Boston’s Vegan Bunny Mom Shares Her Story w/ Sammie Herrick | So New England w/ Ian Brownhill #61 - So New England with Ian Brownhill

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Everyone's vocabulary, everyone said wicked.
And then I went to North Carolina and people were like,
that's not normal. And then I went like abroad and
people didn't understand like, and I was like.
I guess she's just in town. Like where's the wicked awesome
Thai noodles from Maine's cold coast to Connecticut Pride,
Vermont Green Hills Take it all in Massachusetts traffic we grip

(00:21):
and we. Shouting loud from Fenway chance
to Rhode Island side. New Hampshire's pride free or
die. So New England with Ian Brown

(00:46):
Hill. Good freaking morning from New
England folks. Welcome back to episode 61 of
the So New England podcast. I am your host Ian Brown Hill,
joined by my Co host Robert Travisano.
All things life's better in New England.
So New England podcast producer Vinny G behind the camera with
his handsome face. We do love it.
As always folks, we go out of our way to try and source some

(01:07):
of the best that New England hasto offer and we did not fall
short today. So, RJ, please let us know who
today's guest is. It's funny you would make a
short. Sorry, that's not That's not
about the bud. For the next hour, give or take,
we plan to dive right into our guest world because this is some
serious new territory for the boys.
Our guest today hails from Boston but spends oodles of of
time in New England Junior, AKA Florida, because we all know a

(01:31):
transplant or two or somebody who just gets the best of both
worlds. She joins us today, hopefully
bringing us some sunshine because it's been a wee chilly
and apparently we're getting a Nor'eastern.
I don't know here to share tips and tricks making your life a
little more cruelty free, healthy and organized.
Joining us and taking some time away from her day-to-day as a
business intelligence manager and also buddy mom to the

(01:55):
precious Fig. You may have seen her making
some delicious food. Just sharing some of her
favorite spots around Bean Town.Please give a warm welcome to
the pod. Our guest today, Miss Sammy Hey.
Oh, see, no headphones? You didn't know that there's a
sound board and we just had music away.

(02:16):
You'll see when you watch the real.
Episode, yes. How did dad feel?
Was that like a little hype for you?
Yeah, that was very exciting. That's the caffeine you needed.
You made me sound pretty interesting.
You are super interesting. I got yelled at after like 15 or
20 episode. Not yelled at.
Yeah, OK, spoken too. Abusive people that I work with.
Just golf. Spoke to me and was like, hey,

(02:38):
you're doing too much, tone it down.
So I had to. It never happened.
Yes it did. I would never do that,
especially when we have so much to talk about, especially cute
little fig. We love fig.
We do love Fig. I definitely got lost in fig
material. I mean the fig content.
I was like, whoa. It happened.
Yeah, 3/4 of the intro was Fig. And then I was like, wait, he's
not. Coming.
They're not coming. We probably should have thought

(02:59):
about if we could note that for the future.
Yeah, let's and I'm always allowed on this on New England
podcast. Yeah, I think so.
Love that. Sammy, thank you so much for
making the trek down from Bostonto a little roadie today.
Although we did find out that you've got some ties here, which
is awesome. How was the drive down?
Pretty brutal, right? A little bit of traffic, a
little. Bit brutal.

(03:19):
Yeah, welcome to Rhode Island. I checked the map before I left,
there was supposedly no traffic and then.
The traffic state, this is what we do.
We provide people with a very unique experience known as Bumpa
to Bumpa. It's just it's a Rhode Island
thing. So we're so happy to have you
down here. Thank you.
Well, honestly, let's just dive in.
I want to get to know the lifestyle vlogging that you've

(03:40):
done, the content you've gone into.
I know that you speak on a lot of unique subjects as far as
like cruelty free and the vegan thing, which we are not.
We apologize in advance, but I would love to learn about it.
And then also, you know, you're a big boss.
Can I say the word? You're a big balls bitch out
there? Yeah, you're in the you're in
the Boston world who are pushingit.

(04:01):
So we got to get to know you a little bit more.
So give us the back story. How'd you get to where you are
today? Well, as far as my job goes,
it's actually a I'm a certified teacher.
I start out as an elementary school teacher.
Whoa, curveball. Yes.
So not the normal path to private equity.

(04:23):
And I actually taught in Taiwan for a year on a Fulbright
scholarship after school. That's cool.
And what? Yes.
That is sick. It was amazing.
That's really interesting. All right, In the past.
Came back for grad school to study policy and management, and
that's when I realized I was really good at math and I like
math and I was like, maybe I should switch directions a

(04:47):
little bit. And I still love teaching.
Teaching is hard. It's really hard and it takes so
much of your time and you get paid.
Not very much so true I. Of the world they really are.
Truly so. I was a really bad student.
I failed geometry as a senior, which is like a sophomore class,
so me and numbers don't get along.
Yeah. So I feel for you for having

(05:10):
fellow teachers to have to deal with someone like me.
Point proven geometry shapes. See answered his own question.
Good job. Oh shit, what did I mess up
there? Go ahead, Sammy.
Continue AM I messing up the map?
Close. Yep.
All right. Yes.
Then I went back to grad school again for computer science and

(05:31):
that's kind of how I got into business intelligence and that
kind of stuff. Then I did business intelligence
for a bunch of different companies, ended up in private
equity in Boston and. There I am.
When I hear business intelligence, I immediately
think Jason Bourne. You ever seen those movies with
Matt Damon? I just think Lego business

(05:52):
intelligence. I just feel like you know things
a little bit and you know peoplethat can can take care of people
when you. Things when when I was living in
Israel I also actually worked for some ex Mossad agents and
they definitely knew some things.
Dang, like too many things. It was.
It was. Probably quite frightening.
How much? I actually quit because it was
like too much. These are things I don't want

(06:13):
it. I just want to go through the
world like ignorant. So true.
I don't know if I can handle that because to be honest with
you, we're one and the same. Maybe not that kind of
intelligence, but I do kind of get a sneak peek as to like what
items are going to be on the Dunkin menu before other people
because they like tell me like, hey, this is.
Pretty much the same pretty. Much the same, right?
Because it's like when you have to hide to people that pumpkin's

(06:34):
going to be back a week earlier this year, It's like pretty
stressful. It's a huge deal.
So you've lived in a lot of different places.
Tell us about like your travel, because I'm something tells us
that the travel's going to come into play with your interests
for vlogging and stuff. So how many places, different
places have you lived? How long?
What were those experiences like, especially coming from New
England? Yeah, I grew up only in New

(06:54):
England, in Massachusetts and Maine.
And then I lived in Japan for like 6 months and then Taiwan
for a year. Wow.
And then Israel for almost five years.
Wow, OK. So I've been around.
And then of course, when I livedthose places, I travelled more
readily. I feel like in America it's kind

(07:15):
of harder to go places. You're far from everything.
So annoying, yeah. We're like there, you're just
short trains and very short plane rides from very cool
places. So definitely done a lot of
travelling. But yeah, Israel is when I
started doing the Instagram blogging.
Gotcha. OK.
Just because, I mean, it was back when it was a little Homer,

(07:38):
but I still feel like it wasn't very much a thing.
Like people just didn't know very much about it.
And it's really beautiful. Like there is everything from
desert to jungle. Like there's literally
everything. And it is stunning.
And I was like, people need to see this.
I need to like get this out there.
So I did more like travel vlogging when I first started.

(08:00):
Gotcha. And just like really beautiful
picture. You remember like the trip when
it was like girls in the long dresses in the pretty places.
Like that's where I started. Gotcha OK same but it just never
hit well. My dresses never fit right.
True. Oh, that's right.
Hit body B hit. That's right.
At that, please, please, please don't ever, don't ever bring
that up. Thank you.

(08:22):
OK, let's can we shut off? This mic, I don't want to hear
this. I do want some realtor.
I gotcha, I got some stuff. Yeah.
And then I just kept it going. When I moved to Boston, moved
back to Boston, I just loved doing the Instagram thing.
And it was kind of starting to get bigger at that point.
And then I started, I think, in Boston doing more like travel.

(08:48):
Here's what to see, here's what to do.
And then I kind of realized thatwhen I got my job in private
equity that it is very time consuming and I was very busy
all the time. And that doing lifestyle content
is just to be frank, a little bit easier.
Like you don't need to go travelto do the content.
You can be in your house and be like, I made a smoothie and

(09:08):
poured it in. So that's kind of where I
shifted to that content. And I think people still
resonate with it. Like, it's still absolutely a
nice, you know, even if it's notquite as aesthetic as it was
before, but. Yeah, but you got to go.
You got to change with the times.
And I also think that for what you're doing with the lifestyle

(09:29):
stuff in general, especially Boston being such a hotspot
right now for people moving, you're doing a great job of
being like, hey, like this is what your life could look like
in Boston. And, and this is how I'm
supporting that both social media and with my career.
But I want to backtrack. So you grew up in Massachusetts
and Maine? Yes.
How long in each one? I lived in Sherborn, so suburbs

(09:50):
of Boston, I mean very suburbs, like 45 minutes outside of
Boston, but it's. Just easier to say Boston.
I'm from Boston when I'm not from Boston.
I say I'm from Boston, I'm from,I'm traveling.
I was like, I'm from Boston, although it's easier.
There is a joke, like an ongoingjoke about Rhode Island, where
no matter where you are in the world when you're traveling, you
will find someone that is from Rhode Island.

(10:11):
For some reason. I was in Ireland on a, on an
elevator talking to someone. The short of it was, is the
woman that we were, I was speaking to, she had mentioned,
oh, like, oh, I'm from the States.
I was like, oh, we're from Boston.
She's like, oh, I'm from Portsmouth, RI.
And I was like, of course you are.
We're in the middle of Galway. I mean, it's not completely far
fetched. I think Galway and Portsmouth,
you know, it's only a boat rightaway, but just in general,

(10:32):
wherever you travel the world, you'll find it.
But it's wild, yeah. But anyway, sorry, continue.
Such a tiny little state. Yes, doing big things.
That's why I just Boston's easier than we always.
Leave, and then we come back. That's right.
Here we are. Yeah.
So I lived in Sherbourne until high school, and then my parents
decided that they were over the the hubbub of Massachusetts.

(10:55):
They wanted to live the quiet life.
So we moved to a farm in the middle of nowhere.
Love that, love that for them, love that for you.
This is great. Yes, I'm already invested.
It was pretty great. It was it's better now that I
don't live there. Like it's nice to go visit.
It was not so. They're still in Maine.
They're still there. Oh.
Nice on the farm doing the wholething.
On the farm my dad grows Christmas trees and grows hay

(11:18):
which I take by the trash bag full for pig, so that's great.
I love your dad. It's adorable.
That's. Awesome.
Yes, the cute little guy making his Christmas trees in his hay.
How freaking cute is that? I love that for him.
It's. Very adorable.
I love that. So I'm is that where the vegan
thing came in when you started working on a farm or were you
always a vegan? So I was a vegetarian from the

(11:40):
time I was like 7, just cuz I like animals a lot.
And then I kind of actually whenI was living in Israel, I like
developed a dairy allergy out ofnowhere, OK.
And I was like, OK, if I am a vegetarian with a dairy allergy,
I might as well just, yeah, takethe leaf.
And that's when I went fully vegan.

(12:01):
And since then I've actually become, I think there's a
Austro, Austro vegan. There's a term for it.
I don't remember what it is. I eat like scallops and oysters,
mussels, lambs, like things, bivalves in the shell.
Oh, OK. Because they don't have a brain
and they don't have a central nervous system.
So to me, they're not really like a you're an ostrichant

(12:24):
living being. I I'm I'm straight lean meat.
So you want no part of this. This is pure protein 99.9.
Yeah, but the missing the brain in central nervous system.
Yeah, we got the joke. Thanks, Coast.
Thanks a lot. Go do some geometry.
This is what best friends look like after years.
They just, you know, beat each other up.

(12:46):
All right? So a lot of the time in this
podcast ends up becoming my own inquiries because I end up
getting curious. Everyone's favorite word on this
podcast? Mostly yours.
What would you say was the hardest thing to learn growing
up? By learning how to like, you
save or spend money. You legit worked in banking, did
you not? You're welcome.

(13:08):
Are you still with Dime Bank or You 2 Hollywood now?
Okay, rude, but yes, yes I am. Imagine your followers finding
out you're with the Connecticut based bank.
Okay, first of all, they have a branch in Wesley, Rhode Island,
which is where we grew up. So really, that's brownie points
because I'm sticking to my roots.
Second, I think everyone would appreciate that I'm with a bank
that knows and understands theircommunity.

(13:29):
Their tagline is legit. Community banking lives here.
Hey, hey, I'm not asking you to sell me on it.
I've been banking with them for years and they know me on a
first name basis. I'm just saying I'm surprised as
all I can see the headlines now.Mr. Anti Connecticut actually
banks with local community bank.OK, you know what?
Follow along with me here. They're FDIC insured, equal

(13:51):
housing lenders, wicked friendly, they take care of all
my personal needs, have expansive products to help all
my businesses, offer lending across the board, merchant
services. What more could I possibly want
or need? And you know that I secretly
like Connecticut so. Oh, I hope you heard that folks.
Dime Bank is the reason Ian loves Connecticut, OK?
You're ridiculous. Funny story though, you know how

(14:13):
they have like the mobile app with like banking lifesaver you
can do all the deposits. Have you tried to teach your mom
how to do the mobile deposit yet?
I was teaching my mom how to do it and she.
Takes a selfie instead of the check.
Visit dime-bank.com to learn more.
Explain to me like the difference between the
vegetarian, the vegan, like the difference is on like what you

(14:35):
can't eat, what you can't eat? Because I've never completely
understood those. The vegetarian is just not
eating meat, but you'll eat likebyproducts of the animal, so
eggs and dairy and things like that.
And then vegan is like nothing derived from an animal source
whatsoever. Gotcha.
Very. You know, a lot of vegans will

(14:55):
also not do honey. I eat honey, so I'm not as like
harsh mind on it, but like I don't wear leather.
I don't wear suede. I tried to buy a vegan car.
Like I'm very conscious of it inmy.
I saw that. That was very interesting.
That's really a vegan car, Yeah.Yes.
Toyota Prius. Not vegan, it's a V WT1.

(15:16):
Oh, we love a good Tiggy. It, it took me, took me a long
time to find because it's a weird.
I like went to dealerships and Ithink the problem is like if you
get the base model of a car, like the cheapest version,
they'll have like cloth seats orsomething.
But the second you upgrade, theyupgrade to leather.
And I'm like, well, can I just get all the like safety, nice

(15:38):
things in the backup camera, butnot the leather suit?
No, they're all like it's a package, and you can't undo the
package. Interesting.
So it was a it was tough. I thought about going Tesla
because they are also fully vegan for the environment.
This is totally new to me. I had no idea that that was the
thing when it came to the cars. I guess I'll, I'll put that in.

(15:59):
It's not totally vegan. I think there's like parts of
wires in the car that are not and there's no way around it.
But for me, I feel like the one thing I will probably be
controversial to the vegan community, but the one thing I
don't love about the vegan, I feel like it's just very
prescriptive, like you're eitherdoing it right or you're doing
it wrong. And to me it's just any little

(16:20):
thing you can do is better than doing nothing.
So I was. Going to say you're doing better
than 99% of the human race when it comes to contribution in that
sense, so. I can only imagine how tough it
is, especially nowadays, becausewe, I, I work with a few people
who have, you know, celiac, gluten free, all the different
new things. And I only say it like that
because I'm just not knowledgeable about it because I

(16:42):
don't. But it's crazy because that
stuff almost like forces your hand to have to be like you say
it's an allergy, but it's reallylike other things.
And then you lose like that concept of like, all right, what
are we putting in our bodies at this point?
Like we've become very like efficient in trying to try, like

(17:05):
we had our bodies at 18 and it'slike, all right, how do we get
that to be now that we're 3334 years old?
And it's like, you know, like everything hurts.
But like at the same time there's so much different stuff,
like how much stuff comes from like even cross contamination.
I work with girls who are glutenfree and I have to be very
careful when we do stuff or bring stuff in 'cause it's like,

(17:27):
all right, this says gluten free.
What was it made with something that was not So I give you a lot
of credit 'cause I'm sure that stuff's really hard as is.
Do you ever find that it's more of like your body just doesn't
resonate with the food too? Yes.
Is that was that one of the reasons 'cause you said you

(17:48):
started at 7:00? Yes, that's the early age to
start. Yeah, yes.
So was that really where it camefrom or was that part of it
'cause I know you said you're very like pro animal?
Yes, I think I mean, I'm definitely the base of it is an
animal well-being thing, but I also think a big part of my life
is lifestyle and what I eat and what I put in my body and making

(18:11):
sure that that's natural and good as much as I can.
You know, I love some vamluin ice cream with the best of them.
But generally I do think I feel better like eating Whole Foods
and just sticking with some natural things from the ground.
So then talk to us about the Boston vegan scene, like give us

(18:34):
some recommendations. Should you be going ooh, we're
talking to you Boston. We're getting a face over here.
You'll need to step it up. You're.
Getting a face, it's not the best.
It's not. The.
Best yeah, there are not very many like fully vegan
restaurants. I can think of like one in
Boston off the top of my head. And then like if you go into

(18:55):
Cambridge, I think they get a little better over in that, you
know, Cambridge, Brighton, thoseareas.
But I have, I think I don't knowif a lot of vegan people don't
want to eat at non vegan restaurants.
I'm not one of those people. Like if you can make me
something, then I will be very happy if you can make me

(19:15):
something that's not just takingthe meat off of a meat dish.
And it's like, oh, here's some lettuce on a plate.
I just went on a cruise, my first cruise recently and I go
on a cruise again. They I told them I was vegan and
they literally served me steamedbroccoli on a plate and I was
like, that's not, that is not a meal.

(19:37):
I don't know what to do with this.
I mean, I'll eat the steamed broccoli on a plate, right?
Because you have no other option.
But I also I'm still hungry so. Gosh, yeah, I never thought of
that. It's.
Tough because it's, and I feel and correct me if I'm wrong, I'm
sure this has been going on for years and years and years, but I
feel like it's more like our generation.
It's a little bit newer because my second cousin is vegan and
she's been vegan for a long time.

(19:57):
She lives in Philly and she saysshe can walk out of her
apartment and it's just you. You pick.
And there's so much stuff, it's crazy that Boston's not like
that. Yeah, I think it's definitely.
Your game up Boston Philly's gotit.
Is newer I feel like even since I have gone vegan or vegetarian,
like the things in the grocery store, like it's so much easier

(20:19):
to shop now because it became trendy.
And I'm kind of thankful for that, that it became like a
healthy trend thing that people want to do or explore because
the options when I was growing up were like pretty gross and
very basic. And now people are really, you
know, there's a lot of money in like that industry of vegan food

(20:40):
and vegan meat and that kind of thing.
But yeah, Boston is tough. I think.
I think generally I'm going to again make a maybe controversial
statement. I feel like Boston food scene
generally, not only for vegans, is just not the best.
Like, no one's going to go to Boston for their food

(21:00):
necessarily. Like.
For vegan food or just food in general?
Food, I feel like it's not a fruity place.
I got to be honest with you. Is that a controversy?
We've had some hot takes, but saying Boston food scenes not it
is might be the hottest take we've ever had on this podcast.
Well, Mike said the same thing. He was like, listen, it's not in
Boston. It's on the outskirt.

(21:21):
Yeah, that's I was going to say,you know, I think that's the
problem is I just whenever I think of Boston, I pretty much
just like cut from Newton left. I'm like, that's Massachusetts
and the right everything North and South is except for like
maybe southern Massachusetts maybe.
But besides that, like, I mean, everything is Boston to me
versus just the city. So, but the outskirts a little
bit better are just like. I mean, maybe for food, yes.

(21:44):
For vegan food, I would say you probably get worse the further
that you go out because it becomes less trendy or common, I
think, for people to walk. I see.
I would think in a city it wouldbe a lot more accessible because
that's the type of place where you have a denser population
that would consume vegan, you know, diet style, as well as the
fact that, like, that's where the money is in the sense that,

(22:05):
like, if you put a vegan shop inthe middle of, like, you know,
Coventry, RI, that's going to fail in a week.
But you put it, you know, on Newbury Street.
I'm like, that should do. Well, Yeah.
But you're. Wow, interesting.
Yeah, I it's not. I mean, there's places, you
know, I have a list of like 20 places that I rotate through
that have like good options, nota salad on a plate.

(22:28):
So there's definitely there's places, but like when I think of
places I would want to live as avegan, New York, LA, like
there's definitely Boston is like not even on the list.
So when they come out with all the lists of like best vegan,
whatever, XYZ, like Boston neverever appears on any of those
lists. Wow.

(22:49):
Some business intelligence for you here.
Maybe you should open up your own and we'll call it Fig.
We need to stop the podcast and go start the business right now.
OK, so I'm gonna ask you two more questions about the vegan
thing because I want to, you know, overdo it here.
But I would love to know, like, what is a stigma about being a
vegan that you would love? Like if you could tell someone

(23:09):
about it that's thinking about it to encourage them or like a
stigma that you kind of get tired of hearing that you would
love to break the cycle on, whatwould it be?
I guess two things. One, I think I touched on before
that I feel like the vegan community is not necessarily
that welcoming and it feels veryharsh, like you either have to
do it or you're just terrible and you're not doing a good job.

(23:34):
Which I just feel like if we could just be more open and
welcoming. If you ate vegetarian food once
a week or vegan food once a week, that's better than not
doing it once a week, right? So I feel like if we could, you
know, people would be more like that.
It would be people would be moreopen to trying it and and eating

(23:55):
that kind of food. I think the other thing and that
I already just forgot what I wasgoing to say that I had in my
mind, that's all. Right.
Take your time. That's a fairpoint that you make
though, because sometimes I feellike when it comes to these, and
hopefully this will give you some time to think with these
not, and I'm not saying trendy in a bad way, because I get it.

(24:16):
It's totally a fair thing and I respect the people who do it for
why they do it and it's their thoughts, it's their lives.
But I think you kind of nailed it there.
It's like if people were more welcoming about stepping into
that light instead of like, hey,if you don't do this, this and
this, you're not a vegan. You can't say it.
Maybe people would be more welcoming and want to do it.

(24:38):
And, and at least like you said,that's such a, such a great way
to do it. Like, hey, you might not do it
seven days a week, but the one vegetarian night or the one
vegan night you have? Better than not having a vegan
night. Better.
Than not having a vegan night. Yeah, I think it's seen as a
really like extreme way of life because I think you have like
animal rights or, you know, likePeeta and someone kills a family

(24:59):
and they're like, this is the worst thing.
This person needs to be like cancelled.
They killed the fly. And it's like, I just that's
like not what we need. I feel people, other people
would disagree with me, but thatI feel like it was just like a
more casual thing that more people would want to do it.

(25:20):
I also feel like protein is a super big thing that everyone is
like concerned about if they go vegan or vegetarian, which I'm
not going to say. It's like not, it's not probably
more difficult than if you ate meat, but like it's definitely
possible. I definitely follow some like
vegan bodybuilding men and womenon Instagram who are like giant

(25:41):
and muscly and vegan. So I feel like that's a, a super
common one that I hear like, well, I couldn't like I couldn't
maintain my gym routine or my lifestyle like and not eat meat,
which I just feel like it's not.Not the.
Case right, Yeah. Well, I think a good example,
just like to touch on what you're saying with the whole

(26:02):
vegan community and food consumption in general, is that
anything in extreme is not goingto be good, which goes for a lot
of things in life. But it's like ice cream is
great. I should not have had it every
night this summer. I am now regretting it between
my knees hurting and my belly hanging over my pants.
But at the end of the day, like in the vegan community, it's
like, yes, if you're contributing and you're, you

(26:24):
know, eating on a vegan lifestyle in certain capacities
is still better than none. You don't have to be perfect,
you know, So that's good. Now the other question that I
had for you, what would be like a typical day of eating for you
or like, what are your top threemeals?
Either one of those answers is fine.
Just just so people can kind of see like, oh, what, what would I

(26:44):
even start eating? Because the first thing I think
is beans and I, you know, so I actually, I get nervous about
those. I don't need a lot of beans.
Oh, I'm not a bean gal for the most part.
OK then. Yeah, I generally eat like a lot
of smoothies in the morning and like chia puddings, that kind of

(27:04):
fruit and yogurt in the morningsfor dinner, I will say, which is
going to turn a lot of people off.
I'm a big tofu girl. I love.
You love a good tofu? I'll do tofu and a little miso
soup. That's about where I.
Love miso soup? It's the best.
I have miso soup at home, make it at home a lot.
Oh, you make it at home? Yes.
Get that recipe for me after this.

(27:27):
But I feel like tofu is, I mean,I will eat it plain out of the
package. I know that like people hate
it's a weird taste and weird texture, but I love it.
But you can also like fry it andput it in the oven and do all
these things like change that smushy sponginess, gelatinous
texture. So I feel like I do a lot of

(27:47):
like stir fries and like those one pan things, you know, or you
just stick it all in the I'm not, I don't love to cook.
I like to eat healthy. So I cook in order to be able to
do that. But like I don't love, I'm not
going to make something that takes like 2 hours and has all
the my sister studied gastronomyat BU.

(28:07):
That's her. I leave that to her.
I go. Get her, then she cooks.
For me. Awesome.
All right, so let's jump back into the content side of things.
When you are kind of making yourcontent, like do you plan it
out? Because it's like the lifestyle
vlog is, I feel like you're probably the first person you've
had on that is primarily like vlogging, like everyone that's

(28:28):
been on kind of vlogs. But just talk about like the
setup, the experience and how that kind of goes because I
think there's a duality that people don't realize.
It's like, oh, just set up your camera and record your whole
life. Is it that easy?
Or do you like, you know, you goto hot yoga, you're like, OK,
only record the beginning beforethe sweating starts and the
stretching is very flexible. And you're not like, you know,
dying of heat stroke and, you know, hairs all over the place.

(28:51):
Yes, definitely that. Yeah, I feel like it does seem
really easy, like you just have something and then you're just
going about your day. But that's like definitely not
what it is, which is why also one of the reasons that I don't
want to do it full time because I feel like when I don't want to

(29:13):
do it, it's nice that I don't have to do it because now if I
don't post for two weeks at a time, like no one cares.
It doesn't have. Any false.
We care, but go ahead. Yeah, we care because I'm like,
OK, well, I guess you just know.Yoga for two weeks every.
Single day yoga. Yeah.
Food Fig. Yes.
Yes, I know more Fig every time she's in there.

(29:35):
It definitely performs better and everyone's like Fig.
So funny how the Internet works.I mean, I can't blame them
really. But yeah, I think it does take a
lot of effort to to just, I don't know.
I mean, it's really, I feel likethose behind the scenes videos
that you see are people film themselves filming and then it's

(29:57):
like them walking and putting something down, but then they
have to walk back because they walk out the door and then they
have to walk back in to turn thecamera off.
Like that type of. But that really is what it is.
Like. You can't just go about your
day. You have to get the right angle
and then the lighting has to be right.
And then you look, you're like, oh, that doesn't, doesn't look
good. I have to do it again.
I just made my bed and now I need to unmake the bed and
remake the bed. So I feel like it actually does

(30:20):
add probably double, maybe more the amount of time that it would
take me to actually just do the activity than to like film the
activity. And even if I film in the gym,
like I'm filming 20 seconds, that's not actually my workout.
Like you are not actually seeingany part of my real workout that

(30:40):
I'm doing so. And I'm also very conscious of
filming in public. But so like in my house,
whatever. But like in the gym, I am not
one of those people that's goingto like set up a camera.
And if you walk through it, you're in my video.
Like I will only film if there is no one there.
Joey Swoll really appreciates that.
Joey Swallow get you, you guys. Would you love Joey Swoll for

(31:04):
that? Same.
So I feel like that also again, like it doesn't bother me.
If I like planned to film something and then I can't film
in the gym or whatever it is, orthere's people, then I don't
have to post. Like I'll just have part of a
video or I'll skip that part or I'll go back the next day and
try to. Like This is why I kind of

(31:26):
wouldn't want to do it more thanI'm doing it now because I just
like having it be a casual thingthat I can do or not do
depending on how I'm feeling. And often I don't want to do it
cuz it's a lot of effort and I just wanna get whatever I need
to get done done and not. Have to.
Fill in 12 extra takes in all this extra time.

(31:48):
And it always blows my mind thatI see other influencers who will
do, you know, like talking to the camera and they're like, oh,
I'm really late right now. I'm like, well, if you're
actually really late, I know howlong this is taking you, so.
Why are you actually late? Are.
You just making yourself more late.
I like don't understand, like ifI'm late then I'm not recording

(32:08):
myself being late, so. It's interesting because like,
you know, you have such a good social following, but it's like
the duality of your, what you'resaying is like, if I don't, I
don't. Like, it's just so interesting
because as someone who is just like completely absorbed by the
social media thing, I'm like, God, I feel like I can't do
anything without thinking, oh, this would be a great video.
This would be a great video. I should be doing this.
I should be recording that. And it's like the perception

(32:31):
versus reality is very different.
Yes, I definitely also have dayswhich I feel like I need for my
own, like mental health and well-being.
We need a mentee be. Here I will go and do something
super fun that like definitely would have made good content and
I just don't want to because I want to enjoy the time there.
Like I feel like there's a very big difference and I'm really

(32:52):
grateful for like all of the things I get invited to and
hotels I get to stay and all these fun things.
But like there's a very big difference between going and
having a weekend at a hotel that's for you versus like this
is given to me and now I need torun paid for it and now I need
to create content. Like that's a very then I try
even then to like, you know, OK,we're going to do 2 hours and

(33:14):
then we're going to go enjoy andnot film because I'm still
trying to just be in the moment.But I think it really does take
you out of them as whatever it looks like.
I think you're not actually doing that.
So I definitely try and balance that.
And I think again, that's like why I'm thankful to just have it
be something on the side that's just fun for me.

(33:36):
It's a creative outlet. But like if I want to just go do
the Super fun event and not evertake my phone out, then I don't
have to. And I'm also thankful for that,
so. You're in a good position.
And I the, The reason why I'm inquiring further about this
with you is because, you know, online there has been quite a
shift in reality for a lot of people.

(33:57):
Students aren't really going to college as much anymore.
They're becoming instantly famous overnight at an
incredibly young age. I was saying that, yeah, I can't
imagine, like, think about how ridiculous I was as a student or
like with Facebook and Myspace. Imagine if like I had this
before I had any maturity in my life, which I don't know that
I'm really mature, but some sortof like some sort of boundaries

(34:18):
with my life. But imagine like if I had had
the TikTok stuff, like in middleschool or high school, you would
have been a problem. Yeah, that would have been
ridiculous. Like I would have never been
able to control myself with the fame.
Like that would have been ridiculous.
So anyways, Fast forward and I say that is because there has
been such like an argument online for people who see like
kind of would love to pursue it and they're not sure how to do

(34:39):
it. And there's that argument that's
back and forth about like, this isn't hard.
You have no idea what really youknow.
So you're in a position which ispretty rare nowadays where you
do have brand deals, you are successful where you are doing
content, but you're also workinga full time job.
And I would just love to kind ofif you could, I feel like you've

(34:59):
touched upon it a lot in and outof this conversation.
But just talk about like the difficulties or necessarily what
it's like to have both of those things going on and how they
compare as like a career and a job and what those are like.
Does that make sense? I got a little bit of a tangent
there. Sorry for.
Sure. No I think honestly being a
content creator full time takes a lot of discipline that has to

(35:25):
come from you and only you. Like there's no boss or someone
telling you that you have to do something or knowing that you'll
get reprimanded or in trouble ifyou miss a deadline or you don't
do something. It's just all on you, which I
think people underestimate like how much self-control and
discipline that really takes to make that work and how much you

(35:45):
have to. I just think about like when I
have a day off and I make a listof things I'm going to do and
then I sit on the couch until 4:00 PM and do nothing.
And I pet Fig and I watch Netflix and like I'm getting out
for the first time at 5:00 PM like that is.
And I'm like, if I did this fulltime, that's what I would do.
Like I would just sit there. Free will.

(36:06):
It's actually a lot more dangerous than people think
it's. Really, really hard and I feel
like in that way, I guess it depends your personality.
But like in that way for me having a full time job that is
very like demanding and serious,then it makes it easier because
it's very structured. I have meetings all day long.

(36:27):
Like there is somewhere I have to be.
I will be noticed if I'm not there, like there is a an
inherent structure that I didn'tneed to create for myself.
And I think, I don't know, I think in my content it seems
like I make that structure for myself a lot of the time, which
sometimes I do, but sometimes I don't.
Like there are just many days where I'm doing literally

(36:47):
nothing like bed rotting and. We love that though.
We do love that that's. Better than that.
That's also why I love not making content full time because
I can bed rot and don't need no one needs to know about it so.
Well, now they know. Sorry.
Now they know. Fig's out of the bag.
Get that like cats out of the bag.
But I said fig's out of the bag.Yep.
OK. Sorry, cut that out make.

(37:09):
Sure. No, get that in.
That's a bad joke. Cut that out, Dad joke yet.
Don't quit your day job. Yeah, already have.
No, I think, you know, kind of like I was mentioning to you
just a few moments ago when our cameras died.
Is that, you know, I think back.Do you know who Michaela Naguera
is? She's from, She's from, I don't
know if she's from Fall River originally, but she's a

(37:30):
Massachusetts girl. She's massive online.
The. Makeup.
She does makeup. Yes, I know who she.
Is so she caught a lot of Flack one time for an older video when
she first started making contentand it was like, you know, I
just finished making content it's like 7:00 or 5:30 at night
like try being an influencer fora day and the world went berserk
because she gets so much hate. I'll never understand it but the

(37:52):
the conversation kind of became about the realities of being an
influencer, content creator and online marketing individual
versus like a full time job and having worked 13 ish years full
time jobs, all of them pretty much dead end led me absolutely
nowhere. I can say that there is a huge
difference in the stress and theperformance and showing up and

(38:15):
getting work done in the 2. Having a nine to five gives you
40 hours. It gives you structure, it gives
you accountability. It gives you something that you
have to do everyday that you can't if and or butt about it
because your survival depends onit.
But that doesn't take away the stress, the time the, you know,
being exhausted. You know, you you deliberately
stay up late because you don't want to go to work.

(38:36):
So then you're tired at work allday.
Like there's a lot that goes into it versus an influencer or
content creator. Like everything lands on you all
day long seven days a week and like you're 15 seconds could be
up at any moment. So it bed running is a great
example. But you know, Vin, being my
producer and someone that I workwith like all day long, I will
create a chaos in my own home. It's dead silent.

(38:57):
There's no one around and I'm creating this chaos of things
that need to get done. And it feels like a stressful
office environment because if I don't, if I just sat there, I
don't know that I could do it. But it's just kind of opening
that gateway about how difficultthe 2 worlds are and just being
able to empathize with like both.
It's like, yeah, maybe it's not as hard as someone who's going
and laying tile all day in a bathroom or working on a hot

(39:19):
roof. It's very different.
It's like mental and physical versus just pretty much mental.
Yeah. But anyways, that's just a maybe
there was another guy about stigma.
There's a lot of Flack over thaton TikTok.
He was a, he's a gamer and he streams full time.
That's his full time job. And him and a couple other guys
were talking and it's essentially the same
conversation. They were like, you know, what

(39:39):
do you think's harder? Like someone's 9:00 to 5:00 or
being a streamer? And he was like 100% nine to
five. Like I could sit here and I'm
playing video games all day likethis isn't?
Hard. And then the other streamer was
like, well, kind of is. Yeah, see, my thing is if it was
that easy, then everyone would have done it.
Like you're not successful at itbecause it's hard.
Like that's when people like look down on it.

(40:02):
Then I'm like, well, you're not doing it or you're, you know,
like because it's not that. It's not just.
I also feel like it takes a certain kind of creativity to be
a create. Like you need to have an idea or
have something original or have.There are just people who aren't
creative and don't have that or don't want to be doing that
kind. Of 100%.

(40:22):
That's also hard, especially if you're doing it full time.
Every day needs to be different.You can't be putting out the
same thing over and over again. So true and.
I think people underestimate that.
My God, he shows me things sometimes on TikTok and again,
obviously it's his full time jobthat's he should know these
things, but I'm just like oh. Yeah, we edited your video.
I'm so good at math and I'm so good at geometry, but I couldn't

(40:43):
figure that one out smooth. And I'm just like, wow, that's a
good one. I messed up on so many videos
because I didn't know that little trick.
Yeah, yeah, it's a, it's a very unique space to be in.
And again, I think I, I think they're both equally hard.
I just think that there's just not enough understanding and
compassion to the fact that likeit's 24/7, 7 days a week.

(41:04):
And also there's like a lot of structure in place to make sure
that you keep your job. There's an HR department, you
get 3 or 4 strikes. You can be late, you can be
sick. Like for me, it's like if
someone saw that I tweeted in like 7th grade.
Becky looks funny with her braceis I'm like my fucking career
zone. Also, Becky didn't look bad with
her braces. She looked very nice.
I never said that, but and there's no one to do all of

(41:28):
those extra things, you know? And I feel like people love the
oh, they. Do it's so, it's so, it's so
sickening. And you know, there's no health
insurance, nothing's guaranteed.And it's like the only way for
me to afford those things is I have to post 24/7 to make sure I
get brand deals. It's like the stress that comes
along with it is again, a lot different.
And I think that they're just asequal as one another.

(41:50):
So kudos to you for doing both very hard things at the exact
same time. That's what I was trying to get
at ultimately there. I'm very sorry for my long
tangents. Let's talk about Pig.
Tell us the story of Fig. Well, Fig, actually, I don't
think you guys know this. Fig has a really good back
story. I love it.
Tell us the. Back story.
So Fig lived in a kibbutz, whichis like a communal living space

(42:16):
in Israel, like on the Gaza border.
And she was like a because it's like a communal living space.
They try and teach the children of the community responsibility
by taking care of animals. And so she lived outside in this
kibbutz, like in the middle of the Israeli desert and.
Didn't know you could have bunnies in the desert, just put

(42:37):
them out there. Yes, there's a fun factor.
I think it's probably not the best for them.
They're very heat sensitive, butthey're she does.
And two weeks after she was born, so like, you know, tiny,
tiny, her parents got killed. Her Bunny parents got killed by
a snake in the Israeli desert. And I know a girl that lives on

(42:58):
the kibbutz. And she was like, I know you
love animals. These baby bunnies are going to
die because they're still supposed to be like with the
mother, right? You need to come take care of
them. And I was like, I live 2 hours
away in Tel Aviv. I have a job, an office job.
And you live on a community of people who are supposed to be
taking care of these Bunny, likesomeone else take care of them.

(43:21):
And she's like, no, no, it has to be you.
Like everyone has things to do. And I'm like, I also have things
to do, but also, you know, you picked the right girl because
like, I'm obviously not gonna say no.
I'm on my way. So I get on the train and I go
all the way down you. Sure you want me while she's
halfway there already on the train.
So I stayed there by myself and like, nursed these bunnies back

(43:43):
to health. These tiny baby bunnies.
There were four of them and after like a week, they were
like doing good. And she's like, OK, they're
going to, you know, they're going to survive.
I was like, I just nursed these bunnies, but they would be dead
if it was not for me. I'm their mother now gives me
the bunnies. And she was like, oh, they
belong to the community. And I was like, the community

(44:05):
didn't take care of the bunnies.I took care of the bunnies.
And she's like, you can take your favorite one Bunny, which
like, I'm sorry, that's. So terrible.
I mean, who's doing that to me? But that's what.
She did. My mom would have chose me.
I get it. But.
She made me choose one and I chose Fig and I took Fig home
with me to Tel Aviv. And she even in Tel Aviv has

(44:30):
been through a lot. You know, she got spayed or
neutered. I don't know which one is the
girl wants spayed. I think Rick Galser stitches.
They had to give her a cone. Bunnies can't really get a cone
because they don't have a neck. But she she got a cone.
That's adorable. And she then I decided to go to,
you know, also I was there during some active wartime.

(44:52):
So she had a lot of like rocket sirens.
We had to sleep in a bomb shelter, like all the things.
And then I decided I wanted to move home and bunnies are not
allowed on planes. I'm like, well, I can't leave
without Fig. Like if Fig can't come with me,
I'm not leaving. And I was trying to find any

(45:12):
possible way to get her on this.But I like know someone fairly
high up at Delta, I like tried to get them to I'm like I will
get and it was right after COVIDtoo.
So the airlines were hurting andI'm like, I will give you
$20,000 for one seat. I will.
I want like the first class pod.You won't even know she's in
there. Like I will close it the whole
time. I will not come out like.

(45:33):
Also, it's a Bunny like you let on, like these German Shepherds
and these Great Danes, but not atiny Bunny and a little kitchen.
She's tiny. They can't make any noise.
They don't smell. Like I don't understand the what
it is. No one would let me do it.
So I'm looking into taking like a private plane.
You know, that's my entire life savings, right?
And my parents were like, you'rean absolute idiot.

(45:54):
Like, don't do that. And I'm like, I have to like, I
cannot leave her behind. This is like my literal, this is
my child. Like I can't.
And so then I got desperate and decided to hand write letters to
the entire C-Suite of every airline that flew from Israel to
anywhere on the East Coast. So I was like, if I can get
anywhere on the East Coast, I will drive like that's fine.

(46:18):
And the COO of Ariaropa out of Madrid messaged me back and was
like, yes, I will make an exception.
You can take the Bunny on the plane.
They'll call you and book the tickets so.
Let's. Go shadow Aeropa.
I know. Wow, that's cool.
So I bought us a whole row of ofseats and she got a nice pop up

(46:40):
playpen on the plane. She got the two inside seats.
I sat on the outside. Everyone was like obsessed with
her all we had a line coming to see her and.
Not a lot on planes because people have too much fun.
And enjoy it brings too much joythat's.
So now she's living the bougie seaport life, eating Whole
Foods, greens and. I love that for her.

(47:06):
Adorable. Me too good.
For. Her Now they talked about the
Seaport. What made you go to the Seaport?
Let's talk about the Seaport experience.
I know this is very. Life in Boston because you know,
online everything is about the seaport.
Everyone hates the seaport I think.
From New England, all Boston folk and mass New Englanders.
They're all like, they're all not for the seaport, but I feel

(47:27):
like everyone that's migrating wants the seaport.
They want that cool nightlife onthe water.
If I'm being honest, having lived in the Miami area.
Like it kind of gives you that downtown Brickell vibe without
the actual nice buildings. Nice water, really nice weather,
welcoming people. Minor details, but.
It has Duncan and Miami doesn't have Duncan, so there you go.

(47:49):
Shut up. Duncan yes, I feel so.
When I first moved back to Boston, I actually lived in
downtown, like near Beacon Hill,like Government Center area.
And my plan was to move to Beacon Hill or somewhere just
very charming. Like that's what I love about

(48:09):
Boston is like the brownstones and that charming old feel, you
know, the cobblestone streets. Like that's what I love.
And I also when I first moved back to Boston was like seaport,
like, oh, OK, it doesn't have the vibe.
Like it just stripped everythingthat's Boston out of it and it
is like. Too modern?

(48:29):
Yeah, it's just not it. And then I realized that like,
well, I love the brownstones. I myself do not want to walk up
four flights of stairs and not have central AC and have to put
the unit in the window. And like have all of these
issues from an old apartment, which comes with having an old
apartment. And I feel like there's only a

(48:53):
very select few that are like renovated to the point where
it's like a new building and I can't afford those.
Like they are so beyond, they'reeven beyond Seaport, like
they're really expensive. And I also looked in the leather
district because I wanted to live in like one of those brick

(49:14):
and beam. Well, you would have, you would
have never done that. The leather district, that's not
vegan community. It's.
It's not vegan community, not they would have been real PO D
about that. Yeah.
But then I just looked at Seaport and I was like, OK, you
just can't beat these buildings.Like everyone, the managed
buildings are the best. They're the best.

(49:34):
OK it's really nice to have a pool and like all this nice
beautiful space and a yoga studio.
And when something breaks in theapartment, I can go to my phone
and be I'm not handy, right. So like this is like my biggest
fear about ever owning a house is like I cannot fix anything
anything. And and now I can just be like
my dishwasher stopped working and then they show up 5 minutes

(49:57):
later and they have a new dishwasher at my door and they
swap them out and I'm like that is the life that I need to be
living. Agreed And as.
Everyone should. Right.
And that's when I was like, OK, I looked at these buildings in
Seaport. I like just can't get over it.
Like I can't stop thinking aboutthem.
And now that I live there, I'm like the biggest Seaport

(50:19):
advocate because I do feel like it gets have a very bad
reputation of being soulless, but I actually feel like it is
its own little neighborhood. Like there's a lot going on and
there's a lot of like community events and they have yoga on the
steps and they do a drawing class outside and you can salsa.
Like there's all these things that like they really do try to

(50:41):
make it a community. And I really, I think it is
like, and I think it's really nice.
I go for walks on the water everyday.
Like I I now I'm like obsessed and I wouldn't want to live
anywhere else in Boston, but I was not a believer before I
moved there. And do you think when people say
things like it's soulless, it's because it's just like new, it's

(51:01):
different or because like in general, the going out vibe was
like, you go to like, let's say,let's let's keep it
stereotypical. You go to an Irish bar and you
get drunk and then someone fights outside.
It's like there's all of these really fun initiatives and
really great stuff. And yeah, it has a lot of
transplants, but it's like it's kind of giving the city itself a
little bit of life. No, it's tough.

(51:22):
New Englanders, man. We don't like chain.
So I can see both ends of the spectrum, no doubt about it.
But do you think that that kind of plays a part, having lived in
like the government Center area and now live there, How it's
like the community events and the initiatives going on are
very different? Yes, I do think, I also think it
has a lot to do with the type ofpeople that live in Seaport,
right. You're getting like finance Bros

(51:43):
and like this type of very, it'snot diverse.
I will leave it at that, right? It is a certain income bracket.
And that is, I think also it's astereotype, but I think not
fully untrue that a lot of people's parents are helping pay
for their rent, which is not thecase for me, not the case for a
lot of people I know, but it is the case for quite a few people.

(52:07):
And I think that also, you know,no one likes that.
No one wants to be around that. So I think that like feeds into
it also that that's not like a, a real Boston community or real
Boston neighborhood. But I just feel like living in
it. I just don't necessarily find
that to be the case. Or maybe those just aren't the
people that I choose to interactwith.

(52:29):
But yeah, I mean, I go to more events and I feel like there are
more events fairer than I had when I lived near Beacon Hill.
Like, I think, I don't know, I think maybe because they're
trying to build it up as a community and as a neighborhood
that they really are putting in the effort.
And I do think it's working likeit there.
I just do a lot more in my neighborhood now than I ever did

(52:52):
before, which I appreciate. That's great.
Yeah. We just did interviewed the CEO
of Legal Seafood and that was really the first time that I had
spent any time. I was like, I, I got to be
honest with you, man, Like I love New England charm, but I
also kind of like modern. I do.
There is a part of me like I don't want to go full blown
modern, but New England needs a the at least everywhere but New

(53:15):
Hampshire and probably Maine. I never really visit Vermont.
So Massachusetts in Rhode Island, they just need a little
bit more of a modern edge to them because like New Hampshire
is charm like the the north, thenorth northeast charm is the
fact that it's kind of like a place that's stuck in time.
That's what makes it cute in quaint.
But when you have major cities and hubs where it has an influx

(53:36):
of people, like Rhode Island, wegot a ton of people, you know,
we have like Newport, which has kind of done some initiatives on
the waterfront to kind of step up their modern game.
But just in general, like, you know, when a new, a lot of Rhode
Island is like doing these new shopping plazas, but it's got
all of the cool acai bowl placesand tropical smoothies.

(53:56):
I'm like, this is great. Like, I like this stuff.
It doesn't all have to feel likeyeah.
You know, this is, I also feel like people are really quick to
like, I don't like, it's too basic.
Like, I don't like basic things.Like, yes, you do.
Yeah, stop lying. Like, everyone likes some basic
things. OK.
Well, there's certain spots for that too, because like I lived,

(54:17):
I work at EB, so I'm down in Connecticut and they're building
gosh only knows how many new luxury apartments.
And it's like, I hate to be thatguy, but like it's Groton.
We have EB and Pfizer. Like what are you putting over
here and making these $2500 one bedroom 1 for who it's?

(54:42):
Going to take a while, but they're going to do the same
thing. As you know, it's like this is
how it begins. They start moving those people
in first because they need the area to start making money
before they can build up more. It's just tough because then you
see those, but then you go a mile down the street and it's a
shopping Plaza that's complete. It's like 2 buildings out of the
10 that we're supposed, you knowwhat I mean?
So it's like, what are you doing?
Yeah, but hey, that's why we have a podcast, because we don't

(55:04):
know that shit. Amazing.
All right, let's get into the SONew England segment.
You also don't. Have your head there is a noise
that I can. There is a noise that you cannot
hear. All right, we have 6 beautiful
states here in New England. You have lived in two of them.
But I would like you, if you don't mind, to please rank the

(55:26):
New England states in order fromfavorite to least favorite, from
best to worst. I mean, I'm going to have to put
Massachusetts first, of course, where I grew up, Boston, I love.
I feel like you just can't beat it.
Also, Nantucket, Cape Cod, Vineyard, all Massachusetts.

(55:46):
Very fair. So that has to be first.
Second, I think I'm going to have to go Maine.
I did live there, so obviously Iam biased, but I also feel like
that is just quintessential New England to me, like those
coastal towns and just very naturey and beautiful.

(56:07):
So got to go Maine then. I mean, I have not spent a ton
of time in Rhode Island, but I still feel like I would put
Rhode Island third because I think like Newport is very, you
know, like Christmas time and then also summer.

(56:27):
That's like what I think of whenI think of New England.
So gotta go Rhode Island. We'll let it slug, yeah?
We're not Newport guys, but we'll let it go.
That's fine. We.
Get a lot of Flack for that one,but it's OK.
Always freaking Newport. Hey, maybe after I go eat at
this plant place. Plant City.
Yeah, it'd be a great place. Then it will be third.

(56:48):
Because of that, there we go. I'll have to come back and redo
my list. Honestly, I think I'd probably
rather be known for Newport thanPlant City, but that's just me.
I'm just getting Plant City's a wonderful restaurant.
Then I'm we're gonna have to go New Hampshire.
We. Love New Hampshire?
We love New Hampshire, we love it.
Then Vermont again. I feel like it's just nature and

(57:12):
very, you know, New England fall, Quintessential fall, yes.
And then we're going to have to go Connecticut.
Last again, what the heck, Connecticut.
Gosh Dang it, Darn it. Everyone seems to think that I'm
just this big hater, but here weare again with our 61st guest
putting Connecticut where folks last.

(57:34):
It's not just me. It's not that you're a bad
state. It's not that you have bad
people. It's just that there is
something about New England. There's a charm.
There is a sense of something inthe air that you guys just don't
have. Southeastern Connecticut, yes,
like where he lives, Mystic, very cute, kind of like Newport,
kind of like Seaport, Kennebunkport, Vermont, New

(57:55):
Hampshire, it's like, but once you get that's it.
Anyways, you've lived in a lot of different places.
You are very well traveled. So if you could add a city,
state or even another country, don't matter.
Bear with me here. If you could add them to New
England, what would it be? And it brings everything.

(58:19):
I always try to clarify it brings everything.
Some people just bring like a like a city because like, I just
want the city. For example, I brought Florida.
I was like, I want the nice weather.
I want everything that Florida'sgot to offer with the coastline,
that should be the Ocean State, not Rhode Island.
But I regress. There or the swamp state but.
I would bring, I think I would bring all of Taiwan.

(58:46):
Oh yeah, nice. Yeah, I feel like it it has
better weather. I mean it does rain a lot, but
it has better weather generally.We need some more weather.
Yes, we do. So that brings that.
I also feel like it just they have really good food, which I
already made my thoughts on thatclear.
We need, we need some of that. Wait let me ask you this and we

(59:10):
might have cancelled this out because if I sound really
stupid, I had chicken pad Thai last night.
Is that Thai food? Just because it says chicken pad
Thai? I hear the Thai at the end.
I think it's Thai as in Thailand.
Fuck, cut it out. You heard that?
Yep, geography. Geometry any Geo something my
man don't get it. Fuck.
Man. Okay, yes, we need better food,

(59:32):
correct? We need better.
Food. Yeah, it's just TikTok trends,
that's all that's. That's all it's I just sound
bite in my head, like sugar on my tongue that's stuck in my
head right now. OK.
Is there something about New England that you happen to think
is a little bit overrated? I'm going to say winter.
I feel like people come here forthe winter, love the winter.

(59:55):
Like I know I have friends that wait for the winter to go skiing
and they're like so pumped aboutwinter time, no.
Straight to the point. That's kind of a hot take here.
Not a fan of winter? Winter's overrated here in New
England. Yeah, it's terrible.
I hate to break this to you, Sammy, but you have just gone
viral because you're going to make a lot of New Englanders

(01:00:15):
upset with that statement. It's just the worst part of
living. Here.
And that's why you're going to be, you know, a little snowboard
moving. Forward, we're going to
snowboard. I love it.
OK? Is there anything that you
happen to find underrated about New England that more people
should be celebrating and enjoying or tell the world
about? The Seaport.

(01:00:36):
Big seaport gal over here. I love it.
OK, how about like a nostalgic day?
Like what? What for you screams New England
nostalgia? Gonna have to go Bugaboo Creek.
On this. 1. We do love Bugaboo.
Creek I went there a lot growingup with the moose and you know,

(01:00:56):
everyone lied and said it was their birthday so that they
could kiss the moose that they brought to the table.
Think about the germs. I OK, if you I am like a very
I'm very germaphobic now. I like always have Purell.
I'm like, I won't touch anythingI and I think about that now and
it makes me want to like die and.

(01:01:17):
This is why you have a good immune system though, because we
used to do crazy things like that.
I was so excited to kiss the moose.
Now I wouldn't be caught dead kissing, but it.
Builds character you would. Do it.
Yeah, yeah. We're going to find a clip,
we're going to we're going to dosome sort of AI thing where we
get you kissing the moose. Kiss the moose and then Purell.
Yeah, it can probably meant to happen.

(01:01:38):
I know you can't, Vin. Vin gets excited when you start
to talk. He's AI.
I'm in anything ChatGPT. Give me that look I.
Was just waiting for him to say something.
OK, All right, so you're not a fall gal.
So, I mean, excuse me, a winter gal.
So what is your favorite New England season?
It's definitely a toss up between summer and and fall.

(01:02:00):
This is why I like I definitely I'm not going to Florida till
like mid next month because I need the fall.
I love the leaves. Give me all the basic girl like
I want to go apple picking pumpkin spice.
I want the pumpkin spice. I want the apple cider doughnuts
like all. Give that all to me.
All not available in the seaport, by the way.
Where do you go? Newport, I mean, excuse me, New

(01:02:22):
Hampshire, Maine, Vermont. Where you go?
Oh, you got your family. You just go right up to the
farm. Yes, yes.
You're a lucky duck. I know that's awesome.
Life is good. Life is good.
All right, so you said that you do a lot of the Netflix, and
that's not what you said. Cut that back.
Sorry. Fuck, that is an Internet brain
rot right there. OK, You said you liked that.

(01:02:45):
I'm so sorry for that. I meant to say you you bed rot
and you do the Netflix. So that means you're a movie TV
buff. I don't, I I wouldn't say that
because I don't think I choose like quality television.
So that's the next question then, is there a New England

(01:03:06):
based movie or TV show or like New England influenced type of,
you know, film that exists that happens to be your favorite?
I mean, I'm going to give the most basic answer, but I feel
like if you're from New England and don't give this answer, then
I'm going to judge you because it's good bull hunting and it
has. To be yes, yes, yeah.

(01:03:27):
You know what I watched this weekend for the first time in a
while? The Depotted really a great
movie. Yeah, I saw that.
On my Amazon that was purchased.Oh yeah, I 'cause I can't you
know, we do like this the, the, the streaming services for like
the bootleg, but I'm like it just like loads all the time.
I'm like, OK, I work too hard I I'll pay the dollar 99 to rent
it. Also Venmo request me 'cause I
forgot to. OK, so you're a vegan.

(01:03:49):
So this next question might be alittle bit difficult, but if
there was a vegan dish that you could be the official vegan dish
of New England, what would it look like?
The Vegan. Thing threw me off.
Yeah, I'm trying to make it specific to you.
You're welcome. That's my creative side.
I got a little creative on you there.
Yeah, that really can't be like tofu.

(01:04:11):
That's that's no good. Lobster tofu.
You know, they do make fake lobster.
I'm not a fake meat person but like they make a fake lobster
that literally looks like a lobster.
Like they like cut out a piece of I don't even know what in the
shave of a lobster and like dyedit red.

(01:04:32):
Oh my God, that's that's that's too much for.
Me like sea legs or whatever it is like the fake imitation crab.
Is it the same consistency as that?
I don't know. I've never eaten it.
I'm too. Afraid that's fair.
That's probably best to not findout.
It's best to not find out. Do we do a favor there?
But you'll pal. I'm trying to think of like good
vegan food that I've had around Boston.
I mean, this is like very out ofleft field, but Nautilus in the

(01:04:56):
Seaport, originally in Nantucket, now two locations,
has like this Daikon radish cakeand it's vegan and it's like
absolutely bomb. It's really good.
So how do I say that? What is it?
Daikon Radish. Yes.
I don't even I'm not even familiar with whatever that is,
but that's the official vegan dish.

(01:05:17):
I get the but the diacon part I don't.
Know what that means? Cake.
She just said it OK all. Right.
A diacon is just a kind of It's like a long white radish.
Gotcha. Don't say yeah.
You don't fucking know. You don't know if I you have no
clue. I was also going to ask you,
what's a diacon? I didn't know that it was a long
white. Radish dude just literally just.

(01:05:37):
You're a real piece of work, letme tell you, pal.
Fucking guy. OK, let's see, what other New
England questions can we ask youhere?
Oh yeah? Are you a sports gal?
I am a sports gal. All right, want to rank the New
England sports teams in order for us like like favorite to
least favorite or just like which ones do you enjoy the most

(01:05:59):
versus the ones you don't reallyconsume as much we're.
Going to have to go Patriots first.
We're big Patriots fans over here.
Not that you could possibly notice, but you know the Red
Sox. Definitely have to put Patriots
first. I mean, it's been like a sad few
years. I feel like it's getting good
together. It is getting good together.
We love Drake May. We love Drake.

(01:06:19):
We love Drake May. Yes, but I mean even when it was
bad, it's I still like watching football.
Like it's still fun. I was still, I was still cool
with it. Like we sucked, but I was like,
I don't care, I'm still going towatch the game.
Right, I love a good SE Sunday. Like just going.
Out, you got it. And watching all the games.
It totally gave you the perspective of how lucky we had

(01:06:41):
it for 20 years. This is what I was.
I was like, this is how everyoneelse feels all the time.
Yeah, all the time. And I just like, couldn't
imagine. Specifically Jets fans.
It's terrible. There's Tom Brady in another
Super Bowl. Patriots are back in the AF
Championship. That one hurt me.
That one hurt me. I don't want to talk about it.
OK, so Patriots first. Patriots #1 numero Uno.

(01:07:01):
Probably going to have to put Celtics #2.
Love that. Yeah, I feel like it's.
Very nervous for the upcoming season but we'll see.
I I feel not so good about it. Yeah.
Me neither, I want to pretend like it's not on fire.
Everything's fine. Sold it.
Everyone's gone. We.
Need like the dog in the house on fire.
Yeah. And then I mean, I would

(01:07:22):
probably honestly rank Red Sox and Bruins pretty evenly.
Like I think I don't necessarily, if they're doing
really well, then I find it exciting.
I always like to go to the Red Sox in the summer.
It's like a summer staple. But I don't necessarily like
find baseball super thrilling. I like hockey.
I managed my college hockey. Team.

(01:07:44):
Oh, fun fact. Fun fact.
Look at you go. Where'd you go to school?
Wake Forest in North. Carolina.
No Demon Deacon down there. Wow.
Deacons. There's a fun fact we hadn't
learned yet. Yes.
So you lived down the Carolinas?Yes.
Carolina bore her. I lived in Concord for some part
of my life and then Columbia. I love the Carolinas.

(01:08:08):
I was, I was young, though, so Ididn't get a lot of like a
dolty, like couldn't drive, drive around and go to high
school party. Fun life stuff.
But we'll get back there. My cousins live in Charleston,
so that's where I'm going to go next one of these days.
But I mean that Southern belle, No, that's not for the black
cast. Continue.
You're a Southern belle. I got you a real cowboy right
here. Yep.

(01:08:30):
Sorry. We're just trying to do anything
we can so. Yeah, Bruin Celtics.
Bruin Celtics. OK, got it.
Like. 3:00-ish Four. Soccer at all or football?
Not a big soccer gal? OK, so we'll put Revs at the
bottom then. We're going to put them.
Up if there were was one word orone sentence or one phrase to

(01:08:51):
sum up New England quickly before your camera does.
I mean, I feel like something something with the word wicked,
which by the way, I didn't know until I went to college was a
New England thing. I had no idea because I only

(01:09:11):
have ever lived here. So it was just like a very, I
don't everyone's vocabulary. Everyone said wicked.
And then I went to North Carolina and people were like,
that's not normal. And then I went like abroad and
people didn't understand like, and I was like.
I guess she's just in town. Like, where's the wicked awesome
Thai noodles? Get it?

(01:09:32):
Sorry. There you go, we can cut that.
I was just trying to be funny. There you go.
Well, Sammy, this has been fantastic.
Thank you so much for making thetrek down.
Thank you for jumping on the podcast with us, letting
everyone get to know you a little bit.
Where can they find you online if they'd like to follow along
and do some vlogging journey andand see whatever you got coming

(01:09:53):
up next? I'm at Sammy Herrick everywhere.
Wonderful. And that's where they can see
Fig as well. That is where they can see fig
as well. Fantastic.
Very important. Thank you again.
Actually, we do need the camera for the final cut.
Oh, look at this. All right, folks, that is going
to conclude episode 61 of the SoNew England podcast.
Please remember folks. Life's better in New England

(01:10:15):
red. Sox crack and the Celtics fly,
the Patriots fights and the Bruins cry from 6th grade
states. We raised this down.
New England strong homework back.
With Ian Brown.

All Episodes

Boston’s Vegan Bunny Mom Shares Her Story w/ Sammie Herrick | So New England w/ Ian Brownhill #61

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Stuff You Should Know

The Bobby Bones Show

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Boston’s Vegan Bunny Mom Shares Her Story w/ Sammie Herrick | So New England w/ Ian Brownhill #61