November 13, 2025 • 47 mins
In this episode of The Two Piers Podcast, we speak with medical affairs consultant Melissa Olivadoti about the realities of traveling with severe food allergies and sensory sensitivities — and what individuals, colleagues, and event organizers can do to create safer, more inclusive travel experiences.
We discuss:
- What it really takes to prepare for air travel with multiple food allergies
- The emotional and social dynamics — including when you cannot safely join group meals
- The importance of eating before events and always traveling with backup food
- How event organizers can support attendees through allergy-friendly options and clear communication
- Managing sensory overwhelm — and why quiet rooms matter at conferences
- Advocating for personal boundaries and non-touch preferences in professional spaces
- The calming and community-building impact of animal rescue therapy zones at events
About the guest:
Melissa Olivadoti is a medical affairs consultant and founder of Assisi Consulting. You can connect with her on LinkedIn — link available at twopiersconsulting.com/podcast along with a full episode transcript.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Erica D'Eramo (00:05):
Hello and welcome to the Two Piers podcast. I'm
your host, Erica D'Eramo, andtoday we have a guest joining us
to talk about traveling withfood allergies and
sensitivities. Melissa Olivadotiis a medical affairs consultant
for pharma, biotech andnutraceuticals companies, and
she travels quite often forwork, while also managing
(00:27):
multiple allergies andsensitivities. Conference season
is upon us, and she's here toshare some wisdom with us about
how to keep yourself safe,healthy and happy while having
to travel for work.
Hello, Melissa, great to haveyou back.
Melissa Olivadoti (00:53):
Erica, it's so wonderful to be here, and I
am super excited to talk abouttoday's topic, because it's near
and dear to my heart.
Erica D'Eramo (01:01):
Yeah, I just got back from some travel myself,
which was actually for vacation,and I think I doubled down and
said, Hey, remember, we weregoing to record that podcast
like we I'm feeling reallymotivated to record the podcast,
yeah, especially with travelcoming up. For me, I know you've
(01:22):
had some recent travel, and itjust brings it top of mind, for
sure.
Melissa Olivadoti (01:26):
Absolutely yes, and I was, you know, it
takes a lot of preparation. Ithink that's the hardest part.
Is the preparation. Once you geton a trip, if you have your
stuff down, it's not so bad, butgetting everything you need in
one place, getting ready to geton that flight, I never used to
have to think about this stuffever. I would have my regular
(01:51):
toiletries in my bag that Irefilled. I would throw in my
clothes, and I'm off andrunning. I'm Yelping the most,
highest rated restaurant in thetype of food I wanted in my
city, and I get to try somethingnew every time. It's so
different when you havelimitations now, it's making
(02:11):
sure you have food for the dayand making sure you have your
EpiPen and everything else youneed. So yes, there's lots of
other things that you have tothink about when you have food
sensitivities or even otherlimitations when you travel.
Erica D'Eramo (02:26):
Yeah, I think that. So we one of the reasons I
wanted to discuss this topic is,well, it's kind of twofold.
Actually. One is that peopleunderstand what is involved,
even if, if they don'tspecifically have food
sensitivities or allergies oranything like that. Those of us
who travel with folks, who havecolleagues who maybe are
(02:48):
organizing events, I think thisis really important for folks to
understand. But the other reasonI wanted to talk about it is
that even for those of us whomaybe don't have like life
threatening allergies, we mighthave other types of
sensitivities, especially for myfellow neurodivergent folks, who
(03:09):
maybe have, like, a dialed upsensitivity to some elements,
like some sensory elements. Andso I think that there's a lot of
overlap in this piece aroundpreparing ourselves for the
travel, like, what can we do toensure the highest likelihood
that we'll have a successful,happy, healthy trip or visit
(03:31):
for, say, a conference, butalso, other folks who are on the
organizing front can have thisin the back of their mind to be
to be playing their part too,because there's some low hanging
fruit out there that folks couldbe doing to make things a lot
safer and easier for, you know,a lot of people
Melissa Olivadoti (03:48):
Absolutely because just travel in and of
itself, is an onslaught to thesenses so overwhelming, you
know, like You get into you'rehaving to queue up with random
people. You have smells, you'rein tight places, you're stuck
with strangers. If you go to aconference, it's non stop social
(04:13):
activity, and, you know, forcedactivity as well, with very
little opportunity to kind ofseparate yourself from that and
center yourself and so having, Ithink, both of these areas of
food sensitivities, allergiesand being neurodivergent when
you travel is preparing is a bigpart of it, but also being your
(04:36):
own advocate and speaking up foryour needs and making sure you
have what you need when you'rein those situations, to manage
when things change or go south.
Because they do.
Erica D'Eramo (04:51):
Yes, they do.
They do. And so I love that,like framing of kind of the and
this is. Are, you know, very inline with my coaching type of
mentality of, right? So we can,we can hope for the best. And
then how do we plan for theworst to make sure that we've at
least got some contingencies, orsome safety nets or backup plans
for when, when we are only ableto eat one thing at the
(05:15):
conference, nothing? Um,nothing. So, okay, I'm curious.
I mean, I'm curious, if youdon't mind sharing, what are
some for you personally, whatare some of the food
sensitivities, or generalsensitivities that you manage
when you travel?
Melissa Olivadoti (05:36):
So I have quite a laundry list. It's taken
me years to figure this out.
Even, you know, just last year,we discovered a new one that
completely made my life waybetter. And the biggest one is
the biggest limitations is thehardest is the red meat allergy.
And this includes, you know,anything from a mammal, so
anything from a cow, a pig,lamb, anything like that, and
(06:00):
its derivatives, because it's asugar molecule that you get
allergic to when you get bit bytick. Often happens in the
South. A lot of people in thesouth are more you know,
knowledgeable about it, and thatincludes dairy and all the other
products. But then I'm alsoceliac, so I can't eat wheat or
gluten. And then I also have astrong allergy to soy and
(06:23):
almond, which I have an EpiPenfor. And I'm also sensitive to a
bunch of things since I got bitby that tick, including onion,
garlic, egg, corn, peanuts andsesame. See, you can imagine how
hard it would be to eat out, andplus, some of these are like
cross reactivity, and some ofthem shared spaces causes a
(06:47):
problem. So my whole thing is, Itend to have to plan all of my
food, and unless I know therestaurant and trust what's
going on there. I pretty muchtake care of all of my own
meals, even on travel.
Erica D'Eramo (07:07):
Yeah, yeah. I think that that piece around,
like, know the restaurant andcan trust it is so key because,
I mean, I know, I know I havefriends, but I've also seen,
like, the behind the scenes,that there's one thing to say, I
don't eat gluten, right? Okay,well, we're gonna not give you
(07:28):
the pasta, but that's actuallydifferent. Like, deciding not to
eat gluten is different than anactual, like, allergy that will
send you to the hospital. And sowhen people say, like, oh yeah,
no, it doesn't have pasta in it,or it or it doesn't have wheat
in it, but they prepared it onthe same surface. And I think
that there are enough people inthe world who have chosen not to
(07:50):
eat gluten for their ownreasons, because it doesn't sit
well with them. They find thatthey're they feel better when
they don't eat and eat it, whichis great, and they should be
respected as well. And also, Ithink that sometimes that's led
to people maybe being moredismissive of folks who have
celiacs and like, actually, thisis not about a choice to not eat
(08:14):
it. It's like you will end upfeeling very sick and or in the
hospital sometimes. So
Melissa Olivadoti (08:20):
Yes, absolutely. I think there's a
positive and negative toawareness, right? A lot more
places are aware of glutensensitivities and celiacs. But
in the same vein, when glutenfree diet became a big fad, and
you know, 2010 probably to 2018I would say. And at that time,
(08:41):
you also had people that wereeating gluten free, but then in
the restaurant, but they'd havethe table bread or they'd have a
beer, and so it was veryconfusing to servers, and it
wouldn't be taken seriously.
People are becoming more awareof allergies in general, servers
restaurants, interestingly,there are some countries like
Italy where the genetics aremore prevalent, where they have
(09:05):
a completely separate space,where they cook for celiacs,
which is really interesting,yeah, but having multiple issues
tends to make it even harder.
And I think even the socialaspect of it, when you can't go
out to eat with other people,especially when your business
(09:25):
events, it can be very awkward,because you have to describe to
people why you're doing this,why you're not imbibing with
them, enjoying with them,because it's a shared
experience, and you're the oneperson at the Table not eating
anything. So it can be a littleawkward. And then you have to
disclose, if you feelcomfortable, you have to say
(09:46):
something. You have to discloseyour own personal medical
history, like and say, you know,I would love to eat with you,
but if I do, I might not befunctional tomorrow. And that's
kind of awkward to say, right?
You kind of have to spill yourguts to somebody in your
company, or somebody else thatthrough work that you're
meeting. So I think the factthat meals are a shared
(10:07):
experience can be can make iteven harder. But I also find
that eating before you go tothose activities is so critical
because then you're not angstyand angry and hungry at the same
time. So and then, you know,it's easier to pass and say no,
thank you. I think this lastweekend, we went to this
(10:28):
beautiful Indian restaurant. Ohmy gosh, the food looked
amazing. I had eaten before Ileft, but because there was such
a need for people to make mefeel included, I just ordered
plain white rice because I knew,just like rice and water. And I
know the waiters really wantedto give me something beautiful
that, I mean, this food wasamazing, but I was like, just
(10:49):
please, this is all I need. Andthey brought something out. And
then at least I was eatingsomething along with everyone
else, so I could adapt a littlebit. Yeah, I don't want to use
my EpiPen tonight. Is a good isa good one to use, right? I'm
just not in the mood to use myEpiPen tonight.
Erica D'Eramo (11:11):
I'm just like trusting people to know
themselves and know their risktolerance well enough to let
them make that decision I thinkis so important. Because, sure,
it might be like, maybe theyknow that they have an allergen
free area and they can preparesomething for you. But
ultimately, that's asking for ahuge leap of faith for somebody
(11:32):
who then has to worry and, like,maybe spend their night devoting
energy to monitoring whether ornot it's going to go south
because they didn't actually,you know, this is like their
first time eating there, andand, and it's just not worth
that mental energy or weight forsome people, when they can eat
beforehand and eat the rice andpartake and make their own
(11:52):
decisions as the grown adultsthey are for their risk profile.
Melissa Olivadoti (11:56):
Yeah, I think that's really important for
people who don't have allergiesto know that if they're planning
an event, even if they're havingsomeone over for family or
friends, you know, you canalways ask the person, is there
something I do for you? If theiranswer is no, just respect it,
right and recognize because someof my allergies are delayed, so
(12:17):
I won't know until eight to 12hours later, and so you know,
that's a long time to wait. Sobasically, I would say, give
grace and just say, what wouldwork best for you, whether an
event planner always, I alwaysask when people come to my
house, if I don't know you knowmuch about them. Hey, do you
have anything that I can makeyou feel comfortable? Make you
(12:39):
feel at home? That's true forevent planners, too. And if they
say, you know, I have too manyallergies, don't push because
otherwise it's awkward to haveto say, No, thank you to
somebody who really wants to dosomething nice for you. So
recognize to your point,everybody's an adult, you know,
they can take their they canmanage themselves. And what I do
(13:00):
as a someone with allergies, Ibring something that I can eat
and can share, so that I knowthere's something to eat, but
other people can enjoy it aswell.
Erica D'Eramo (13:07):
Yeah, what a great idea. I think that there's
a cultural element to that andand so we, you know, there's the
golden rule, right? Like, treatpeople how you would want to be
treated. And then we talk aboutthe platinum rule, treat people
the way they want to be treated.
And so even if, like, you know,and hey, my last name gives it
away, like I come from anItalian heritage, we've we love
feeding people, and so, and youknow, my husband's family is
(13:35):
Greek, and they love feedingpeople. And so sometimes we can
project our own kind of culturalassumptions on folks, but just
remembering, you know, how wouldthis person want to be treated?
And if they're communicatingclearly and they're giving you
the signal, like, just let themmake their decisions in all
things, even if they want, youknow, wanting to sit alone at
(13:55):
conferences, it's okay ifsomebody wants to sit alone or
have some quiet time, like, wedon't need to project our own
feelings about that and be like,Oh, but they shouldn't be alone.
It's okay if they want to bealone. That's your feeling to
manage that they you know, likewhat we would want might be
different than what they wouldwant. So absolutely, you raise a
good point too about, you know,the pressure to disclose, and I
(14:21):
think this is a conversation Iwas having with like a corporate
client recently, around socialgatherings and building
inclusion and belonging. And alot of their social gatherings
are happy hours, and there are amultitude of reasons that people
might not want to or be able todrink alcohol or participate in
(14:42):
alcohol, and maybe they don'teven want to be around alcohol
again, a variety of reasons thatthat might be the case. And so
you know somebody who choosesnot to drink or not to attend if
there's alcohol involved, likeyou. Don't need to pry, we don't
need to ask. It could be a lotof different things that folks
(15:04):
shouldn't have to feel pressuredto disclose, especially not to
colleagues.
Melissa Olivadoti (15:11):
Absolutely.
And I mean, I don't, personally,I don't drink because it doesn't
make me feel great, like youknow, even if I have a single
glass of wine, I'm not going tosleep well that night. And so
for me, it, you know, for peoplewho don't drink, it can get
awkward, and there's this weirdsocial pressure. I know people
that would prefer not to go toan event that is surrounded, you
(15:32):
know that that is where everyoneis drinking, right? And so
that's why whenever I try andplan, I try and plan something
where that is not at the core ofwhat we're doing, there's always
something else to do other thanimbibe. So that's not the focus,
because there's just, you know,food, drink, anything, where you
(15:53):
focus on one activity, there'slikely going to be someone in
that room either can't be inthat room, or is uncomfortable
in that room, or just does notfeel like that's core to who
they are. And so I thinkfinding, you know, being able to
do activities that aren'tfocused on something that's
automatically potentially goingto exclude people, it's always a
(16:16):
good always good idea, right?
Erica D'Eramo (16:20):
Yeah, I agree having a mixture of those two,
because chances are, no matterwhat it is, somebody won't, you
know, whatever it is, somebodymight not be able to partake,
right, like x throwing might begreat, but that might not be for
everybody either. But I am. Ican't actually count how many
(16:41):
times I have chosen not to havean alcoholic beverage, or I've
chosen, like, a non alcoholicoption going out. And people
immediately, just because, andthis is happening less and less
Now, thankfully, but peopleimmediately jumping to like, Oh,
you're not drinking. Maybe. Areyou pregnant? Like, are you are
you guys trying? And it's like,well, no, but maybe I just
(17:03):
suffered a loss, like, maybethat's something I desperately
wanted and can't make happen.
And it's not appropriate to beasking me that now I just say,
like, it's hot flashes. I justdon't want to that's why. Yeah,
yeah. So I think I'm curious,what are some of your for folks
(17:25):
who are managing this, or thinkthat they might even be managing
some of these challenges, whatare some of like your best
practices that you share withpeople?
Melissa Olivadoti (17:39):
So I would say for now, I tend to get
overloaded, sense and sensorywise, when I travel and I have
an allergy. There's a couplethings. There's a few things
that I do to make travelmanageable. One is just the pre
plan, right? I make surewhatever I'm doing when I'm
going there, I have some time tomyself, getting the day end of
(18:00):
the day, end of the day, itmight be meditation, it might be
yoga, it might be exercise, itmight just be sitting and
staring at a wall. I kid younot. I've been at conferences
that were 12 hours long eachday, and I literally go and
stare at the wall for fiveminutes because it's too much.
And I tell the people on myteams, I'm like, do you have
(18:21):
enough wall steering time? Ifnot, because I tend to like, I
tend to be like a VP for hire,you know, managing other people
below me. So I will tell them,we're going to schedule you some
wall steering time. If you don'thave enough, please let me know,
and I will make sure you haveenough, because it's key to
like, you know, making sure thatyou have your wits about you.
But then I also look to whereI'm staying, what I'm packing,
(18:48):
where do I have enough buffer intime, and what I'm doing? And
that kind of be like, Okay, sowhere am I staying? Do I have a
kitchenette or kitchen, or do Ihave a whole foods closed?
Because Whole Foods is like, mygo to, right? I get a roaster, I
get a bunch of lettuce. I've gotchicken salads. I'm okay. I get
by. I will never want to look atanother roaster or another salad
(19:09):
for at least three weeks afterthat trip. But I can get by and
eat okay, and that gets it,yeah. But do I have, you know,
do my accommodations, work? Doam I going to need to rent a car
to go find food during the trip?
If it's a seven day trip and Ican't get what I need in an Uber
to take with me, if it's two daytrip, I can go go to the grocery
store on the way, grab what Ineed, you know, take it back to
(19:30):
the hotel. But if it's a multiday trip, I'm gonna book a book,
a car, if I can do I have all mymedications, my carry on bag, at
least one epi dose, right? Ilike the I think they call it
Neffy, where it's the nasalspray versus the injection,
because easier carry. And Idon't like needles. So you know,
if I can do that, I make sure Ihave when I'm traveling, I have
(19:51):
enough food on me, and Iactually had to get a bigger
carry on bag for this, but Ihave enough food and snacks on
me for 24 hours. Just in case Iget stuck, because it's, I mean,
even the snacks in the places inairports, like the snacks are
sometimes have stuff in them Ican't eat. So, like I said, it's
the preparation that's the big,big thing. And then I have my
(20:15):
trusty shopping list with stuffthat can be easily refrigerated
or shelf stable, so I can justbreathe through, breathe through
the grocery store. I don't thinkabout what I need. I take my
reusable shopping bags with mein my bag, because I have had
brown bags and plastic bagsbreak when I'm trying to do a
bag drag, and it is awful. SoI've got my little bag from the
(20:38):
time we went to wait, wait,don't tell me. And it's a
little, yeah, it's great. So Iactually make sure it's a, it's
a really nice canvas bag, and Imake sure and it folds in on
itself. So I make sure that Iuse that when I go to the store.
And I also have this reallycool, professional zipper bag
(20:59):
that looks like a professionalbag, but it's actually a lunch
bag that I can put, like, aAnd that
brings Ziplock so I can put icelittle,
Erica D'Eramo (21:06):
Oh, cool! in it and keep it refrigerated
throughout the day. And I alsokeep homemade Italian dressing
in an Nalgene bottle in my bag.
I even keep it in my purse atall times, because you never
know when you're gonnaIt's a tiny Nalgene.
It's a tiny Nalgene, it'sprobably like, three inches
tall, and it's shelf stablebecause just olive oil and
(21:29):
vinegar. And so I take that withme everywhere I go when I
travel, because it's, you know,go through security, no problem.
And then if I get stuck and Ineed a salad, I don't have to
eat a dry salad. Like it's justa little things, right? And I
have my medical alert item. Ihave it on my watch band, so I
don't have to work, because I'vealways have it on me. And that
says, You know what my allergiesare. If I if you have an issue
(21:53):
with anaphylaxis, you absolutelyneed a medical alert on you, so
that if anything ever happens,it's got your in case of
emergency contact, it has whatyou're allergic to and your
name, and then I also let myhost know about my limitations
and and what, either they needto plan for what tell them like,
I will not be eating meals,don't? You don't need to count
(22:14):
me in, because that's a costassociated I will get all my
food, or whatever it is. Ifyou've just got a simple you
know, I'm a vegetarian or I'm avegan. You can always let them
know, and usually they canaccommodate. So those are, those
are my biggest things that I gofor. I have all sorts of little
other tips, but that those arethe big ones that I usually use
(22:34):
for travel.
You know, the oneabout I had to laugh when you
were saying, have enough foodand snacks for 24 hours, because
in potential delay, this wasn'teven air travel. I drove to a
board meeting that was like amulti day board meeting, and I
couldn't actually eat the lunch,even though they had asked me
beforehand, and I had to reply,like, on a short time frame and
(22:57):
like, let them know what I couldeat. But the lunch was not
suitable for me. It would andthankfully, my Well, thankfully,
in the morning, I managed tofind something that I could eat
for breakfast. I had, like, theyhad some hard boiled eggs. And
like, like, pre packaged hardboiled eggs, which, as somebody
who has chickens, I felt alittle guilty eating these.
(23:20):
Like,
Melissa Olivadoti (23:20):
Yeah...
Erica D'Eramo (23:21):
Long, long, whatever, life, like, boiled to
death, probably, like, factoryfarmed eggs. But whatever we do,
what we got to do,
Melissa Olivadoti (23:35):
Probably not take anything like the real
thing!
Erica D'Eramo (23:38):
Oh, they were, like, chalky and, like, had, I
don't know anyways, yeah, but itdoesn't matter. I survived, and
they had protein. And then whenlunch came, thankfully, one of
my fellow board members, she waslike, Oh, girl, you need
something. So she had a bag ofnuts, and she handed it to me.
And for me, I can eat nuts.
They're fine. They had protein.
(24:00):
And she handed me this, like,baggie of nuts. And now I carry
a baggie of nuts with mewherever I go, just in case,
just in case I think I'm gonnabe able to eat the lunch. And it
turns out, I cannot eat thelunch, like, for me, I'm, I'm
pescatarian, but people don't,people don't even realize too
they'll be like, well, we have aCaesar salad, and you can just
leave off the And sure, thedressing for Caesar salad is
(24:23):
pescatarian. But actually, andI'm not that strict about this,
but for people who do not eatanimal rennet, which comes from
the stomach lining of an animal,like from the inside organs of
an animal, it is not vegetarianat that's not vegetarian at all.
It's not like a byproduct. We'renot like a byproduct. We're not
(24:44):
talking about the differencebetween like dairy and meat.
It's actually more like meatthan dairy. That's in almost all
hard cheeses. So and yeah, sopeople just don't, I don't think
people really think through itwhen they offer it. I'm I'm. Be
more flexible than that, becauseI won't have a reaction, but I'm
not going to be happy if theonly option to eat is like cold
(25:06):
cuts all day, because I'mdefinitely not eating that. But
Melissa Olivadoti (25:09):
yes,
Erica D'Eramo (25:09):
I digress. But yes...
Melissa Olivadoti (25:13):
I second nuts. Nuts are great option. I
have a protein powder in alittle container that I take
with me when I travel. So thatworst case scenario, I need a
cup and some water that will getget me through a few hours. I
love form protein. It's one ofprotein bars with my favorites.
Tastes good. It's not gritty.
But I also have, like,pistachios, and I'll take pecans
(25:37):
or like, several different typesof nuts with me as well, because
they keep, well, you stick themin a baggie and you can have a
whole bunch of them. So yeah,fantastic option to have some
shelf stable things to just getyou through if you need to.
Erica D'Eramo (25:57):
Yeah, my husband said the other day, he was like,
oh, there's this, like, bag ofnuts in my backpack. Do you want
me to take these out? And I waslike, Nope, I do not. I don't
want to take them out. Leavethem in there. Yeah. But the
part about letting theaccommodations know too, or,
like, planning youraccommodations, you were the
person who let me know about,like, some hotels will actually
(26:23):
be able to confirm that theywon't use kind of perfumes or a
heavy scents, which is one thingthat I have really struggled
with, to the point where I thinkI shared with you, for one of my
MBA weekends, I had to, like,sleep in the car because The
hotel room I booked was the onlyone left, and I had asked in
(26:44):
advance for them to not useperfumes or air fresheners, and
it was so intensely heavy that Istarted to I started wheezing. I
immediately had a headache, andlike, the inhaler is only gonna
do so much, and if I'm wheezingthrough the night, I'm not
sleeping, right? I'm actuallyjust like, yeah, so, and they
couldn't book me anywhere else,and I think it was like a game
(27:05):
weekend, so every accommodationwas booked, and so there was
just nowhere to sleep. I mean,it's that, it's kind of like
that critical sometimes forfolks, when they say, I have a
sensitivity, it's not just likea preference, but even a
preference. If you don't want tobe smelling stuff, you shouldn't
have to be smelling stuff,
Melissa Olivadoti (27:24):
Yes, and that's why, one of the reasons
why, like, I'm not, I'm usuallya Marriott person, but Hilton
has allergic and a lot of otherhotels are starting this. They
have allergen friendly roomswhere they don't use any scented
products, and that includes ourlinens, because most hotels will
(27:44):
use scented products on theirlinens, really harsh chemicals
on their linens, for goodreason, right? You got the
public coming through, but theytend to have some of these
rooms. And if you and also likeyou're taking medication with
you, and you need arefrigerator, you're getting
food or whatever? A lot of timesthey will. You know, if you're
if you tell them, I need mymedication to be refrigerated,
(28:08):
they will give you arefrigerator without rental fee.
If there's not worth anyone inthe hotel room. The only place
that doesn't do this is on thebiggest strip, which is closer,
funny enough, because they makemoney off of their fridges, and
they don't let you leaveanything in them. But, and also,
the other thing I do, too, is,because I can my skin gets
really sensitive, I use a satinSleep Sack where it basically
(28:28):
covers your pillow and it'll gounder the sheets, and you sleep
in the sleep sack so you don'thave to touch the linens and
have harsh chemicals. So I love,yeah, I love that. But you know,
if you're if you're sensitive tonoises and things, because I'm a
light sleeper, you can alwaysask ahead of time to be booked
into a room, either on a highfloor at the end of a hall so
(28:51):
you're not hearing people comeand go. Especially, there's
nothing worse than being rightacross the hall from the
elevator and hearing it Bing allnight long.
Erica D'Eramo (29:00):
Oh my gosh. I That's my when people are like,
do you want to be? Like, wheredo you want to be? I'm like,
just not near the elevator. Iyeah, I my like, from a security
perspective, I think they saythe best floors, if you're are,
like, wherever the the laddercan reach to. And I'm like, yes,
yes, I do want to be saved inthe event of a fire, but also
(29:21):
I'll choose not being near theelevator before about the fire
risk, yeah, so, yeah, I think atthe conference like, so I'm
thinking conferences, because Ihave these conferences I'm going
to soon. This is another elementto like, having the low sensory
rooms that folks can go to isso, so valuable, and it doesn't
(29:45):
need to be anything fancy,right, like, but just an area
that can be quiet without strongsense. And people will say,
like, oh, you can just gooutside. You mean outside near
the doors where everyone'ssmoking, which is there.
Preference, but like, for me,that is also that's pretty tough
sensory element to be dealingwith. So an area where it's not
(30:09):
we're not smelling anything,we're not smelling smoke, we're
not smelling food, not rightnext to the kitchen, and it's
just quiet, and we can have somesensory downtime.
Melissa Olivadoti (30:19):
Absolutely and if there is nothing, you can
contact the conferenceorganizers in advance to say,
will you have a sensory room?
Will there be something to placequiet that I can be without
interruption and in a last ditcheffort, if there is nothing
left, usually there are speakerready rooms that are quiet,
where it's just a, b, people,with people going and turning,
(30:39):
basically a thumb drive of theirslides in. And a lot of times
it's dead and it's it's not usedvery often. So you can always
potentially talk to theconference organizers, explain,
Hey, I just need some placewhere I can go and be quiet, and
they might be able to have abreak room or, you know, even
like a location where they storestuff, where you can sit and
just de brag, yeah, it might beanother option.
Erica D'Eramo (31:03):
I agree. I also think bringing, bringing
earplugs or loop plugs orsomething, you know, noise
canceling something can bereally helpful. I traveled the
other day without my loops, andI highly regretted it, and I was
like, and I couldn't go, Icouldn't access them, and that
(31:28):
was I it was actually kind oflike nightmare territory for me.
I have, my Misophonia has notgotten better as I've gotten
older, it has definitely gottenmore attuned and worse. I would
probably prefer somebodyactually, just continuously, I
don't know, poke me with a pin,rather than have to hear
(31:48):
somebody chewing it is like,physically, it's like,
physically painful for me.
Melissa Olivadoti (31:54):
Yes, it makes my skin crawl. It makes me want
to jump out of my skin. And,yeah, that's part of it, right?
It makes you, like, a fight orflight.
Erica D'Eramo (32:03):
Yes, we did an experiment one night where my
husband was like, Are you I canmove? Are you sure you don't
want me to move? I was justsitting and reading or, like,
doing the crossword, and he waseating, and I was like, no, no,
I want to I want to try to doit. I want to try to handle it.
And I act like my eyes startedtwitching. I actually couldn't
(32:24):
do it. And he was like, I can'tdo this. I have to go. I can
tell you're like, in pain. Ican't and I was like, okay,
good, thanks.
Melissa Olivadoti (32:33):
Same thing happens to me when I'm in a
conference hall and I'mlistening to the speaker and
there's people around me thatare whispering, and usually
people are not very good atwhispering, and so it's really
hard for me, even if they'rewhispering low enough to now
focus on the speaker, and itjust it gets me so riled up,
(32:53):
which is hilarious, because,like, I'm in there in a
professional capacity, I need tohandle myself. And so, like, I
do deep breathing, and it stilldoesn't do well, and honestly, I
just had to turn to people andbe like, you know, tap them on
the shoulder and quietly say,I'm so sorry to interrupt, but
it's really hard for me to focuson the speaker when other people
are talking around me, and itusually will either cause them
(33:15):
to get up and out or to at leaststop at that point for at least
a little while if I can't get upand move myself right? So it's
just put it, oh, my God. Itmakes me so insane when people
do that,
Erica D'Eramo (33:28):
Yeah, or like, crinkling wrappers while you're
trying to hear those. Like, Iknow, I know. It's like things
that we can be thinking about totry to be better citizens to
each other at these conferences.
Oh, you know what I'm going tosay? The thing that my absolute
number one thing, which Imentioned to you, I think I'm
going to try to get somethingmade, whether it's a lanyard or
(33:52):
some sort of name tag or buttonor something like that, that
says, please check with mebefore touching because
especially for you know, in thecoaching world, coaches can be
very friendly and open andengaging. And a lot of times
they will show their care bytouching me. Coming up through
engineering in the energyindustry, and like working
(34:15):
offshore, I don't know if it's,I don't know if this is nature
or nurture or what, but I am notaccustomed to somebody just like
touching me out of the blue,especially if I don't see it. If
it's like a hand sliding down myback, I immediately it's a
reaction, right? And I'm, youmight not see it on the outside,
(34:36):
although I'm I actually more andmore because I'm trying to raise
a little awareness, I willusually step aside and say like,
Oh no, touching please, becauseI usually am safe enough to be
able to say that, and I'musually I can say that without
punishment or. Or retribution,whereas maybe other people don't
(34:56):
feel as safe saying that. So ifit's just like one person that
gets the message, and I don't dothat because I want to hurt
anybody's feelings, I just Ineed to kind of see it coming
and or maybe if people just ask,literally, the act of asking
before folks give me a hug ortouch me, just helps my brain
(35:17):
prepare, and then I can go inwith full hug mode, and I'm kind
of okay, even even my partnerknows to ask me now before
surprising me with a hug. And assoon as I hear like, Oh, can I
give you a hug? Then I say,actually, yes. That sounds
great. As long as I know I cangenuinely say no, and it'll be
(35:37):
okay if I say, like, oh, maybenot today. And they say, Okay,
no problem. That's cool, right?
If they're just asking, butthey're going to get upset if I
say no, then it's, it doesn'treally feel like the same type
of freedom to say no, but yeah,that's right, yeah, consent
(35:58):
touching, yeah, we love consent.
Melissa Olivadoti (36:00):
That's and I try and get I've actually done
this with my niece and nephewever since they were little,
because my sister, you know, wasshe was very sweet, and she was
like, oh, go give Aunt Mimi ahug. They call me Aunt Mimi, and
I never wanted them to feellike, I don't feel like hugging
her, but I'm forced to. So whatI started doing was say, Do you
(36:22):
want a wave, a high five or ahug? And if I options, I would
always get a hug. Sometimes Iwould get a high five, right?
Yeah, and let them know. Eitherway, it doesn't matter to me.
It's whatever makes you feelsafe. And I when I go see
people. Now, I work with avariety of people, and I find
(36:44):
that commercial people that Iwork with, you know, people in
sales that tend to be moreoutwardly, you know, physical,
like with the hugs andeverything on handshakes. And,
you know, I also work in peoplein the medical affairs field,
and they tend to be morehandshakes or waves. And what if
I'm really not feeling likebeing touched, I will do the
(37:06):
elbow at my side, hand raisedwave really fast. And that, if
you do that, that signals notouchy. You will have to, you
will have to go the extra mile,like I am telling you, arm at my
side tight in wavy, wavy, wavy,you know, kind of like the wacky
(37:26):
wavy man that you know I I'mexcited to be here. I'm glad
that you're here, but I'm notreally into being touched. And I
think that's actually prettywell respected. Or I'll just go
in for a fist bump rightimmediately, and that stops the
hugging and the handshaking andall that, because they still
love handshakes, because it'slike, I don't know where hands
(37:49):
have been.
Erica D'Eramo (37:52):
Or I literally just saw where that hand was,
and it just wiped your nose. AndI really don't want that on my
hand, so that's right, I feelabout that, but yeah, yeah,
that's I, and I, I guess we'restill recovering from all the
years of telling people to covertheir mouth when they sneeze or
cough, and folks doing it withtheir hand, and then, like,
(38:12):
taking that hand and putting iton the handrail or the doorknob
or whatever. I love a good elbowsneeze. Big fan.
Melissa Olivadoti (38:19):
Yeah.
Erica D'Eramo (38:19):
So, yeah...
Melissa Olivadoti (38:20):
Yes.
Erica D'Eramo (38:20):
Love that. I think, you know, the other thing
that comes up probably, is therethis is always in conversation
around like, folks who aremanaging a variety of risks for
themselves and decide to thatthey can go out in public, but
they'll need to mask, right? Orthey can be in, like, a room
with a lot of people and they'remasking. And I've it's
(38:41):
interesting how many people willactually ask about that, or,
like, feel some sort of wayabout it. And I think, like, we
just we never know what riskspeople are managing, and we have
to trust that they are adultsmanaging their own risks, and
it's not a reflection on you.
Just like my preferring not tohug doesn't mean I don't love
you or that I don't like you.
(39:03):
It's not a judgment. It's meprotecting my own
vulnerabilities and needs sothat I can be there and be
present and so, yeah.
Melissa Olivadoti (39:14):
Yeah, it's not. It doesn't need to be up
for comment, right,
Erica D'Eramo (39:17):
Right!
Melissa Olivadoti (39:18):
You know, if and just to respect that
everybody has their process,whether they just don't want to
get sick, right now, that's apurely acceptable reason for
wearing a mask, whether theyhave immune issues, where they
have someone at home with immuneissues, whether they're visiting
someone who has immunocompromisation, like it's just,
(39:44):
it's not, it doesn't need to bea polarizing subject for people
to safeguard their health andthe others. I mean, they could
be sick and they're actuallysafeguarding you, right? I you
know, I really don't understandthe polarization of. Masks if
people are making their ownchoices. You know, we're all
adults. There are some peoplewho get sick, and I wish they
(40:07):
would mask when they go intoother places to not put people
at risk. But, you know, we all,we all have to make our own risk
assessment, if my if I am morerisk averse, or if I need to
make sure I stay healthy,because I work for myself, and
if I don't work for a week, Idon't make money for a week.
So...
Erica D'Eramo (40:26):
Yeah, I don't get PTO. I know. Yeah, yeah, I
agree. Um, okay, I think thishas been such a, such a, like,
really valuable conversation forme, and I always appreciate
having you on and actually, nowthat I'm thinking about it, one
of our previous Melissaappearances was to talk about
(40:49):
introversion and extroversion,which has some similar themes to
it, in terms of, like, knowingwhat you need and being able to
communicate that and or advocatefor yourself so that you can be
sustainable and you can have theimpact that you want to have in
(41:09):
this world. So yeah,
Melissa Olivadoti (41:11):
Absolutely.
And can I just tell you one ofmy favorite things that I see at
conferences now, which isperfect for introverts that love
animals, their conferences arenow starting to go to local
rescues and pull in theserescues to do either puppy or
kitten or dog areas where peoplecan go and take 15 minutes to
(41:32):
pet something furry and groundthemselves. I'm like, How fun is
that if you're not allergic topets and you like animals, that
is like for me, that would be myhappy place. I would just be
like that. I would be thereevery few hours. So relaxing.
And it's useful for the animals,because they get a lot of
(41:55):
exposure to different people.
And it's useful for theshelters, because a lot of times
there's, you know, a monetaryincentive for them to come and
help out. I just, if you're anevent planner, just get in
touch. I mean, there's alwayspuppies and kittens available
throughout the year. Like justeven if you're doing a small
meeting, see if that's going tobe of interest to your people.
(42:16):
Connect with, like, one of yourlocal organizations and get a
foster to come visit. I bet youanything, they would be jazzed
to help out. It would be, Ijust, I can't say enough good
things about that. So that's oneof my favorite new things that
people are doing.
Erica D'Eramo (42:28):
I love that I am the person who when I am because
I so on that introvert andintrovert ambivert, extrovert
episode, you were the ambivertand I was the introvert. And so
for me, like going to parties, Ithink we've joked about this
before, like, going to partiescan be, like, very intense for
me, but if there's an animal,I'm like, Ah, I need to go hang
(42:53):
out with this animal. And I cankind of get a little bit of a
recuperation just from someanimal time. I don't care what
animal honestly look I mean,maybe the fish are a little less
impactful for me, but, like,definitely anything with fur,
I'm down. I'm down. So I theidea of then having that option
at conferences is very appealingfor me. And I, you know, I sure
(43:19):
that there are people who arehorrified by the idea of their
allergen. You know, managementbeing disrupted by that, but
hopefully that could be managed,
Melissa Olivadoti (43:27):
It's usually in a separate part of the
conference. Not on theconference room floor.
Erica D'Eramo (43:31):
Having, like puppies running everywhere. I
mean, ironically, even thoughI'm a big cat person, I am
actually allergic to cats, andit's in my medical records
because I'm very allergic to Catsaliva and will break out in
hives so I don't know how many.
Whenever doctors are readingthrough my allergens, and it's
like, amoxicillin, penicillin,cephalosporin, cat saliva, I'm
(43:54):
like, yes, yes, that is inthere. And that is because one
of my doctors was like, we haveto put this in there, because
you are because you are highlyallergic to it. So, yeah, but,
but I manage my I manage myrisk. And I do want to give you
a shout out to I know this isseparate to this conversation
(44:15):
we're having here, but Melissais sort of my fostering mentor
in many ways, and has helped menavigate the waters of fostering
animals, and we've had some realsuccesses over here. So just a
big thank you to you and all thework that you do with finding
animals homes and helping themto come out of their shell and
(44:36):
adapt and be great little furrypartners for some humans.
Melissa Olivadoti (44:43):
Thank you.
It's my pleasure, and I alwayslove to introduce people to the
feeling you get when you do somegood with an animal, whether
that's you get them healthy, yougive them a place to defrag, or
you see them come out of yourshell. There's like, it's just
this feeling. Is, Oh, I feel sogood, and I love sharing that
with other people and doing goodon top of it. And if you're an
(45:06):
introvert and you want a funhobby, it's a perfect hobby as
an introvert, because you onlyhave to, like, go and talk to
the shelter people when you needto either pick up or drop off or
need some vet care, and you do alot of good. So yeah, I I'm just
so glad that you got into it,and you've done an amazing job
with your fosters, too.
Erica D'Eramo (45:26):
Yeah, we're about to try to place Mr. Twisty, the
famous Mr. Twisty, who'sfeatured in our blogs. He has
been quite the social butterfly,so we're just finding, we're
trying to find a nice, goodplace for him to land where he
can bond like he clearly wantsto with some humans. So yeah.
(45:48):
Well, thank you again for beingone of our repeat visitors and
sharing all of your wisdom. Andif people do want to find you in
a in a consulting capacity,where, where would they look? I
know, not consulting on thesetopics, but in your day job,
perhaps.
Melissa Olivadoti (46:06):
So I'm on LinkedIn. My company is called
Assisi Consulting, like St.
Francis of Assisi has a tie toanimals, and so I do medical
affairs consulting and medicalaffairs, content, training, all
sorts of stuff in pharma,biotech and nutraceuticals. So
yeah, if you want to find me onLinkedIn and connect, I would
(46:28):
love it. It'd be super fun.
Erica D'Eramo (46:32):
Awesome. Yeah, well, thanks again. And for
those listening, as always, youcan find a summary of this
episode on our website, alongwith a full transcript, if you
prefer to read it, and links toMelissa's LinkedIn and some
additional information there. Sothanks again for joining us, and
we will see you next episode.
Hello and welcome to the Two Piers podcast. I'm
your host, Erica D'Eramo, andtoday we have a guest joining us
to talk about traveling withfood allergies and
sensitivities. Melissa Olivadotiis a medical affairs consultant
for pharma, biotech andnutraceuticals companies, and
she travels quite often forwork, while also managing
(00:27):
multiple allergies andsensitivities. Conference season
is upon us, and she's here toshare some wisdom with us about
how to keep yourself safe,healthy and happy while having
to travel for work.
Hello, Melissa, great to haveyou back.
Melissa Olivadoti (00:53):
Erica, it's so wonderful to be here, and I
am super excited to talk abouttoday's topic, because it's near
and dear to my heart.
Erica D'Eramo (01:01):
Yeah, I just got back from some travel myself,
which was actually for vacation,and I think I doubled down and
said, Hey, remember, we weregoing to record that podcast
like we I'm feeling reallymotivated to record the podcast,
yeah, especially with travelcoming up. For me, I know you've
(01:22):
had some recent travel, and itjust brings it top of mind, for
sure.
Melissa Olivadoti (01:26):
Absolutely yes, and I was, you know, it
takes a lot of preparation. Ithink that's the hardest part.
Is the preparation. Once you geton a trip, if you have your
stuff down, it's not so bad, butgetting everything you need in
one place, getting ready to geton that flight, I never used to
have to think about this stuffever. I would have my regular
(01:51):
toiletries in my bag that Irefilled. I would throw in my
clothes, and I'm off andrunning. I'm Yelping the most,
highest rated restaurant in thetype of food I wanted in my
city, and I get to try somethingnew every time. It's so
different when you havelimitations now, it's making
(02:11):
sure you have food for the dayand making sure you have your
EpiPen and everything else youneed. So yes, there's lots of
other things that you have tothink about when you have food
sensitivities or even otherlimitations when you travel.
Erica D'Eramo (02:26):
Yeah, I think that. So we one of the reasons I
wanted to discuss this topic is,well, it's kind of twofold.
Actually. One is that peopleunderstand what is involved,
even if, if they don'tspecifically have food
sensitivities or allergies oranything like that. Those of us
who travel with folks, who havecolleagues who maybe are
(02:48):
organizing events, I think thisis really important for folks to
understand. But the other reasonI wanted to talk about it is
that even for those of us whomaybe don't have like life
threatening allergies, we mighthave other types of
sensitivities, especially for myfellow neurodivergent folks, who
(03:09):
maybe have, like, a dialed upsensitivity to some elements,
like some sensory elements. Andso I think that there's a lot of
overlap in this piece aroundpreparing ourselves for the
travel, like, what can we do toensure the highest likelihood
that we'll have a successful,happy, healthy trip or visit
(03:31):
for, say, a conference, butalso, other folks who are on the
organizing front can have thisin the back of their mind to be
to be playing their part too,because there's some low hanging
fruit out there that folks couldbe doing to make things a lot
safer and easier for, you know,a lot of people
Melissa Olivadoti (03:48):
Absolutely because just travel in and of
itself, is an onslaught to thesenses so overwhelming, you
know, like You get into you'rehaving to queue up with random
people. You have smells, you'rein tight places, you're stuck
with strangers. If you go to aconference, it's non stop social
(04:13):
activity, and, you know, forcedactivity as well, with very
little opportunity to kind ofseparate yourself from that and
center yourself and so having, Ithink, both of these areas of
food sensitivities, allergiesand being neurodivergent when
you travel is preparing is a bigpart of it, but also being your
(04:36):
own advocate and speaking up foryour needs and making sure you
have what you need when you'rein those situations, to manage
when things change or go south.
Because they do.
Erica D'Eramo (04:51):
Yes, they do.
They do. And so I love that,like framing of kind of the and
this is. Are, you know, very inline with my coaching type of
mentality of, right? So we can,we can hope for the best. And
then how do we plan for theworst to make sure that we've at
least got some contingencies, orsome safety nets or backup plans
for when, when we are only ableto eat one thing at the
(05:15):
conference, nothing? Um,nothing. So, okay, I'm curious.
I mean, I'm curious, if youdon't mind sharing, what are
some for you personally, whatare some of the food
sensitivities, or generalsensitivities that you manage
when you travel?
Melissa Olivadoti (05:36):
So I have quite a laundry list. It's taken
me years to figure this out.
Even, you know, just last year,we discovered a new one that
completely made my life waybetter. And the biggest one is
the biggest limitations is thehardest is the red meat allergy.
And this includes, you know,anything from a mammal, so
anything from a cow, a pig,lamb, anything like that, and
(06:00):
its derivatives, because it's asugar molecule that you get
allergic to when you get bit bytick. Often happens in the
South. A lot of people in thesouth are more you know,
knowledgeable about it, and thatincludes dairy and all the other
products. But then I'm alsoceliac, so I can't eat wheat or
gluten. And then I also have astrong allergy to soy and
(06:23):
almond, which I have an EpiPenfor. And I'm also sensitive to a
bunch of things since I got bitby that tick, including onion,
garlic, egg, corn, peanuts andsesame. See, you can imagine how
hard it would be to eat out, andplus, some of these are like
cross reactivity, and some ofthem shared spaces causes a
(06:47):
problem. So my whole thing is, Itend to have to plan all of my
food, and unless I know therestaurant and trust what's
going on there. I pretty muchtake care of all of my own
meals, even on travel.
Erica D'Eramo (07:07):
Yeah, yeah. I think that that piece around,
like, know the restaurant andcan trust it is so key because,
I mean, I know, I know I havefriends, but I've also seen,
like, the behind the scenes,that there's one thing to say, I
don't eat gluten, right? Okay,well, we're gonna not give you
(07:28):
the pasta, but that's actuallydifferent. Like, deciding not to
eat gluten is different than anactual, like, allergy that will
send you to the hospital. And sowhen people say, like, oh yeah,
no, it doesn't have pasta in it,or it or it doesn't have wheat
in it, but they prepared it onthe same surface. And I think
that there are enough people inthe world who have chosen not to
(07:50):
eat gluten for their ownreasons, because it doesn't sit
well with them. They find thatthey're they feel better when
they don't eat and eat it, whichis great, and they should be
respected as well. And also, Ithink that sometimes that's led
to people maybe being moredismissive of folks who have
celiacs and like, actually, thisis not about a choice to not eat
(08:14):
it. It's like you will end upfeeling very sick and or in the
hospital sometimes. So
Melissa Olivadoti (08:20):
Yes, absolutely. I think there's a
positive and negative toawareness, right? A lot more
places are aware of glutensensitivities and celiacs. But
in the same vein, when glutenfree diet became a big fad, and
you know, 2010 probably to 2018I would say. And at that time,
(08:41):
you also had people that wereeating gluten free, but then in
the restaurant, but they'd havethe table bread or they'd have a
beer, and so it was veryconfusing to servers, and it
wouldn't be taken seriously.
People are becoming more awareof allergies in general, servers
restaurants, interestingly,there are some countries like
Italy where the genetics aremore prevalent, where they have
(09:05):
a completely separate space,where they cook for celiacs,
which is really interesting,yeah, but having multiple issues
tends to make it even harder.
And I think even the socialaspect of it, when you can't go
out to eat with other people,especially when your business
(09:25):
events, it can be very awkward,because you have to describe to
people why you're doing this,why you're not imbibing with
them, enjoying with them,because it's a shared
experience, and you're the oneperson at the Table not eating
anything. So it can be a littleawkward. And then you have to
disclose, if you feelcomfortable, you have to say
(09:46):
something. You have to discloseyour own personal medical
history, like and say, you know,I would love to eat with you,
but if I do, I might not befunctional tomorrow. And that's
kind of awkward to say, right?
You kind of have to spill yourguts to somebody in your
company, or somebody else thatthrough work that you're
meeting. So I think the factthat meals are a shared
(10:07):
experience can be can make iteven harder. But I also find
that eating before you go tothose activities is so critical
because then you're not angstyand angry and hungry at the same
time. So and then, you know,it's easier to pass and say no,
thank you. I think this lastweekend, we went to this
(10:28):
beautiful Indian restaurant. Ohmy gosh, the food looked
amazing. I had eaten before Ileft, but because there was such
a need for people to make mefeel included, I just ordered
plain white rice because I knew,just like rice and water. And I
know the waiters really wantedto give me something beautiful
that, I mean, this food wasamazing, but I was like, just
(10:49):
please, this is all I need. Andthey brought something out. And
then at least I was eatingsomething along with everyone
else, so I could adapt a littlebit. Yeah, I don't want to use
my EpiPen tonight. Is a good isa good one to use, right? I'm
just not in the mood to use myEpiPen tonight.
Erica D'Eramo (11:11):
I'm just like trusting people to know
themselves and know their risktolerance well enough to let
them make that decision I thinkis so important. Because, sure,
it might be like, maybe theyknow that they have an allergen
free area and they can preparesomething for you. But
ultimately, that's asking for ahuge leap of faith for somebody
(11:32):
who then has to worry and, like,maybe spend their night devoting
energy to monitoring whether ornot it's going to go south
because they didn't actually,you know, this is like their
first time eating there, andand, and it's just not worth
that mental energy or weight forsome people, when they can eat
beforehand and eat the rice andpartake and make their own
(11:52):
decisions as the grown adultsthey are for their risk profile.
Melissa Olivadoti (11:56):
Yeah, I think that's really important for
people who don't have allergiesto know that if they're planning
an event, even if they're havingsomeone over for family or
friends, you know, you canalways ask the person, is there
something I do for you? If theiranswer is no, just respect it,
right and recognize because someof my allergies are delayed, so
(12:17):
I won't know until eight to 12hours later, and so you know,
that's a long time to wait. Sobasically, I would say, give
grace and just say, what wouldwork best for you, whether an
event planner always, I alwaysask when people come to my
house, if I don't know you knowmuch about them. Hey, do you
have anything that I can makeyou feel comfortable? Make you
(12:39):
feel at home? That's true forevent planners, too. And if they
say, you know, I have too manyallergies, don't push because
otherwise it's awkward to haveto say, No, thank you to
somebody who really wants to dosomething nice for you. So
recognize to your point,everybody's an adult, you know,
they can take their they canmanage themselves. And what I do
(13:00):
as a someone with allergies, Ibring something that I can eat
and can share, so that I knowthere's something to eat, but
other people can enjoy it aswell.
Erica D'Eramo (13:07):
Yeah, what a great idea. I think that there's
a cultural element to that andand so we, you know, there's the
golden rule, right? Like, treatpeople how you would want to be
treated. And then we talk aboutthe platinum rule, treat people
the way they want to be treated.
And so even if, like, you know,and hey, my last name gives it
away, like I come from anItalian heritage, we've we love
feeding people, and so, and youknow, my husband's family is
(13:35):
Greek, and they love feedingpeople. And so sometimes we can
project our own kind of culturalassumptions on folks, but just
remembering, you know, how wouldthis person want to be treated?
And if they're communicatingclearly and they're giving you
the signal, like, just let themmake their decisions in all
things, even if they want, youknow, wanting to sit alone at
(13:55):
conferences, it's okay ifsomebody wants to sit alone or
have some quiet time, like, wedon't need to project our own
feelings about that and be like,Oh, but they shouldn't be alone.
It's okay if they want to bealone. That's your feeling to
manage that they you know, likewhat we would want might be
different than what they wouldwant. So absolutely, you raise a
good point too about, you know,the pressure to disclose, and I
(14:21):
think this is a conversation Iwas having with like a corporate
client recently, around socialgatherings and building
inclusion and belonging. And alot of their social gatherings
are happy hours, and there are amultitude of reasons that people
might not want to or be able todrink alcohol or participate in
(14:42):
alcohol, and maybe they don'teven want to be around alcohol
again, a variety of reasons thatthat might be the case. And so
you know somebody who choosesnot to drink or not to attend if
there's alcohol involved, likeyou. Don't need to pry, we don't
need to ask. It could be a lotof different things that folks
(15:04):
shouldn't have to feel pressuredto disclose, especially not to
colleagues.
Melissa Olivadoti (15:11):
Absolutely.
And I mean, I don't, personally,I don't drink because it doesn't
make me feel great, like youknow, even if I have a single
glass of wine, I'm not going tosleep well that night. And so
for me, it, you know, for peoplewho don't drink, it can get
awkward, and there's this weirdsocial pressure. I know people
that would prefer not to go toan event that is surrounded, you
(15:32):
know that that is where everyoneis drinking, right? And so
that's why whenever I try andplan, I try and plan something
where that is not at the core ofwhat we're doing, there's always
something else to do other thanimbibe. So that's not the focus,
because there's just, you know,food, drink, anything, where you
(15:53):
focus on one activity, there'slikely going to be someone in
that room either can't be inthat room, or is uncomfortable
in that room, or just does notfeel like that's core to who
they are. And so I thinkfinding, you know, being able to
do activities that aren'tfocused on something that's
automatically potentially goingto exclude people, it's always a
(16:16):
good always good idea, right?
Erica D'Eramo (16:20):
Yeah, I agree having a mixture of those two,
because chances are, no matterwhat it is, somebody won't, you
know, whatever it is, somebodymight not be able to partake,
right, like x throwing might begreat, but that might not be for
everybody either. But I am. Ican't actually count how many
(16:41):
times I have chosen not to havean alcoholic beverage, or I've
chosen, like, a non alcoholicoption going out. And people
immediately, just because, andthis is happening less and less
Now, thankfully, but peopleimmediately jumping to like, Oh,
you're not drinking. Maybe. Areyou pregnant? Like, are you are
you guys trying? And it's like,well, no, but maybe I just
(17:03):
suffered a loss, like, maybethat's something I desperately
wanted and can't make happen.
And it's not appropriate to beasking me that now I just say,
like, it's hot flashes. I justdon't want to that's why. Yeah,
yeah. So I think I'm curious,what are some of your for folks
(17:25):
who are managing this, or thinkthat they might even be managing
some of these challenges, whatare some of like your best
practices that you share withpeople?
Melissa Olivadoti (17:39):
So I would say for now, I tend to get
overloaded, sense and sensorywise, when I travel and I have
an allergy. There's a couplethings. There's a few things
that I do to make travelmanageable. One is just the pre
plan, right? I make surewhatever I'm doing when I'm
going there, I have some time tomyself, getting the day end of
(18:00):
the day, end of the day, itmight be meditation, it might be
yoga, it might be exercise, itmight just be sitting and
staring at a wall. I kid younot. I've been at conferences
that were 12 hours long eachday, and I literally go and
stare at the wall for fiveminutes because it's too much.
And I tell the people on myteams, I'm like, do you have
(18:21):
enough wall steering time? Ifnot, because I tend to like, I
tend to be like a VP for hire,you know, managing other people
below me. So I will tell them,we're going to schedule you some
wall steering time. If you don'thave enough, please let me know,
and I will make sure you haveenough, because it's key to
like, you know, making sure thatyou have your wits about you.
But then I also look to whereI'm staying, what I'm packing,
(18:48):
where do I have enough buffer intime, and what I'm doing? And
that kind of be like, Okay, sowhere am I staying? Do I have a
kitchenette or kitchen, or do Ihave a whole foods closed?
Because Whole Foods is like, mygo to, right? I get a roaster, I
get a bunch of lettuce. I've gotchicken salads. I'm okay. I get
by. I will never want to look atanother roaster or another salad
(19:09):
for at least three weeks afterthat trip. But I can get by and
eat okay, and that gets it,yeah. But do I have, you know,
do my accommodations, work? Doam I going to need to rent a car
to go find food during the trip?
If it's a seven day trip and Ican't get what I need in an Uber
to take with me, if it's two daytrip, I can go go to the grocery
store on the way, grab what Ineed, you know, take it back to
(19:30):
the hotel. But if it's a multiday trip, I'm gonna book a book,
a car, if I can do I have all mymedications, my carry on bag, at
least one epi dose, right? Ilike the I think they call it
Neffy, where it's the nasalspray versus the injection,
because easier carry. And Idon't like needles. So you know,
if I can do that, I make sure Ihave when I'm traveling, I have
(19:51):
enough food on me, and Iactually had to get a bigger
carry on bag for this, but Ihave enough food and snacks on
me for 24 hours. Just in case Iget stuck, because it's, I mean,
even the snacks in the places inairports, like the snacks are
sometimes have stuff in them Ican't eat. So, like I said, it's
the preparation that's the big,big thing. And then I have my
(20:15):
trusty shopping list with stuffthat can be easily refrigerated
or shelf stable, so I can justbreathe through, breathe through
the grocery store. I don't thinkabout what I need. I take my
reusable shopping bags with mein my bag, because I have had
brown bags and plastic bagsbreak when I'm trying to do a
bag drag, and it is awful. SoI've got my little bag from the
(20:38):
time we went to wait, wait,don't tell me. And it's a
little, yeah, it's great. So Iactually make sure it's a, it's
a really nice canvas bag, and Imake sure and it folds in on
itself. So I make sure that Iuse that when I go to the store.
And I also have this reallycool, professional zipper bag
(20:59):
that looks like a professionalbag, but it's actually a lunch
bag that I can put, like, aAnd that
brings Ziplock so I can put icelittle,
Erica D'Eramo (21:06):
Oh, cool! in it and keep it refrigerated
throughout the day. And I alsokeep homemade Italian dressing
in an Nalgene bottle in my bag.
I even keep it in my purse atall times, because you never
know when you're gonnaIt's a tiny Nalgene.
It's a tiny Nalgene, it'sprobably like, three inches
tall, and it's shelf stablebecause just olive oil and
(21:29):
vinegar. And so I take that withme everywhere I go when I
travel, because it's, you know,go through security, no problem.
And then if I get stuck and Ineed a salad, I don't have to
eat a dry salad. Like it's justa little things, right? And I
have my medical alert item. Ihave it on my watch band, so I
don't have to work, because I'vealways have it on me. And that
says, You know what my allergiesare. If I if you have an issue
(21:53):
with anaphylaxis, you absolutelyneed a medical alert on you, so
that if anything ever happens,it's got your in case of
emergency contact, it has whatyou're allergic to and your
name, and then I also let myhost know about my limitations
and and what, either they needto plan for what tell them like,
I will not be eating meals,don't? You don't need to count
(22:14):
me in, because that's a costassociated I will get all my
food, or whatever it is. Ifyou've just got a simple you
know, I'm a vegetarian or I'm avegan. You can always let them
know, and usually they canaccommodate. So those are, those
are my biggest things that I gofor. I have all sorts of little
other tips, but that those arethe big ones that I usually use
(22:34):
for travel.
You know, the oneabout I had to laugh when you
were saying, have enough foodand snacks for 24 hours, because
in potential delay, this wasn'teven air travel. I drove to a
board meeting that was like amulti day board meeting, and I
couldn't actually eat the lunch,even though they had asked me
beforehand, and I had to reply,like, on a short time frame and
(22:57):
like, let them know what I couldeat. But the lunch was not
suitable for me. It would andthankfully, my Well, thankfully,
in the morning, I managed tofind something that I could eat
for breakfast. I had, like, theyhad some hard boiled eggs. And
like, like, pre packaged hardboiled eggs, which, as somebody
who has chickens, I felt alittle guilty eating these.
(23:20):
Like,
Melissa Olivadoti (23:20):
Yeah...
Erica D'Eramo (23:21):
Long, long, whatever, life, like, boiled to
death, probably, like, factoryfarmed eggs. But whatever we do,
what we got to do,
Melissa Olivadoti (23:35):
Probably not take anything like the real
thing!
Erica D'Eramo (23:38):
Oh, they were, like, chalky and, like, had, I
don't know anyways, yeah, but itdoesn't matter. I survived, and
they had protein. And then whenlunch came, thankfully, one of
my fellow board members, she waslike, Oh, girl, you need
something. So she had a bag ofnuts, and she handed it to me.
And for me, I can eat nuts.
They're fine. They had protein.
(24:00):
And she handed me this, like,baggie of nuts. And now I carry
a baggie of nuts with mewherever I go, just in case,
just in case I think I'm gonnabe able to eat the lunch. And it
turns out, I cannot eat thelunch, like, for me, I'm, I'm
pescatarian, but people don't,people don't even realize too
they'll be like, well, we have aCaesar salad, and you can just
leave off the And sure, thedressing for Caesar salad is
(24:23):
pescatarian. But actually, andI'm not that strict about this,
but for people who do not eatanimal rennet, which comes from
the stomach lining of an animal,like from the inside organs of
an animal, it is not vegetarianat that's not vegetarian at all.
It's not like a byproduct. We'renot like a byproduct. We're not
(24:44):
talking about the differencebetween like dairy and meat.
It's actually more like meatthan dairy. That's in almost all
hard cheeses. So and yeah, sopeople just don't, I don't think
people really think through itwhen they offer it. I'm I'm. Be
more flexible than that, becauseI won't have a reaction, but I'm
not going to be happy if theonly option to eat is like cold
(25:06):
cuts all day, because I'mdefinitely not eating that. But
Melissa Olivadoti (25:09):
yes,
Erica D'Eramo (25:09):
I digress. But yes...
Melissa Olivadoti (25:13):
I second nuts. Nuts are great option. I
have a protein powder in alittle container that I take
with me when I travel. So thatworst case scenario, I need a
cup and some water that will getget me through a few hours. I
love form protein. It's one ofprotein bars with my favorites.
Tastes good. It's not gritty.
But I also have, like,pistachios, and I'll take pecans
(25:37):
or like, several different typesof nuts with me as well, because
they keep, well, you stick themin a baggie and you can have a
whole bunch of them. So yeah,fantastic option to have some
shelf stable things to just getyou through if you need to.
Erica D'Eramo (25:57):
Yeah, my husband said the other day, he was like,
oh, there's this, like, bag ofnuts in my backpack. Do you want
me to take these out? And I waslike, Nope, I do not. I don't
want to take them out. Leavethem in there. Yeah. But the
part about letting theaccommodations know too, or,
like, planning youraccommodations, you were the
person who let me know about,like, some hotels will actually
(26:23):
be able to confirm that theywon't use kind of perfumes or a
heavy scents, which is one thingthat I have really struggled
with, to the point where I thinkI shared with you, for one of my
MBA weekends, I had to, like,sleep in the car because The
hotel room I booked was the onlyone left, and I had asked in
(26:44):
advance for them to not useperfumes or air fresheners, and
it was so intensely heavy that Istarted to I started wheezing. I
immediately had a headache, andlike, the inhaler is only gonna
do so much, and if I'm wheezingthrough the night, I'm not
sleeping, right? I'm actuallyjust like, yeah, so, and they
couldn't book me anywhere else,and I think it was like a game
(27:05):
weekend, so every accommodationwas booked, and so there was
just nowhere to sleep. I mean,it's that, it's kind of like
that critical sometimes forfolks, when they say, I have a
sensitivity, it's not just likea preference, but even a
preference. If you don't want tobe smelling stuff, you shouldn't
have to be smelling stuff,
Melissa Olivadoti (27:24):
Yes, and that's why, one of the reasons
why, like, I'm not, I'm usuallya Marriott person, but Hilton
has allergic and a lot of otherhotels are starting this. They
have allergen friendly roomswhere they don't use any scented
products, and that includes ourlinens, because most hotels will
(27:44):
use scented products on theirlinens, really harsh chemicals
on their linens, for goodreason, right? You got the
public coming through, but theytend to have some of these
rooms. And if you and also likeyou're taking medication with
you, and you need arefrigerator, you're getting
food or whatever? A lot of timesthey will. You know, if you're
if you tell them, I need mymedication to be refrigerated,
(28:08):
they will give you arefrigerator without rental fee.
If there's not worth anyone inthe hotel room. The only place
that doesn't do this is on thebiggest strip, which is closer,
funny enough, because they makemoney off of their fridges, and
they don't let you leaveanything in them. But, and also,
the other thing I do, too, is,because I can my skin gets
really sensitive, I use a satinSleep Sack where it basically
(28:28):
covers your pillow and it'll gounder the sheets, and you sleep
in the sleep sack so you don'thave to touch the linens and
have harsh chemicals. So I love,yeah, I love that. But you know,
if you're if you're sensitive tonoises and things, because I'm a
light sleeper, you can alwaysask ahead of time to be booked
into a room, either on a highfloor at the end of a hall so
(28:51):
you're not hearing people comeand go. Especially, there's
nothing worse than being rightacross the hall from the
elevator and hearing it Bing allnight long.
Erica D'Eramo (29:00):
Oh my gosh. I That's my when people are like,
do you want to be? Like, wheredo you want to be? I'm like,
just not near the elevator. Iyeah, I my like, from a security
perspective, I think they saythe best floors, if you're are,
like, wherever the the laddercan reach to. And I'm like, yes,
yes, I do want to be saved inthe event of a fire, but also
(29:21):
I'll choose not being near theelevator before about the fire
risk, yeah, so, yeah, I think atthe conference like, so I'm
thinking conferences, because Ihave these conferences I'm going
to soon. This is another elementto like, having the low sensory
rooms that folks can go to isso, so valuable, and it doesn't
(29:45):
need to be anything fancy,right, like, but just an area
that can be quiet without strongsense. And people will say,
like, oh, you can just gooutside. You mean outside near
the doors where everyone'ssmoking, which is there.
Preference, but like, for me,that is also that's pretty tough
sensory element to be dealingwith. So an area where it's not
(30:09):
we're not smelling anything,we're not smelling smoke, we're
not smelling food, not rightnext to the kitchen, and it's
just quiet, and we can have somesensory downtime.
Melissa Olivadoti (30:19):
Absolutely and if there is nothing, you can
contact the conferenceorganizers in advance to say,
will you have a sensory room?
Will there be something to placequiet that I can be without
interruption and in a last ditcheffort, if there is nothing
left, usually there are speakerready rooms that are quiet,
where it's just a, b, people,with people going and turning,
(30:39):
basically a thumb drive of theirslides in. And a lot of times
it's dead and it's it's not usedvery often. So you can always
potentially talk to theconference organizers, explain,
Hey, I just need some placewhere I can go and be quiet, and
they might be able to have abreak room or, you know, even
like a location where they storestuff, where you can sit and
just de brag, yeah, it might beanother option.
Erica D'Eramo (31:03):
I agree. I also think bringing, bringing
earplugs or loop plugs orsomething, you know, noise
canceling something can bereally helpful. I traveled the
other day without my loops, andI highly regretted it, and I was
like, and I couldn't go, Icouldn't access them, and that
(31:28):
was I it was actually kind oflike nightmare territory for me.
I have, my Misophonia has notgotten better as I've gotten
older, it has definitely gottenmore attuned and worse. I would
probably prefer somebodyactually, just continuously, I
don't know, poke me with a pin,rather than have to hear
(31:48):
somebody chewing it is like,physically, it's like,
physically painful for me.
Melissa Olivadoti (31:54):
Yes, it makes my skin crawl. It makes me want
to jump out of my skin. And,yeah, that's part of it, right?
It makes you, like, a fight orflight.
Erica D'Eramo (32:03):
Yes, we did an experiment one night where my
husband was like, Are you I canmove? Are you sure you don't
want me to move? I was justsitting and reading or, like,
doing the crossword, and he waseating, and I was like, no, no,
I want to I want to try to doit. I want to try to handle it.
And I act like my eyes startedtwitching. I actually couldn't
(32:24):
do it. And he was like, I can'tdo this. I have to go. I can
tell you're like, in pain. Ican't and I was like, okay,
good, thanks.
Melissa Olivadoti (32:33):
Same thing happens to me when I'm in a
conference hall and I'mlistening to the speaker and
there's people around me thatare whispering, and usually
people are not very good atwhispering, and so it's really
hard for me, even if they'rewhispering low enough to now
focus on the speaker, and itjust it gets me so riled up,
(32:53):
which is hilarious, because,like, I'm in there in a
professional capacity, I need tohandle myself. And so, like, I
do deep breathing, and it stilldoesn't do well, and honestly, I
just had to turn to people andbe like, you know, tap them on
the shoulder and quietly say,I'm so sorry to interrupt, but
it's really hard for me to focuson the speaker when other people
are talking around me, and itusually will either cause them
(33:15):
to get up and out or to at leaststop at that point for at least
a little while if I can't get upand move myself right? So it's
just put it, oh, my God. Itmakes me so insane when people
do that,
Erica D'Eramo (33:28):
Yeah, or like, crinkling wrappers while you're
trying to hear those. Like, Iknow, I know. It's like things
that we can be thinking about totry to be better citizens to
each other at these conferences.
Oh, you know what I'm going tosay? The thing that my absolute
number one thing, which Imentioned to you, I think I'm
going to try to get somethingmade, whether it's a lanyard or
(33:52):
some sort of name tag or buttonor something like that, that
says, please check with mebefore touching because
especially for you know, in thecoaching world, coaches can be
very friendly and open andengaging. And a lot of times
they will show their care bytouching me. Coming up through
engineering in the energyindustry, and like working
(34:15):
offshore, I don't know if it's,I don't know if this is nature
or nurture or what, but I am notaccustomed to somebody just like
touching me out of the blue,especially if I don't see it. If
it's like a hand sliding down myback, I immediately it's a
reaction, right? And I'm, youmight not see it on the outside,
(34:36):
although I'm I actually more andmore because I'm trying to raise
a little awareness, I willusually step aside and say like,
Oh no, touching please, becauseI usually am safe enough to be
able to say that, and I'musually I can say that without
punishment or. Or retribution,whereas maybe other people don't
(34:56):
feel as safe saying that. So ifit's just like one person that
gets the message, and I don't dothat because I want to hurt
anybody's feelings, I just Ineed to kind of see it coming
and or maybe if people just ask,literally, the act of asking
before folks give me a hug ortouch me, just helps my brain
(35:17):
prepare, and then I can go inwith full hug mode, and I'm kind
of okay, even even my partnerknows to ask me now before
surprising me with a hug. And assoon as I hear like, Oh, can I
give you a hug? Then I say,actually, yes. That sounds
great. As long as I know I cangenuinely say no, and it'll be
(35:37):
okay if I say, like, oh, maybenot today. And they say, Okay,
no problem. That's cool, right?
If they're just asking, butthey're going to get upset if I
say no, then it's, it doesn'treally feel like the same type
of freedom to say no, but yeah,that's right, yeah, consent
(35:58):
touching, yeah, we love consent.
Melissa Olivadoti (36:00):
That's and I try and get I've actually done
this with my niece and nephewever since they were little,
because my sister, you know, wasshe was very sweet, and she was
like, oh, go give Aunt Mimi ahug. They call me Aunt Mimi, and
I never wanted them to feellike, I don't feel like hugging
her, but I'm forced to. So whatI started doing was say, Do you
(36:22):
want a wave, a high five or ahug? And if I options, I would
always get a hug. Sometimes Iwould get a high five, right?
Yeah, and let them know. Eitherway, it doesn't matter to me.
It's whatever makes you feelsafe. And I when I go see
people. Now, I work with avariety of people, and I find
(36:44):
that commercial people that Iwork with, you know, people in
sales that tend to be moreoutwardly, you know, physical,
like with the hugs andeverything on handshakes. And,
you know, I also work in peoplein the medical affairs field,
and they tend to be morehandshakes or waves. And what if
I'm really not feeling likebeing touched, I will do the
(37:06):
elbow at my side, hand raisedwave really fast. And that, if
you do that, that signals notouchy. You will have to, you
will have to go the extra mile,like I am telling you, arm at my
side tight in wavy, wavy, wavy,you know, kind of like the wacky
(37:26):
wavy man that you know I I'mexcited to be here. I'm glad
that you're here, but I'm notreally into being touched. And I
think that's actually prettywell respected. Or I'll just go
in for a fist bump rightimmediately, and that stops the
hugging and the handshaking andall that, because they still
love handshakes, because it'slike, I don't know where hands
(37:49):
have been.
Erica D'Eramo (37:52):
Or I literally just saw where that hand was,
and it just wiped your nose. AndI really don't want that on my
hand, so that's right, I feelabout that, but yeah, yeah,
that's I, and I, I guess we'restill recovering from all the
years of telling people to covertheir mouth when they sneeze or
cough, and folks doing it withtheir hand, and then, like,
(38:12):
taking that hand and putting iton the handrail or the doorknob
or whatever. I love a good elbowsneeze. Big fan.
Melissa Olivadoti (38:19):
Yeah.
Erica D'Eramo (38:19):
So, yeah...
Melissa Olivadoti (38:20):
Yes.
Erica D'Eramo (38:20):
Love that. I think, you know, the other thing
that comes up probably, is therethis is always in conversation
around like, folks who aremanaging a variety of risks for
themselves and decide to thatthey can go out in public, but
they'll need to mask, right? Orthey can be in, like, a room
with a lot of people and they'remasking. And I've it's
(38:41):
interesting how many people willactually ask about that, or,
like, feel some sort of wayabout it. And I think, like, we
just we never know what riskspeople are managing, and we have
to trust that they are adultsmanaging their own risks, and
it's not a reflection on you.
Just like my preferring not tohug doesn't mean I don't love
you or that I don't like you.
(39:03):
It's not a judgment. It's meprotecting my own
vulnerabilities and needs sothat I can be there and be
present and so, yeah.
Melissa Olivadoti (39:14):
Yeah, it's not. It doesn't need to be up
for comment, right,
Erica D'Eramo (39:17):
Right!
Melissa Olivadoti (39:18):
You know, if and just to respect that
everybody has their process,whether they just don't want to
get sick, right now, that's apurely acceptable reason for
wearing a mask, whether theyhave immune issues, where they
have someone at home with immuneissues, whether they're visiting
someone who has immunocompromisation, like it's just,
(39:44):
it's not, it doesn't need to bea polarizing subject for people
to safeguard their health andthe others. I mean, they could
be sick and they're actuallysafeguarding you, right? I you
know, I really don't understandthe polarization of. Masks if
people are making their ownchoices. You know, we're all
adults. There are some peoplewho get sick, and I wish they
(40:07):
would mask when they go intoother places to not put people
at risk. But, you know, we all,we all have to make our own risk
assessment, if my if I am morerisk averse, or if I need to
make sure I stay healthy,because I work for myself, and
if I don't work for a week, Idon't make money for a week.
So...
Erica D'Eramo (40:26):
Yeah, I don't get PTO. I know. Yeah, yeah, I
agree. Um, okay, I think thishas been such a, such a, like,
really valuable conversation forme, and I always appreciate
having you on and actually, nowthat I'm thinking about it, one
of our previous Melissaappearances was to talk about
(40:49):
introversion and extroversion,which has some similar themes to
it, in terms of, like, knowingwhat you need and being able to
communicate that and or advocatefor yourself so that you can be
sustainable and you can have theimpact that you want to have in
(41:09):
this world. So yeah,
Melissa Olivadoti (41:11):
Absolutely.
And can I just tell you one ofmy favorite things that I see at
conferences now, which isperfect for introverts that love
animals, their conferences arenow starting to go to local
rescues and pull in theserescues to do either puppy or
kitten or dog areas where peoplecan go and take 15 minutes to
(41:32):
pet something furry and groundthemselves. I'm like, How fun is
that if you're not allergic topets and you like animals, that
is like for me, that would be myhappy place. I would just be
like that. I would be thereevery few hours. So relaxing.
And it's useful for the animals,because they get a lot of
(41:55):
exposure to different people.
And it's useful for theshelters, because a lot of times
there's, you know, a monetaryincentive for them to come and
help out. I just, if you're anevent planner, just get in
touch. I mean, there's alwayspuppies and kittens available
throughout the year. Like justeven if you're doing a small
meeting, see if that's going tobe of interest to your people.
(42:16):
Connect with, like, one of yourlocal organizations and get a
foster to come visit. I bet youanything, they would be jazzed
to help out. It would be, Ijust, I can't say enough good
things about that. So that's oneof my favorite new things that
people are doing.
Erica D'Eramo (42:28):
I love that I am the person who when I am because
I so on that introvert andintrovert ambivert, extrovert
episode, you were the ambivertand I was the introvert. And so
for me, like going to parties, Ithink we've joked about this
before, like, going to partiescan be, like, very intense for
me, but if there's an animal,I'm like, Ah, I need to go hang
(42:53):
out with this animal. And I cankind of get a little bit of a
recuperation just from someanimal time. I don't care what
animal honestly look I mean,maybe the fish are a little less
impactful for me, but, like,definitely anything with fur,
I'm down. I'm down. So I theidea of then having that option
at conferences is very appealingfor me. And I, you know, I sure
(43:19):
that there are people who arehorrified by the idea of their
allergen. You know, managementbeing disrupted by that, but
hopefully that could be managed,
Melissa Olivadoti (43:27):
It's usually in a separate part of the
conference. Not on theconference room floor.
Erica D'Eramo (43:31):
Having, like puppies running everywhere. I
mean, ironically, even thoughI'm a big cat person, I am
actually allergic to cats, andit's in my medical records
because I'm very allergic to Catsaliva and will break out in
hives so I don't know how many.
Whenever doctors are readingthrough my allergens, and it's
like, amoxicillin, penicillin,cephalosporin, cat saliva, I'm
(43:54):
like, yes, yes, that is inthere. And that is because one
of my doctors was like, we haveto put this in there, because
you are because you are highlyallergic to it. So, yeah, but,
but I manage my I manage myrisk. And I do want to give you
a shout out to I know this isseparate to this conversation
(44:15):
we're having here, but Melissais sort of my fostering mentor
in many ways, and has helped menavigate the waters of fostering
animals, and we've had some realsuccesses over here. So just a
big thank you to you and all thework that you do with finding
animals homes and helping themto come out of their shell and
(44:36):
adapt and be great little furrypartners for some humans.
Melissa Olivadoti (44:43):
Thank you.
It's my pleasure, and I alwayslove to introduce people to the
feeling you get when you do somegood with an animal, whether
that's you get them healthy, yougive them a place to defrag, or
you see them come out of yourshell. There's like, it's just
this feeling. Is, Oh, I feel sogood, and I love sharing that
with other people and doing goodon top of it. And if you're an
(45:06):
introvert and you want a funhobby, it's a perfect hobby as
an introvert, because you onlyhave to, like, go and talk to
the shelter people when you needto either pick up or drop off or
need some vet care, and you do alot of good. So yeah, I I'm just
so glad that you got into it,and you've done an amazing job
with your fosters, too.
Erica D'Eramo (45:26):
Yeah, we're about to try to place Mr. Twisty, the
famous Mr. Twisty, who'sfeatured in our blogs. He has
been quite the social butterfly,so we're just finding, we're
trying to find a nice, goodplace for him to land where he
can bond like he clearly wantsto with some humans. So yeah.
(45:48):
Well, thank you again for beingone of our repeat visitors and
sharing all of your wisdom. Andif people do want to find you in
a in a consulting capacity,where, where would they look? I
know, not consulting on thesetopics, but in your day job,
perhaps.
Melissa Olivadoti (46:06):
So I'm on LinkedIn. My company is called
Assisi Consulting, like St.
Francis of Assisi has a tie toanimals, and so I do medical
affairs consulting and medicalaffairs, content, training, all
sorts of stuff in pharma,biotech and nutraceuticals. So
yeah, if you want to find me onLinkedIn and connect, I would
(46:28):
love it. It'd be super fun.
Erica D'Eramo (46:32):
Awesome. Yeah, well, thanks again. And for
those listening, as always, youcan find a summary of this
episode on our website, alongwith a full transcript, if you
prefer to read it, and links toMelissa's LinkedIn and some
additional information there. Sothanks again for joining us, and
we will see you next episode.
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