January 30, 2025 • 33 mins
Have you ever encountered a dog that defies all stereotypes and melts your heart? Meet Myrtle, a gentle pit bull mix, who along with Juliana Coughlin, our guest on the Kindness Matters Podcast, is on a mission to change perceptions about rescue animals. Juliana, a passionate runner, dedicated dog mom, and Harry Potter fan, shares her vibrant life filled with marathons, community spirit, and the joys of adopting rescue dogs. Her story is a testament to the power of resilience and community support, particularly as she navigates life with ankylosing spondylitis.
Join us as Juliana highlights the incredible impact of small acts of kindness and how they can transform personal and professional relationships. From simple gestures like complimenting a stranger to fostering positive social media interactions, these acts open doors and create meaningful connections. Juliana, who embodies both Hufflepuff's kindness and Slytherin's determination, also shares her journey of collaborating with local organizations in Cape Cod, illustrating the ripple effect of kindness within communities.
As we wrap up this uplifting conversation, we delve into the world of chronic illness, exploring Juliana's personal journey with ankylosing spondylitis. Her story combines humor and heart, offering a glimpse into how she manages her condition with the help of medication and a positive outlook. Alongside these personal anecdotes, we celebrate the compassionate initiatives within the Mayday Media Network, encouraging listeners to embrace and spread kindness in every facet of life. Tune in for an episode that promises inspiration and a renewed appreciation for the power of kindness.
This podcast is a proud member of the Mayday Media Network. If you have an idea for a podcast and need some production assistance or have a podcast and are looking for a supportive network to join, check out maydaymedianetwork.com.
Like what you hear on the podcast? Follow our social media for more uplifting, inspirational and feel-good content.
It's one thing to highlight the kindness that we see in the world, but it's another to, as I put in many of my social media posts, #bethechange. I am donating all of my royalties from the sale of my book, Change A World; In Order to Change The World to local and national non-profits. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello there and welcome.
You are listening to theKindness Matters podcast and I
am your host, mike Rathbun.
What is this podcast all about?
It's about kindness.
It's a pushback againsteverything negative that we see
in the news and on social mediatoday, and it's a way to
(00:20):
highlight people, organizations,that are simply striving to
make their little corner of theworld a little better place.
If you want to join in on theconversation, feel free, Go
ahead and follow us on all ofyour social media feeds.
We're on Facebook, instagram,tiktok.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
(00:42):
Check us out.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
Check us out and, in themeantime, sit back, relax, enjoy
and we'll get into the KindnessMatters podcast.
Hey, welcome everybody to theshow.
I am so glad that you couldjoin us and take some time out
of your day today.
Remember, if there's anythingyou hear in the show with my
(01:07):
guest, feel free to share itwith your friends and family and
strangers on the street andwhoever.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Screaming out to the world.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Exactly my guest today.
You guys, she is so cool.
My guest today is JulianaCoughlin.
She's a podcaster, she's arunner, she's a Harry Potter
nerd, in case you're wondering.
She's a Hufflepuff.
She's a dietician, she's aspondee We'll get into that in a
(01:39):
minute and a dog mom, which Imean automatically ranks you
like right up here in my book.
Juliana lives on Cape Cod inMassachusetts with her pity
Myrtle.
Oh, I've got to see Myrtlebefore we get off.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Anyway.
Oh yes, myrtle's hanging out onthe couch over there.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Her two podcasts, which include Runa about running
in her hometown of Falmouth,Massachusetts.
Did I do it right?
Yeah, Runa, yeah Well, I meantFalmouth.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Falmouth.
Oh yeah, Falmouth, it's one ofmy favorite things to hear
people pronounce Falmouth.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, because I always want to go.
Falmouth and her other podcastInto the Fold, which is a
Grishaverse podcast we'll haveto talk about that are
independently produced byherself with her best friend,
jeff.
By day she works as a socialmedia manager and also as a
registered dietitian, and whenshe's not walking her dog,
(02:40):
podcasting or talking Potter,she can be found running.
She has run two BostonMarathons the New York City
Marathon, the Chicago Marathonand the Tokyo Marathon and has
her eyes set on the BerlinMarathon next.
She also has a chronic illness.
(03:01):
Here's a test called alkalizingspondylosis that.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
That was it, it's.
It's either alkalizing orankylosing spondylitis.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I believe it's alkalizing, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
I don't know which one for it.
I'll tell you what this, thisdisease, has like.
Three different pronunciations,at a minimum, of how you
pronounce it.
We can just call it AS.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
AS I like it Slash AS .
And that refers to the spondyup above earlier and is
currently on the journey tofinding her best treatment plan
to combat this condition.
Welcome to the show, julianaCoughlin Woo yay, really long
intro.
We love it, coughlin and thecrowd goes wild.
(03:48):
Well, thank you.
So much fun to have you on here.
You are just a delight to talkto and I can't can't believe the
my luck in having you be aguest on my show well, we'll
decide if it's it's luck or not,but it could be.
(04:10):
Oh, this is going to go well.
Oh no, I'm excited to be here.
Well, and I mean first of allokay, let's why running?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, I mean.
So I guess my brief runningorigin story is that I was never
really athletic growing up as akid and I just like I did
sports kind of, but not really.
I was more of a theater kid andI my best friend in high school
, lydia, was like hey, juliana,wouldn't it be crazy if every
day after school we went and rana mile and I'd like Lydia?
Speaker 1 (04:49):
that's absolutely insane.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Why would we do that?
And and she's like you want todo it, I was like sure, so we,
we did that um, and then my momkind of got involved and we
ended up doing the couch to 5kprogram, um, which at that point
now it currently is like an appand a website and like all
these things it was a printablepdf um.
You print off of paper, youbring it with you to the track
and you follow like the walking,running kind of thing.
And then I just kind of startedrunning recreationally to stay
(05:11):
in shape.
And what essentially led me towhere I am now is the running
community in Falmouth, mass,where I live, is just very
vibrant and very involved andreally awesome.
And when I moved here, thatkind of sparked my, my interest
in more like group communityrunning events, things like that
, cause I saw like what thatcould actually be.
And that's when I startedrunning marathons was when I
(05:35):
after I moved down here.
So, plus, the Cape is gorgeousand if you go on a long run you
get to see like lighthouses andthe ocean.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yeah, the Cape is amazing, right yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, it definitely helps.
I always tell people too if Ihad stayed in the town where I
grew up in, which is in centralMassachusetts, I would have
never started running longerdistance, because it is ugly
there, you're like yeah, seen it.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah, yeah, nothing interesting here.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, it's gross and I'm just.
I definitely accredit myrunning a lot to just the
environment here and how prettyit is and, again, how just
involved the running communityhere is in families which I am
now a really big part of, whichis great.
We love it.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah, yeah, and all those marathons.
Yeah, I see MinneapolisMarathon is down there.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
The Grandmas.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Grandmas is on my list, actually, of ones that I
want to do.
Yeah, yeah, I have some likebigger marathons that I'm
working on.
There's marathons called theworld marathon majors, which the
ones that you mentioned are apart of.
So you got boston, chicago, newyork, london, tokyo um, and
berlin, and now sydney, um.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
So, yeah, so that's what I shoot for yeah, so I'm
working on those.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So right now we got berlin for this fall, london for
next spring and then sydney'seither going to be next the come
2026 fall or 2027 fall, sowe'll see what's going on just
just so cool, yeah it.
For me it's nice because aboutonce a year I have like a big
destination to go to and it kindof predetermines where my big
(07:06):
vacation for the year is goingto be and I don't have to think
about it, which is nice.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Right, that's so cool , you know, and I tried not
running jogging, I guess in highschool um in high school and I
(07:32):
enjoyed it because I wouldalways do it early morning and
everything was so quiet and Icould just kind of get lost in
my thoughts.
Didn't last long.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah, I think, I think you.
I mean, this was 78, 79, yeah,so I don't even know if running
was a thing yeah, it's much morecommunity-based now that it
really ever has been, which isfantastic, which I think is for
me personally, it's a big reasonwhy I'm much more involved than
I really would have ever beenif there hasn't hadn't been like
(08:03):
a community engagement portionof it.
And I definitely agree with tothe point that you made of just
being able to go out and processyour thoughts, because that's
how I kind of work through.
A lot of my thoughts, too is Ijust go out for a run and just
kind of get lost in my thoughtsand come back and I'm ready to
save the world, essentiallybecause I've solved all the
problems solved all the problems.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
I'm done that's it.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
We're good world is saved, but yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
I just, with all the experience you've got with
podcasting, I feel like I'm onthe wrong side of the mic here
yeah, I, I, I, we like to keepit approachable.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
You know, and I I'm someone who I don't have any
formal background in mediaproduction or anything like that
.
Anything that I've done, I'vetaught myself and just kind of
learned over the years.
So I don't, I don't can people?
People have been like, wow,julian, you've doing this for a
while, like, yeah, but I stilllike to have no idea I'm doing
half the time.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Right, I'm winging it .
It sounds good, people listen,I'm good.
Yeah, yeah, listen, I'm goodyeah yeah, as you know, mike,
half the battle is just puttingyourself out there just doing
the thing.
Yeah, that's true, that's true.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
I, I, I guess next for me probably would have to be
doing video yeah, but I'm notready for that I will tell you,
it took me probably, I think,like three years before I was
even comfortable like being on avideo podcast where I wasn't
just like a blank face, um, andthen just recently I've started
(09:31):
actually doing like YouTubecontent.
So it's been a it's been a veryslow burn, so don't push
yourself too hard if you don'twant to yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I was on a video podcast just before christmas.
I was a guest um a couple.
They have a podcast calledspoil my movie oh, that's fun it
is, and they just go throughand they break down movies and
and because it was christmastime, because there was a theme
of kindness there, we did um,it's a Wonderful Life, and that
(10:07):
was fun.
And Chris Crick is the guy themale of that duo and he's the
tech guy.
Everything was black and white.
That was cool.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
That's fun yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
So, yeah, I don't think I could do it on a regular
basis, so, but I mean, look atit, we're doing it right.
I'm just not hosting the videoyeah.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I mean, yeah, you could do it, it kind of.
I think the other thing, whatI've learned through my very
short tenure in video editingthus far is it doesn't have to
be perfect and I will say justbeing like a social medium and
on the social media manager sideof things, definitely content
that's like authentic andimperfect is kind of where
things are trending, justbecause, like, ai is trending up
(10:54):
.
So people see like those weirdAI things and then yeah.
I'm looking for human connectionand that.
That, more or less, is wherethings are headed.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
So I love imperfect is is in, then I am right there
I'm set to take off, yeah same.
Okay, I have to ask aboutMyrtle.
Is she a rescue?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
She is, yeah, so I've had two dogs, both of which
have been rescues, and I justgrew up with rescue dogs as well
too Some of which have beenrescued from organizations, one
of which was actually just takendirectly off the street Maybe
not the best choice by myparents, you know the dog turned
out fine, but we off thefreeway.
I don't, I'm not exactly surewhere this dog was found.
(11:40):
This is a white German shepherdthat we named Snowy, and my
dad's friend found her when noone claimed her, and so my dad
was like we shall take her.
I was like, okay, um, so yeah,we had that dog for a while.
I mean she was great.
Luckily we got lucky.
That that's.
That's a little bit more riskythan I care to be with my
personal choices for animalsright now yeah, um, I mean, I do
(12:03):
have some friends who live intown who have farms, who, if
that does happen I know thatthey will they'll take anything
that breathes, essentially whichis great because you need
someone who will do that, sure.
But but, yeah, myrtle is arescue.
Um, I got her from a rescuethat is local to martha's
vineyard, which is just rightacross the vineyard sound, here
on the cape.
Yeah, called bark and I'm sorry, not bark.
Um, sandy paws bark is theorganization I got my first dog
(12:26):
from.
But yeah, myrtle is some kindof pit bull mix rescue.
Uh, not really sure exactlywhat.
Now she's sitting up andlooking at me over there and
she's like I hear my name she'slike I hear my name and you did
not give me food.
I did not give you food um,you're getting a look now yeah,
she's looking at me like bigtime and now I'm getting
(12:46):
side-eyed Soon, I'm going to getthe butt.
She likes to turn around andjust give me her butt and I'm
like, great, this is not.
You're not getting anywhere.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
That's how you know you're in trouble.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Uh-huh, yeah, but she's some kind of pit bull mix.
She has, like, the big squarepit of her head but the bottom
of her jawline isn't like thatreally, really square jawline,
um, but she's the sweetest dogI've ever met.
She's so like people have a lotof predispositions about
pitbulls.
She's violent with like anylike anyone, anything like she
(13:17):
is.
She is such a weenie like I donot.
I would not depend on her tolike defend me at all.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
She is just you're on your own, juliana, see ya, yeah
, we're finally home now yeah,she probably would just be like
oh, and just like walk away.
I'd be like okay, great, thatwas really helpful yeah, I, I
was gonna say you might hearmine is behind me.
She's laying right behind me.
(13:43):
If I move even an inch I'mgoing to run over her paw or
something.
Typically I don't have her inthe studio when I'm recording
because she has a really badhabit of barking for no apparent
reason.
So typically if I'm recording,I didn't realize she was back
here until we were talking and Iheard a little woof, so
(14:04):
apparently she was sleeping anddreaming.
So, talking and I heard alittle woof, so apparently she
was sleeping and dreaming, andso if you hear something, that's
what that is and I love thatyou and that was kind of handed
down the rescue part, right evenguaranteed that either, unless
(14:36):
you like, adopt the dog as anadult and you know exactly what
the dog looks like now and it'sprobably not going to change too
much.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
But if you adopt a puppy it's kind of a 50 50 shot
if you're going to get what youwanted like looks and
personality wise, I would say,and for me, I I'm.
I'm just not in the camp ofpaying so much money for a dog
that I really don't.
I don't have a purpose for thedog except for to be a companion
right and for me, as long as meand the dog get along and we
(14:59):
have a nice time together,that's really it.
So I'm not like out here on theI like I have a friend who
saved up like three or fourthousand dollars for like a king
charles hawker cavalier spaniel, yeah, big old long name and I
was like I don't think, likebecause the way the dog looks is
kind of irrelevant, to behonest yeah, although they do
have sweet faces they're reallycute, I mean.
(15:20):
But most dogs are cute, that'sthe thing, right?
I'd say like at least like 80of dogs are just like outwardly
very, very, very cute and theydo not have to try.
So it's to me it's not worththe money or to do it.
And also like why wouldn't youjust help out another dog if you
can Like?
Why not provide a good home toa dog that's not really had a
good home until now?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Because and you're going to love this because it's
the kind thing to do- yeah,there you go, tying it back.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Same message.
We keep the message going.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Keep it back in there .
Same message.
We keep the message going.
Keep it back in there.
And I mean, you're a generallykind person, but you've kind of
decided to put a little morefocus on that going forward,
haven't you?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, yeah.
So my general attitude towardsthe world is just trying to like
one.
My goal for life is to bemyself, so that's just kind of
discovering who I am, andthrough that I've kind of come
to the realization that it, yourlife, is just a little bit
better if you are just kinder topeople, and also that, in my
(16:27):
opinion, like attracts like.
So energies that are similarattract similar energies.
So if you're being negative allthe time, you're probably going
to attract negative energies.
If you're being positive allthe time, you probably going to
attract negative energies.
You're being positive all thetime, you're probably going to
attract positive energies andthus, like actions, and like
positive and negative actionsshould follow.
uh, given those energies andwhatever is going on, yeah um,
in the most and least way thatyou want to make that in your
(16:47):
head.
So definitely I.
I'm in the camp of just tryingto be nicer to people and also
actively choosing to point outwhen people are doing something
that either I like or I think isgood, or that they're good at
or is just a positive thing.
Day.
(17:15):
One of the things I used tolove to do was just to go up to
the little old ladies andcompliment them, because that
smile that you get from a littlewoman when you tell dolores
that she looks stunning in herdress today and her face just
lights up like your whole day isjust made right there yeah, oh,
absolutely so adorable, I loveit so much.
I would just like go around likethey.
They take that the whole restof the day.
If they can mentally retain it,they'll come back and they'll
(17:37):
tell everyone.
They're like, oh, I lookgorgeous today and they're so
like self-confident inthemselves for the rest of the
day and I'm just like that's sowonderful to see and it's so
totally like it didn't cost meany anything mentally,
physically, monetarily to justtell someone they look nice
today and just, yeah, there wasno negative side effects in any
direction from that.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, no, it is.
It's amazing what somethingsmall like that can do.
Yeah, my wife and I wereshopping last spring, I want to
say, and we were at the Walmartand all of a sudden I saw this,
something out of the corner ofmy eye and it made me turn.
(18:20):
And there was a woman in thisbrilliant not annoying pretty
brilliant yellow dress.
I'm like, oh my God, and thatit just, you know, I saw it and
I like smiled, I'm like, yeah,that makes me happy.
And I'm like, well, you have achoice here, mike.
(18:42):
You can keep it to yourself oryou can.
And even going over and sayingsomething might have gone a
couple of different ways, butshe was with her husband.
He's a big dude, but no, so Ijust I went over and I said I'm
sorry to interrupt your day andI apologize, but I just need to
(19:04):
tell you that seeing you, yourdress just made my, made me
happy, made my day, justbrightened my whole mood, and
she kind of did the you did theclutch, the pearls, kind of
thing.
Yeah, and then the smile thatcame up on her face and she just
said thank you so much.
(19:24):
Yeah, I made her day and Ididn't.
It took me what 10 seconds,yeah, and no money.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
No effort, no effort, yeah and I made somebody's day
and I made her feel better yeah,I'm sure she was like riding on
cloud nine the whole rest ofthe day to be honest.
Yeah see, I told you I had tobuy this dress yeah, and that
was probably part of theconversation too which funny, um
, but yeah, no, it's things likethat, that, it's those small
(19:52):
little actions, those smalllittle things, and they, they
just, they just make you feel somuch better and they, they just
make you feel so much betterand they make everyone around
you feel so much better.
They just make people want toactually be around you too.
And, like I, I find so if, ifanyone here listening is into
harry potter too, um, like I, I,like you said, I'm a hufflepuff
(20:12):
.
So hufflepuffs are known forbeing like, kind of just like,
kind of like somewhat ditzy, butalso like just friendly with
everyone, like they're friendswith everyone.
And then my other half is beingSlytherin, and Slytherin
essentially means that you kindof you're very self driven, you,
you want to do things foryourself.
I identify as like 75 percentHuffpuff and like 25 percent
(20:33):
Slytherin, because I get what Iwant, but I do it nicely.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
So you're not evil about it, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
I mean I mean honestly the the amount of
things like just from doing likesocial media and stuff, or just
like personal things orwhatever the amount of things
that I've been able to like makehappen because I've been like
hey, I really like what you'redoing, keep up the good work.
And just letting people knowthat I appreciate what they're
doing, or like telling them whatthey're doing is good.
(21:01):
Honestly, I've opened so manydoors for myself Just being kind
to people and letting them knowlike what happened.
I'm even just thinking like myown personal social media when
I've like tried to reach out tolike small creators or like do
like a collaboration with people.
If I enter the chat with likelike I love what you're doing,
(21:23):
keep it up, you're doing awesome, like great job, I would say I
probably have like at least a 75success rate with whatever
asking for whatever it is that Iwant, and then like also people
because one I entered the chator whatever it is with some
kindness.
I go through the interactionwith whatever it is with like
respecting kindness.
They come back to me again andthey're like it was nice to work
with you.
Would you like to do this thingx, y and z thing with us again
because you were nice and youmade it easier on us.
(21:46):
And I'm like, yeah, I got to goto like like recently I went to
the opening of the harry potterexhibition in boston, um, to
the vip thing, and the peoplewere like, hey, you did this one
event with us before andeverything went really well and
we like working with you.
Would you like to come to thisthing too?
I was like, yes, that'd begreat.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
And they're like great, um yeah, I was going to
ask how, how kindness playedinto the social media manager
thing, cause that's reallyinteresting.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Yeah, I mean also like when it comes to being more
of like a social media managernot for myself, to it.
It's nice to come from that kindof side of kindness and just
like being a little bit nicerwhen you are trying to promote a
brand or an organization orwhatever it is and also talking
to them, because I like to usesocial media for people that I
(22:33):
work with as more of like alittle billboard and more of
like a hey, look, look what wedo kind of thing and just
showing off yeah, look at us,this is where you can find us
like showing off the cool thingsthat you're doing and keeping
it positive and like centered onlike the cool things that you
are doing, but also likecelebrating the other things or
the organizations and businessesthat you're connected to as
(22:53):
well too, and collaborating withthem.
Like one of the organizations Iwork with, farming Falmouth,
this nonprofit and they wereable to give grant money to the
main farm that we do gleaningfrom, so that's collecting like
undesirable looking produceafter the fact, and then it gets
donated to the Falmouth servicecenter, which is fantastic.
But we were able to likecapture that moment and like
(23:15):
work with them at and likepromoting that, like moment of
handing over a check to them.
That was part of the grantwhatever, and that's one of the
still one of the most popularreels that they have out there
of all time because, it was justcapturing a heartfelt moment of
kindness, of like.
We had this leftover grant money.
We can give it to whoever wewant, but we're choosing it to
(23:36):
give to this farm that we'veworked very closely with, who
has also benefited the communityby donating all this food to
the community center.
So it's just like that, thatone's kind of like kindness on
kindness.
That was a little bit of akindness sandwich.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
That's that whole ripple effect of kindness right.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah, but it starts with one small little thing.
But even from, like the socialmedia management standpoint, the
things that are like actuallyresonating with people generally
speaking, have some kind of Ifeel like kindness element to
them that people can identifywith.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Yeah, yeah for sure, and it's so important,
especially these days, rightyeah, to just be kind.
Yeah, yeah, just be nice topeople.
I always say too, it takes thesame amount of energy to be mean
as it does to be nice.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
So To just be kind, yeah, yeah, just be nice to
people I always say too it takesthe same amount of energy to be
mean as it does to be nice, sowhy not just be nice?
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yep, yep, and I think what's the?
What's the one about how manymuscles it takes to frown versus
how many muscles it takes tosmile.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yeah, yeah, whatever that quote is.
Yeah, we know it it is.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Yeah, we know it, you know it.
You don't need me to say it.
Yeah, okay.
So let's, talk about your,about AS?
What the heck?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
is that?
Yeah, so essentially I like tocall it fancy arthritis, but the
kind of mechanism of thedisease is it's a autoimmune
disease, so you know, yourbody's kind of attacking itself
in a weird way.
That's, generally speaking, howautoimmune diseases work, and
it's just a chronic illness thatI was born with.
I don't really have a choice inthe matter.
It just kind of is there.
I can't get rid of it, I can't.
(25:06):
I did nothing to claim it, soit's there, whether I like it or
not, and okay, go ahead.
So the main mechanism is that,essentially, my spine at the
bottom, like where your tailboneis, is going to fuse together,
and so I will become thehunchback of no jajam, I am
(25:27):
looking for a cathedral to haunt, so please let me know if you
have one for sale.
And, oh my god, my, my numberone goal when I get elderly is
I'm going to find somewhere,probably in falmouth, because at
that point I'll have enoughcommunity connections, as, like
an elderly person, I'd like tolike just let have someone.
Let me go up into the one of thechurch towers here with, like,
a microphone say jewelry andjust like make ghost noises like
(25:50):
a couple of times a day andlike ring the bell, and then
people will be like I think thatchurch down the street is
haunted and I'll be be like Idon't know, maybe it is, maybe
it isn't.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
I was thinking I went with, instead of haunted, I
went with Hunchback of NotreDame with the bell ringing and
the sanctuary, yeah, I have tofind a bell, though I don't
think we have like an actualbell.
Yeah, I think they're allrecorded now.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yeah, as far as I know.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
I was reading about it as we're going with as right
yep, yep, yep and so there's isthere two different kinds?
There's one kind that you canautomatically get when you get
older, but then another one thatcomes from an injury yeah, so
it.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
So there's radiographic and
non-radiographic for the mostpart and those are generally
speaking just ones where yourspine is and is not fused
together to certain.
To a certain extent theradiographic one it's more or
less just talking about.
Can you see it on an x ray?
Is it visible to be seen thefusion of your spine on an x ray
?
Most people kind of, as you getolder will transition to the
(26:57):
radiographic.
Like your spine will justslowly fuse together.
Like even over the last likefive or six years, my
rheumatologist has seen like alittle bit more fusing, like
nothing significant but like itthe spine is just getting closer
and closer together.
Yeah, and a lot of the times Ithink the injury side of it that
they were mentioning a lot ofthe times, like some other
(27:18):
autoimmune diseases, yourautoimmune disease kind of lays
dormant for a little while.
Like it'll pop up here andthere and you might get some
flares of the disease and youdon't really notice it.
But a lot of people will havelike one big incident in their
life.
It could be an injury.
It could be a big stressfulthing for like females Like you
could be having a child, likesomething like that where it's a
(27:44):
big dramatic thing on your bodyand your brain.
Um, for me, I slammed Iactually took a fall on black
ice and slammed my entire kneeand like blew up.
My entire knee was like bloodyand like really swollen, but no
matter what, they did like itwouldn't go down um, and there
was just like no rhyme or reasonfor it until they like tested
me um for the hlb 27, which isthe predominant gene that they
find with people who have as,and they tested me for that.
(28:05):
I had it, and then they startedme on like the biologic
medications um, I currently takehumera, so those are like those
injectable medications yeah um,I take humera once a week and
that those like discovering whatit was and then addressing it
correctly, took the swellingdown and like then I was able to
go back to like largelyfunctioning for the most part a
(28:26):
lot like I was before.
So but I've just always beensomeone who's been like kind of
creaky and my hips have alwaysgiven me weird issues and no
one's been able to explain them.
So, like, looking back, themath like adds up, but there was
just no real diagnosis behindit wow.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Now, when you fell on your knee, was that a result of
running in in falmouth injanuary and february?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
I was out running but I actually I had like stopped
and I was actually like just Ihad been standing and I put my
foot down like the wrong way.
I was like checking my watch orsomething.
Yeah, actually the the irony ofit was I actually what I was
out running, but it was a timeduring the run where I had
stopped to check something and Ihadn't wasn't physically
running and there was like icepatch that I just didn't see
(29:12):
because I was looking at mywatch and I just slipped and the
whole ground fell out fromunderneath me.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Oh God.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
It was definitely interesting.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
But now.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
So now is this just a lifelong thing of finding the
right treatment.
Yeah, yeah, so it's going to bea lifelong thing that I'm going
to have to deal with prettymuch forever.
Like most chronic illnesses,you'll have like the flare-ups
like I mentioned.
So you'll have days and weeksand months that are better than
others and from what I'vegathered again, I'm not an
expert on this, but from whatI've gathered a lot of the times
with like the biologicmedications, like the Humira
(29:47):
that I'm taking, people will andI've experienced this as well
too it'll work for you for acertain amount of time and then
your body just kind of gets usedto it time and then your body
just kind of gets used to it andthen you have to go and try
another one, which isn'tdesirable because it takes like
two to three months for thesemedications to either show if
they're working or not.
Oh, wow, so a trial period fora new medication like you could
pretty much go through a wholeyear and try out four
(30:09):
medications and still come upshort.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
So that's frustrating yeah, kind of.
That's incredibly frustrating.
And yet here you are, smilingand laughing and being kind, for
no apparent reason other thanit's the right thing to do and
it makes you feel good.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Yeah, I mean again, I was actually having this
conversation with my uncleyesterday, him also kind of
being like you have so manyissues going on, like how are
you able to just like have fun?
I'm like because I have so manythings in my life that I that
are guaranteed to me that arenot going to be fun, and so the
things that I can have fun doing, I might as well at least try
(30:48):
and counterbalance it and enjoythe things that I can enjoy.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, control the things that you can control, and
, and, and.
Have fun.
That's awesome.
You're such an inspiration,juliana.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Yeah, I don't know about that.
But you know, I'm just tryingmy best.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
You're an amazing person and you're so busy and I
so appreciate your time.
Today it was I.
We probably only talked aboutkindness like that much, but it
was just a fun conversation.
Yeah, thank you so much forcoming on today.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Yeah, I appreciate you having me.
This is great.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah, my dog's licking.
I hope that doesn't come out onthe video or on the audio If it
does too bad.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it and we aregoing to keep in touch and have
a good rest of your week.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, thanks, mike, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I want to thank you for taking this time to listen
to this episode with my guest,juliana Coughlin.
I hope that you're able to takesomething positive from the
time that you spent here today.
Maybe you'll be inspired, maybeyou'll be motivated, maybe
you'll be moved.
If you experienced any of thosepositive feelings, please
(32:06):
consider sharing this podcastwith your friends and family.
I'm always striving to offeryou a better experience, so give
me some feedback.
Let me know how you think I'mdoing.
Email me, leave a message on mysocials.
It would mean the world Alsofeel free to follow us on our
socials like Facebook, instagram, linkedin and maybe or maybe
(32:27):
not, tiktok, depends on the week.
This podcast is part of theMayday Media Network.
If you have an idea for apodcast and need some production
assistance, or already have apodcast and need some production
assistance, or already have apodcast and are looking for a
supportive network to join,check out maydaymedianetworkcom
and check out the many differentshows like Afrocentric Spoil,
(32:50):
my Movie Generation Mixtape In aPickle radio show, wake Up and
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Podcast.
We will be back again next weekwith a new episode and we would
be honored if you would join us.
You've been listening to theKindness Matters Podcast.
I am your host, mike Rathbun.
(33:11):
Have a fantastic week you.
Well, hello there and welcome.
You are listening to theKindness Matters podcast and I
am your host, mike Rathbun.
What is this podcast all about?
It's about kindness.
It's a pushback againsteverything negative that we see
in the news and on social mediatoday, and it's a way to
(00:20):
highlight people, organizations,that are simply striving to
make their little corner of theworld a little better place.
If you want to join in on theconversation, feel free, Go
ahead and follow us on all ofyour social media feeds.
We're on Facebook, instagram,tiktok.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
(00:42):
Check us out.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
Check us out and, in themeantime, sit back, relax, enjoy
and we'll get into the KindnessMatters podcast.
Hey, welcome everybody to theshow.
I am so glad that you couldjoin us and take some time out
of your day today.
Remember, if there's anythingyou hear in the show with my
(01:07):
guest, feel free to share itwith your friends and family and
strangers on the street andwhoever.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Screaming out to the world.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Exactly my guest today.
You guys, she is so cool.
My guest today is JulianaCoughlin.
She's a podcaster, she's arunner, she's a Harry Potter
nerd, in case you're wondering.
She's a Hufflepuff.
She's a dietician, she's aspondee We'll get into that in a
(01:39):
minute and a dog mom, which Imean automatically ranks you
like right up here in my book.
Juliana lives on Cape Cod inMassachusetts with her pity
Myrtle.
Oh, I've got to see Myrtlebefore we get off.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Anyway.
Oh yes, myrtle's hanging out onthe couch over there.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Her two podcasts, which include Runa about running
in her hometown of Falmouth,Massachusetts.
Did I do it right?
Yeah, Runa, yeah Well, I meantFalmouth.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Falmouth.
Oh yeah, Falmouth, it's one ofmy favorite things to hear
people pronounce Falmouth.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, because I always want to go.
Falmouth and her other podcastInto the Fold, which is a
Grishaverse podcast we'll haveto talk about that are
independently produced byherself with her best friend,
jeff.
By day she works as a socialmedia manager and also as a
registered dietitian, and whenshe's not walking her dog,
(02:40):
podcasting or talking Potter,she can be found running.
She has run two BostonMarathons the New York City
Marathon, the Chicago Marathonand the Tokyo Marathon and has
her eyes set on the BerlinMarathon next.
She also has a chronic illness.
(03:01):
Here's a test called alkalizingspondylosis that.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
That was it, it's.
It's either alkalizing orankylosing spondylitis.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I believe it's alkalizing, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
I don't know which one for it.
I'll tell you what this, thisdisease, has like.
Three different pronunciations,at a minimum, of how you
pronounce it.
We can just call it AS.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
AS I like it Slash AS .
And that refers to the spondyup above earlier and is
currently on the journey tofinding her best treatment plan
to combat this condition.
Welcome to the show, julianaCoughlin Woo yay, really long
intro.
We love it, coughlin and thecrowd goes wild.
(03:48):
Well, thank you.
So much fun to have you on here.
You are just a delight to talkto and I can't can't believe the
my luck in having you be aguest on my show well, we'll
decide if it's it's luck or not,but it could be.
(04:10):
Oh, this is going to go well.
Oh no, I'm excited to be here.
Well, and I mean first of allokay, let's why running?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, I mean.
So I guess my brief runningorigin story is that I was never
really athletic growing up as akid and I just like I did
sports kind of, but not really.
I was more of a theater kid andI my best friend in high school
, lydia, was like hey, juliana,wouldn't it be crazy if every
day after school we went and rana mile and I'd like Lydia?
Speaker 1 (04:49):
that's absolutely insane.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Why would we do that?
And and she's like you want todo it, I was like sure, so we,
we did that um, and then my momkind of got involved and we
ended up doing the couch to 5kprogram, um, which at that point
now it currently is like an appand a website and like all
these things it was a printablepdf um.
You print off of paper, youbring it with you to the track
and you follow like the walking,running kind of thing.
And then I just kind of startedrunning recreationally to stay
(05:11):
in shape.
And what essentially led me towhere I am now is the running
community in Falmouth, mass,where I live, is just very
vibrant and very involved andreally awesome.
And when I moved here, thatkind of sparked my, my interest
in more like group communityrunning events, things like that
, cause I saw like what thatcould actually be.
And that's when I startedrunning marathons was when I
(05:35):
after I moved down here.
So, plus, the Cape is gorgeousand if you go on a long run you
get to see like lighthouses andthe ocean.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yeah, the Cape is amazing, right yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, it definitely helps.
I always tell people too if Ihad stayed in the town where I
grew up in, which is in centralMassachusetts, I would have
never started running longerdistance, because it is ugly
there, you're like yeah, seen it.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah, yeah, nothing interesting here.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, it's gross and I'm just.
I definitely accredit myrunning a lot to just the
environment here and how prettyit is and, again, how just
involved the running communityhere is in families which I am
now a really big part of, whichis great.
We love it.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah, yeah, and all those marathons.
Yeah, I see MinneapolisMarathon is down there.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
The Grandmas.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Grandmas is on my list, actually, of ones that I
want to do.
Yeah, yeah, I have some likebigger marathons that I'm
working on.
There's marathons called theworld marathon majors, which the
ones that you mentioned are apart of.
So you got boston, chicago, newyork, london, tokyo um, and
berlin, and now sydney, um.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
So, yeah, so that's what I shoot for yeah, so I'm
working on those.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So right now we got berlin for this fall, london for
next spring and then sydney'seither going to be next the come
2026 fall or 2027 fall, sowe'll see what's going on just
just so cool, yeah it.
For me it's nice because aboutonce a year I have like a big
destination to go to and it kindof predetermines where my big
(07:06):
vacation for the year is goingto be and I don't have to think
about it, which is nice.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Right, that's so cool , you know, and I tried not
running jogging, I guess in highschool um in high school and I
(07:32):
enjoyed it because I wouldalways do it early morning and
everything was so quiet and Icould just kind of get lost in
my thoughts.
Didn't last long.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah, I think, I think you.
I mean, this was 78, 79, yeah,so I don't even know if running
was a thing yeah, it's much morecommunity-based now that it
really ever has been, which isfantastic, which I think is for
me personally, it's a big reasonwhy I'm much more involved than
I really would have ever beenif there hasn't hadn't been like
(08:03):
a community engagement portionof it.
And I definitely agree with tothe point that you made of just
being able to go out and processyour thoughts, because that's
how I kind of work through.
A lot of my thoughts, too is Ijust go out for a run and just
kind of get lost in my thoughtsand come back and I'm ready to
save the world, essentiallybecause I've solved all the
problems solved all the problems.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
I'm done that's it.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
We're good world is saved, but yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
I just, with all the experience you've got with
podcasting, I feel like I'm onthe wrong side of the mic here
yeah, I, I, I, we like to keepit approachable.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
You know, and I I'm someone who I don't have any
formal background in mediaproduction or anything like that
.
Anything that I've done, I'vetaught myself and just kind of
learned over the years.
So I don't, I don't can people?
People have been like, wow,julian, you've doing this for a
while, like, yeah, but I stilllike to have no idea I'm doing
half the time.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Right, I'm winging it .
It sounds good, people listen,I'm good.
Yeah, yeah, listen, I'm goodyeah yeah, as you know, mike,
half the battle is just puttingyourself out there just doing
the thing.
Yeah, that's true, that's true.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
I, I, I guess next for me probably would have to be
doing video yeah, but I'm notready for that I will tell you,
it took me probably, I think,like three years before I was
even comfortable like being on avideo podcast where I wasn't
just like a blank face, um, andthen just recently I've started
(09:31):
actually doing like YouTubecontent.
So it's been a it's been a veryslow burn, so don't push
yourself too hard if you don'twant to yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I was on a video podcast just before christmas.
I was a guest um a couple.
They have a podcast calledspoil my movie oh, that's fun it
is, and they just go throughand they break down movies and
and because it was christmastime, because there was a theme
of kindness there, we did um,it's a Wonderful Life, and that
(10:07):
was fun.
And Chris Crick is the guy themale of that duo and he's the
tech guy.
Everything was black and white.
That was cool.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
That's fun yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
So, yeah, I don't think I could do it on a regular
basis, so, but I mean, look atit, we're doing it right.
I'm just not hosting the videoyeah.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I mean, yeah, you could do it, it kind of.
I think the other thing, whatI've learned through my very
short tenure in video editingthus far is it doesn't have to
be perfect and I will say justbeing like a social medium and
on the social media manager sideof things, definitely content
that's like authentic andimperfect is kind of where
things are trending, justbecause, like, ai is trending up
(10:54):
.
So people see like those weirdAI things and then yeah.
I'm looking for human connectionand that.
That, more or less, is wherethings are headed.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
So I love imperfect is is in, then I am right there
I'm set to take off, yeah same.
Okay, I have to ask aboutMyrtle.
Is she a rescue?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
She is, yeah, so I've had two dogs, both of which
have been rescues, and I justgrew up with rescue dogs as well
too Some of which have beenrescued from organizations, one
of which was actually just takendirectly off the street Maybe
not the best choice by myparents, you know the dog turned
out fine, but we off thefreeway.
I don't, I'm not exactly surewhere this dog was found.
(11:40):
This is a white German shepherdthat we named Snowy, and my
dad's friend found her when noone claimed her, and so my dad
was like we shall take her.
I was like, okay, um, so yeah,we had that dog for a while.
I mean she was great.
Luckily we got lucky.
That that's.
That's a little bit more riskythan I care to be with my
personal choices for animalsright now yeah, um, I mean, I do
(12:03):
have some friends who live intown who have farms, who, if
that does happen I know thatthey will they'll take anything
that breathes, essentially whichis great because you need
someone who will do that, sure.
But but, yeah, myrtle is arescue.
Um, I got her from a rescuethat is local to martha's
vineyard, which is just rightacross the vineyard sound, here
on the cape.
Yeah, called bark and I'm sorry, not bark.
Um, sandy paws bark is theorganization I got my first dog
(12:26):
from.
But yeah, myrtle is some kindof pit bull mix rescue.
Uh, not really sure exactlywhat.
Now she's sitting up andlooking at me over there and
she's like I hear my name she'slike I hear my name and you did
not give me food.
I did not give you food um,you're getting a look now yeah,
she's looking at me like bigtime and now I'm getting
(12:46):
side-eyed Soon, I'm going to getthe butt.
She likes to turn around andjust give me her butt and I'm
like, great, this is not.
You're not getting anywhere.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
That's how you know you're in trouble.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Uh-huh, yeah, but she's some kind of pit bull mix.
She has, like, the big squarepit of her head but the bottom
of her jawline isn't like thatreally, really square jawline,
um, but she's the sweetest dogI've ever met.
She's so like people have a lotof predispositions about
pitbulls.
She's violent with like anylike anyone, anything like she
(13:17):
is.
She is such a weenie like I donot.
I would not depend on her tolike defend me at all.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
She is just you're on your own, juliana, see ya, yeah
, we're finally home now yeah,she probably would just be like
oh, and just like walk away.
I'd be like okay, great, thatwas really helpful yeah, I, I
was gonna say you might hearmine is behind me.
She's laying right behind me.
(13:43):
If I move even an inch I'mgoing to run over her paw or
something.
Typically I don't have her inthe studio when I'm recording
because she has a really badhabit of barking for no apparent
reason.
So typically if I'm recording,I didn't realize she was back
here until we were talking and Iheard a little woof, so
(14:04):
apparently she was sleeping anddreaming.
So, talking and I heard alittle woof, so apparently she
was sleeping and dreaming, andso if you hear something, that's
what that is and I love thatyou and that was kind of handed
down the rescue part, right evenguaranteed that either, unless
(14:36):
you like, adopt the dog as anadult and you know exactly what
the dog looks like now and it'sprobably not going to change too
much.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
But if you adopt a puppy it's kind of a 50 50 shot
if you're going to get what youwanted like looks and
personality wise, I would say,and for me, I I'm.
I'm just not in the camp ofpaying so much money for a dog
that I really don't.
I don't have a purpose for thedog except for to be a companion
right and for me, as long as meand the dog get along and we
(14:59):
have a nice time together,that's really it.
So I'm not like out here on theI like I have a friend who
saved up like three or fourthousand dollars for like a king
charles hawker cavalier spaniel, yeah, big old long name and I
was like I don't think, likebecause the way the dog looks is
kind of irrelevant, to behonest yeah, although they do
have sweet faces they're reallycute, I mean.
(15:20):
But most dogs are cute, that'sthe thing, right?
I'd say like at least like 80of dogs are just like outwardly
very, very, very cute and theydo not have to try.
So it's to me it's not worththe money or to do it.
And also like why wouldn't youjust help out another dog if you
can Like?
Why not provide a good home toa dog that's not really had a
good home until now?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Because and you're going to love this because it's
the kind thing to do- yeah,there you go, tying it back.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Same message.
We keep the message going.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Keep it back in there .
Same message.
We keep the message going.
Keep it back in there.
And I mean, you're a generallykind person, but you've kind of
decided to put a little morefocus on that going forward,
haven't you?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, yeah.
So my general attitude towardsthe world is just trying to like
one.
My goal for life is to bemyself, so that's just kind of
discovering who I am, andthrough that I've kind of come
to the realization that it, yourlife, is just a little bit
better if you are just kinder topeople, and also that, in my
(16:27):
opinion, like attracts like.
So energies that are similarattract similar energies.
So if you're being negative allthe time, you're probably going
to attract negative energies.
If you're being positive allthe time, you probably going to
attract negative energies.
You're being positive all thetime, you're probably going to
attract positive energies andthus, like actions, and like
positive and negative actionsshould follow.
uh, given those energies andwhatever is going on, yeah um,
in the most and least way thatyou want to make that in your
(16:47):
head.
So definitely I.
I'm in the camp of just tryingto be nicer to people and also
actively choosing to point outwhen people are doing something
that either I like or I think isgood, or that they're good at
or is just a positive thing.
Day.
(17:15):
One of the things I used tolove to do was just to go up to
the little old ladies andcompliment them, because that
smile that you get from a littlewoman when you tell dolores
that she looks stunning in herdress today and her face just
lights up like your whole day isjust made right there yeah, oh,
absolutely so adorable, I loveit so much.
I would just like go around likethey.
They take that the whole restof the day.
If they can mentally retain it,they'll come back and they'll
(17:37):
tell everyone.
They're like, oh, I lookgorgeous today and they're so
like self-confident inthemselves for the rest of the
day and I'm just like that's sowonderful to see and it's so
totally like it didn't cost meany anything mentally,
physically, monetarily to justtell someone they look nice
today and just, yeah, there wasno negative side effects in any
direction from that.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, no, it is.
It's amazing what somethingsmall like that can do.
Yeah, my wife and I wereshopping last spring, I want to
say, and we were at the Walmartand all of a sudden I saw this,
something out of the corner ofmy eye and it made me turn.
(18:20):
And there was a woman in thisbrilliant not annoying pretty
brilliant yellow dress.
I'm like, oh my God, and thatit just, you know, I saw it and
I like smiled, I'm like, yeah,that makes me happy.
And I'm like, well, you have achoice here, mike.
(18:42):
You can keep it to yourself oryou can.
And even going over and sayingsomething might have gone a
couple of different ways, butshe was with her husband.
He's a big dude, but no, so Ijust I went over and I said I'm
sorry to interrupt your day andI apologize, but I just need to
(19:04):
tell you that seeing you, yourdress just made my, made me
happy, made my day, justbrightened my whole mood, and
she kind of did the you did theclutch, the pearls, kind of
thing.
Yeah, and then the smile thatcame up on her face and she just
said thank you so much.
(19:24):
Yeah, I made her day and Ididn't.
It took me what 10 seconds,yeah, and no money.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
No effort, no effort, yeah and I made somebody's day
and I made her feel better yeah,I'm sure she was like riding on
cloud nine the whole rest ofthe day to be honest.
Yeah see, I told you I had tobuy this dress yeah, and that
was probably part of theconversation too which funny, um
, but yeah, no, it's things likethat, that, it's those small
(19:52):
little actions, those smalllittle things, and they, they
just, they just make you feel somuch better and they, they just
make you feel so much betterand they make everyone around
you feel so much better.
They just make people want toactually be around you too.
And, like I, I find so if, ifanyone here listening is into
harry potter too, um, like I, I,like you said, I'm a hufflepuff
(20:12):
.
So hufflepuffs are known forbeing like, kind of just like,
kind of like somewhat ditzy, butalso like just friendly with
everyone, like they're friendswith everyone.
And then my other half is beingSlytherin, and Slytherin
essentially means that you kindof you're very self driven, you,
you want to do things foryourself.
I identify as like 75 percentHuffpuff and like 25 percent
(20:33):
Slytherin, because I get what Iwant, but I do it nicely.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
So you're not evil about it, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
I mean I mean honestly the the amount of
things like just from doing likesocial media and stuff, or just
like personal things orwhatever the amount of things
that I've been able to like makehappen because I've been like
hey, I really like what you'redoing, keep up the good work.
And just letting people knowthat I appreciate what they're
doing, or like telling them whatthey're doing is good.
(21:01):
Honestly, I've opened so manydoors for myself Just being kind
to people and letting them knowlike what happened.
I'm even just thinking like myown personal social media when
I've like tried to reach out tolike small creators or like do
like a collaboration with people.
If I enter the chat with likelike I love what you're doing,
(21:23):
keep it up, you're doing awesome, like great job, I would say I
probably have like at least a 75success rate with whatever
asking for whatever it is that Iwant, and then like also people
because one I entered the chator whatever it is with some
kindness.
I go through the interactionwith whatever it is with like
respecting kindness.
They come back to me again andthey're like it was nice to work
with you.
Would you like to do this thingx, y and z thing with us again
because you were nice and youmade it easier on us.
(21:46):
And I'm like, yeah, I got to goto like like recently I went to
the opening of the harry potterexhibition in boston, um, to
the vip thing, and the peoplewere like, hey, you did this one
event with us before andeverything went really well and
we like working with you.
Would you like to come to thisthing too?
I was like, yes, that'd begreat.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
And they're like great, um yeah, I was going to
ask how, how kindness playedinto the social media manager
thing, cause that's reallyinteresting.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Yeah, I mean also like when it comes to being more
of like a social media managernot for myself, to it.
It's nice to come from that kindof side of kindness and just
like being a little bit nicerwhen you are trying to promote a
brand or an organization orwhatever it is and also talking
to them, because I like to usesocial media for people that I
(22:33):
work with as more of like alittle billboard and more of
like a hey, look, look what wedo kind of thing and just
showing off yeah, look at us,this is where you can find us
like showing off the cool thingsthat you're doing and keeping
it positive and like centered onlike the cool things that you
are doing, but also likecelebrating the other things or
the organizations and businessesthat you're connected to as
(22:53):
well too, and collaborating withthem.
Like one of the organizations Iwork with, farming Falmouth,
this nonprofit and they wereable to give grant money to the
main farm that we do gleaningfrom, so that's collecting like
undesirable looking produceafter the fact, and then it gets
donated to the Falmouth servicecenter, which is fantastic.
But we were able to likecapture that moment and like
(23:15):
work with them at and likepromoting that, like moment of
handing over a check to them.
That was part of the grantwhatever, and that's one of the
still one of the most popularreels that they have out there
of all time because, it was justcapturing a heartfelt moment of
kindness, of like.
We had this leftover grant money.
We can give it to whoever wewant, but we're choosing it to
(23:36):
give to this farm that we'veworked very closely with, who
has also benefited the communityby donating all this food to
the community center.
So it's just like that, thatone's kind of like kindness on
kindness.
That was a little bit of akindness sandwich.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
That's that whole ripple effect of kindness right.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah, but it starts with one small little thing.
But even from, like the socialmedia management standpoint, the
things that are like actuallyresonating with people generally
speaking, have some kind of Ifeel like kindness element to
them that people can identifywith.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Yeah, yeah for sure, and it's so important,
especially these days, rightyeah, to just be kind.
Yeah, yeah, just be nice topeople.
I always say too, it takes thesame amount of energy to be mean
as it does to be nice.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
So To just be kind, yeah, yeah, just be nice to
people I always say too it takesthe same amount of energy to be
mean as it does to be nice, sowhy not just be nice?
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yep, yep, and I think what's the?
What's the one about how manymuscles it takes to frown versus
how many muscles it takes tosmile.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yeah, yeah, whatever that quote is.
Yeah, we know it it is.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Yeah, we know it, you know it.
You don't need me to say it.
Yeah, okay.
So let's, talk about your,about AS?
What the heck?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
is that?
Yeah, so essentially I like tocall it fancy arthritis, but the
kind of mechanism of thedisease is it's a autoimmune
disease, so you know, yourbody's kind of attacking itself
in a weird way.
That's, generally speaking, howautoimmune diseases work, and
it's just a chronic illness thatI was born with.
I don't really have a choice inthe matter.
It just kind of is there.
I can't get rid of it, I can't.
(25:06):
I did nothing to claim it, soit's there, whether I like it or
not, and okay, go ahead.
So the main mechanism is that,essentially, my spine at the
bottom, like where your tailboneis, is going to fuse together,
and so I will become thehunchback of no jajam, I am
(25:27):
looking for a cathedral to haunt, so please let me know if you
have one for sale.
And, oh my god, my, my numberone goal when I get elderly is
I'm going to find somewhere,probably in falmouth, because at
that point I'll have enoughcommunity connections, as, like
an elderly person, I'd like tolike just let have someone.
Let me go up into the one of thechurch towers here with, like,
a microphone say jewelry andjust like make ghost noises like
(25:50):
a couple of times a day andlike ring the bell, and then
people will be like I think thatchurch down the street is
haunted and I'll be be like Idon't know, maybe it is, maybe
it isn't.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
I was thinking I went with, instead of haunted, I
went with Hunchback of NotreDame with the bell ringing and
the sanctuary, yeah, I have tofind a bell, though I don't
think we have like an actualbell.
Yeah, I think they're allrecorded now.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yeah, as far as I know.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
I was reading about it as we're going with as right
yep, yep, yep and so there's isthere two different kinds?
There's one kind that you canautomatically get when you get
older, but then another one thatcomes from an injury yeah, so
it.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
So there's radiographic and
non-radiographic for the mostpart and those are generally
speaking just ones where yourspine is and is not fused
together to certain.
To a certain extent theradiographic one it's more or
less just talking about.
Can you see it on an x ray?
Is it visible to be seen thefusion of your spine on an x ray
?
Most people kind of, as you getolder will transition to the
(26:57):
radiographic.
Like your spine will justslowly fuse together.
Like even over the last likefive or six years, my
rheumatologist has seen like alittle bit more fusing, like
nothing significant but like itthe spine is just getting closer
and closer together.
Yeah, and a lot of the times Ithink the injury side of it that
they were mentioning a lot ofthe times, like some other
(27:18):
autoimmune diseases, yourautoimmune disease kind of lays
dormant for a little while.
Like it'll pop up here andthere and you might get some
flares of the disease and youdon't really notice it.
But a lot of people will havelike one big incident in their
life.
It could be an injury.
It could be a big stressfulthing for like females Like you
could be having a child, likesomething like that where it's a
(27:44):
big dramatic thing on your bodyand your brain.
Um, for me, I slammed Iactually took a fall on black
ice and slammed my entire kneeand like blew up.
My entire knee was like bloodyand like really swollen, but no
matter what, they did like itwouldn't go down um, and there
was just like no rhyme or reasonfor it until they like tested
me um for the hlb 27, which isthe predominant gene that they
find with people who have as,and they tested me for that.
(28:05):
I had it, and then they startedme on like the biologic
medications um, I currently takehumera, so those are like those
injectable medications yeah um,I take humera once a week and
that those like discovering whatit was and then addressing it
correctly, took the swellingdown and like then I was able to
go back to like largelyfunctioning for the most part a
(28:26):
lot like I was before.
So but I've just always beensomeone who's been like kind of
creaky and my hips have alwaysgiven me weird issues and no
one's been able to explain them.
So, like, looking back, themath like adds up, but there was
just no real diagnosis behindit wow.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Now, when you fell on your knee, was that a result of
running in in falmouth injanuary and february?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
I was out running but I actually I had like stopped
and I was actually like just Ihad been standing and I put my
foot down like the wrong way.
I was like checking my watch orsomething.
Yeah, actually the the irony ofit was I actually what I was
out running, but it was a timeduring the run where I had
stopped to check something and Ihadn't wasn't physically
running and there was like icepatch that I just didn't see
(29:12):
because I was looking at mywatch and I just slipped and the
whole ground fell out fromunderneath me.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Oh God.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
It was definitely interesting.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
But now.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
So now is this just a lifelong thing of finding the
right treatment.
Yeah, yeah, so it's going to bea lifelong thing that I'm going
to have to deal with prettymuch forever.
Like most chronic illnesses,you'll have like the flare-ups
like I mentioned.
So you'll have days and weeksand months that are better than
others and from what I'vegathered again, I'm not an
expert on this, but from whatI've gathered a lot of the times
with like the biologicmedications, like the Humira
(29:47):
that I'm taking, people will andI've experienced this as well
too it'll work for you for acertain amount of time and then
your body just kind of gets usedto it time and then your body
just kind of gets used to it andthen you have to go and try
another one, which isn'tdesirable because it takes like
two to three months for thesemedications to either show if
they're working or not.
Oh, wow, so a trial period fora new medication like you could
pretty much go through a wholeyear and try out four
(30:09):
medications and still come upshort.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
So that's frustrating yeah, kind of.
That's incredibly frustrating.
And yet here you are, smilingand laughing and being kind, for
no apparent reason other thanit's the right thing to do and
it makes you feel good.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Yeah, I mean again, I was actually having this
conversation with my uncleyesterday, him also kind of
being like you have so manyissues going on, like how are
you able to just like have fun?
I'm like because I have so manythings in my life that I that
are guaranteed to me that arenot going to be fun, and so the
things that I can have fun doing, I might as well at least try
(30:48):
and counterbalance it and enjoythe things that I can enjoy.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, control the things that you can control, and
, and, and.
Have fun.
That's awesome.
You're such an inspiration,juliana.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Yeah, I don't know about that.
But you know, I'm just tryingmy best.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
You're an amazing person and you're so busy and I
so appreciate your time.
Today it was I.
We probably only talked aboutkindness like that much, but it
was just a fun conversation.
Yeah, thank you so much forcoming on today.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Yeah, I appreciate you having me.
This is great.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah, my dog's licking.
I hope that doesn't come out onthe video or on the audio If it
does too bad.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it and we aregoing to keep in touch and have
a good rest of your week.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, thanks, mike, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I want to thank you for taking this time to listen
to this episode with my guest,juliana Coughlin.
I hope that you're able to takesomething positive from the
time that you spent here today.
Maybe you'll be inspired, maybeyou'll be motivated, maybe
you'll be moved.
If you experienced any of thosepositive feelings, please
(32:06):
consider sharing this podcastwith your friends and family.
I'm always striving to offeryou a better experience, so give
me some feedback.
Let me know how you think I'mdoing.
Email me, leave a message on mysocials.
It would mean the world Alsofeel free to follow us on our
socials like Facebook, instagram, linkedin and maybe or maybe
(32:27):
not, tiktok, depends on the week.
This podcast is part of theMayday Media Network.
If you have an idea for apodcast and need some production
assistance, or already have apodcast and need some production
assistance, or already have apodcast and are looking for a
supportive network to join,check out maydaymedianetworkcom
and check out the many differentshows like Afrocentric Spoil,
(32:50):
my Movie Generation Mixtape In aPickle radio show, wake Up and
Dream with D'Anthony Palin,staxo Pax and the Time Pals
Podcast.
We will be back again next weekwith a new episode and we would
be honored if you would join us.
You've been listening to theKindness Matters Podcast.
I am your host, mike Rathbun.
(33:11):
Have a fantastic week you.
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