October 31, 2024 • 25 mins
It’s Election week in America! This week, we revisit our chat with Elsa Collins (@elsamariecollins), professional do-er, humanitarian and founder of Poderistas and This is About Humanity. Steph, Mel and Elsa discuss the election, voting and civic duty in this very special remixed episode with never-before-heard audio. If you’re a fan of More Better, head over to https://www.vote.org/ and make a voting plan today — and send Steph and Mel photos of your I Voted sticker on IG @MoreBetterPodcast. See you at the polls.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
So many names, so many names, like what who?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
The second circuit of what?
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I know? What does that do?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
More?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Better, more better, more.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Better more.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Welcome back listeners, Melissa Here. On this week's episode, we're
looking to dive in even further on being more better
at civic duty. With the election under a week away,
Stephanie and I wanted to put even more emphasis on
the power of your vote. It's up to us to
create the change we want to see, which brings us
back to an episode from weeks ago when we spoke
(00:46):
with Elsa Collins, professional doer, mom, humanitarian, founder of Poldaristas
and this is about humanity. Time flew by when we
spoke to Elsa, and we only got to share a
portion of our convo with you. So today we're going
to share even more. Enjoy the listen, and see at
the polls more better.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
You know. I thought the sweatshirt because I was like,
this is cool.
Speaker 5 (01:14):
It is a cool Kleina Strata sweatshirt, has a cool
heart on it.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I will wear it.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
I will, you know, I'll look like a cool mom,
not like a regular mom. And then what ends up
happening in it is that I put it on and
I'm like, I look.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Like a sack of potatoes. I would a sack.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
It is literally the color of burlap. Anyway, don't make
these mistakes.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Guys. Welcome to More Better, a podcast.
Speaker 6 (01:42):
Where we stop pretending to have it all together and embrace.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
The journey of becoming a little more better every day.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I just blanked.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
I was talking about the sweatshirt. Anyway, I got this
and that's Stephanie Bietric.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah. Here we are.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
We're just really doing it, you guys, thanks for tuning
in once again to the Shenanigans.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Here.
Speaker 6 (02:05):
How you doing, Steph, I'm you know, yeh uh.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
You know what bombs me out is that that was
not a cheap sweatshirt. I was like, I'm buying this
sweatshirt because this sweatshirt is going to do it for me.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
All right, be cool, relaxed, cool.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
Mom, it's not you want it, I'll give it to you.
You know, it has a very cool drawstring on the front.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
When you said about the burlap color, I have to
say nothing stresses me out more than trying to shop
within the beige family because when you hit the bright color,
it is looks so cool and then sometimes you don't
is it like.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
And here's a question for women with brown skin, and
you know, write us.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Is it? Is it the brown skin?
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Is it the tones that differing tones inside variations of
brown skin? I mean, I cannot a camel trench coat, no, girlfriend,
I look like a thumb.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I was a big big when I'm in a camel
camel coat of any kind. All the blogs was like, camel,
it looks so cool. It looks bad on me. Man,
It's bad.
Speaker 6 (03:11):
Yeah, Like it like washes me out in a weird way.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
It's it's I think I unlocked it. That's why this
looks not good on me. This is why they would
look great on a darker brown skin, yes, woman, or
perhaps a lighter like a peach. But this isn't for
me anyway.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
How are you? What do you do this week that
was more better? Or today or whatever?
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
You know what I'm doing that's a little more better.
But also it's not completely by choice. Is it's the
last week of school.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
For my child.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
There's a lot of things to keep track of, and
I am I'm on it wow, hyper focused on making
sure all the things get done this week. But I
also feel like I'm forced into that situation.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Interesting, right, Like I didn't sign up for a managerial
position here, but somehow I've managed to be one. Yeah,
it just sort of happens. What are you doing this week?
That's more better, mamitor.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Let's see, we did make out.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
It was nice.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
We haven't done that in a very long time for you.
It was nice.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
You know, it's hard to find time to make out.
It is like old school, high school style. Yeah, it's
really you know, a little over the clothes grab.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Sorry. Parents, if you're listening.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
To this with your kids, sorry about that, but you
should educate them about sex and consent. Anyway, anyway, anyway,
more better. What are we talking about today, Steph? What
are we talking about today? Melissa?
Speaker 2 (04:53):
That's called a volley You guys have just volleyed that
back she did.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
She was like, I don't feel like doing that.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I do feel like doing what we're talking about today.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Actually, we're talking about something really important today with someone
awesome who we both adore and look up to. I
would say for myself, we're talking about finding causes you
care about and civic duty, you know, like voting has
always been a big deal for me. I voted for
the first time after September eleventh, because that happened to
be the year that I turned eighteen, and so I
(05:24):
just I've always felt really strongly about that. And I
would say to people that I knew that, you know,
decided to sit out a voter something, I would.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Just be like, well, then you can't complain. If you're
not going to participate, then you can't complain. Ah ha.
I literally just put my hands on my hips to
do that.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Today with us is Elsa Collins. She is basically a
professional doer. She's a mom, a humanitarian, and she's a
founder of Bodadistas and this is about humanity.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Welcome Elsa, Elsa.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Hello, Hello, Hi, how are you.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
We're so happy to have you here.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Oh my gosh, sorry confession, I was late. My kids
school program run a little bit late. Sorry for keeping
you all waiting. But I'm so excited to be be
like that.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yeah, it'd be like that, it'd be like.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
That hashtag hashtag life, hashtag life. But I'm excited to
be here.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And I'm so excited to have you here. And I
know you're super busy, and I really appreciate you making
the time. Yes, give us a little bit of like background,
how you kind of first started, like how you knew
this space was like where you wanted to, like, you know,
focus a lot of your energy and time into.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
You know, I would say that my journey to kind
of the space I'm in honestly started when I was young.
My mom was always someone who was taking us to volunteer,
and then I think that when I started having kids,
it kind of was reborn within me. It really clarified
(06:57):
for me at least, like what is my purpose in
this world? What was my purpose and my responsibility to
others in my community. But it came from having kids
and feeling like I needed to really get focused on
how I was going to make this world kind of
(07:19):
a better place. I think, you know, twenty sixteen was
a really hard year for so many people, and for me,
it was really the catalyst for thinking about this as
actually as a profession and saying, you know what I'm
going to I'm going to start a consulting company where
(07:39):
we really focus on issues that matter and think about
how people are using their voice and using their platform.
Because you know, it was a time where I didn't
know where what was going to happen in this country,
what was going to happen with my kids. As you said,
like I'm raising three kids or multi racial, multi lingual,
and in a in a at a time where that
(08:03):
may not have been you know, looked at as a
as a good thing. You know, it's like a double whammy.
They're they're half Mexican and half black, and and and
I thought, okay, I need to be as as much
of an advocate for for them and for their existence
as a whole. And that kind of was really what
(08:24):
motivated me to look at this as something that I
would do, you know, as a career.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
That's really cool.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, that's really cool.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Sometimes you're like, I don't know what my role is
in this space, and and honestly that the first and
easiest role is as a mother, and it's how we're
raising our kids, and how we're exposing our kids to
sort of obviously in an age appropriate way, but things
that matter and things that are important. When we look
at what is the biggest predictor of what makes a
(08:55):
voter a voter, it's if their parents voted. So it
starts like us, and so I want to say that
you know, we may someone may listen to this and
finish the whole conversation and be like, oh my god,
there was so many things. I don't know what it's like. Honestly,
even if you're you're an auntie, you're like someone who's
in the village of somebody else, or you're a parent
(09:15):
village of somebody else, or you're a parent yourself, Like
you are having a very important role in creating like
the next generation of change makers, upstanders, people who are
going to say things, people who are going to like
know what to do and know how to act, and
so everybody who listens to this can start right there.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
Yeah, it's huge, it's huge, and it's part of like
that that responsibility or that.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
I don't know, gift.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
It really feels like a gift to be able to
vote for who you want to be in power, making laws,
making choices, making changes. Not everybody gets that gift, right,
And like, my parents lived in the United States for
a long time before they were allowed to have that
gift because they weren't US citizens. And when I became
a US citizen, it was like, Okay, this is huge
(10:04):
because I could see how much it meant to my
parents to be able to vote, you know, it was
a huge huge, huge thing the first time that they
got to do it, and subsequently it's been huge for
me every time since, you know, because I could see
that it meant so much to them to be able
to take part in something that was the vote for
(10:25):
their representatives in the United States.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
More more.
Speaker 5 (10:36):
Sometimes I think people can feel like they're voiceless or
what they want isn't accessible, but on a reachable level,
it really is, like it is reachable. You can enact
change in your community simply by taking the time to
just a little time to get to know the candidates
in your community, get to know them on a state level,
(10:57):
get to know them on a.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
United States level, and voting yeah, and that and that too.
Like I've I've tried to be much better at more
better at uh, you know, educating myself about local candidates too,
because I feel like that is really what affects like
your day to day life, and it wasn't something I
thought about as much as a young person. It's just
(11:21):
always focused on like the bigger elections, you know. And
but now I think, as you said, Elsa, like since
I've become a parent, I'm more focused on and it
just you know, it doesn't take long. It's just like
sitting down, making a little time to just like get
online and just like learn about who the local candidates
(11:44):
are and like what they stand for, what their platform is,
like read the blurb, read the thing you know, and
then it makes you know when you get that, you
get to that booth and you got all those names,
so much.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Lessons, so many names, so many names.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
The second circame what yeah, yeah, but we're so lucky
because the Internet any tips elsa, I mean, for me,
it's usually like you know, I'm I'm I look for
Oftentimes there's websites that will break it down for you,
like what candidates believe in the stuff that your values
(12:20):
and your vision for your community aligns with, and then
you can sort of see where they stand on different things,
and from there you can vote, as opposed to like
having to sit down and sort of read a giant
you know. I mean, you know we're all very very busy.
We're not I'm i am. I'm barely getting through my
(12:41):
US weekly every week. You know, I'm not trying to
get through like a treatise of what everyone thinks about
every single thing.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
So I mean, I would say two things to that.
I would say, first.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Of all, stop reading us weekly.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
No, I would say, there are so many people who
spend not even one tenth of the fraction of the
time that we just talked about. We just walk in
and are just like boo boo boo boo boo. Now great.
The reason why I mentioned that is because I don't
want people to feel like if you're not getting a
PhD and poly side, that you are not allowed in
(13:15):
that in that voting booth, you know what I mean.
So like, yeah, very easy. I love ballot Pedia, like
it kind of breaks it down for you. You can look
and it'll tell you put in your address, and it
tells you, Okay, this is what's going to be on
the ballot. And even I mean I have voting like
get togethers, Like even I will get together with our
ballots and we'll go back and forth where we'll be
(13:36):
like yeah, prop whatever, and we'll be like yeah, yeah,
it's yes, right, and then we'll read it and we'll
be like, well, it's actually no, and then you realize
it's written to literally confuse the f out of you,
and you're like why yes, and it sounds like and
then these people support it, and these people are against it,
and you're just like, oh my gosh. So I would
say it's always a good idea to look at. You're
(13:58):
always gonna have a friend who's like way more politics
and you I like looking at their sample ballot. Now,
I'm not going to take that and literally just go verbatim,
but some people do. And then I'll sort of look
and look at like ballot PD, I'll look at a
couple different sources. Some of the you know, whatever party
affiliation you are, they will usually put out sort of
like a recommended you know, voter's guide. So I'm pulling
(14:21):
from like three or four sources to kind of come
to a compilation. But I would say in every election,
there's obviously going to be more important issues or seemingly
more important issues are on the ballot. You know, obviously
coming up in this election, we have women's reproductive health
is on the ballot in a couple of states. Obviously
(14:43):
it's it's a presidential election that's coming up, which is big.
But as Melissa mentioned, there's going to be smaller amendments
that are on the ballot, propositions, things that are happening
literally in the county that you live in, that can
greatly affect your life. Your public schools, you know, how
money gets distributed, how we improve you know, our highways
(15:03):
or freeways or so. There's a lot of things that
are happening at a local level that I think, to
your guys's point, may affect your everyday life more than
kind of what's up here. But I think you know,
knowing that you can pull from different sources. You don't
have to feel like the smartest person in the world
(15:24):
to go in and do it. But knowing kind of
where you sit and sort of your general belief system,
I think is a good thing to have with you,
and that's really all you need. Honestly.
Speaker 6 (15:36):
That's so good though.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
That's I never feel like the smartest person in the
world when I go anywhere, so that's great. Just feel
normal going into the voting book.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Sometimes I get nervous. Do you guys ever get nervous
when you go in there. I'm like, oh, yeah, as
my fingers on the pulse of everything right now, yeah, yeah,
at that moment.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
But I guess it kind of is.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
I mean, maybe that's why I get nervous, because it
is a very cool, big deal that we get to
do that.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Well, it's interesting because Mexico just had their election, and
you know, they and this was the first time that
people abroad could vote so at all the consulates, at
all the Mexican consulates, there was like hours long lines
for people who were trying to vote. I think people
in Paris were waiting up to like six hours. In
(16:30):
La the line was about three hours. But two things
that really made me sort of reflect on it was
a we hold our elections on a I say we
because I'm a dual citizen. But we hold our elections
on a Sunday, where it's easy for people to go vote.
It's not that easy here in the United States. You know,
the elections on a Tuesday. We don't know how late
(16:50):
the you know the boot's going to be open. So
you know, part of why it's really important to vote
is because sometimes there are people who try to make
it harder for people to vote. Working people, people who
have multiple jobs, they don't necessarily know where their election is.
Can they vote outside of their district? You know, how
easy are we making it so? So that's one of
(17:12):
the things that I really appreciated about the election yesterday
was it was on a Sunday. People know how important
it is. I mean, they waited in that line, and
we want to make sure that in our election coming
up in November that the same thing has happened, that
people really take advantage of what is such a privilege
to do in this democratic society and to not have
(17:34):
anybody make them feel like they're not worth it, They're
not worthy and they don't deserve the access, and that
they they were able to do it in a safe,
in a safe way.
Speaker 6 (17:46):
One hundred percent. Yeah, it's so important.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
So like for all my gen and I don't know
what the generation of eighteen to twenty four year olds
is called right now, generation cucumber a gen because not
a health is already I don't know. I don't know
what comes after Alpha, but something, you know, I think that,
like I look at them and I think, guess what,
people like you guys, you're amazing because you can amplify
(18:12):
a certain type of situation and help more people find
things out. But when you look at actual influence, the
person who's on that group chat of seventeen people who's
like their friend groups, not Alpha, but just the person
who makes suggestions or is encouraging or whatever that's the person.
So I'm hoping that person sees you and thinks, Okay,
(18:35):
I'm going to influence my circle of friends that we're
all going to go vote this year. Like maybe we're
not that excited, maybe it doesn't seem sexy, maybe it's
like not on top of mind, or they're not feeling
like it's so important, but because they heard you guys
talk about like, hey, you know what, we were kind
of this is the way we found our civic engagement voice.
(18:58):
This is kind of the thing that we're doing, and
like we want to just make sure you guys know
about it because, like, guess what, it really does matter
because you're all the things and all the rights that
are at risk. And that person goes and tells her friend, well,
that's that's the power. That individual person, this individual person
listening right now has all the power.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
I agree. I agree with that one hundred percent. I
was talking to a friend the other day and she
specifically said she was like, I don't know, you know,
it just feels like I'm I'm just left with that
all the choices are bad, so.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Why would I even go?
Speaker 5 (19:34):
And I'm like, babe, the no, nothing is perfect, nothing
right now is perfect. You can look around and see
that it's not, but it it. It's such a big
deal for you to go. It's such a big deal
for you to go and make your choices known and
make your voice heard, because like everybody's voices add up
(19:54):
to this, like cacophony of citizens saying this is who
we choose, this is what we want. We were interested
in seeing these changes in our society. We want this
to happen. We want these groups to be protected, we
want this to be safer, we want this, that and
the other. It's like, if you're just going to sit
back and not do it because none of the choices
(20:14):
are sexy, wow.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Then you can't keep playing. You know, I'm not just
on a day to day basis.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
What I would add to that is, I think also
some people feel like, well, whoever ends up in any
election being the winner, Like, my life's really not going
to change. But the truth is that somebody's life is
going to change. Somebody's life will be really permanently affected.
So like, if you don't feel that compelled for you,
(20:42):
look to your most vulnerable friend and think about what
they may have at risk. You know, if you don't
like show up for them. So I would just encourage people.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
It's a great way to put it out. So I love
that so much, you know, and your most vulnerable friend
think about that.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Think about your most vulnerable friend or community member. But
some of the orgs that I love that are doing
great work in the space, you know, Like I am
a voter. If you want like reminders, you know, you
can text friends to two six seven ninety seven and
you'll get all of your voting reminders on your cell phone.
You won't have to go on the internet and find
things out. Headcounts a great org. If you're not registered,
(21:21):
get registered. Look at our friendship that was born out
of love of democracy and has now has transcended that
into like motherhood and other things. And so you can
find your people there. You can find people in these
spaces that are fun to be around.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yeah, you can build community.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
And like you were saying in the beginning too, you're
also like, what a beautiful example for your children to
see and watch. Yeah, and I think that's really important
and really beautiful kind of even family tradition to be
like passing on like your mom gave to you.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
That's yeage. Yeah, more better, Oh, Elsa, We're so glad
you were here with us.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Wait, I feel more better about like, I don't know,
I just feel like, you know, I can do stuff.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
I feel way more better and I feel like pumped.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
I'm doing You're amped up right now?
Speaker 1 (22:16):
I am. My energy went up through this conversation.
Speaker 6 (22:20):
And I'm doing a fun event with Elsa this Saturday
in Arizona for abortion rights and women reproductive health.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
And I am very excited now also because I get
to spend the day with Elsa.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I'm so excited for you guys. I wish I could
be there. Oh yeah, it's gonna be awesome.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
We're gonna have a great time. And I think again,
look look around your community. Don't be afraid to like
be the one to make make a suggestion to your group, chat,
your group of friends. Yeah, you're gonna feel more better
if you if you show up even a little bit.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
Yeah, classy, classy way to drop the title of the
pod right there at the end, you guys, thanks for
listening today, everybody.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Oh wait, we forgot to.
Speaker 6 (23:05):
Ask Elsa she feels more better?
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Do you feel more better? She does? She does.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
I didn't even need to ask her.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
First of all, just spending this time with you has
been has made me feel more better whenever I'm with
you guys, and I hope that's how everybody feels when
they hear your podcast.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
YAYO, Yeah, thanks for stopping. Bye, thanks for coming on
the pod. Thanks for being here everyone.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
We love you all. I love you pod people.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Okay, bye bye bye, More Better.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
Well that's it, thanks for listening.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
We hope this convo inspired you to take action, make
a plan to vote. Speak to your loved ones and
your friends see if they need help with their plan
to vote or mailing your ballot, or show up on
November fifth. I hope we can have the biggest turnout
that we've ever seen in an election.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
I hope you're pumped.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
I'm pumped.
Speaker 6 (24:06):
Let's stay hopeful and please vote.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Have a great day, More More Better.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Do you have something you'd like to be more better
at that you want to talk about in a future episode.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Can you relate to our struggles or have you tried
one of our tips and tricks?
Speaker 5 (24:21):
Shoot us your thoughts and ideas at Morebetter pod at
gmail dot com and include a voice note if you
want to be featured on the pod. Ooh, More Better
with Stephanie Melissa is a production from Wvsound and iHeartMedia's
Mike Utura podcast network, hosted by me Daffie Viatriz and
Melissa FUMERA More Better is produced by Isis Madrid, Leo Clem,
(24:41):
and Sophie Spencer Zebos. Our executive producers are Wilmer Valderrama
and Leo Clem at wvsound. This episode was edited by
Isis Madrid and engineered by Sean Tracy and feature's original
music by Madison Devenport and Hey Loo Boy. Our cover
art is by Vincent Remy's and photography by David Avolos.
For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(25:02):
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. See you
next week's Sgal bye,
So many names, so many names, like what who?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
The second circuit of what?
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I know? What does that do?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
More?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Better, more better, more.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Better more.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Welcome back listeners, Melissa Here. On this week's episode, we're
looking to dive in even further on being more better
at civic duty. With the election under a week away,
Stephanie and I wanted to put even more emphasis on
the power of your vote. It's up to us to
create the change we want to see, which brings us
back to an episode from weeks ago when we spoke
(00:46):
with Elsa Collins, professional doer, mom, humanitarian, founder of Poldaristas
and this is about humanity. Time flew by when we
spoke to Elsa, and we only got to share a
portion of our convo with you. So today we're going
to share even more. Enjoy the listen, and see at
the polls more better.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
You know. I thought the sweatshirt because I was like,
this is cool.
Speaker 5 (01:14):
It is a cool Kleina Strata sweatshirt, has a cool
heart on it.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I will wear it.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
I will, you know, I'll look like a cool mom,
not like a regular mom. And then what ends up
happening in it is that I put it on and
I'm like, I look.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Like a sack of potatoes. I would a sack.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
It is literally the color of burlap. Anyway, don't make
these mistakes.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Guys. Welcome to More Better, a podcast.
Speaker 6 (01:42):
Where we stop pretending to have it all together and embrace.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
The journey of becoming a little more better every day.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I just blanked.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
I was talking about the sweatshirt. Anyway, I got this
and that's Stephanie Bietric.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah. Here we are.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
We're just really doing it, you guys, thanks for tuning
in once again to the Shenanigans.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Here.
Speaker 6 (02:05):
How you doing, Steph, I'm you know, yeh uh.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
You know what bombs me out is that that was
not a cheap sweatshirt. I was like, I'm buying this
sweatshirt because this sweatshirt is going to do it for me.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
All right, be cool, relaxed, cool.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
Mom, it's not you want it, I'll give it to you.
You know, it has a very cool drawstring on the front.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
When you said about the burlap color, I have to
say nothing stresses me out more than trying to shop
within the beige family because when you hit the bright color,
it is looks so cool and then sometimes you don't
is it like.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
And here's a question for women with brown skin, and
you know, write us.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Is it? Is it the brown skin?
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Is it the tones that differing tones inside variations of
brown skin? I mean, I cannot a camel trench coat, no, girlfriend,
I look like a thumb.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I was a big big when I'm in a camel
camel coat of any kind. All the blogs was like, camel,
it looks so cool. It looks bad on me. Man,
It's bad.
Speaker 6 (03:11):
Yeah, Like it like washes me out in a weird way.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
It's it's I think I unlocked it. That's why this
looks not good on me. This is why they would
look great on a darker brown skin, yes, woman, or
perhaps a lighter like a peach. But this isn't for
me anyway.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
How are you? What do you do this week that
was more better? Or today or whatever?
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
You know what I'm doing that's a little more better.
But also it's not completely by choice. Is it's the
last week of school.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
For my child.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
There's a lot of things to keep track of, and
I am I'm on it wow, hyper focused on making
sure all the things get done this week. But I
also feel like I'm forced into that situation.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Interesting, right, Like I didn't sign up for a managerial
position here, but somehow I've managed to be one. Yeah,
it just sort of happens. What are you doing this week?
That's more better, mamitor.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Let's see, we did make out.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
It was nice.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
We haven't done that in a very long time for you.
It was nice.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
You know, it's hard to find time to make out.
It is like old school, high school style. Yeah, it's
really you know, a little over the clothes grab.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Sorry. Parents, if you're listening.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
To this with your kids, sorry about that, but you
should educate them about sex and consent. Anyway, anyway, anyway,
more better. What are we talking about today, Steph? What
are we talking about today? Melissa?
Speaker 2 (04:53):
That's called a volley You guys have just volleyed that
back she did.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
She was like, I don't feel like doing that.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I do feel like doing what we're talking about today.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Actually, we're talking about something really important today with someone
awesome who we both adore and look up to. I
would say for myself, we're talking about finding causes you
care about and civic duty, you know, like voting has
always been a big deal for me. I voted for
the first time after September eleventh, because that happened to
be the year that I turned eighteen, and so I
(05:24):
just I've always felt really strongly about that. And I
would say to people that I knew that, you know,
decided to sit out a voter something, I would.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Just be like, well, then you can't complain. If you're
not going to participate, then you can't complain. Ah ha.
I literally just put my hands on my hips to
do that.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Today with us is Elsa Collins. She is basically a
professional doer. She's a mom, a humanitarian, and she's a
founder of Bodadistas and this is about humanity.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Welcome Elsa, Elsa.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Hello, Hello, Hi, how are you.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
We're so happy to have you here.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Oh my gosh, sorry confession, I was late. My kids
school program run a little bit late. Sorry for keeping
you all waiting. But I'm so excited to be be
like that.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yeah, it'd be like that, it'd be like.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
That hashtag hashtag life, hashtag life. But I'm excited to
be here.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And I'm so excited to have you here. And I
know you're super busy, and I really appreciate you making
the time. Yes, give us a little bit of like background,
how you kind of first started, like how you knew
this space was like where you wanted to, like, you know,
focus a lot of your energy and time into.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
You know, I would say that my journey to kind
of the space I'm in honestly started when I was young.
My mom was always someone who was taking us to volunteer,
and then I think that when I started having kids,
it kind of was reborn within me. It really clarified
(06:57):
for me at least, like what is my purpose in
this world? What was my purpose and my responsibility to
others in my community. But it came from having kids
and feeling like I needed to really get focused on
how I was going to make this world kind of
(07:19):
a better place. I think, you know, twenty sixteen was
a really hard year for so many people, and for me,
it was really the catalyst for thinking about this as
actually as a profession and saying, you know what I'm
going to I'm going to start a consulting company where
(07:39):
we really focus on issues that matter and think about
how people are using their voice and using their platform.
Because you know, it was a time where I didn't
know where what was going to happen in this country,
what was going to happen with my kids. As you said,
like I'm raising three kids or multi racial, multi lingual,
and in a in a at a time where that
(08:03):
may not have been you know, looked at as a
as a good thing. You know, it's like a double whammy.
They're they're half Mexican and half black, and and and
I thought, okay, I need to be as as much
of an advocate for for them and for their existence
as a whole. And that kind of was really what
(08:24):
motivated me to look at this as something that I
would do, you know, as a career.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
That's really cool.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, that's really cool.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Sometimes you're like, I don't know what my role is
in this space, and and honestly that the first and
easiest role is as a mother, and it's how we're
raising our kids, and how we're exposing our kids to
sort of obviously in an age appropriate way, but things
that matter and things that are important. When we look
at what is the biggest predictor of what makes a
(08:55):
voter a voter, it's if their parents voted. So it
starts like us, and so I want to say that
you know, we may someone may listen to this and
finish the whole conversation and be like, oh my god,
there was so many things. I don't know what it's like. Honestly,
even if you're you're an auntie, you're like someone who's
in the village of somebody else, or you're a parent
(09:15):
village of somebody else, or you're a parent yourself, Like
you are having a very important role in creating like
the next generation of change makers, upstanders, people who are
going to say things, people who are going to like
know what to do and know how to act, and
so everybody who listens to this can start right there.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
Yeah, it's huge, it's huge, and it's part of like
that that responsibility or that.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
I don't know, gift.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
It really feels like a gift to be able to
vote for who you want to be in power, making laws,
making choices, making changes. Not everybody gets that gift, right,
And like, my parents lived in the United States for
a long time before they were allowed to have that
gift because they weren't US citizens. And when I became
a US citizen, it was like, Okay, this is huge
(10:04):
because I could see how much it meant to my
parents to be able to vote, you know, it was
a huge huge, huge thing the first time that they
got to do it, and subsequently it's been huge for
me every time since, you know, because I could see
that it meant so much to them to be able
to take part in something that was the vote for
(10:25):
their representatives in the United States.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
More more.
Speaker 5 (10:36):
Sometimes I think people can feel like they're voiceless or
what they want isn't accessible, but on a reachable level,
it really is, like it is reachable. You can enact
change in your community simply by taking the time to
just a little time to get to know the candidates
in your community, get to know them on a state level,
(10:57):
get to know them on a.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
United States level, and voting yeah, and that and that too.
Like I've I've tried to be much better at more
better at uh, you know, educating myself about local candidates too,
because I feel like that is really what affects like
your day to day life, and it wasn't something I
thought about as much as a young person. It's just
(11:21):
always focused on like the bigger elections, you know. And
but now I think, as you said, Elsa, like since
I've become a parent, I'm more focused on and it
just you know, it doesn't take long. It's just like
sitting down, making a little time to just like get
online and just like learn about who the local candidates
(11:44):
are and like what they stand for, what their platform is,
like read the blurb, read the thing you know, and
then it makes you know when you get that, you
get to that booth and you got all those names,
so much.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Lessons, so many names, so many names.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
The second circame what yeah, yeah, but we're so lucky
because the Internet any tips elsa, I mean, for me,
it's usually like you know, I'm I'm I look for
Oftentimes there's websites that will break it down for you,
like what candidates believe in the stuff that your values
(12:20):
and your vision for your community aligns with, and then
you can sort of see where they stand on different things,
and from there you can vote, as opposed to like
having to sit down and sort of read a giant
you know. I mean, you know we're all very very busy.
We're not I'm i am. I'm barely getting through my
(12:41):
US weekly every week. You know, I'm not trying to
get through like a treatise of what everyone thinks about
every single thing.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
So I mean, I would say two things to that.
I would say, first.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Of all, stop reading us weekly.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
No, I would say, there are so many people who
spend not even one tenth of the fraction of the
time that we just talked about. We just walk in
and are just like boo boo boo boo boo. Now great.
The reason why I mentioned that is because I don't
want people to feel like if you're not getting a
PhD and poly side, that you are not allowed in
(13:15):
that in that voting booth, you know what I mean.
So like, yeah, very easy. I love ballot Pedia, like
it kind of breaks it down for you. You can look
and it'll tell you put in your address, and it
tells you, Okay, this is what's going to be on
the ballot. And even I mean I have voting like
get togethers, Like even I will get together with our
ballots and we'll go back and forth where we'll be
(13:36):
like yeah, prop whatever, and we'll be like yeah, yeah,
it's yes, right, and then we'll read it and we'll
be like, well, it's actually no, and then you realize
it's written to literally confuse the f out of you,
and you're like why yes, and it sounds like and
then these people support it, and these people are against it,
and you're just like, oh my gosh. So I would
say it's always a good idea to look at. You're
(13:58):
always gonna have a friend who's like way more politics
and you I like looking at their sample ballot. Now,
I'm not going to take that and literally just go verbatim,
but some people do. And then I'll sort of look
and look at like ballot PD, I'll look at a
couple different sources. Some of the you know, whatever party
affiliation you are, they will usually put out sort of
like a recommended you know, voter's guide. So I'm pulling
(14:21):
from like three or four sources to kind of come
to a compilation. But I would say in every election,
there's obviously going to be more important issues or seemingly
more important issues are on the ballot. You know, obviously
coming up in this election, we have women's reproductive health
is on the ballot in a couple of states. Obviously
(14:43):
it's it's a presidential election that's coming up, which is big.
But as Melissa mentioned, there's going to be smaller amendments
that are on the ballot, propositions, things that are happening
literally in the county that you live in, that can
greatly affect your life. Your public schools, you know, how
money gets distributed, how we improve you know, our highways
(15:03):
or freeways or so. There's a lot of things that
are happening at a local level that I think, to
your guys's point, may affect your everyday life more than
kind of what's up here. But I think you know,
knowing that you can pull from different sources. You don't
have to feel like the smartest person in the world
(15:24):
to go in and do it. But knowing kind of
where you sit and sort of your general belief system,
I think is a good thing to have with you,
and that's really all you need. Honestly.
Speaker 6 (15:36):
That's so good though.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
That's I never feel like the smartest person in the
world when I go anywhere, so that's great. Just feel
normal going into the voting book.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Sometimes I get nervous. Do you guys ever get nervous
when you go in there. I'm like, oh, yeah, as
my fingers on the pulse of everything right now, yeah, yeah,
at that moment.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
But I guess it kind of is.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
I mean, maybe that's why I get nervous, because it
is a very cool, big deal that we get to
do that.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Well, it's interesting because Mexico just had their election, and
you know, they and this was the first time that
people abroad could vote so at all the consulates, at
all the Mexican consulates, there was like hours long lines
for people who were trying to vote. I think people
in Paris were waiting up to like six hours. In
(16:30):
La the line was about three hours. But two things
that really made me sort of reflect on it was
a we hold our elections on a I say we
because I'm a dual citizen. But we hold our elections
on a Sunday, where it's easy for people to go vote.
It's not that easy here in the United States. You know,
the elections on a Tuesday. We don't know how late
(16:50):
the you know the boot's going to be open. So
you know, part of why it's really important to vote
is because sometimes there are people who try to make
it harder for people to vote. Working people, people who
have multiple jobs, they don't necessarily know where their election is.
Can they vote outside of their district? You know, how
easy are we making it so? So that's one of
(17:12):
the things that I really appreciated about the election yesterday
was it was on a Sunday. People know how important
it is. I mean, they waited in that line, and
we want to make sure that in our election coming
up in November that the same thing has happened, that
people really take advantage of what is such a privilege
to do in this democratic society and to not have
(17:34):
anybody make them feel like they're not worth it, They're
not worthy and they don't deserve the access, and that
they they were able to do it in a safe,
in a safe way.
Speaker 6 (17:46):
One hundred percent. Yeah, it's so important.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
So like for all my gen and I don't know
what the generation of eighteen to twenty four year olds
is called right now, generation cucumber a gen because not
a health is already I don't know. I don't know
what comes after Alpha, but something, you know, I think that,
like I look at them and I think, guess what,
people like you guys, you're amazing because you can amplify
(18:12):
a certain type of situation and help more people find
things out. But when you look at actual influence, the
person who's on that group chat of seventeen people who's
like their friend groups, not Alpha, but just the person
who makes suggestions or is encouraging or whatever that's the person.
So I'm hoping that person sees you and thinks, Okay,
(18:35):
I'm going to influence my circle of friends that we're
all going to go vote this year. Like maybe we're
not that excited, maybe it doesn't seem sexy, maybe it's
like not on top of mind, or they're not feeling
like it's so important, but because they heard you guys
talk about like, hey, you know what, we were kind
of this is the way we found our civic engagement voice.
(18:58):
This is kind of the thing that we're doing, and
like we want to just make sure you guys know
about it because, like, guess what, it really does matter
because you're all the things and all the rights that
are at risk. And that person goes and tells her friend, well,
that's that's the power. That individual person, this individual person
listening right now has all the power.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
I agree. I agree with that one hundred percent. I
was talking to a friend the other day and she
specifically said she was like, I don't know, you know,
it just feels like I'm I'm just left with that
all the choices are bad, so.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Why would I even go?
Speaker 5 (19:34):
And I'm like, babe, the no, nothing is perfect, nothing
right now is perfect. You can look around and see
that it's not, but it it. It's such a big
deal for you to go. It's such a big deal
for you to go and make your choices known and
make your voice heard, because like everybody's voices add up
(19:54):
to this, like cacophony of citizens saying this is who
we choose, this is what we want. We were interested
in seeing these changes in our society. We want this
to happen. We want these groups to be protected, we
want this to be safer, we want this, that and
the other. It's like, if you're just going to sit
back and not do it because none of the choices
(20:14):
are sexy, wow.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Then you can't keep playing. You know, I'm not just
on a day to day basis.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
What I would add to that is, I think also
some people feel like, well, whoever ends up in any
election being the winner, Like, my life's really not going
to change. But the truth is that somebody's life is
going to change. Somebody's life will be really permanently affected.
So like, if you don't feel that compelled for you,
(20:42):
look to your most vulnerable friend and think about what
they may have at risk. You know, if you don't
like show up for them. So I would just encourage people.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
It's a great way to put it out. So I love
that so much, you know, and your most vulnerable friend
think about that.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Think about your most vulnerable friend or community member. But
some of the orgs that I love that are doing
great work in the space, you know, Like I am
a voter. If you want like reminders, you know, you
can text friends to two six seven ninety seven and
you'll get all of your voting reminders on your cell phone.
You won't have to go on the internet and find
things out. Headcounts a great org. If you're not registered,
(21:21):
get registered. Look at our friendship that was born out
of love of democracy and has now has transcended that
into like motherhood and other things. And so you can
find your people there. You can find people in these
spaces that are fun to be around.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yeah, you can build community.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
And like you were saying in the beginning too, you're
also like, what a beautiful example for your children to
see and watch. Yeah, and I think that's really important
and really beautiful kind of even family tradition to be
like passing on like your mom gave to you.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
That's yeage. Yeah, more better, Oh, Elsa, We're so glad
you were here with us.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Wait, I feel more better about like, I don't know,
I just feel like, you know, I can do stuff.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
I feel way more better and I feel like pumped.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
I'm doing You're amped up right now?
Speaker 1 (22:16):
I am. My energy went up through this conversation.
Speaker 6 (22:20):
And I'm doing a fun event with Elsa this Saturday
in Arizona for abortion rights and women reproductive health.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
And I am very excited now also because I get
to spend the day with Elsa.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I'm so excited for you guys. I wish I could
be there. Oh yeah, it's gonna be awesome.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
We're gonna have a great time. And I think again,
look look around your community. Don't be afraid to like
be the one to make make a suggestion to your group, chat,
your group of friends. Yeah, you're gonna feel more better
if you if you show up even a little bit.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
Yeah, classy, classy way to drop the title of the
pod right there at the end, you guys, thanks for
listening today, everybody.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Oh wait, we forgot to.
Speaker 6 (23:05):
Ask Elsa she feels more better?
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Do you feel more better? She does? She does.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
I didn't even need to ask her.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
First of all, just spending this time with you has
been has made me feel more better whenever I'm with
you guys, and I hope that's how everybody feels when
they hear your podcast.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
YAYO, Yeah, thanks for stopping. Bye, thanks for coming on
the pod. Thanks for being here everyone.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
We love you all. I love you pod people.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Okay, bye bye bye, More Better.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
Well that's it, thanks for listening.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
We hope this convo inspired you to take action, make
a plan to vote. Speak to your loved ones and
your friends see if they need help with their plan
to vote or mailing your ballot, or show up on
November fifth. I hope we can have the biggest turnout
that we've ever seen in an election.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
I hope you're pumped.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
I'm pumped.
Speaker 6 (24:06):
Let's stay hopeful and please vote.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Have a great day, More More Better.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Do you have something you'd like to be more better
at that you want to talk about in a future episode.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Can you relate to our struggles or have you tried
one of our tips and tricks?
Speaker 5 (24:21):
Shoot us your thoughts and ideas at Morebetter pod at
gmail dot com and include a voice note if you
want to be featured on the pod. Ooh, More Better
with Stephanie Melissa is a production from Wvsound and iHeartMedia's
Mike Utura podcast network, hosted by me Daffie Viatriz and
Melissa FUMERA More Better is produced by Isis Madrid, Leo Clem,
(24:41):
and Sophie Spencer Zebos. Our executive producers are Wilmer Valderrama
and Leo Clem at wvsound. This episode was edited by
Isis Madrid and engineered by Sean Tracy and feature's original
music by Madison Devenport and Hey Loo Boy. Our cover
art is by Vincent Remy's and photography by David Avolos.
For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(25:02):
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. See you
next week's Sgal bye,
Hosts And Creators
Stephanie Beatriz
Melissa Fumero
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