Friend or Foe? Gerald - Survivor, pickleball, and being better.

My timeline collided with Gerald Djajaputra's at Eastern Michigan University in the fall of 2018. We didn't make for fast friends but soon found we'd solidified a foundational partnership we both could depend on.  A powerful and productive pair, our alliance isn't a surprise to anyone who knows us. Overlapping our work and play, our compatibility manifests not just in our common interests but in ways we find value in our lives. 

Continuing the theme of "why Heather Irvine is trouble", Gerald admits who I remind him of in the game of Survivor, how I cause him and others more work, and why he’s frustratingly unflappable. 

Stay tuned for the next episode. @iheatheri @fordstudiob

Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:06):
I'm Heather Irvine and you're listening to episode
featuring friend and colleague,Gerald Djajaputra.
Gerald are we on the air. Hey,hey, how are you doing? I'm
I'm continuing this perspectiveon the perils of hiring me.

(00:34):
in our declarations of what itmeant to both of us to study
My name is Gerald and who weknow each other from graduate
University. We came in on thesame year and we were both

(00:55):
were teaching foundations ofspeech communication. So we
obviously we took classestogether.
We had adjacent desks onEastern's campus, both teaching
graduate teaching assistantswhile achieving our master's
After graduation, Gerald cutthrough the darkest, quietest

(01:18):
social media coordinator forMichigan's leading real estate
stewardship as a volunteer coachwith Eastern Michigan
those eagles are soaring at highaltitude.
I am the social mediacoordinator for the Real Estate

(01:39):
stationed by my side, Gerald isthe dinker to my banger as we
in the world of pickleball. Weare The Dare Doubles, the duo in
My first episode was all thereasons why an employer should

(01:59):
podcast is all the reasons whythey shouldn't. Hence, why you
This is why I asked Geraldbecause I knew Gerald would have
everyone should know about.

(02:19):
Let's do it.
So talk to me. I am Heather'sbiggest fan and greatest foe.
Oh yay. So talk to me. Biggestfan. Biggest fan because we like

(02:40):
reality tv fan. And also I'm afan of anyone who I can talk
want to talk about the BachelorTuesday night right before
All right, so greatest foe.
Greatest foe because Heather wasschool and I had to do more work
so I could compare to her.

(03:09):
Turn around this fair play. I'mgoing to give you reasons why
hired you and one of them is I'mgoing so I'm gonna start with
could have like five things duein the next five days, we're all
Gerald and he's just shruggingit away. Like, yeah, I'll get it

(03:32):
Which is actually strategy. Inwhat way because let me just say
you were not validating myfeelings of absolute stress and
like among our cohort, there wasa lot of stress and if I could

(03:52):
situation, it was a win that youknow, all right, I'm gonna have
Because while I was stressed, Idon't remember if I was
kind of like, I gotta get itdone. I never saw you dress. I
always worried that what you hadwasn't right, even though

(04:12):
of us had. You weren't stressedabout the timeline. I don't
was more like am I doing a goodjob and is the product I'm
whoever was creating. You'reright. Gosh, boy, you hit the
What Survivor player do youthink I might personify, who you

(04:36):
a part a Parvati. And I'll tellyou why. You're incredibly fit,
think your energy would attractpeople to want to work with you.
I remember every group workproject that we did, you are
Parvati that I take that as acompliment too. I will. She's

(04:57):
because she was so in control ofher game like she never left
she never depended on them. Sheneeded to win immunity she won
Dang, I'll take that one. Andrun with it.
I don't know every time I was ingrad school. I just always felt

(05:22):
you're doing more. Whoever hiresyou, you're, I just want to say
who's going to push your teamand yourself to be better. And I
to have. Yeah, they're going tochallenge you. Yeah, there's
never question your intention.
It was that can you challengeI think this could be better.

(05:44):
What I'm thinking is that it'severybody else off. You know
what? Maybe that's the reasonyou're gonna approach the job as
a Survivor game and you're justI'm better as your ally than as
your enemy.

(06:06):
You know what, I think I couldsay the same about myself. Which
are the other person's? Yeah,yeah, that's exactly what I was
going to challenge the statusquo.
I think we live in an age whereyour portfolio matters. I agree

(06:27):
final project was? Screenplay.
Yeah, I wrote a feature lengthundertaking and is a really cool
thing, if you're going intotakes the resolve and the the
perseverance. I'm just here touse of this. Hire Heather, you
won't regret it. Whoever listensmake you so much better. She's

(06:50):
going to make sure like, youare always the standard. I will
say, in our class, you were thetime turning in quality and like
you are always the standard, webetter.
And that best summarizes ourrelationship. Gerald and I, we

(07:15):
complementing and enhancing ourworld with our adjacency,
skills and passions.
Thank you for listening toepisode three of As Recommended.
Gerald and I are Eagles of afeather, continuing to pursue
with other EMU alumni. Solo andseparate we are tenacious and

(07:39):
inimitable.
This interview was conducted onan MXL condenser microphone a
with Adobe Audition. Thanks tomy friend, cohort and partner,
playing along. I'm HeatherIrvine and this is As