Web 3.0, NFTs, The Metaverse, and WTF Does It All Mean with Melissa Henderson

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hot Happy Mess. Celebrate your magic in the middle of
life's messes. Hot happy Mess. I'm seriall and this is
hot happy mens. Shoot, what is up? Welcome to another
episode of Hot Happy Mess. I am Zuri Hall and

(00:32):
it's really hot. I'm super hot and just I am
so hot it's aggravating. I am on edge. Summer is here,
and my A C unit went out, y'all, I think
I told you about this. I don't know. I don't know,
I don't know. Words are hard. Um. It went out
like two three and went out a minute ago, honestly,

(00:53):
but it was fine because it wasn't so hot. And
I am so weird because like, I'll splurge on the
most random things and then not feel like paying for
the most practical necessary things. And it is becoming necessary
to fix my A C unit. But nobody told me
about this whole. Once you buy the housey, you're the
one who has to take care of it thing, and

(01:14):
I want my money back. Just kidding. I love the house,
I don't love how hot it is in these after
like in the morning. So that's what's going on over here.
Me sweating, Lola side eyeing me because she's hot, and
we mostly have just been staying in the lowest level
of the house, which is cool and shaded and comfortable. Leeh.

(01:35):
I think it might be time to cough up that
cash and get this a c fixed um. But anyways,
I am sipping on a glass of rose. Work is
done for the day. I was thinking, how happy mess
we should have, like a signature drink or a snack
for the summer, you know how like teams have mascots
and royal families have crests, the podcast should have a

(01:59):
sign is your drink and snack? Producer Star said nachos
and Martiniz. I think that's an interesting combination that I'm
not really going to hop on board with. Also, nachos
just seemed like something hot to be eating in this
already hot weather. Something cool, savija. Everyone doesn't like fish
or seafood. Something cool and refreshing for summer. A charcouterie

(02:21):
board um, hot cheetos. I don't know, gualk salsa. You
tell me shrimp cocktail? What about shrimp cocktail for the
drink of the summer. I could get down with us
collectively on boarding like a mohito could be cute. I
love a long Island like I don't know why, I
just like that is my family's drink, Like that is

(02:43):
our Royal Crest, Like we have the most amazing family recipe.
Um that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Just kidding. I think it started with my uncle and
it's delicious. So what about like a skinny Long Island
or a skinny Mark. I will say, um, the older right,
get the less. I want all the sugar and stuff
because one it just doesn't taste as good. I want

(03:04):
something like and refreshing. And I'm also trying to avoid
the headaches. I don't know. You let me know, comment,
leave a leave a review, and let me know what
the signature drink and snack of summer should be for
hot happy mess or slide in my d m s.
Leave a comment. I need some recommendations. Will announce it
at the UH I don't know, sometime this summer, and
whichever person's thing I pick will win a prize. So

(03:25):
now I gotta go find a prize. But I promise
if we get submissions, I will pick one and the
winner will win a prize. So just to make sure
that you leave your your handle, your at for Instagram
or Twitter, so we can slide in the d M
s and tell you what you've want. I'm super excited
for today's episode. We are diving a bit deeper into
the crypto of it all, specifically and f T S

(03:48):
and Web three. Today's guest is sharing why black women
and women of color should be pivoting into the crypto space,
career opportunities for you if you're interested, and maybe a pivot,
and also how we can buy our first and f
T it is so good and I don't want you
to miss a thing, So grab a pen and a
notepad because Melissa is dropping all of the decentralized gyms.

(04:11):
All right, let's get this combo starting. Here's Melissa. Here
she is. Melissa is a prolific lifestyle writer and digital
media executive with past routes at The Huffington's, Post, Ebony,
and Gizmoto, among other mainstream outlets. Her specialty is creative
storytelling mixed with an international tech lifestyle approach. In tween,
she discovered blockchain and fell down the crypto rabbit hole

(04:34):
like so many of us, myself included. Melissa keeps her
audience updated on the latest crypto trends insights and with
her weekly newsletter Crypto in the City. She is head
of Community at ape Works, a smart contract, Python based
developer framework for building Web three. I can't wait to
ask her what that sentence means and her mission and

(04:54):
priority are to document and bring together the spirit and
personality of urban culture. Currently, she's creating content in futuristic
formats through her brand Violet Summer, where readers can experience
her zine and VR and as n f T. Hello, Hello, Melissa,
how are you doing. I am good. Sorry, Thank you

(05:15):
for having me, Thank you for joining us. You know,
I'm really fascinated by this space. UM. Anyone who's listened
to our Crypto episodes knows that I've been, um, not
just casually interested, but investing since probably about tween and
then y'all hit me with a plot twist. Now they're
talking n f T S and Web three and so
much more than you know. The mainstream public was hippo

(05:36):
at least four or five years ago. UM. So we're
all excited to learn this space together, and I appreciate
you sharing your expertise with us. UM, just to kick
things off, how did you even get into the crypto space,
into this new world we all find ourselves in. Yeah,
So I think I started out as a blogger. I
was really interested in being a writer grow from growing up,

(05:59):
and when I graduated college, I wanted to work at
a glossy magazine and everyone, you know, you want to
get your name on this print mass head and there
wasn't any space for me really except in the digital department.
So I started out working as a writer in a
digital department, learning about digital media UM from the onset,

(06:20):
and then from there I started exploring different ways to
create content. UM. I always wanted to have ownership over
my work. I never really liked the idea of like
a website shutting down and then you know, there's no
way to document your work. So I started out in
to create your economy and really just experimenting with micro payments,

(06:42):
which is the idea that someone comes onto your site
and gives you a small little payment like a cent
or a penny for UM your work, and then that
in turn goes into something called a hot wallet, which
UM when they explained in your previous podcasts. So from there,

(07:02):
I just really just fell down the crypto rabbit hole
because I really needed to tap into these communities in
order to um share shed light on you know, my career,
but then also you know, stay up to date on
the latest trend. So in during the pandemic, um, like everyone,
we were in the house and I started playing with

(07:24):
around in its app called Clubhouse app, and basically Clubhouse
app was an app where it's audio first, and the
first early adopters were developers and creators. So um the developers,
they were you know, creating all these apps on in
the crypto space, and they really needed people beata users

(07:45):
to test um these crypto coins or like shill their coins,
which is promoting their coins these audiences. So the developers
are like, you know, I was one of the early users,
and I was pretty much in these clubhouse rooms listening
in and I was in a bitcoin room, and because
the clubhouse was dominated by bit corners like in early

(08:10):
and I just pretty much felt on a crypto rabbit hole.
I became a Bitcoin maxie. I learned and I read,
I know, I read the Bitcoin standard, and I really
just believed in cryptocurrency because as a creator, I always
wanted to get paid. I want to get paid on time,
and those were kind of the shortfalls for my industry, UM,

(08:30):
and the rest is history. UM. I connected with a
lot of different communities on clubhouse and from there we
took it into Twitter spaces and I r L which
uh that's how I got my job now just networking online. Wow. Okay, okay,
I love that. I'm curious to know. Still, Bitcoin purists,
are we dabbling in all coins at all? Are you allowed?

(08:53):
As you probably can't say I'm the out of you know, well,
you know what, I think it's good to have a diversified,
you know, crypto portfolio. And I started out as with
bitcoin because bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency and I wanted
to learn the history of money. So that's why I
read the Bitcoin standard and all these different ideologies about

(09:13):
political systems and how people you know come to um
all gather around one currency and start trading it and
buying and selling it. So no, I'm not necessarily a
Bitcoin Maxi anymore. I do UM, I do uh believe
in other coins and other ways and to collaborate in

(09:34):
the crypto space. UM. But I have some Bitcoin Maxi
friends and I think it's a great start. So yeah, yeah,
I'm right there with you. Absolutely, I agree. UM. You know,
we've been keeping up with the headlines, and it seems
like every other day there's a new plot twist when
it comes to the metamurs, Web three, who owns Twitter?
There's so much happening right now. We saw that Facebook

(09:56):
recently switched it up. They're officially known as Meta, the
the Massive Enterprise. Obviously there's still the Facebook social media
platform whatever you wanna call it. Um. But the fact
that Facebook rebranded as Meta, I mean, if the writing
wasn't on the wall before, it certainly was at that
point to the general public, who maybe didn't realize beforehand,

(10:19):
just kind of where we're all headed. Um. So everyone's
asking at this point, what the heck is Web three?
Web three point oh? Perhaps you know? UM, so breakdown
the difference for us, Um, what is Web three in
relation to Web two and Web one? Like, how do
you are we referring to it correctly? Am I saying? Yeah?
I mean right now we're still building Web three, so

(10:42):
our web three point oh, So we have different ways
of saying Web three or Web three point oh. But
essentially it's the decentralization of communication, um, and also the
decentralization of mainstream media outlets. So I guess you can
say that Web one it was all about static pages.

(11:03):
So you had AOL dot com, you might have had Wikipedia. Um.
You know, there was one server that you can connect
to your you know, to the internet. Um. And you
know that's known as like Dollar. So everyone's like, okay, well,
if we needed to connect to Internet, you have to
like take out your phone. Core you talking to my

(11:24):
friends out aim Yeah, talking to your friends on a
There were only a few different ways that you could
connect to this virtual machine. And Web one. Then we
have Web two, and that was like the invention of
user generated content and websites like YouTube and um, Facebook

(11:45):
or you know, Tumbler, and you know, there were a
lot of different content creators and influencers that came to
the mainstream and was like, hey, you know, we don't
need this centralized source. We can create our own different
servers to reach new audiences. Um. And that's kind of
how you know Instagram came into play. And I guess

(12:08):
I think that was Um we also had the twenty
four hour news cycle, which you know, you as a
media journalists know that news never stops now, um. And
then I think it was like also, you know, the
birth of social media in my space too. Like I said,
so it was like the beginner beginning of youth genera content.

(12:28):
Now in Web three, you know, people are saying, well,
you know, maybe I don't want to sell my content
for free online, or I don't want to connect or
have to, you know, deal with Instagram or Twitter just
to get my thoughts out there. I want to do.
I want to create my own platform that is decentralized

(12:48):
and it's run on my own servers, on my own terms,
because I don't want to get shadow band or blocked.
So Web three is kind of the culmination of everything
that of one and Web two did wrong. Um. I
think it's about ownership, it's about privacy um, and also
transparency UM. And also I think it's about this defy

(13:13):
this idea that you can you know, say what you
want and also built with you what you want on
your own terms if UM that makes sense, So you
can identify as whatever you want. You can be anonymous,
you could be you know, the president if you wanted,
on your own platform. Um. And you can contribute in
technology in a way that's relevant to you in your

(13:36):
own lifestyle. You said defy. I hear that a lot
what does exactly does defy mean? So defy in term
and short is decentralized finance. So it's the idea that
you don't have to go to a centralized banking system
to um transact and pay for goods and services. You

(13:56):
can create your own world. It's permission less. And it's
also you can come as you are, so you don't
have to be um someone as a traditional finance in
Wall Street to make your own protocol. You can make
your protocol based on how you and your community identify that.
So that's what I think defy is. And I always

(14:18):
say it's come as you are, same, same, and that
obviously the question was rhetorical. If you guys are listening
and wondering or wanting to know more about that specifically, again,
go to the episode that Melissa mentioned where I'm talking
with Wendy about all things crypto one on one. You
can head over there, But now we're gonna have back
over to Web three and the metaverse, because this is
something that I am still genuinely trying to wrap my

(14:40):
mind around. I feel like they're technically too naturally, I
don't know what I think Web three metaverse, interchangeable terms
slightly different things like what what is the difference if
there is one? You know what. So when I was
first getting into crypto in UM, as you mentioned in

(15:01):
my bio, I got into crypto through blockchain and I
was working, you know, for this UM female investor, and
she was investing in blockchain technologies. So, you know, back then,
web people weren't really saying web three. The toWin the
term was coined in I believe UM by the creator

(15:21):
of Polka dot, which is another like Web three kind
of cryptocurrency, but people weren't really talking about it, you know,
as as much now that we have cryptocurrency and we
have meta and we also have the you know, the
the advent of the creator economy. This is just the
whole umbrella term that you put all these things into one,

(15:43):
which could be the metaverse, which could be cryptocurrency defy
and you know other decentralized UM applications that creators are
starting on their own term UM. I use I like
to I like to say that UM. You know, the
metaverse is quickly becoming like a combination between social media

(16:05):
spaces like discord um and also mixed reality UM applications
like virtual reality UM filters, um, de central and and
you know roadblocks. So it's kind of a compilation of
all these things into one. And how do you, um

(16:25):
decide you know, which one you go to. It's based
on like which one fits your personality and what you
want to do into space. It really is a free
for all. Yeah, it's literally because it's de centralized, so
people can do whatever they want with. I have one
of the Oculus headsets, like the virtual reality headsets. I'm

(16:49):
still wrapping my mind around it. I use it a
little bit UM, but that essentially those sorts of headsets
and that sort of tech is kind of a gateway
into the v are of the metaverse. Yes for someone
listening who might not have ever utilized anything like this
or you know what, Yes it is okay. Oculus is

(17:10):
owned by Facebook, so you are going into Facebook's metaverse UM.
And so when you're you know, putting on your Oculus
you know headset, you can go into different um websites
or web three sites. But it's not necessarily to end all,
you know, be all of you know VR. There's other

(17:31):
VR was started in like the nineties and it's just now,
um seeing it's tipping point because of the metaverse and
because people are like, Okay, I want to buy things,
I want to I want to transact in the metaverse.
And there was a stat that I read that seventy
of millennials actually balk goods and services and the metaverse.
UM I actually have a VR site um Violet summersin

(17:53):
dot com, and I wanted to create my own metaverse.
So essentially, you know, anyone create can create their metal
verse and you can put on your VR headset and
you can go into these different spaces and kind of
you know, see how you know, it's not just one
dimensional space. It can be three dimensional and five dimensional.
So that's what makes the VR headsets really cool and

(18:16):
interesting because as people, we want to continue to evolve
and you know, like the world. You know, Christopher Columbus
and all these people that when they were navigating the world,
you know, the one thing that they discovered that the
world isn't flat, it's it's circular, and it's always evolving.
So how do we put those ideas into technology? And
that's where VR and all these mixed realities come in.

(18:38):
Got it. Yeah, I think that's really important to note
because I don't think that like now that I'm thinking
a little bit more deeply about. It's like, oh, well, yes,
of course that would be the case, but I've not
done that until you brought up that point that the
Oculus is one thing, but that is very much based
books metaverse. Like it's not like I put on any
VR headset ever, and I'm just in the metaverses. These

(18:59):
are rated or created spaces, um that can kind of
be self contained. It's not like you just have access
to this universe and it's all shared space. You have
to go out of your way to create many metaverses.
So wait, is it many a bunch of tiny metaverses
and we just say metaverse when we're generically referring to

(19:22):
any time you're in that type of space. Yeah, so okay,
So just going back to Oculus, like you have to
log in with your Facebook to use Oculus, your Facebook
log in. Um. But in general, like in the future,
there's gonna be many different spaces because you know, web
web one it was just about you know, you have

(19:43):
like three four different websites and that's what you can
go on too. But humans are nuanced, you know, we
want to get into different spaces and different communities that
we identify with and fit our needs. And so a
lot of different platforms now are creating their own metavers
is based on you know, their communities. So for example,

(20:05):
this over the weekend, if you heard of Board a
yacht club, which is an n f T collective. They UM,
they created their own metaverse called the Other Side and
essentially they put these land plots called other Deeds up
for grabs UM on an n f T marketplace platform
called open c and they had fifty four thousand plots

(20:28):
of land. And this these plots of land UM consists
of their metaverse and within it, you know, you can
go into the metaverse with your VR headset or whatever
headset you're you're you're you're you're navigating with, or you
can go into the metaverse with you know, um, your

(20:49):
website kind of you know, a web three website, which
which which would be logging in with your while we
can get it get into that a little later. UM.
So there's many different metaverses and it's honestly who has
the most money to create these large scale productions that
are connected onto the blockchain. UM which chain that they

(21:10):
may be on, it completely depends on I guess UM
you know, the project that you're you know, investing in.
So I guess in short, you know, there's there's many
different metaverses. It just depends on which one got it.
That makes total sense. You mentioned a lot of this
depends on how much money you have to to kind

(21:31):
of figure out what you can do or what's possible
in this new world, which is interesting and slightly ironic, right,
because the whole thing about decentralization and sort of democratizing
tech again and the ability for artists to create and
be paid and compensated fairly. And then it's like, uh,

(21:51):
but meta is just going to swoop in and like
the fact that I even have to use my Facebook
logg and means okay, cool. So the man just followed
me into the metaverse basically, right, Do you have any
concerns about this environment that everyone is so excited about
becoming just a pay to play another pay to play
environment or is there a way to keep it pure? Um?

(22:12):
Do people just have to decide to patronize spaces that
aren't owned by you know, mega billionaire and trillionaire CEOs
and tech dudes. Yeah? So, I so when I first
started out writing about tech, it was in ten and
I was really interested in digital rights and basically how

(22:33):
females and people of color are subjugated online through things
like pre venge porn, which is the idea of you know,
putting up pictures um that is not that you didn't
consent on, like sexual pictures. So that was kind of
my excavation into digital rights. And the platforms like Facebook

(22:55):
and Twitter and Instagram are the number one platforms that
that are allowing people, um to cause harm to other
you know, human beings. So knowing that they have such
you know, lenient rules for you know, revenge porn and
and bullying, I do not agree with you know, Facebook

(23:17):
commandeering the word meta and so I don't have an
oculus and I don't have a Facebook because of that. Now,
when you ask other people, is that, you know, a
part of their mission or is that that or values?
They might not care about that. They might just want
to get into the metaverse and you know, start meeting

(23:39):
new people. And that's fine. But Web three is about
your freedom to choose. And we have a lot of
options because things are becoming decentralized and you know, you
don't have you don't have to have a lot of
money to to build a metaverse. Honestly, you really don't,
especially with me. I built my own VR site and
essentially it was kind of like a chance of meeting

(24:01):
these developers online and you know they built my VR
site essentially for free. So you know, there's opportunities out
there if you seek them, and if you have if
you want to take risks, like I think there's always
a reward for for taking that risk. Um, So you know,
before I go down the rabbit hole, I do think

(24:21):
that you know, you should do your own research on
you know, what you're getting into, because there's already reports
of people being bullied in the in the metaverse in
Oculus Prime, Like I've heard people like say that they
won't they go into these Oculus Prime kind of meta
verses and they get you know, there's a lot of racism,
Like you know, you can switch your clothes apparently in

(24:43):
some games, and sometimes people switch it to like really
racist you know, epitap clothing. Um, I've heard of people
being followed in the metaverse, so it could be a
really scary place. And if there's no sense, if there's
no digital rights or rule law within your meta verse,
within your community, like how do you reprimand bad actors

(25:04):
in the metaverse? And that's kind of like a huge
topic right now, and I think it has to do
with like the mission and the value. So I think
it's value first, mission first when you start to, you know,
explore these different um technologies and the companies and the
people that are making up That's a really great point
and something to think about. Also really encouraging the idea

(25:26):
to your point that anyone can kind of make their
own metaverse. If you don't see the world that you
want to be a part of, you can very much
create that world. The rules are yours to make in
any space that you're the one curating. So that's that's
really exciting when it comes to the opportunity for people
to to build communities that are really value focused or

(25:47):
mission driven and resonate most truly with them. Um, let
me go make a little metaverse real quick. How do
you And one of my friends and one of my colleagues, Um,
she's building Lucy, which is a museum. It's like an
online fine arts museum and she just, um, she just
raised three point three million dollars. She's a black woman.

(26:08):
It's called Lucy and she's building her own metaverse, so
you know, once she acquires all this UM fine art,
n f T s, she'll be able to showcase them
in her metaverse. So it's really about you know, finding
these projects, you know, going on to these sites like
afro tech or um Crypto in a City, which is

(26:28):
my column, and you know learning about them. Uh not
just like going on you know, Huffington Post or whatever
mainstream outlet and saying like, oh, because it's not on
you know this x y Z mainstream outlet, it's not relevant. No,
that's not that's not what web does about. Like, let's
let's take the power off of like five people and
give it back to the creators and independent UM outlets

(26:51):
that are really like showcasing amazing work and for people
to to to invest in and to enjoy. I love
that Crypto in the City, y'all. Okay, let me go, kid.
I need to go make sure I'm getting my weekly
updates too. Yeah, this weekly updates, so crypto and listening.
It's like my column. It's weekly updates. UM I share
um my journey into personal finance. But also you know

(27:15):
how I got into the space. What what crypto conferences
I'm going to what drama that just took place? And
you know how to invest in the latest tokens, etcetera.
But it's not a financial advice, so you should definitely
do your own research. You gotta always put that little
disclaimer on the back edge, right, Okay, Crypto in the City,
if people want to subscribe, is it now? I'm like,

(27:37):
do we need to go find it in the meta
versus sign up? Do we just go to a website
and web two? Like how do we socially engage? Yeah?
So if you go to Violet Summer Dot Exchange, you
can see all of my products and if you want
to learn more about Web three, I have a Web
three for New Beast courses. I also have um information

(27:59):
on my latest Violet Summer magazine. So it's Violet Summer
Dot Exchange and that's basically my own exchange because it's defied,
so I've created my own thing. Yes, you have your
own exchange. I love it. Okay, Violet Summer Dot Exchange.

(28:20):
One thing that I've heard a lot about in the
context of this space is discord. You and I were
talking about this right before we hopped on for the
actual podcast recording. UM people are people haven't been telling
me like, let's take this conversation at Discord. Let's go here.
And I'm like, wait, I don't know if I want
to because it's another thing, And why should I discord?
Why can't we just text? Um? So why should we

(28:40):
be on Discord? Why shouldn't we maybe just text? What
is it? Yeah? So Discord was basically a site for gamers,
um to go and like stream their games. But um,
now it's quickly becoming a site for n f T
communities and crypto communities to go and organize and community
on the latest updates of the community. Um. It's also

(29:04):
it's a it holds a lot of people. So, um,
back then we were talking about a well dot com
and like aim and you know, there was a limit
of friends that you could have on those platforms because
it was a data thing. Now with Discord, you know,
it's it's more features. You're able to stream, You're able
to you know, have a voice chat, and you're you're
also able to build communities more efficiently. It's also crypto

(29:29):
um friendly, so you can also have different air drops
on this platform. Um. And so a lot of n
f T communities have made Discord their kind of template
communication system. UM. In my full time job as a
head a community at eight works, UM, we use Discord

(29:49):
over Slack because the developers and also people in our
community are just more and it's more intrinsic to like
how we build online actually when it comes to technology.
So should we be on Discord, Yeah, of course. Um,
your little cousins or you know, my ten year old
nephews are already on Discord and they don't know anything,

(30:12):
or they kind of know about crypto because I gave
I started them off with a wallet, but they were
already on Discord because they were their gamers. Right. So
now that you know, we have more people coming onto
this platform because it's crypto native, it's more n f
T friendly. Um, if you're if you want to be
an n f T collector, which will probably talk about

(30:33):
or if you want to yeah, if you want to
be in a community of like you know, crypto traders,
absolutely get on Discord. It's just the latest technology. Honestly,
got it Okay, So it's not. For a brief moment
I thought it was just a communication platform where you
don't have to worry about being monitored or the rug

(30:54):
being pulled from under you with your conversations, because it
is also some sort of like girl, I just made
a whole thing up in my head. No one ever,
so you could get rugged on Discord. UM. If you
do start to navigate Discord, be aware of licks. I
wouldn't click on any links, UM, especially when it comes

(31:14):
to like entities and transacted in these communities, because you
can totally get your crypto stolen just from a link click.
It's called fishing, and these scammers have have gone truly
just off the wall with how they target you, especially
when it comes to social engineering. So you think that

(31:35):
you're talking to someone and on that's a real human
being on Discord, but you're actually talking to a bot.
So you know, at one point, Discord could be a
really scary place, but it could also be a really
fun place. UM. I'm in a project now called Iconic
Miss Crypto Clinic and f T Collection, and it's a
place where women could go and find celestial support UM

(31:57):
through multiple channels UM. So we have channels about anxiety,
there's channels about UM being single, engaged, UM having bipolar problems,
and it's just a way that women can go and
like pretty much chat about these issues in a safe environment,
non judgment environment. So that's a discord server that I

(32:17):
love to be a part of because it's kind of
like an AIM but it's more it's a little bit
more focused and fun and they have game nights and stuff. Um.
But yeah, discord is not necessarily some um, you know,
decentralized like if you can definitely, yeah you can do it.
Don't talk and they're talking crazy because someone can report you.

(32:37):
You never it might be watching. I don't want to
go on a completely Yeah, if you want to go
on a completely central decentralized channel, there's channels like signal. Um,
a lot of journalists you signal when they're dealing with
high quality stories, I guess, um, but yeah, because Telegram too,
it's also another great channel. Um. It just depends on

(32:59):
what community you you want to be a part of
and like what they um, what their choice of uh
communication channels are. OK, got it, you mentioned n f
T s. We're headed there. Now let's switch gears non
fungible tokens. Just a quick refresher what is an n
f T and why should we care? How do we
use these in the metaverse? So an n f T

(33:22):
that is anything that can be a digital object and
that needs to be on a blockchain, which is a
digital ledger. So a blockchain is basically a highway and
a highway that never sleeps. And if you look at
the n f T s, you can think of them
as cars that they're on this highway and they have
to pay UM gas or a toll to navigate this highway.

(33:47):
So an entity that is anything that can be UM
in the physical space replicating in a digital space. UM.
An n f T can be different classes. So you
could have an n f T T could be a
social coin UM like Dota coin UM, and n f
T can be UM a cup or it could be

(34:08):
a Christmas object. UM. It's basically a piece of a
physical object that could be replicated in a digital space
and UM. A lot of artists are using n f
t s because artists, UM, they want a lot of
I guess a lot of people buy art on in
person and they want to buy art online and so

(34:30):
you know, an n f T is a way for
artists to keep track of their work and also get
paid for what it's worth when it's sold on a
secondary market. So an artist can continue to get paid
UM in the space. So essentially like royalties right some
I don't know if that would be the exact phrase,
but no matter how many times that piece of art

(34:50):
gets sold, that original creator will always get a kickback.
We're in our what is what do we even call
this now? I'm talking about the metaverse? What is our world?
We live in? Uh? In real life? Yes? So because
like if you look at artists like Picasso, you know,
in his lifetime he really never got uh paid the

(35:10):
worth of his art or his family really. So basically,
you know, when we take that concept and we apply
it to the digital space, we want artists to get paid.
Like we said, we want ownership of our work. So
like you said, it's essentially like receiving royalties or creator fee,
that's what they call it um when it's sold on
a secondary market, and then UM you can track the

(35:32):
ownership on the blockchain because that that transfer of this contract,
which is an n f T, can go from multiple
people and you know exactly who bought it and at
what value. And if you write in your n f
T contract like the owner of this original contract gets
five percent royalty creator fee every time it's sold, then

(35:55):
it's it's creating values, creating wealth for your future generation.
Shans um so I mentioned clubhouse. Um. These developers they
were creating n f T s already existed since but
they really didn't have a use case of a non
fungible token until the artists came into play. And during
the pandemic, artists couldn't sell their work in real life.

(36:17):
They couldn't go to these you know, flea markets or sales,
or they couldn't do shows. So the developers were in
this room and they went into the art you know,
these artists rooms that were pretty much like complaining or
you know, just trying to figure out how to make money.
And these developers like, have you heard of an n
f T, Like you should come into this this room,
and like I have this new um, this new platform

(36:39):
called open Sea or Wearable, and like you're gonna be
able to make money and your family is going to
be able to benefit off of that. And that was
kind of like how we how I got into this
space and how wag me it's called We're all gonna
make it. It's kind of a web dry n f
T terminology. So when people say wag maybe it means
we're all gonna make it. And that's kind of like

(37:00):
the mission statement of like the n f T space
and how artists are going to continue to not only
get paid their work, but feed their families. And that's
like kind of been the mission statement for um web
jury especially when it comes to creators. That's amazing. If
people want to purchase n f t s sell n
f t S is the wallet the key, how do

(37:20):
you do that? Yeah, So back then, so we had cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency. Then Ethereum came along. The
founder of Theorium, his name is Batalic. He worked at
Bitcoin magazine and he pretty much got fed up with
you know, bitcoin and like how there was not a
use case for it, so he started a theoryum, which

(37:42):
was which is the first blockchain that held smart contracts,
which are n f t s non funcible tokens, and
he wanted to create a way to store data on
the blockchain. So essentially a lot of people had these
currencies cryptocurrencies, but they could and do anything with them
um and when n f t s came along, this

(38:04):
is a way that people could actually start transaction on
the blockchain. So when you have a wallet. UM, you
have essentially a digital like ledger, and you can put
data onto this wallet. So UM, A lot of people
have met a mask wallets. UM that's a decentralized wallet,

(38:25):
and you pretty much since you have already have your cryptocurrency,
you can transfer UM your coins onto this wallet essentially
like a pocketbook. It's the same the same aspect. You
know your you go yes, code storage, you you have
a bank. You have your your bank which could be
a coin base or a binance, and you take that

(38:45):
cryptocurrency and you put in your wallet and then you
start you can start buying your n f t s
from your wallet essentially. UM. Once you buy your once
you put your cryptocurrency and your wallet, then you're all
in madly able to start buying your n f t
s UM. And that's kind of pretty much how people

(39:06):
UM hold their n f T s in their cot
or cold wallet. Okay, got it, got it a lot
A lot to them a lot. But essentially it's like
just replicating everything that's in the digital space. But there's
a lot of technology, and I must admit there's a
u X problem because there's a lot of steps to
go for it and since you're still early on, I

(39:29):
think it's gonna get it's going to smooth off the
process of buying an n f T. But if you have,
like if you already have your cryptocurrency, you just need
like a wallet you transfer over your cryptocurrency and then
you're able to buy your t s. Got it? Okay,
got it? And you guys, this is like a one
on one compos So obviously there's much more to explore here,

(39:49):
but we'll keep it. We'll keep it around there for
the sake of processing. And this is one episode for everyone.
There's another topic I really want to talk with you about.
This is something that I've just noticed myself. I'm like, oh,
sex really sells. Also in this new web three World two,

(40:09):
it's been really interesting to like watch some of um,
some of the spaces evolved and kind of things associated
with it. You were interviewed in Jezebel about the topic
of the crypto hottie right because I've been I was like, oh,
she's cute, Oh she's oh okay, and I didn't realize
it was a thing that people are actually talking about

(40:30):
in this space. And now I'm like, okay, so this
is a talker what is the quote unquote crypto hottie? Um?
And what did you discuss with Jezebel. Yeah, so, I
guess the crypto hottie is someone who posts quote unquote
thirst traps online and they may be promoting and a coin,
they may be promoting bit coin, and essentially it's like

(40:53):
someone who's posting like these amazing photos of themselves online
in order to attract attention into either their platform or
a cryptocurrency that just launched. You know, when Jezebel interviewed
me about the I guess the rise of the crypto
hotti um, I was just a little adamant on trying

(41:17):
to level the playing field because that's not what the
industry is about. Of course, eighty one of the cryptocurrency
industry is male dominated. I mean a lot of the
founders of these huge exchanges and platforms are male. But
there's a lot of female builders in the space. But
sex cells and you know, they're everyone has a role

(41:38):
in this industry. Um. You know, unfortunately a lot of
people there's some women or um even men too, um
who posts of you know, sexual photos of them online
in order to sell their or show their n f
T project or show a coin, and that's okay, but

(41:58):
I don't think that should be the narrative of women online,
especially when it comes to Web three, because we're so
early and we need builders in this space, and there's
a lot of buildings. There's a lot of female builders
in our space, but they're not giving the platform as
these crypto hotties are. And I feel like a lot
of the narrative right now is being dominated by you know,

(42:22):
influencers or you know, these crypto hotties in the space
that you know, that's great if they want to do that,
but it doesn't I don't think it has longevity in
the industry. And you know, a lot of the coins
that they might be shilling might be a scam, it
might be a rug pool, and they might not be
in the industry. So if you're investing in something for
vanity metrics or for vanity reasons, that's not a great

(42:45):
way to invest. That might be your investment strategy, but
that's not an investment strategy that's going to have and
hold weight and build welch for your family in the
long run because it is regulated. So um. You know,
I was interviewed and I basically took the stance of like,
when I go to these crypto conferences, I'm not dressing,

(43:06):
you know, like I'm going out to a club. I
made that mistake. I was at a cryptoconference called Salana,
and I look nice, you know, I didn't look like crazy.
I didn't have like, you know, my boobs out or whatever.
But men, a lot of them men, they didn't take
me serious. They were like, oh, are you here to
get with the hype or are you a builder? And

(43:26):
it just didn't sit right with me because a lot
of my career I really fought for, you know, building
in the space, but also being taken serious as a
black woman and also getting getting to the next level
that required me to not not just fit in, but
like stand out and stand out in a way that
was that was relevant to my own values. So, um,

(43:49):
the space that I occupy right now, especially you know,
working for a web three developer platform, you know, there's
a lot of l g B two q I that
I work with. There's a lot of you know, developers
that don't want to be docs, that don't want to
have a lot of attention to them. So I want
to relate to them, but I also want to be

(44:09):
taken serious. So I just come as I come as
I am. I make sure that I'm comfortable. And you know,
in those instances where I was called out by these
like crazy mail like vcs or whatever, I you know,
I felt like I wasn't coming as myself anyway because
I just you know, I just felt like I was
not going for what I wanted or going going as

(44:32):
how I wanted to to to be portrayed. So that
article was I'm glad to be glad that I was included.
But I'm representing the builders and the people that are
on dogs and you know, might not have a large
following in this space, but are contributing a lot into
the space. So that's that's my stance on that absolutely,

(44:53):
And to your point about the builders and then the
people who are doing the work in this space who
might be the underdogs. UM, this space really is right
with opportunity for people who may not otherwise feel that
they've had those sorts of opportunities I r L in
real life. UM, I love you could just be briefly
to some of the career opportunities, opportunities to make money,

(45:16):
to collaborate, UM, to connect in this space for someone
who just can't wrap their mind around it yet. What
are jobs that we could consider in this space. Yeah,
so if there's you know, there's a there's builders in
this space, and there wouldn't be corporations without builders. So
that's put that's that's number one, number two, web three.
There's so many new job titles. So my job title

(45:39):
was ahead of Community and essentially it's a mix of marketing,
communication and UM growing a community of you know, enthusiasts
that are really hoped on this one product. So head
of Community is one their n F team managers, where
UM you might have like some like one of your

(46:00):
clients might have a million dollars to invest or maybe
like three dollars to invest in, and then us n
F team manager are going out into these discord spaces
or Twitter spaces and bringing back the latest UM insight
and alpha from these communities. So that's an n T manager.

(46:20):
And then you're also UM transacting for them, so you're minting,
which is UM putting something onto the blockchain pretty much
like that on there. Yeah, you're the first person, UM.
I've met a lot of n F T managers. Steve
Harvey has an empty manager. UM. Yes, UM there is
a developer relations. So if you're not technical, that's fine. Um,

(46:44):
there's a misconception that you have to be technical in
this space. UM, if someone can if if someone's interested
in the developer relation. UM position is essentially being advocate
for developers, so showcasing their like the latest technology, writing articles,
writing blogs, UM, creating um workshops and things like that. UM.

(47:10):
If you, if anybody wants to get into the tech space,
they can do women in n f t S hashtag
women in n f t S and Twitter. It's really
crucial that you have a Twitter as well. So we
talked about discord, but Twitter is like one of the
number one social platforms that cryptotip Twitter and Web three
is alive and well, so if you just type in

(47:30):
the search engine black women in tech or black in Tech,
Latino in tech, you'll find a plethora of opportunities. And
also if you type in Web three jobs, you'll find
an amazing UM just like all this information about Web
three jobs because a lot of people get their jobs
off Twitter as well and discord. UM. So yeah, that's

(47:52):
like that's like kind of how you can get more
into like the career space. UM. When I was transitioning
into web twoe one three. I was in a program
called on Deck and essentially it was started by a
Silicon Valley executive UM and his name is Eric Turnberg,
and it's it helps UM people who are in the

(48:14):
corporate space get into these startups or if you're a founder,
it's kind of like an accelerator to get into these startups.
So they'll tell you all everything that you need to
know about navigating a startup of ten people, UM or
fifty people. How do you ask for equity and a startup?
How do you now UM negotiate your salary, all these

(48:37):
things that you know, we didn't really learn UM in
the corporate space. Maybe we just took our salary a
space value. But you know, in the tech space you
can you can make a lot of money people. There's
millionaires that happen overnight because a startup went public or
you know, some startup was bought out by a Microsoft

(48:58):
or a large you know corporation. And UM. So on
deck is a great UM it's a great platform for
that as well. UM and Facebook. I know we talked
a little when we talked bad about Facebook, but Facebook
has a lot of great career groups especially women UM
in technology groups. So if you just google UM search
on on Facebook, you'll find UM some awesome groups. Black

(49:20):
Women in tact is one, I know the founder Black
Women in Tech UM and you know, even TikTok. You know,
you can find some great resources. So it's really just like,
don't just look and LinkedIn, you know, don't look at
UM glass door. Those are kind of like really centralized systems.
Look at other ways to to find and create and

(49:42):
these opportunities. Yeah, those really great resources. Thank you so
much for listening all of that. If you're interested in
pivoting into the tech industry, if you just want to
learn more about this space that we're all headed to,
whether we're involved professionally or just personally. UM so, I
will certainly be digging into some of those UM before.
I want to around up up soon here with just
sort of personally how you practice self care and wellness

(50:03):
in the space and you know, kind of keep church
and state separate or maintain your your your mental peace
in the midst of colleges. But really quickly, um us
legislation surrounding this space. Do you keep up with that
at all? Do you know, do you like kind of
follow the trades when it comes to how the government
is or isn't trying to weasel it's way into Web

(50:25):
three to kind of govern from there. Also, is that
something we have to worry about. I think from a
tax perspective, like you should be aware of it. Um.
You know, the laws are going to change. I think
it's going to be more a federal um, a federal
issue because right now, and I'm based in Florida, so
the crypto tax laws are pretty lenient, UM. But if

(50:48):
you're in other states, you know, it might not be
as lenient. So I try to only keep up with
my domicile, like how I'm Domasil. But you know, UM,
I think right now out it's still decentralized. Regulation is coming. UM,
it's probably gonna be on you know, your cryptocurrency, how

(51:09):
how you're trading, the value that you're trading. If you're
trading like over you know, ten k or a hundred k,
you should be reporting it on your taxes. UM. And
Also it's just like it's like a you know, a
value thing, like if you're doing bad stuff in the marketplace. UM.
The narrative of crypto UM before it was like a

(51:31):
lot of people were buying drugs and you know, all
this stuff on the black on the black market. But
I think the narrative is changing because more women are
getting into the space and women are natural storytellers. Um.
And so there's more use cases for cryptocurrency now, especially
when it comes to blockchain. UM. The software, the blockchain
software company that I work with, now, UM, we are

(51:54):
really just about you know, extreamlining the code and making
sure there's no hacks, that there's uh, it's security focused. UM.
So you know, I think going back to your question
about you know, the legislation, it's going to change, UM,
but I think you like it's based on the person,
so you know, really just be aware of like you know,

(52:14):
how you know how much money you're how much currency
you're you're trading, and then how that may affect your taxes.
All okay, very important to know. UM, you don't want
to end up in jail. Guys. Stand to wrap things up,
hot happy mess is all about best life minus the burnout.
You know, we're all driving for our individual goals. Some

(52:37):
of us are really excited about Web three. Some of
us it's the yoga and meditative and spiritual spiritual space.
Some people are out here, you know, building artistic endeavors.
But what is most important and what the podcast, What
my hope is with the podcast is that no matter
what you're passionate about or pursuing, you're doing it from
a place of wellness and peace and self care and

(52:58):
self love. So I'm curious to know for you, someone
who is very much in this space and it obviously
it's so clear just how um successful and forward thinking
you are, but that takes a lot. So like do
you deal with burnout? Do you ever get overwhelmed by
the space that you're in, and what does that self
care and wellness look like for you so that you

(53:19):
can avoid those feelings. Yeah, So the crypto community is
very global, So I've been traveling a lot, and you know,
it's ever changed. It's something always changes every single day.
So I just have to tell myself, like I have
everything I need to be successful, but I don't need
to be in multiple conversations. Um So that's like one

(53:42):
that's like one of my matras, like I have everything
I need to be successful. I'm not gonna you know,
just because I'm not super technical doesn't mean my you know,
my my opinions are my you know, skills don't matter.
It does matter in this space. Um. And when I'm traveling,
so A when I'm traveling, I always my vitamins UM,
vitamin D supplements. I learned that early on. I got

(54:05):
burnt out when I was at ETHEREUM Denver conference, Like
so many of us got sick because we were partying
all night and then getting up early and then working.
And that's and we're still Coronavirus is still around. So
you know, it's really important to practice like that health
health aspect um and then the mind, the mindfulness. I

(54:27):
would I love to practice mindfulness. I have a morning regimen.
So living in Florida, I get up in the morning,
I always go for a run. I always like try
to meditate. I used my crystals um. Yeah, so I
always have my crystals with me. Um. And so it's
really important to to you know, have that morning routine.

(54:48):
And then when I'm on the road, UM in different countries,
you know, getting a good night's sleep, you know, not
partying NonStop, you know, limiting my alcohol consumption and stuff
like that. Because in the crypto space, and I think
this is like how a lot of people kind of
view it it is like a fast paced industry. There's
a lot of money involved, Like you never have to

(55:10):
pay for anything because like some crypto excien, some some
millionaire bought off the club or whatever. And so you know,
it's like just I just learned to pace myself and
then also just know like when my body, my body
feels tired, it's okay to stay in my hotel room
or Airbnb and just chill and like watch a show

(55:34):
and like you know, not be on Twitter, like scrolling
Twitter and getting into like all this twitger drama. Um.
As women in the space, I feel like because we're
like the minority in the space right now, there's a
need or a need to like really like bring more
women in the space and be that like person that

(55:54):
is the leader and like at all these events and stuff.
But you can really get burnt out. And I I
was already burnt out in Web two. So in Web three,
I'm all about slow living. You know, when I first
started my job in crypto, I didn't know anything, especially
when it comes to like the code and like the
blockchain and hash functions, and it was really important for

(56:17):
me to just take a deep breath and just like
do a lot of social listening. And the team that
I'm around, they're amazing and like the founders like super
Smart worked on Athereum, like Crypto O g and it's
just like you don't have to do anything right now
for four weeks if you don't want, just like listen
and I think that's one thing like I learned to

(56:39):
do is just like listen and then like you know,
right and and then react. So those are just some
of my self care routine tips. And if you join
Iconic Misscrypto Clinic, we practice self care and that's what
it's about, like that celestial support system and meditation and
like just making sure you have what you need to

(56:59):
to be your most authentic self right. And that's Iconic
Miss Crypto Summit, Iconic Miss Crypto Clinic. So it's clinic
entity on Twitter and it's a it's an entity collection
that Camille Dargon, my home girl from like eighteen years ago,
started um because she was burnt out in the tech space.

(57:20):
And you know, in tech you can get burnt out
easily because you want to be you know, ahead, and
you have to work twice as hard as women. But
you know, with this collection, it's about providing women with
the celestial support system and letting and breathing through your
emotions and crying when you want and just being you
pretty much. It's so important. Those are really great tips.
It's so awesome to see you carving out your lane

(57:43):
in this space. It's really inspiring. I'm like, oh God,
I need to go read like Timber. I'm trying honestly,
like listen, getting on this podcast was it's a self thing.
It's like, Okay, I'm not the proverbi or women, but
I know telling my story will make a difference. And
you know, I'm navigating this dark forest as we like
to call it in crypto and right now when you're

(58:05):
you know, when you're hiking or if your loss, like
it's fear, it's a lot of fear. So I think
leaning on your self care routines really really helps because
we're building something that we don't know how we're going
to come out at the on the other side of
the forest. So it's all about like having that those
self care routines to lean on and also that supporting

(58:27):
network to say no, you're not crazy, keep going, like
just find something, just keep going. Amen. Amen, Well, Melissa,
thank you so much for sharing your expertise, your knowledge.
We have so many things we can check out if
we want to not just support you, which is absolutely imperative,
but also learn about the space. You're giving so much
to the community and some of the new bees myself included.

(58:48):
So that's appreciated, Iconic, Miss Crypto Clinic. You've got your
on Instagram, Mel writes Miami, and Twitter, Yes, Instagram and Twitter,
Mel writes Miami, and then Violet Summer Exchange. You'll find
everything you need to know to create a vibe um
and we need to get you some n f T.
So I'm excited to air drop some things to you

(59:10):
because that's what this industry is about. Giving love it. Well,
I all about it. We will actually be keeping this
conversation going offline or online in the metaverse or wherever
we want to. Okay, well we'll talk to the metaverse
because I am I'm ready to buy it. I want
to get into this space. I've been just doing my
due diligence and learning. Now I'm ready to start, you know, exchanging,

(59:32):
start moving around. So I'm excited. Thank you again, and uh,
I know my audience is gonna love this. So I
appreciate your time. Thank you for having me. Love love,
love that conversation. Melissa has such amazing energy and I
really enjoy once just her energy, her spirit, her personality.
How relatable and conversational she is when talking about really heavy,

(59:57):
kind of complicated stuff if you don't know anything about it,
and she broke down crypto n f T S web
three in such a user friendly fun way. That's the spirit.
That's how I like to get things done. I'm so excited.
I need to dive into this world more. I'm excited
to learn more. I'll have to report back with how
this goes for me because this is the year then
I'm going to be making some purchases in this space,

(01:00:19):
so let's see how it goes. Thank you again Melissa
for joining me on the podcast. Before we leave, I
do want to just drop a little listener review real quick,
like at selfie Queen four says love this. I heard
you on the Breakfast Club. I decided to check the podcast,
so glad I did. Refreshing and so relatable, excited I
found a good one. Thank you, selfie Queen. I love

(01:00:41):
the Breakfast Club. It's one of my faves, and so
many of y'all have loved the episodes that they've shared
on their feed. So if this is your first time
listening to Hot Happy Mess, go back and start from
episode one. The thing that I love about our show,
the thing that I'm most proud of, is that all
of these episodes are evergreen. It doesn't matter what order
you listen in. It's not chronological. Each episode is its
own self contained gold of knowledge and fun and funnyness

(01:01:08):
and wisdom and expertise and all of the things. So
browse around, look at the episode titles, figure out where
you are in your life and what you might want
a little bit of an assist on, and then hill play.
You could jump to episode thirty five, Reclaim your Life,
where are amazing guests and real woman LaToya is sharing
her powerful story with anxiety and chronic depersonalization and her

(01:01:31):
journey through recovery to emotional wellness. Um, trust me, this
real woman, real story. Spotlight is guaranteed to leave you
laughing your ass off and simultaneously ready to wipe away
A singular thuct tier, just one tier. We ain't crying
too much over here. I did cry a lot the
last couple of weeks because of all of the birthday celebrations,
I felt very loved. But back to second, it's all good.

(01:01:54):
We just were keeping a moving um. Thank you again
Selfie Queen for your review and if you listening have
not yet reviewed, could you please words of affirmation. Keep
Team Hot Happy Mess going, so leave us a review
on Apple Podcasts and if I've start rating on Spotify
and Apple and stay tuned more episodes every Wednesday. Share
this episode with a friend if you loved it, and

(01:02:15):
in the meantime follow me Hit me up at Zuri
Hall or at Hot Happy Mess on Instagram and Twitter,
and I'll talk to you next Wednesday. By by by
by by

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