it is about for me ownership. Right. So
all of these social media sites, Instagram and YouTube, we
don't own that content. They can kick us off these
(02:51):
platforms anytime they want. Alla Trump off Twitter. You know
he had all these followers. They weren't his followers, they
were Twitter Twitter people. You know, all this stuff people
create on YouTube, they don't own it. You participate in
some income, but you don't own it. And so for me,
Web three was this interesting space for artists to be
able to own their work. And that's artists in every sense,
(03:15):
whether you're a musician or an actor, painter, a sculptor,
a photographer. So Web three is about the blockchain and cryptocurrency.
And then it goes into these n f T s.
So can you explain to everyone what t F is
an n f T So n FC literally means non
(03:38):
fungible token, which obviously means nothing to most of the population,
and basically and an f D is a digital asset
that can be owned in is recording the blockchain, and
this digital asset can be anything from a piece of music,
to a piece of art, to a three D object
that's moving around. So all the history and movements of
(04:01):
that specific digital asset is recording in the blockchain for eternity.
So it's a very transparent way of knowing the origins
of things, where they come from, where they've been traded
from what well into which wallet. And it could be anything,
like you said, it could be an art piece, it
could be music, it could be a ticket, it could
be anything. Anything you right into the smart contract. And
(04:25):
the cool thing about it for n f t S
is the artist or the creator can get a royalty
for the rest of their lives on n f t S,
unlike real art that goes on your wall, where you
can put an NFC on your wall if you want.
But like if you bought a war Haul for one
million dollars, war Hall got one million dollars, and then
ten years later I sold it to you for ten
(04:47):
million dollars. I make nine million dollars, but nothing goes
to Warhol anymore. And then you sell it for a
fifty million dollars later on and you make that profit.
Andy Warhol does not partici space in that profit. And
so that's what I loved about the blockchain technology and
Web three space is what you create, you can participate
(05:08):
in the ownership forever. And that excited me because I
think we should be participating economically in the life span
of your art. Yeah, and you empowers creators in such
a nonprecedented way, like this is unheard of. Yeah, So yeah, absolutely,
(05:29):
that's one of the things that actually got me really
excited about this space as well. By the way, I'm
still learning. This is a disclaimer, I'm still learning all
about this space, and just to add on the Web
three aspect, Like, for me, what is so exciting about
web three is how it empowers the creators economy. I
really feel like this is the space for creators who,
(05:53):
for the first time, like Eva was saying, own what
they create. And YouTube was such a good example all
again because it's through YouTube that people make their money
and in Web three, you make your money through what
you create, and your success is not tied to a
big platform or a big company. It's tied to a technology.
(06:14):
And that's incredibly powerful because it gives creators that independence
and that power, which is why I love it so
much and why I think that n f t s
are also such a success, because I think that creators
have really seen that brain f t s, They're able
to reach a lot of specific communities and build a
(06:36):
community of their own. They're able to express themselves as
well in a way that has never been done before.
And on the other hand, I feel like people buying
n f t s see the value in it because
it's a new form of expressing oneself digitally, and I
think that that all of this is becoming really powerful
(06:57):
to everybody, especially younger generations that are spending so much
time on the Internet, way more than before. Yeah. Um,
people bump on the word non fungible because it's an
economic term, right Yeah. Non fungible basically means that you
cannot exchange it for anything that is exactly that thing
(07:19):
that you're trying to exchange. Like basically, you can exchange
a bitcoin for a bitcoin, but you cannot exchange it
for anything else. So like a one oh one art
piece would be a perfect example of that, because there
is only one and you cannot exchange it for anything
equal because it doesn't exist. My podcast is about connections
(07:43):
to everything, politics, religion, spirituality, your children, your relationships, and
so I think a lot of people would be like,
why do I have to have a connection to something
so intangible and so abstract, And so my reasoning for
wanting to have this converse station and specifically with you,
is because you're super relatable. So like I think the
(08:04):
bro club of what is projected out of n f
T S and the web three is so not you,
and so you make it so so much less intimidating.
But for me, this technology, which again you'd have to
like research and look up and study and read a
little bit about it, but blockchain technology and cryptocurrency is
just about the way we're going to buy things in
(08:26):
the future, and it's about decentralizing finance, right and so
it's about how right now, you know, our currencies are
dependent upon so much, the inflation is dependent upon so
much out of our control, and so this space about,
you know, with the cryptocurrencies, which there are many different kinds.
(08:46):
I think it's about the future. I just think this
is going to be the future inevitably, and so it's
important for us to connect to it now, even though
it feels intangible and abstract, it's the world we live in.
We already live in an abstract world, and I think
that's where n f T s come in. It's this
cool way too communicate with communities. And I think you've
(09:09):
done a really great job at creating this amazing community
of not only women, because I feel like I see
a lot of non female fans of World of Women.
Tell people why you decide what your background was, which
was an artist, but why did you decide to launch it?
How are you not intimidated by this? Well, that's not true.
(09:30):
I was intimidated. I had worries, I had uncertainties when
I was, you know, working on all of this. But
for me, it was just important to launch World of
Women because I really felt that I could not be
the only one in this space that failed the same
way towards the way things were going up to that point. Because,
(09:51):
as I keep on saying, like in other interviews and stuff,
when I entered the n f T space shortly after
it was the booming of the p fp so profile
picture collections, and for me, as a newbie in the
web three space, that was super excited about the possibilities
and what one couldn't do here. It was very disappointed
(10:11):
to see that none of those collections were directed to
the diverse audience of this space, or two women or
non binary people. It was all targeted to the bro
community that you are talking about before, and so for me,
it was just frustrating and I don't like injustices, and
I was just like, Okay, well, I'm going to try
to do something different because I'm sure that it's necessary
(10:34):
and I'm sure there's a lot of people that feel
that way too. So I did this collection of diverse
women characters and it worked with really well. And this
is not something that I could have foreseen. You know.
I was just trying to do something different and to
make a change, and I guess that it resonated with
a lot of people, and this is why it succeeded,
(10:56):
because it was needed. It was needed, but also authentic,
and I find that those are the only people that
are going to succeed in the space, because I think
headlines coming out of Web three is about an n
f T sold for one million dollars and n f
T sold for this and n f T and it
feels money grabby, and it feels a little like you like, oh,
(11:19):
who what what do you mean? What do you mean
it's something sold for one million? Is that really one
million dollars? Or is it one million? Like? Is it digital? Like?
Is it real? And and so with these communities that
I feel like succeed because there's so many n f
T projects, I feel like yours is super authentic in
(11:40):
your intention and when you build it, they will come,
you know, like I feel like that. But if you
build it with this intention of like emine, it makes
some money, I feel like people get kind of turned
off by it. I really think that it's like everything
else in life, or like any any other business that
a person decides to build, or just like a big
decision that you're thinking life Like, I feel that if
(12:01):
you really have a purpose and a reason and something
that you're passionate about, or there's a problem that you
really really really really want to solve, I feel like
the more passionate you are, the more it shows in
what you've created. And so I think that for us
it was that, you know, and also that we were
not afraid of putting ourselves out there and say like, hey, yes,
(12:22):
I'm young car guy, I'm the one doing this and
like this is my face. You know, I'm not hiding.
I'm not trying to like take your money and go anywhere.
I'm here for a reason. And at the time, believe
it or not, that was kind of what was happening
all the time, Like people launching projects, they were anonymous
and they would do what we call rug bulls, And
(12:42):
for us, it was just really important to be like, no,
we're a human behind the project. This is us, Yeah,
because there is so much animality in this space, not
as much anymore. Like when I looked at what I
want to buy as an n f T, I need
to know the team. I needn't know who's behind it.
I want to know who I'm supporting. And and for me,
one of the things is supporting women and female artists
(13:04):
in this space or female projects, And so I have
to know, like what am I buying more than a PfP,
more than a profile pick to put on my WhatsApp
or my Twitter handle. It's like who are you buying from?
What the same thing is if you're conscious about where
you buy your clothing, same thing with when you buy food.
Are the people who picked this paid fairly? Are they
(13:25):
sprayed with pesticides, you know, am I eating or again,
like we care so much about what we buy, this
should not be any different. Absolutely, you should know the
people behind the project. Why do you think it's such
a bro male dominated industry because according to one study
in I think November, women accounted for only five of
(13:45):
n f T sales, not projects sales, So we only
participate in five percent of this economy. Yeah, well, you know,
I think that this is how it is because unfortunately,
the pick industry is industry that is really flawed as
far as diversity and inclusion goes. You know, it's it's
an environment then, like since forever has always been about
(14:09):
men and specifically white men, and it's like no one
could imagine a woman being smart enough or or capable
enough to actually succeed in these fields. And when you
look at the companies, it's not like there's a lot
of women in there. You know, they're always a minority
in a company. And so I don't think it's surprising
that in in Web three it would be the same.
(14:30):
You know, it's just making what the world is like.
But for me, the thing was that it's so new,
it's so fresh, it's such a like community effort to
keep this thing going, you know that. It was just
really frustrating that considering how open minded and collaborative this
whole space that is being developed, is that there would
(14:51):
be such a flaw, you know. So I just felt like, yeah,
it had to be fixed early on. I don't think
we're there yet at all. Like it's you very much
a pro space and you feel like the same dudes
are being praised over and over again by their accomplishments
in media and like basically everywhere. So I feel like
(15:12):
there's really a long way to go. But I just
think that the problem exists because this problem exists in
the world, right, Yeah, we're not going to fix it
overnight and with one n f T project, No, no, no,
But I do think so sometimes people go, but why
do I have to be involved in this space? I
don't want an n f T And I always say,
I don't care if you buy an n f T.
I'm not encouraging people to buy n f T s.
(15:32):
I just think that the technology and how we buy
things with the blockchain and cryptocurrency is here to stay,
and I think n f T s are a cool
way to experiment with that you know, setting up your
wallet and buying some cryptocurrency and buying something and what's
the gas fee? And other's all this whole other terminology.
So I think sometimes it's cool that you go, I
(15:53):
bought this little doodle and I had to go and
change my dollars into a cryptocurrency, and then I had
to open up a wallet. Like it's a whole thing.
It's a whole thing. I'm not gonna say it's easy,
but it is I think worth expanding your your mind for.
And I speak specifically in women. We need economic mobility
(16:17):
and we need economic independence, and I feel like this
digital space is a fertile ground for wealth creation, right,
Like there's so many jobs. I'm not talking about buying
an n f T. I'm talking about there's so many
jobs within each project. Like how how many people work
at World of Women? Um, I think that right now
(16:38):
it's seventeen people full time. But we have like working
at World of Women, and we're actively hiring. We're not
the kind of company that would turn down people just
because they're not in the free space. You know, We're
happy to own, bore them and teach them whatever it
is that they want to learn and what the like
the knowledge that they need for the role. I mean,
in the company we have, like I don't know five
(17:01):
people that didn't know so much about an F T
S and web three, but they were just super excited
and looking forward to learning and the journey of being
in a company that is in this space. And I
think that that really goes back to what you were
talking about right before. I think that it's important for
women to be in this space just because it's not
(17:22):
important that you buy in a nifty necessarily, like you
were saying, right, it's about educating yourself and at least
knowing how it works, and that if tomorrow you want
to get a nifty or you can get a nifty,
you just know how it works. I think it's all.
It all goes down to education. Education is the most
powerful tool to actually changing something or a problem. And
(17:44):
I think that the more women and diverse people we educate,
the more this space will thrive and the better it
will be in the long term. Yeah, why I agree
to because I think, like I said, even me, I
knew nothing about this space. And you know, when you
learn something totally new, like if you learn a different language,
it literally is evidence. It expands your mind and it
(18:06):
makes it more elastic, and it makes you live longer.
And so this is one of those things that I'm like, this,
my mind is expanding because there's words that I've never
heard of. There's things that I've never really grasped it
as a concept, and now I do. And I'm like, okay,
I'm in communities on discord, you know, web three and
n f T n f T space is really friendly.
(18:26):
It's really like you can ask any dumb question and
there's somebody there that will answer it. There's no dumb question. Really.
I mean, I was like, I'm sorry, guys, what what
does this mean? And you'll get all of these amazing
answers and responses because I'm in the discord, I'm in
the chat rooms and I see somebody asked, sorry, guys,
I don't know what this means, and somebody will jump
in and go, hey, I can jump on the phone
with you, or hey, here's a resource. Hey, look at
(18:48):
this link, listen to this podcast, listen to this thing.
And it's like super helpful, and it's a really nice
moment right now to jump in and learn about it
because people are really open to that so what do
you think right now is happening in this web three space?
You know, there was a bit of a dip. Everybody's
calling it winter, a lot of projective going away, like
(19:10):
what's happening right now? Well, I mean, everybody that is
in this space and in this industry knows that it's
a latile one and that it has ups and downs,
and that there are patterns that repeat themselves throughout the years,
you know, and there are faces and moments in this
journey that things are harder and more stressful than others.
And you know, everybody is always very happy when everything
(19:32):
goes right, but then when things go wrong, it's like
the end of the world. But the truth is that
this is just the way it is. There are the
ups and now is there are the crypto winters that
people talk about because they have happened before, and people
that have been in this industry for a long time
know that and have experienced that before. So I think
it's natural to see projects living or people feeling too
(19:56):
afraid to commit and they'd rather just get out. I
think that's completely fine, and it's not something that anybody
has the right to judge, because each person should be
able to do whatever they think is best for them,
especially when it comes to finances, because not everybody can,
you know, allow themselves to have their bags like to
go down in such big percentages. So I never like
(20:18):
to judge, you know, when this tough times happen, like
each one is doing what's best for them, and I
think that should be respected. I am a firm believer
that this is the future and that this is going
to keep on on existing even if times are hard.
And I don't know for how long it's hard period
is going to last, but I know that it's not
going to be forever. Is there's something much bigger and
(20:40):
much more meaningful that is actually being built here because
this is literally the next iteration of the web. And
so yeah, I think that's all I have to say. Really,
I don't have tips for traders or like, hey, when
this goes down, this is what you buy, Like I
would never do that. You do you? Yeah, And I
and I think that's important, Like even on this podcast
where just saying, you know, get to know the industry,
(21:02):
this industry, this space, because it is the future and
it is going to stick around even though it's volatile. Now,
I think it will eventually Still, that's sure. What do
you see as the future of n f T s.
It's the industry that moves so fast and at such
a fast pace. I think that is gonna probably look
(21:26):
much much different day a year from now. I don't
think that right now, in the present day, when we
look at n f T s, I don't think that
people from the outside can really understand what's the value
behind them, you know, and like why would you have
one of those? I think that with time this will
become more clear and there will actually be more use
(21:47):
cases for n f t s and more practical use
cases as well that will help people from the outside world.
Quote quote I'm talking like a different planet. Um understand,
you know, like, hey, what are the possibilities? Why should
we get involved? What can I do with this thing
you call in an f T right? Because right now
(22:09):
it's very limited. Um, when you look at them, right,
you're like, Okay, it's this thing that I own, which
is really cool. And if you're someone that's passionate about art,
you might see the value in the art. But for
people that don't necessarily care about art, it's really hard
to understand what the values apart from maybe I'll be
able to sell it for a lot of money in
a few months, you know. So I think that it's
(22:31):
all about finding more use cases for n f t
s and making them real and have a purpose something
that is really easy to understand. And we're not there yet. Yeah.
And so there's a word that some people may not
know or have heard, which is called utility. So there's
a lot of n f t s that have a utility.
(22:52):
You can get into a dinner club, you can get
into Soho house, you can get into like you know,
there's actually angible benefits to own it. It's not just
a quote unquote jpeg that you have on your phone.
It is it comes with a lot of You get
a free coffee every month, that good morning coffee. Like
I love n f t s with the utility because
(23:14):
I like real life applications to things. But I do
think you're right, Like we're going to see a lot
more of that in the future, for sure. What has
been the most exciting thing for you in this journey
this last year being it's like the hardest question through
my answer in the whole world overall. What I'm gonna
(23:35):
say about that question is that it's been so intense,
it's been NonStop. There's been so many things that have
happened that I couldn't not have even like trimmed of that,
like ever in my life. That for me, there's just
too many first times, you know, and too many like
exceptional and surprising first times in this journey. Like on
(23:57):
the one hand, of the people that I've gotten took
a net with, you know, not only strangers on the Internet,
but like massive supporters of Wow, just like you and
Rees and Hudah and all these incredible people that I
would have never met if it weren't for what we
created with World of Women and actually building these relationships.
(24:18):
I think that was incredible. I think that it highlighted
as well from the journey for me personally, because I'm
going to be selfish, was Christie's are Christie's sales? For me?
That was and it was massive, Like to be a
digital female artist selling at Christie's and thinking that Christie's
would have never even like considered me three years ago,
(24:41):
but like now it's happening and it's like mind blowing,
crazy experience, and it kind of I think that the
bar for all female led projects in this space you know,
because it showed them that this is how how far
we can go as women in the space and in
the art space. So it just felt really empowering and
(25:01):
it was a very exciting day for everybody. And I
think that the thing that has touched me and the
most in the entire journey was that for the first
time in my life, I was able to actually help
causes that are meaningful to me and actually feel like
I'm doing any impact in other people's lives. And I
(25:22):
never had that possibility, you know before Web three, Like,
I never had that financial like stability where I could
just give like a bunch of money to something that
meant a lot to me because I couldn't afford that.
And for once I could do that, and that was
the most meaningful thing I could have put my money in,
(25:43):
just supporting causes and working closely with organizations like Too
Young to Wind. That's one of the organizations that I
have gotten to love and appreciate the most. And yeah,
that would have not been possible ever before for me.
And I also I think because you're such a you're
such a sweet human being, that that giving back component
(26:06):
is so important. I think, by the way, corporations like
you like corporations, big corporations to be giving back in
a bigger way, and so for you to like have
built that into your DNA of your company at this
stage is really impressive and really honorable to applauded. How
do people get involved if they're an artist? Like how
(26:28):
I'm an artist and I paint, And what's an n
f T And how do I make one? Or how
do I build one? Or who do I go to?
And I think that's probably the most the biggest question
I'm always asked is like, you know, how do I
get started if I'm an artist? So I would say
that first and foremost, try to learn as much as possible,
(26:50):
and don't do it just for like a few days
or a week, like really take your time to learn
and to understand everything in your own way, and really
like feel confident about this space because at the beginning
it's quite overwhelming. As we were saying before, there's a
lot of terms, a lot of you know, steps that
you have to take to also stay safe if you're
gonna do your first n f T. So I would say,
(27:12):
educate yourself first. And while you're educating yourself, you can
start building your community. And by building your community, I
mean you start your Twitter account, because Twitter is basically
the social media platform where all of this is happening.
I don't know why, but this is just the way
it is. It all happens in Twitter, and you just
(27:34):
start kind of like how in real life we start
building our group of friends or our group of contacts.
It's the same thing but on Twitter, and find those niches,
those groups of people that you relate to, maybe artists
that are similar to you, or just people that you
think might enjoy what you're creating. And you just start
connecting and building connections, just talking to people, being yourself
(27:56):
and putting regularly your art out there. That's super important
to you, in your art constantly on on Twitter. Um
is really important for people to know who you are
and what you're about. But those are would be my
first two steps, because once you start connecting with people,
you're gonna know which direction you want to go to
and what community fits you most and how you want
(28:17):
to do things. Yeah, and it's not only I think
it as an artist in this space, it's not only
about selling an FT. You know, of course that that's
awesome and you should totally go for it if you
want to. But you can actually find jobs, like we
were saying in this space, like there's so many things
you can do. I love talking, do you. Yeah, And
I hope everything is going well for y'all. My World
(28:41):
of Women n f T is one of my favorites.
I have everything out of my shoes, out of my shirt,
out of my sweatshirt because my husband took the shirts
and he cut off the sleeves and made it a
because he likes to work out. And then every day
he has has my n f T on book come
up to when they go World of Women, like they recognize,
(29:04):
Oh my god, babe, leap your shirts famous. Well, just
so you know, I have gotten a lot of compliments
by the Milagros T shirt from people that don't even
know what and if these are. They just see my
T shirt and they're like, oh, that's so cool. Where
did you buy that? And I'm just like, oh, it's
a long story, A long story. I want to ask you,
what's your favorite book? What's a book you would recommend
(29:27):
to anyone? Okay, so I am a lover of fantasy.
I love fantasy books. Yeah, oh you are, of course
you are fantasy and side guy, I'm a bit of
a nerd. But actually right now, the book that I've
been reading, and don't be alarmed, it doesn't take me
three years to read a book. It's because there's eight
(29:48):
of them, okay, but like I've been reading for the
past few years, this series of books that it's called
The Wandering In and it's actually an online book because
it's written by an anonymous writer who just writes the
book for free, and so you're allowed to read her book.
I think it's a woman, That's why I'm saying her
because of the story. And you're able to read their
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book online for free because they just do it for
for passion, for love, like this is their life basically
writing this book. And it's honestly the most amazing book
like that I've read, just by the way that it's written.
And it's all about women empowerment and like nobody cares
about genders and stereotypes in the book. The you know,
the heroes in the book are women, non binary or
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different creatures from different races and and it's amazing, Oh
my god, that's awesome. And where do you go to
get it online? You go to the website. So it's
the wandering in dot com, I think. But I'm so
proud of everything that you've built. You're just really representing
women in the most beautiful way in the web free space.
(30:54):
And I'm so happy We've got to have this conversation.
And I'm so thankful for all of your support. I
have to, like forever, thank you, like every day for
everything that you've done and for all the other women
that have suppwarded or a little women. I'm so thankful
you have a great community. Thank you so much, Yeam,
thanks for being on the show. Thank you for this
(31:17):
amazing conversation. Thank you, thank you so much for listening.
I'm happy to be connected with you. Connections with Evil
Lagoria is a production of unbelievable entertainment in partnership with
I Hearts Michael Pura podcast Network. For more podcasts from
(31:39):
my Heart, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
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