June 23, 2025 • 33 mins
Episode 55: Using Humor to Heal Workplace Stress with Marcus aka Not Your Average Coward
In this laugh-filled and insightful episode, Jess & Claude sit down with Marcus — content creator, dad of three, and the viral voice behind Not Your Average Coward. They dive into how Marcus went from catastrophe adjuster to comedy relief for burned-out professionals, all while juggling parenting and content creation.
From memes that hit too close to home to breathing exercises that actually help, Marcus shares how humor, boundaries, and community can transform how we cope with modern work life. Whether you're in a cubicle or on a Zoom call, this episode reminds you that laughter is more than a coping mechanism — it's a leadership tool.
💡 Key Takeaways:
- Marcus started creating content as a stress relief outlet on Instagram; but really he not so secretly is using this for his auditions for being Survivor!
- His wife (and real-life MVP) inspired his mindset shift and supports his creative journey.
- Humor can build connections, drop guards, and open conversations at work.
- Making fun of stressful situations can be a way to process them.
- Setting clear boundaries is essential for protecting your peace.
- Content creation doesn't have to disrupt family life — it can blend in.
- Walking meetings and breathing techniques help reduce stress.
- Humor isn’t just funny — it’s healing.
Follow Marcus on social:
📸 Instagram | 🎵 TikTok | 📘 Facebook | 🔗 YouTube
@NotYourAverageCoward
And don’t forget to rate, follow, and share if this episode made you laugh, breathe deeper, or finally set that out-of-office!
#WorkBesties #NotYourAverageCoward #WorkplaceWellness #ContentCreatorLife #WorkHumor #SetBoundaries #DadLife #HumorHeals #WorkStress
You can watch the full episode on Youtube
Follow us on IG , TikTok, Threads and LinkedIn
Please rate, comment and provide suggestions for upcoming episodes
Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jess (00:00):
Ever find yourself scrolling through Instagram at
work, laughing at memesuncontrollably that feel like
they were meant specifically foryou?
Today we have Marcus, who isthe mastermind behind those
viral memes that turn workstress into moments of joy.
But how did he get from notyour average coward to building
a thriving community that laughsand follow along with him?
(00:22):
Let's hear directly from Marcuson how can you use humor in
your own life to tackleworkplace burnout and stress.
Claude (00:31):
Hi, I'm Claude and I'm Jess.
We are corporate employees byday, entrepreneurs by night and
work besties for life.
Jess (00:40):
Join us as we explore how work besties lift each other up,
laugh through the chaos andthrive together in every
industry.
Work besties.
Claude (00:51):
Hey Marcus, hi Marcus.
Marcus aka Not Your Ave (00:53):
Welcome to Work.
Jess (00:54):
Besties.
How are you doing today?
Thanks?
Marcus aka Not Your Average (00:56):
for having me.
I'm doing great, I love.
He called me a mastermind.
That's really sweet.
What?
I'm going to put that in myemail signature.
Now.
That's your mastermind.
Mastermind.
That's really sweet.
I'm going to put that in myemail signature.
Jess (01:05):
now, that's your new title Mind of Mind.
Yeah, just.
Marcus aka Not Your (01:07):
Mastermind , that is perfect.
Jess (01:10):
Marcus, we're so excited to have you today.
One of the things that I thinkintrigued us most about you and
your content is how it reallymakes us laugh but at the same
time, think, because you'reproviding a real life example of
some of the moments that we gothrough and work.
It goes right there.
Can you provide a little bit ofthe background on how you got
to that place?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (01:31):
I really credit this all to my
wife.
My wife is a really goodsupport so she lets me do these
silly things throughout theevening and like on the weekends
.
But one of my good friends, shewas like you should go on
Instagram because I actuallynever went on social media and
she's like you should be onsocial media.
And I was like, well, here'sthe deal, you can come up with a
clever handle for me, I'llstart going on social media.
(01:52):
So she sent me a couple ofnames and then she sent me Not
your Average Coward, and that'spretty much the reason why I
started getting on Instagram.
And it expanded into medabbling into some parent
content and then millennial andnow work content, which has
really taken off for me.
But really the the hidden truthof why I'm starting to make
(02:15):
content so much more now, whichis kind of funny is I'm a huge
super fan of Survivor and I didit to also stalk the Survivor
casting reps, so I didn't gettheir attention and now it's
become that.
Jess (02:29):
It's so funny you bring that up because that's literally
my second question to you isgoing to be, like I've seen
you've applied to Survivor a fewtimes, so what's the story
there, and are you still tryingto get on there?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (02:40):
I am still trying to get on.
I'm going to apply again forthis next couple of rounds of
seasons.
I really started doing thisInstagram and my handle for now
stress relief.
It's been an outlet for me forcreative outlet, but also it's
just to stalk and annoy all thecasting reps for Survivor so
that I can get their attention.
Jess (03:00):
Are any of them following you thus far?
I?
Marcus aka Not Your Av (03:04):
actually have a handful of Survivor
contestants that follow me andI've chatted with them before,
okay, but none of the castingdirectors.
I just kind of tag them a bunchand probably annoy them.
Claude (03:16):
We make sure we tag them as well.
Yes, we'll tag them as well.
It's going to be it.
You'll get it.
After this podcast, you'll beable to make it.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (03:26):
Yeah , I'm just going to keep trying.
If he does that we should dothe Amazing Race or something.
Oh my god that's so funny.
Oh my goodness, work besties toAmazing Race.
Claude (03:39):
We wouldn't last the first day you will last.
You have to do it with yourpartner.
I can't leave you.
I know but you would last.
I want, that's not how I wantto be.
Switch you switch one person inthe middle.
That's the wrong show.
That's Survivor.
I can't just leave you.
Jess (03:58):
My lord, what is happening here?
So you're going to be onSurvivor.
Marcus aka Not Your Aver (04:06):
That's how I started developing the
handle and I just startedexperimenting.
I started making like reallycheesy like parent content where
I would like dress myself up asa toddler.
So if you scroll like reallydeep into all my videos, you'll
start finding some of it.
And then I got into the workcontent and then the community
and the work content niche.
They're just like super, superawesome, even the parent one.
(04:26):
So I just started talking withthem more and then it just
started taking off.
So I just kept doing it and Ikind of make fun of the same
things I run into life and inthe corporate world.
So I've done.
I've done marketing real, andnow I currently work in the
insurance industry as acatastrophe adjuster or in the
(04:49):
catastrophe department.
So I deal with chaos literallyevery single day.
The only way to get throughmost of it is just kind of
making fun of all the situationsyou run into.
Claude (04:58):
And do some.
Sometimes some of yourco-workers see one of the memes
like that was an example of thatday, etc.
Do they can?
Do they relate really or forreal?
Marcus aka Not Your Average (05:09):
uh , there's been a few.
So if you notice my content,now I do not use any names like
now.
I'll use a name like yourco-worker, the lantern, who
always has to be carried becausethey're not bright, like I
start using like terms like thatbecause I accidentally use a
generic name and I wasn'tthinking and it was one of my
coworkers name and I actuallygot pulled into HR because I
(05:31):
thought I was making videosabout my coworkers.
My company does know I makevideos.
They're very good about it.
I follow all our social mediaguidelines, but now they think
it's funny and they kind of sendme ideas now and they can kind
of relate.
I can totally feel thatsituation and even like, if I do
work trips, I'll like delaywhen I send them, so I'll wait
(05:53):
like two or three weeks before Ipost a video got it.
Jess (05:56):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Don't do it real time, just incase they know now, and maybe
you do a month now.
Marcus aka Not Your Avera (06:02):
Maybe you need to do a month now.
Yeah, just postpone this for amonth.
Jess (06:08):
Got a couple trips going on.
So, Marcus, you do.
Then you're saying, have afull-time job in top of being a
content creator.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (06:23):
My background.
For the past almost 10 yearsnow I've been in catastrophe for
property commercials.
So wildfires, tornadoes,hurricanes, all that I help
assist with those.
I do a lot of training now butboots on the ground so we're
sometimes out there 21 days at atime trying to get people back
in order.
I end up doing that and thenfilming all this stuff.
In between.
Whenever I get an idea, I getinspiration from other content
(06:46):
creators and then I'll adapt itto what's kind of going on, even
in my industry or my life.
I have so many little notes mydraft list is ridiculous.
My phone pops up and saysmemory is full because I have so
many random drafts that I filmand I'm like maybe, maybe not
yet I'll wait because this onemight get me in trouble.
Which is why I started a TikTok, because I film and I'm like
maybe, maybe not, yet I'll waitbecause this one might get me in
trouble.
(07:06):
Which is why I started a TikTok, because I feel like I can put
my more riskier stuff on thereinteresting.
Jess (07:11):
Nice little uh tip there for those that are fans of you
to make sure to get on TikTok tohave the more underground one.
That's funny.
We talk about that too, howeach of the different social
medians can have places for itwhere you do want a little bit
more.
I feel like youtube tends tohave more of those tips on
tiktok.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (07:31):
You can kind of let it fly where
it's a little bit more air funnyyeah, I feel like you can like
push the edge a little bit, andthat's when I feel like I can
post real-time situations, likeif I get off a meeting and I'm
like getting off the meeting,I'm literally thinking this
couldn't have been an email.
Or there is the one video Imade where I sent an email out
and right after I sent it we gota meeting request for the whole
(07:54):
team and I knew it was my faultbecause I'm the one who asked
the question and I was like allyou need to do is respond back
to me.
We didn't have to make this anhour long meeting.
Jess (08:03):
So meanwhile you make a meme about it, but your whole
team is like but you're theproblem.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (08:08):
Yeah , usually I'm the problem.
Jess (08:09):
Big segue into the power of humor in the workplace.
I feel like, based off of yourcontent, humor has kind of a
unique way for you anyway tomake a situation less stressful.
How do you think that your workmemes help other people?
Or do you think there's waysyou can leverage things like
work memes for stress reduction,for thinking about how to be
(08:32):
less burnt out, that type ofthing?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (08:35):
I feel when you start making fun
of a situation, it kind of dropseveryone's guard a little bit
and then they feel like it'slike I've had co workers that
like when they find me, they canapproach me and they go.
Yeah, that reminds me of thisone meeting.
Or even when looking in theoffice and you're joking with
your work bestie or you're kindof like in a meeting and you can
kind of tell like everything isjust too serious.
(08:56):
I feel like once you make thatwise comment or you kind of make
fun of a situation, it almosthelps you build, especially
during work trauma.
When they always talk abouttrauma buddies, yeah, I feel
like my, my trauma work bestieusually comes because I made fun
of a situation at work.
And they're like, yes, I feelthe same way.
(09:16):
And then I'm like, oh, you likethat humor too.
Well, then I got another onefor you.
And then you get that five toten minutes.
Especially if you're in theoffice or if you work from home
and you call your coworker aftera stressful meeting, you can
just remove yourself from thesituation for five minutes or,
depending on the work bestie, itmight be 30 minutes to an hour,
but you get that time todecompress and then be like,
(09:37):
okay, I can deal with this nexttask or customer or this
one-on-one meeting I have withmy manager, cause you kind of
just get that stress off of youfor a little while.
And I feel like that's how thehumor helps, because if we start
to take ourselves way tooseriously, which I used to do
early on in my career, I startedto burn out so much I felt.
(09:59):
Making fun of situations mademe aware of boundaries I need to
make for myself and my family,even when I train it's funny in
a training class I will tellthem I'll go through the whole
topic of situation.
I'll say hey, if you ever needany help, please hesitate to
call.
It makes them laugh and I'malways there to help them out.
(10:23):
But it like deep compresses.
But I'm starting to let themknow that I do set boundaries
and I even tell my coworkers Iactually end my day.
I'm lucky enough to end my dayat 3.30.
If you try to call me at 3.31,you are not going to get me.
Jess (10:36):
Maybe not even at 3.29.
Marcus aka Not Your Av (10:40):
Mentally at 2.30,.
I'm already done.
Claude (10:43):
Talking.
You've been saying severaltimes about work bestie.
Do you have a work bestie andwhat does it give you in your
work?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (10:50):
I have work besties that
currently work at the company.
I have a few that left that Istill chat to One of my work
besties.
I think we chat almost everyday or every other day, and it
usually starts off early in themorning and it goes and I'm like
let it out and then we juststart going for it.
But lately we've been aboutstress at work.
(11:14):
We also started to talk a lotabout boundaries, because I feel
like with every corporation Ifeel boundaries are starting to
get pushed personal boundariesand what's what's good for you,
what's good for the company, butalso how to stay healthy,
because once you start gettingtoo stressed out, your health
really starts going down.
We always talk about what's thebest way to set boundaries at
(11:34):
work.
Jess (11:41):
That's a really good one to have as a key focus.
In fact, that's our focus forthis season is wellness, and how
can you take those couplemoments of pause to really
reflect on the importance of youand not feeling guilty about it
?
Claude (11:50):
And I think that is something also that when we had
a Gen X mom, she actually saidthat the Gen Z they know the
boundary, we don't, you know.
So I think that learning fromthem is so important.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (12:05):
It's so true because I feel like
mentally I had it in my mind, Iwant to do that, but I don't
know if I'm allowed to.
And then I see some of the GenZ's and they just do it.
I'm like I'm just doing it, ittoo, and then I'll just go ahead
and take my I'm like vibe isoff, I'm gonna go get a coffee.
I'll see you later.
So here's a question to put youon the spot what kind of
(12:27):
boundaries have you set foryourself at work?
Claude (12:29):
get back to you because I'm not there yet.
Walk the talk or whatever it is.
Jess (12:40):
What about you?
I think that's a good question.
I think there's always moreboundaries I can drop, but I
think I've been much betterabout establishing what really
can get done in a work weekversus not, because there's a
lot of times you get thrown amillion things and you have to
turn around and be like okay, sothat means something else on
our plates off, at least forthis week.
So I've been much betterpushing back on that and then
(13:01):
holding my team accountable,because workloads need to be
balanced.
I've been very crystal clear onestablishing that amongst on
Monday morning, we all talkabout what else is on our plate
and we reestablish workload.
I appreciate my coworkers andmy teammates who shut down at
five six o'clock, Cause I feelyou have to have a life If you
(13:22):
don't your work.
Your work suffers too.
Claude (13:25):
I do kind of Okay, so have me prioritize.
It's more or less showing, youknow, look, that's all that.
I cannot do everything, but I'ma work in progress.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (13:37):
I have to say we're all work in
progress.
Jess (13:39):
Everyone is yeah, let's do it though.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (13:43):
I'm going to use a perfect term to
circle back on your question.
One thing I do with boundaries,which is kind of funny, which
like lightens the load when I'mconfronting someone in
management, when they're tryingto give me too much, because
some people do know I jokearound, so I'll literally tell
them, if they give me too much,I'm like, okay, so do you want
me to do this task, or do youwant me to go ahead and cut the
(14:05):
tree down, build the house, makethe paper, build the computer?
Or you want me to handle thisone project?
And I say it jokingly and thenthey catch that they've given me
a little too much and they'llgo oh, they'll laugh at it.
And different managers I havethey'll laugh at it and be like,
oh, I guess what?
I have given you a lot.
So just focus on this, let'sprioritize this project and
we'll just kind of let some ofthis go.
(14:26):
So humor has been my way tolike scapegoat.
How I'm truly feeling about,like a situation, so I can make
it more lighthearted, which Ihave other co-workers like one
of my work besties, isstraightforward.
Like they can just go and belike no, this is not right, this
is how it is you can't do thisto me, where I tend to kind of
like do a little like dance andlike make you laugh and smile,
(14:47):
and then be like can we changethis up?
Jess (14:49):
and then they're like yeah , that's fine you're both doing
it in your own authentic way.
I like your way.
Well, neither way is right orwrong.
It's just what you feel moreauthentic doing, I know, but I
don't like I I feel like it fitsmy personality a little bit
more.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (15:04):
I feel like anytime I come off
stern, people are like yeah, Ifeel like you came in hard and
you were like what do you?
Claude (15:10):
want me to take off?
Okay, is he?
Jess (15:13):
quitting is Is he leaving?
Maybe I do use humor slightlydifferently than you in that
Because, like, when my team cometo me, here's the 20 things
you've just assigned me, and yousaid they're all due by Friday,
but the reality is I can onlyget two.
Which two are more important?
I usually make a joke to givethem a moment of pause, to be
like, okay, nothing's that bad,let's take a step back.
We're not solving cancer.
(15:34):
So, like, let's thinkrealistically.
So I do think humor helps inboth ways.
Right, even the person that isstraightforward, it can help
them kind of.
Okay, yeah, I'm with you.
Now I get why you asked me todo these things, and I do have
autonomy to make the right call,which is more important.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (15:49):
Well , that's so true.
So that's a perfect example ofwhat happened today.
So I also trained and hadsomeone reach out and they're
off today and they're trying tofinish this assignment and I'm
telling them this is not life ordeath, it's going to be okay,
it can wait till Monday.
You don't have to take a dayoff to finish work.
I feel that is like the mostupmost waste of time of your PTO
(16:14):
.
When I tell anyone I train, I'mlike if you take your time and
take your time, don't do work.
Close that computer, turn offthe work phone, stuff it in a
drawer, put it in the trunk.
Whatever you need to do, do notanswer it.
Jess (16:27):
Right, no, I think that's smart, because if you don't take
your work like you're adowntime for just you, then
there is no boundaries,everybody's just feeling like
they can come to you at anypoint, and especially now with
all those remote.
Claude (16:42):
right, there's no boundary.
There's like, even like snowdays.
Right, Snow days is over.
We are the last generation thatknew about what's, or maybe the
millennial what snow days werewhen you couldn't work.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (16:55):
What are snow days?
You didn't have a computer.
Claude (16:57):
You couldn't play with your kids in this, you know, and
whatever.
Yeah, it's a very hard.
I think you need a lot ofdiscipline to you know, a lot of
people say you need a lot ofdiscipline to be able to work at
home or whatever.
I think it's at least for me,you need sometimes you need a
lot of discipline not to workall the time, right.
Marcus aka Not Your Ave (17:21):
Totally .
I'm lucky enough to work fromhome so I do get to work
remotely.
Early in my career, the firsttwo years were like the biggest
learning curve, because itdidn't help that I didn't have a
designated space that Iactually made like where I work.
It was just like on the kitchentable.
So I worked nonstop.
It would be after dinner, latein the evening I would be like,
(17:41):
oh, I forgot I had to do this,and then I would go back and
open the computer.
It took me a few years.
But now literally I was sayingbefore as soon as it hits 3.30,
I am already walking out ofwhere my computer is.
It's getting thrown in thetruck or like in a book bag and
I'm not looking at it until thenext.
Jess (17:58):
Okay, that's so smart.
I think it's great.
That's a great tip.
So, speaking of tips, do youhave any other tips that help
with de-stressing?
Marcus aka Not Your Aver (18:06):
That's besides laughing, which is
always key.
So I'm very lucky.
My wife works in corporatewellness.
She has a company called YogaNut Yoga Nut Wellness and then
she does videos on demand.
So it's like Yoga Nut on demand.
So there's two differentaccounts.
So there's some good resourceson there.
But the ones I use, especiallyin my line of work, because I'm
just dealing with chaos all thetime and stressful situations I
(18:28):
do a breath work that I like touse and it's all through the
nose, so it's inhale and exhalealpha nose.
It takes one to two minutes.
It's an instant calm kind ofthing.
So when you do it, you inhaleand you inhale space and then
you exhale, and when you exhaleit's to release and let go.
So it's space release, let go,and you do that for like a
(18:51):
minute or two straight.
And I do that quite a bit justto kind of relax or before I go
on a podcast or a meeting, likeI'll do that to calm myself down
.
Um, and then the favorite one Ilike to do, especially when,
like I'm training, I make all mytrainees do this when we go up
the home office.
It's like a like just shake itout, like just kind of like
(19:11):
shake your body, or kind of liketap yourself and just when you
feel stressed, you just kind ofshake your body out, um it works
, it does so I do that and thena lot of walking meetings.
I'll just walk outside, so, um,but the first two are my
favorite you know, during covidI did a lot of walking meetings.
Jess (19:29):
I haven't done anything.
I started walking again on thetreadmill right, but I think
he's saying like during the day,like to help with the
alleviation of stress, walkingwhile you're in a meeting.
That should be brought back.
Marcus aka Not Your Avera (19:39):
Those were great yeah and it's funny
too because, like my, I'll bewalking.
So I live in the mountains, soI have a lot of nature around me
.
So every time I'm on a meetingthey're like, okay, that must be
marcus in the background,because you'll hear the birds
like tweeting and going crazy.
You can also hear me out ofbreath, just kind of like I'm
(19:59):
de-stressing during that meetingCause I might be frustrated.
The funniest one was I wasdoing a walking meeting and in
Western North Carolina we hadblack bears.
They're not dangerous, you justkind of like shoo them along.
I was like talking and I waslike, well, I'm going to have to
go.
And they're like, why are yougoing to go?
And I was like, well, there's ablack bear.
And they thought I was justjoking.
I was like, no, seriously, I'mgoing to have to get off because
(20:24):
there's a black bear.
Claude (20:25):
Oh my God, oh my God, for us it would be.
I have to go.
There's they're like acockroach the size of a black
bear.
Wow, yeah, that's verydifferent than our experience.
Jess (20:40):
Yeah, that's, that's a great way of doing your your
meeting there, you see one ofthe one of the calls that I was
on um recently with somebody.
They were riding a city bikeand they got hit by a car, like
somebody knocked the taxi doorand you could hear them go whoa,
they're fine.
Nothing happened to them, theywere totally fine.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (20:58):
I think the bike got destroyed
now I'm starting to think can Irecreate that into a video now,
when you're late to work?
Jess (21:07):
because they were answering a question and they
were like and then you go like,and you could hear them like
coughing.
I was like, are you on a citybike?
And they were like yes, andthen you just heard whoa, yeah.
I was like, are you on a citybike?
Claude (21:15):
And they were like yes, and then you just heard whoa.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (21:17):
Yeah , I feel like my next video is
going to be that.
And then they get up and dolike an instant calm breath and
we're like let it go.
Jess (21:24):
And then take the call and finish answering.
Yeah, then take the call.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (21:26):
With you guys cameo in it.
Jess (21:28):
Yeah, let's bring it back so.
So a lot of this is dealingwith stress or stressful
situations, but one of thethings you also highlighted is
work-life balance, because youhave a full-time job and you're
a content creator.
How do you manage it all?
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (21:44):
Yeah , I'm still working on trying to
manage it all.
So I have three kids as well.
I mean, I have three kids allthe age of 10.
We're still in the swing withour youngest because he's he's
two and a half, so we're stillstruggling to sleep through the
night.
We're almost there.
So it got to a point where likethat's where some of my jokes
(22:05):
come from is really settingthose boundaries, because I
started to realize, especiallywith, like helping for work,
like trying to be present for afamily, I'm one of those people
where I work to just pay for thethings I want to do.
Work is not my life, um, so Itry to find ways to kind of
squeeze it in.
So, with content creation, ifit's during my lunch break or a
(22:28):
quick breather, I'll actuallystart filming something on the
go, or even driving to pick upthe kids.
If I have an idea, I'll juststart snapping b footage and
film myself.
So that way I'm kind ofcondensing content creation and
work almost at the same time.
So that way when I shut off, Ican try to be present at home,
because one of my biggestrelease to besides making people
(22:49):
laugh or thinking I make peoplelaugh is cooking.
So I like to cook dinner me andmy kids will cook together and
then just trying to be presentfor those moments.
Because I'm starting to realizeI only have those moments for a
short time, especially myoldest, who is 10, like he's 10
now all of a sudden.
And I'm like whoa, when didthis happen?
And it wasn't until recently.
(23:10):
I started realizing that Ican't do everything perfect and
some things are going to have tofail.
If I'm going to choose yes, andit's definitely okay.
And that's where anyonelistening, if anyone's saying
they're doing it all and it'sperfect, it's not.
Some things you just have tocompromise and let go.
So it changes per day, per hourwhere I just realized that, no
(23:33):
matter what I'm doing, if it'sthe podcast, my family knows
like I'm going to be present forthis right now, but then once
I'm off, I might just be present.
Dinner time is present, or bathtime or game time or when I'm
at work.
I got to finish this like thisis what I got to be present for.
It's always a work in progress,but it's always just trying to
find compromise where you canand just try to be present as
(23:55):
much as you can be in the moment.
Jess (23:57):
Yeah, I think this is where it goes back to your
comment of you've got to giveyourself respect to do that too.
There are times where you haveto retrain your brain right,
because even when you're withyour kids, you're sometimes
still thinking about work, oryou're thinking of an idea, oh
this would be a great.
This would be another greatcontent creation.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (24:19):
You have to constantly give
yourself the pause.
It's okay to wander, but bringyourself back, yes, and it's
okay just to not do it.
Yeah, sometimes I would justcall into work and be like I
just can't today, and I'll eventell my kids sometimes like I'll
get overstimulated, which, likewhich parent doesn't get
overstimulated, but I'll getoverstimulated.
Like daddy needs like fiveminutes yeah, oh, oh, yes, oh
yeah.
Claude (24:33):
I do that a lot.
That was when it was like mybedroom.
That is my time, like at nightyou know when it's like I'm like
that's it no more.
Nobody comes to In there.
It's my time.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (24:44):
My favorite videos that I make is
the me time that you have.
Then the next morning you justcomplain that you're tired and I
feel like as parents, or evenlike working visuals.
But even with parents, likeonce everyone's in bed, I'll
grab my glass of wine or mysnack and like doom scroll or
watch my show or read.
Jess (25:04):
Mine is watching endless Netflix shows.
I don't know why.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (25:07):
I will do it all the time, I will
complain about it and then Iwill make another video about it
.
Jess (25:12):
Yes, that is true.
The next morning you go, man,I'm so tired, and people are
like, should you work less?
No, no, not at all.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (25:20):
I know there's that funny video
where it was like you're tired,You've been stressed out and
you're not getting enough sleep.
Did you think about just goingto bed early?
No, no, that's my time which Idid go to bed early one time,
and then I was like, oh, it doeshelp.
Jess (25:35):
Wow, that's what I look like without bags under my eyes.
Claude (25:38):
Thanks, Speaking about kids.
What is very sad is that mytime was going to the
supermarket.
Jess (25:44):
Oh, the relax just getting out of the house.
Claude (25:47):
Yeah, getting out of the house and like especially when
they are young, or whatever.
That was going to Target orsupermarket.
That was my time.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (25:57):
I just picture you like driving
really slow and being like sorry, they were just stalking I was
just waiting for them to put iton the shelf.
Claude (26:05):
There was so much traffic.
Jess (26:08):
Wait, were you the one that hit my coworker?
Is that the reason?
Claude (26:13):
I'm going to say one thing, though I used to go.
Sometimes we were going out forwork or whatever, and when my
it sounds terrible.
But when my son was maybe three, two or three and he had like
really a bad time right.
I used to live across thestreet from a park, so when it
was 8.30, I knew that it wouldbe the time to get ready to go
(26:36):
to bed.
I didn't want to do it becauseI had just come from a nice
dinner.
So I was waiting in the park oh, for someone else to put your
kid to bed, for my husband toput the kid to bed.
So I was waiting about 20minutes Just sitting in the park
.
So I was waiting about 20minutes just sitting in the park
, because I'm like in the nightevery single day.
(26:58):
So once I'm going out I'm goingto wait that's a good one for
you.
Jess (27:05):
That's the person who sits ?
In the car outside the house.
Marcus aka Not Your Aver (27:08):
That's the same example of the meme
yeah, you see the kids likelooking to the blinds.
I see her.
Jess (27:13):
I see her on the park bench.
The kids like looking throughthe blinds.
Is that like I see her?
I see her on the park the kidshand just reaching through so
work-life balance is always awork in progress.
One of the things that I thinkdoes help us is bringing it back
to your work.
Memes is some of the stuff thatyou provide, the content you
put out.
There.
We talk about how, on thewellness side, you don't have to
(27:33):
run for a half an hour.
Take your walk for half an hour.
Sometimes it is just laughingtwo or three minutes of looking
at memes and laughing.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (27:41):
Yeah .
And I feel like I'm just beingpresent in that moment to like
take that breather and then,even if it's just like a quick
breath, a quick walk, a quickstretch, like just taking that
time, truly helps for you tostart decompressing and take a
step back, so that way you'renot feeling that overwhelm of
the job just sitting on yourshoulder and pressing you down.
Claude (28:02):
And also sending each other right.
How many memes did we of yourmemes have?
Marcus aka Not Your Average (28:06):
we sent each other back and forth.
Claude (28:08):
This is me, this is what happened, this today, et cetera
.
You know, and and it's nice, itbecomes also that community we
are all in the same, we all havethe same issue, we have, you
know, all the same problemrelatable.
Jess (28:22):
It's so relatable from your perspective because your
stuff does hold true across somany different industries.
How do you see your contentevolving?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (28:32):
I am going to start branching out
.
I want to try a few differentstyles because I always get
jealous like looking at othercontent creators and just like
trying to expand.
I definitely want to includemore millennial and parent kind
of like humor stuff.
Jess (28:48):
Okay.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (28:49):
But I also want to kind of like
branch into, like into thisbreaking the fourth wall kind of
style, where it's more so likewe're talking, like this, like
I'm talking to my viewers, to myfollowers.
I want to try to experimentwith that.
I'm starting to take it alittle bit more serious.
I think with some contentcreators I'm lucky enough that
I've started to get a couple ofdeals.
So then I was like, well, waita minute, this could actually be
(29:13):
something.
So now structuring, in my mindthis could be something that
could lead an open doors tosomething else.
Taking it slightly more serious, since I've started to get some
more opportunities lately, andfor anyone making content, it
really doesn't matter the size.
If you could resonate withsomeone Like I remember when I
(29:34):
only had like 300 and somethingfollowers, I would just like
throw and stuff out there.
But what was kind of cool is Iwas getting messages, even like
from the same one or two people,or my mom, just being like, oh,
I totally get it.
It made me feel better.
But I actually ended up gettingone of my first deals when I
had just a few hundred followersand I was like, oh, this is
cool, but then it just kind ofslowly, hundred followers and I
(29:54):
was like, oh, this is cool.
But then it just kind of slowlypicked up and I was like, well,
maybe, and it took until, likeI think, a year.
Now, a year later, where I'mlike, well, maybe maybe I should
start making this a little bitmore serious.
So I started looking into likechanging the production style, a
little bit, kind of playingaround with some other footage.
So there's more to come yay, Ican't wait.
We're excited to see it and somecollaborations are to come, so,
(30:16):
um, I'm going to be workingwith some other content creators
, which I'm really excited aboutfantastic, that's awesome very
exciting and around when.
Claude (30:26):
In how many months would that come?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (30:30):
I would say you might see some,
some new stuff in the next fewweeks.
So I've already started kind oflike filming some stuff.
This is like a little teaser,and watch out that I do this.
I'm actually trying to make,like you know, there's like
medical prescriptioninfomercials.
I'm going to make one that'skind of like similar to that.
So we'll see how that works out.
Jess (30:49):
I can't wait.
So, mark, this has been solovely.
We so appreciate you being here.
I did want to ask because webrought it up in the very
beginning.
We wanted you to answer for ouraudience.
How do you feel you can usehumor to help tackle workplace
burnout and stress?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (31:07):
a humorous person, or if you have
that co-worker that is a funnyperson, or even if it's sharing
memes back and forth, you canalmost use that as an avenue of
that laughter release to kind ofrelax and get that out there.
But I think it's a good way tolike start exposing things that
might be happening even in yourown corporation, and that's why
(31:30):
I like some of these memes thateveryone make and you start to
see the overlapping themes.
But I feel like if you kind ofbring that up in a meeting or
with coworkers and it starts toget known like, look at this, I
feel like it can kind of shine alight on the issues that are
even happening at your currentworkplace.
And it's a light way beforechange can happen, because I've
(31:53):
made plenty of jokes even in mycurrent company and then, like,
some changes started to happen.
So I think by using that humoryou can start to bridge gaps, to
make new work besties oh no,there it is to make new work
besties but then also just kindof expose what's going on and be
(32:14):
able to laugh, talk and thattalking about just laughing
about the situation, you canactually start thinking about
results.
We've had memes that we sentbefore and be like, oh, doesn't
this remind you about so-and-soor that situation?
And they're like, wouldn't itbe great if they would have done
X Y Z?
And then you're like, wait aminute, you could do X Y Z and
that would fix the problem.
(32:35):
So I feel like sometimes thehumor can help bring along some
solutions.
Jess (32:40):
Marcus, thank you so much.
Before we close out, we didwant to ask how can people
follow you?
Where should they be looking?
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (32:48):
Yeah , so I'm mostly on Instagram at
not your average coward.
You can use the same handle onTikTok and YouTube.
I'm starting to try to put someof this stuff on there so you
can find me on those threeplatforms.
And Facebook still all the samehandle.
I was able to lock them alldown, so just find me on any of
those and hopefully I'll makeyou laugh.
Claude (33:06):
Yeah, definitely so to all our work besties.
If you're ready to lighten upand really want to laugh about
work, about life, please makesure to follow Marcus for more
(33:26):
laughs.
And in the meantime, don'tforget to listen, like and
subscribe.
Jess (33:28):
Thank you all, Bye next time, remember whether you're
swapping snacks in the breakroom, rescuing each other from
endless meetings, or justsending that perfectly timed
meme.
Having a work bestie is likehaving your own personal hype
squad.
Claude (33:42):
So keep lifting each other, laughing through the
chaos and, of course, thriving.
Until next time, stay positive,stay productive and don't
forget to keep supporting eachother.
Work besties.
Ever find yourself scrolling through Instagram at
work, laughing at memesuncontrollably that feel like
they were meant specifically foryou?
Today we have Marcus, who isthe mastermind behind those
viral memes that turn workstress into moments of joy.
But how did he get from notyour average coward to building
a thriving community that laughsand follow along with him?
(00:22):
Let's hear directly from Marcuson how can you use humor in
your own life to tackleworkplace burnout and stress.
Claude (00:31):
Hi, I'm Claude and I'm Jess.
We are corporate employees byday, entrepreneurs by night and
work besties for life.
Jess (00:40):
Join us as we explore how work besties lift each other up,
laugh through the chaos andthrive together in every
industry.
Work besties.
Claude (00:51):
Hey Marcus, hi Marcus.
Marcus aka Not Your Ave (00:53):
Welcome to Work.
Jess (00:54):
Besties.
How are you doing today?
Thanks?
Marcus aka Not Your Average (00:56):
for having me.
I'm doing great, I love.
He called me a mastermind.
That's really sweet.
What?
I'm going to put that in myemail signature.
Now.
That's your mastermind.
Mastermind.
That's really sweet.
I'm going to put that in myemail signature.
Jess (01:05):
now, that's your new title Mind of Mind.
Yeah, just.
Marcus aka Not Your (01:07):
Mastermind , that is perfect.
Jess (01:10):
Marcus, we're so excited to have you today.
One of the things that I thinkintrigued us most about you and
your content is how it reallymakes us laugh but at the same
time, think, because you'reproviding a real life example of
some of the moments that we gothrough and work.
It goes right there.
Can you provide a little bit ofthe background on how you got
to that place?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (01:31):
I really credit this all to my
wife.
My wife is a really goodsupport so she lets me do these
silly things throughout theevening and like on the weekends
.
But one of my good friends, shewas like you should go on
Instagram because I actuallynever went on social media and
she's like you should be onsocial media.
And I was like, well, here'sthe deal, you can come up with a
clever handle for me, I'llstart going on social media.
(01:52):
So she sent me a couple ofnames and then she sent me Not
your Average Coward, and that'spretty much the reason why I
started getting on Instagram.
And it expanded into medabbling into some parent
content and then millennial andnow work content, which has
really taken off for me.
But really the the hidden truthof why I'm starting to make
(02:15):
content so much more now, whichis kind of funny is I'm a huge
super fan of Survivor and I didit to also stalk the Survivor
casting reps, so I didn't gettheir attention and now it's
become that.
Jess (02:29):
It's so funny you bring that up because that's literally
my second question to you isgoing to be, like I've seen
you've applied to Survivor a fewtimes, so what's the story
there, and are you still tryingto get on there?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (02:40):
I am still trying to get on.
I'm going to apply again forthis next couple of rounds of
seasons.
I really started doing thisInstagram and my handle for now
stress relief.
It's been an outlet for me forcreative outlet, but also it's
just to stalk and annoy all thecasting reps for Survivor so
that I can get their attention.
Jess (03:00):
Are any of them following you thus far?
I?
Marcus aka Not Your Av (03:04):
actually have a handful of Survivor
contestants that follow me andI've chatted with them before,
okay, but none of the castingdirectors.
I just kind of tag them a bunchand probably annoy them.
Claude (03:16):
We make sure we tag them as well.
Yes, we'll tag them as well.
It's going to be it.
You'll get it.
After this podcast, you'll beable to make it.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (03:26):
Yeah , I'm just going to keep trying.
If he does that we should dothe Amazing Race or something.
Oh my god that's so funny.
Oh my goodness, work besties toAmazing Race.
Claude (03:39):
We wouldn't last the first day you will last.
You have to do it with yourpartner.
I can't leave you.
I know but you would last.
I want, that's not how I wantto be.
Switch you switch one person inthe middle.
That's the wrong show.
That's Survivor.
I can't just leave you.
Jess (03:58):
My lord, what is happening here?
So you're going to be onSurvivor.
Marcus aka Not Your Aver (04:06):
That's how I started developing the
handle and I just startedexperimenting.
I started making like reallycheesy like parent content where
I would like dress myself up asa toddler.
So if you scroll like reallydeep into all my videos, you'll
start finding some of it.
And then I got into the workcontent and then the community
and the work content niche.
They're just like super, superawesome, even the parent one.
(04:26):
So I just started talking withthem more and then it just
started taking off.
So I just kept doing it and Ikind of make fun of the same
things I run into life and inthe corporate world.
So I've done.
I've done marketing real, andnow I currently work in the
insurance industry as acatastrophe adjuster or in the
(04:49):
catastrophe department.
So I deal with chaos literallyevery single day.
The only way to get throughmost of it is just kind of
making fun of all the situationsyou run into.
Claude (04:58):
And do some.
Sometimes some of yourco-workers see one of the memes
like that was an example of thatday, etc.
Do they can?
Do they relate really or forreal?
Marcus aka Not Your Average (05:09):
uh , there's been a few.
So if you notice my content,now I do not use any names like
now.
I'll use a name like yourco-worker, the lantern, who
always has to be carried becausethey're not bright, like I
start using like terms like thatbecause I accidentally use a
generic name and I wasn'tthinking and it was one of my
coworkers name and I actuallygot pulled into HR because I
(05:31):
thought I was making videosabout my coworkers.
My company does know I makevideos.
They're very good about it.
I follow all our social mediaguidelines, but now they think
it's funny and they kind of sendme ideas now and they can kind
of relate.
I can totally feel thatsituation and even like, if I do
work trips, I'll like delaywhen I send them, so I'll wait
(05:53):
like two or three weeks before Ipost a video got it.
Jess (05:56):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Don't do it real time, just incase they know now, and maybe
you do a month now.
Marcus aka Not Your Avera (06:02):
Maybe you need to do a month now.
Yeah, just postpone this for amonth.
Jess (06:08):
Got a couple trips going on.
So, Marcus, you do.
Then you're saying, have afull-time job in top of being a
content creator.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (06:23):
My background.
For the past almost 10 yearsnow I've been in catastrophe for
property commercials.
So wildfires, tornadoes,hurricanes, all that I help
assist with those.
I do a lot of training now butboots on the ground so we're
sometimes out there 21 days at atime trying to get people back
in order.
I end up doing that and thenfilming all this stuff.
In between.
Whenever I get an idea, I getinspiration from other content
(06:46):
creators and then I'll adapt itto what's kind of going on, even
in my industry or my life.
I have so many little notes mydraft list is ridiculous.
My phone pops up and saysmemory is full because I have so
many random drafts that I filmand I'm like maybe, maybe not
yet I'll wait because this onemight get me in trouble.
Which is why I started a TikTok, because I film and I'm like
maybe, maybe not, yet I'll waitbecause this one might get me in
trouble.
(07:06):
Which is why I started a TikTok, because I feel like I can put
my more riskier stuff on thereinteresting.
Jess (07:11):
Nice little uh tip there for those that are fans of you
to make sure to get on TikTok tohave the more underground one.
That's funny.
We talk about that too, howeach of the different social
medians can have places for itwhere you do want a little bit
more.
I feel like youtube tends tohave more of those tips on
tiktok.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (07:31):
You can kind of let it fly where
it's a little bit more air funnyyeah, I feel like you can like
push the edge a little bit, andthat's when I feel like I can
post real-time situations, likeif I get off a meeting and I'm
like getting off the meeting,I'm literally thinking this
couldn't have been an email.
Or there is the one video Imade where I sent an email out
and right after I sent it we gota meeting request for the whole
(07:54):
team and I knew it was my faultbecause I'm the one who asked
the question and I was like allyou need to do is respond back
to me.
We didn't have to make this anhour long meeting.
Jess (08:03):
So meanwhile you make a meme about it, but your whole
team is like but you're theproblem.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (08:08):
Yeah , usually I'm the problem.
Jess (08:09):
Big segue into the power of humor in the workplace.
I feel like, based off of yourcontent, humor has kind of a
unique way for you anyway tomake a situation less stressful.
How do you think that your workmemes help other people?
Or do you think there's waysyou can leverage things like
work memes for stress reduction,for thinking about how to be
(08:32):
less burnt out, that type ofthing?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (08:35):
I feel when you start making fun
of a situation, it kind of dropseveryone's guard a little bit
and then they feel like it'slike I've had co workers that
like when they find me, they canapproach me and they go.
Yeah, that reminds me of thisone meeting.
Or even when looking in theoffice and you're joking with
your work bestie or you're kindof like in a meeting and you can
kind of tell like everything isjust too serious.
(08:56):
I feel like once you make thatwise comment or you kind of make
fun of a situation, it almosthelps you build, especially
during work trauma.
When they always talk abouttrauma buddies, yeah, I feel
like my, my trauma work bestieusually comes because I made fun
of a situation at work.
And they're like, yes, I feelthe same way.
(09:16):
And then I'm like, oh, you likethat humor too.
Well, then I got another onefor you.
And then you get that five toten minutes.
Especially if you're in theoffice or if you work from home
and you call your coworker aftera stressful meeting, you can
just remove yourself from thesituation for five minutes or,
depending on the work bestie, itmight be 30 minutes to an hour,
but you get that time todecompress and then be like,
(09:37):
okay, I can deal with this nexttask or customer or this
one-on-one meeting I have withmy manager, cause you kind of
just get that stress off of youfor a little while.
And I feel like that's how thehumor helps, because if we start
to take ourselves way tooseriously, which I used to do
early on in my career, I startedto burn out so much I felt.
(09:59):
Making fun of situations mademe aware of boundaries I need to
make for myself and my family,even when I train it's funny in
a training class I will tellthem I'll go through the whole
topic of situation.
I'll say hey, if you ever needany help, please hesitate to
call.
It makes them laugh and I'malways there to help them out.
(10:23):
But it like deep compresses.
But I'm starting to let themknow that I do set boundaries
and I even tell my coworkers Iactually end my day.
I'm lucky enough to end my dayat 3.30.
If you try to call me at 3.31,you are not going to get me.
Jess (10:36):
Maybe not even at 3.29.
Marcus aka Not Your Av (10:40):
Mentally at 2.30,.
I'm already done.
Claude (10:43):
Talking.
You've been saying severaltimes about work bestie.
Do you have a work bestie andwhat does it give you in your
work?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (10:50):
I have work besties that
currently work at the company.
I have a few that left that Istill chat to One of my work
besties.
I think we chat almost everyday or every other day, and it
usually starts off early in themorning and it goes and I'm like
let it out and then we juststart going for it.
But lately we've been aboutstress at work.
(11:14):
We also started to talk a lotabout boundaries, because I feel
like with every corporation Ifeel boundaries are starting to
get pushed personal boundariesand what's what's good for you,
what's good for the company, butalso how to stay healthy,
because once you start gettingtoo stressed out, your health
really starts going down.
We always talk about what's thebest way to set boundaries at
(11:34):
work.
Jess (11:41):
That's a really good one to have as a key focus.
In fact, that's our focus forthis season is wellness, and how
can you take those couplemoments of pause to really
reflect on the importance of youand not feeling guilty about it
?
Claude (11:50):
And I think that is something also that when we had
a Gen X mom, she actually saidthat the Gen Z they know the
boundary, we don't, you know.
So I think that learning fromthem is so important.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (12:05):
It's so true because I feel like
mentally I had it in my mind, Iwant to do that, but I don't
know if I'm allowed to.
And then I see some of the GenZ's and they just do it.
I'm like I'm just doing it, ittoo, and then I'll just go ahead
and take my I'm like vibe isoff, I'm gonna go get a coffee.
I'll see you later.
So here's a question to put youon the spot what kind of
(12:27):
boundaries have you set foryourself at work?
Claude (12:29):
get back to you because I'm not there yet.
Walk the talk or whatever it is.
Jess (12:40):
What about you?
I think that's a good question.
I think there's always moreboundaries I can drop, but I
think I've been much betterabout establishing what really
can get done in a work weekversus not, because there's a
lot of times you get thrown amillion things and you have to
turn around and be like okay, sothat means something else on
our plates off, at least forthis week.
So I've been much betterpushing back on that and then
(13:01):
holding my team accountable,because workloads need to be
balanced.
I've been very crystal clear onestablishing that amongst on
Monday morning, we all talkabout what else is on our plate
and we reestablish workload.
I appreciate my coworkers andmy teammates who shut down at
five six o'clock, Cause I feelyou have to have a life If you
(13:22):
don't your work.
Your work suffers too.
Claude (13:25):
I do kind of Okay, so have me prioritize.
It's more or less showing, youknow, look, that's all that.
I cannot do everything, but I'ma work in progress.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (13:37):
I have to say we're all work in
progress.
Jess (13:39):
Everyone is yeah, let's do it though.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (13:43):
I'm going to use a perfect term to
circle back on your question.
One thing I do with boundaries,which is kind of funny, which
like lightens the load when I'mconfronting someone in
management, when they're tryingto give me too much, because
some people do know I jokearound, so I'll literally tell
them, if they give me too much,I'm like, okay, so do you want
me to do this task, or do youwant me to go ahead and cut the
(14:05):
tree down, build the house, makethe paper, build the computer?
Or you want me to handle thisone project?
And I say it jokingly and thenthey catch that they've given me
a little too much and they'llgo oh, they'll laugh at it.
And different managers I havethey'll laugh at it and be like,
oh, I guess what?
I have given you a lot.
So just focus on this, let'sprioritize this project and
we'll just kind of let some ofthis go.
(14:26):
So humor has been my way tolike scapegoat.
How I'm truly feeling about,like a situation, so I can make
it more lighthearted, which Ihave other co-workers like one
of my work besties, isstraightforward.
Like they can just go and belike no, this is not right, this
is how it is you can't do thisto me, where I tend to kind of
like do a little like dance andlike make you laugh and smile,
(14:47):
and then be like can we changethis up?
Jess (14:49):
and then they're like yeah , that's fine you're both doing
it in your own authentic way.
I like your way.
Well, neither way is right orwrong.
It's just what you feel moreauthentic doing, I know, but I
don't like I I feel like it fitsmy personality a little bit
more.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (15:04):
I feel like anytime I come off
stern, people are like yeah, Ifeel like you came in hard and
you were like what do you?
Claude (15:10):
want me to take off?
Okay, is he?
Jess (15:13):
quitting is Is he leaving?
Maybe I do use humor slightlydifferently than you in that
Because, like, when my team cometo me, here's the 20 things
you've just assigned me, and yousaid they're all due by Friday,
but the reality is I can onlyget two.
Which two are more important?
I usually make a joke to givethem a moment of pause, to be
like, okay, nothing's that bad,let's take a step back.
We're not solving cancer.
(15:34):
So, like, let's thinkrealistically.
So I do think humor helps inboth ways.
Right, even the person that isstraightforward, it can help
them kind of.
Okay, yeah, I'm with you.
Now I get why you asked me todo these things, and I do have
autonomy to make the right call,which is more important.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (15:49):
Well , that's so true.
So that's a perfect example ofwhat happened today.
So I also trained and hadsomeone reach out and they're
off today and they're trying tofinish this assignment and I'm
telling them this is not life ordeath, it's going to be okay,
it can wait till Monday.
You don't have to take a dayoff to finish work.
I feel that is like the mostupmost waste of time of your PTO
(16:14):
.
When I tell anyone I train, I'mlike if you take your time and
take your time, don't do work.
Close that computer, turn offthe work phone, stuff it in a
drawer, put it in the trunk.
Whatever you need to do, do notanswer it.
Jess (16:27):
Right, no, I think that's smart, because if you don't take
your work like you're adowntime for just you, then
there is no boundaries,everybody's just feeling like
they can come to you at anypoint, and especially now with
all those remote.
Claude (16:42):
right, there's no boundary.
There's like, even like snowdays.
Right, Snow days is over.
We are the last generation thatknew about what's, or maybe the
millennial what snow days werewhen you couldn't work.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (16:55):
What are snow days?
You didn't have a computer.
Claude (16:57):
You couldn't play with your kids in this, you know, and
whatever.
Yeah, it's a very hard.
I think you need a lot ofdiscipline to you know, a lot of
people say you need a lot ofdiscipline to be able to work at
home or whatever.
I think it's at least for me,you need sometimes you need a
lot of discipline not to workall the time, right.
Marcus aka Not Your Ave (17:21):
Totally .
I'm lucky enough to work fromhome so I do get to work
remotely.
Early in my career, the firsttwo years were like the biggest
learning curve, because itdidn't help that I didn't have a
designated space that Iactually made like where I work.
It was just like on the kitchentable.
So I worked nonstop.
It would be after dinner, latein the evening I would be like,
(17:41):
oh, I forgot I had to do this,and then I would go back and
open the computer.
It took me a few years.
But now literally I was sayingbefore as soon as it hits 3.30,
I am already walking out ofwhere my computer is.
It's getting thrown in thetruck or like in a book bag and
I'm not looking at it until thenext.
Jess (17:58):
Okay, that's so smart.
I think it's great.
That's a great tip.
So, speaking of tips, do youhave any other tips that help
with de-stressing?
Marcus aka Not Your Aver (18:06):
That's besides laughing, which is
always key.
So I'm very lucky.
My wife works in corporatewellness.
She has a company called YogaNut Yoga Nut Wellness and then
she does videos on demand.
So it's like Yoga Nut on demand.
So there's two differentaccounts.
So there's some good resourceson there.
But the ones I use, especiallyin my line of work, because I'm
just dealing with chaos all thetime and stressful situations I
(18:28):
do a breath work that I like touse and it's all through the
nose, so it's inhale and exhalealpha nose.
It takes one to two minutes.
It's an instant calm kind ofthing.
So when you do it, you inhaleand you inhale space and then
you exhale, and when you exhaleit's to release and let go.
So it's space release, let go,and you do that for like a
(18:51):
minute or two straight.
And I do that quite a bit justto kind of relax or before I go
on a podcast or a meeting, likeI'll do that to calm myself down
.
Um, and then the favorite one Ilike to do, especially when,
like I'm training, I make all mytrainees do this when we go up
the home office.
It's like a like just shake itout, like just kind of like
(19:11):
shake your body, or kind of liketap yourself and just when you
feel stressed, you just kind ofshake your body out, um it works
, it does so I do that and thena lot of walking meetings.
I'll just walk outside, so, um,but the first two are my
favorite you know, during covidI did a lot of walking meetings.
Jess (19:29):
I haven't done anything.
I started walking again on thetreadmill right, but I think
he's saying like during the day,like to help with the
alleviation of stress, walkingwhile you're in a meeting.
That should be brought back.
Marcus aka Not Your Avera (19:39):
Those were great yeah and it's funny
too because, like my, I'll bewalking.
So I live in the mountains, soI have a lot of nature around me
.
So every time I'm on a meetingthey're like, okay, that must be
marcus in the background,because you'll hear the birds
like tweeting and going crazy.
You can also hear me out ofbreath, just kind of like I'm
(19:59):
de-stressing during that meetingCause I might be frustrated.
The funniest one was I wasdoing a walking meeting and in
Western North Carolina we hadblack bears.
They're not dangerous, you justkind of like shoo them along.
I was like talking and I waslike, well, I'm going to have to
go.
And they're like, why are yougoing to go?
And I was like, well, there's ablack bear.
And they thought I was justjoking.
I was like, no, seriously, I'mgoing to have to get off because
(20:24):
there's a black bear.
Claude (20:25):
Oh my God, oh my God, for us it would be.
I have to go.
There's they're like acockroach the size of a black
bear.
Wow, yeah, that's verydifferent than our experience.
Jess (20:40):
Yeah, that's, that's a great way of doing your your
meeting there, you see one ofthe one of the calls that I was
on um recently with somebody.
They were riding a city bikeand they got hit by a car, like
somebody knocked the taxi doorand you could hear them go whoa,
they're fine.
Nothing happened to them, theywere totally fine.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (20:58):
I think the bike got destroyed
now I'm starting to think can Irecreate that into a video now,
when you're late to work?
Jess (21:07):
because they were answering a question and they
were like and then you go like,and you could hear them like
coughing.
I was like, are you on a citybike?
And they were like yes, andthen you just heard whoa, yeah.
I was like, are you on a citybike?
Claude (21:15):
And they were like yes, and then you just heard whoa.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (21:17):
Yeah , I feel like my next video is
going to be that.
And then they get up and dolike an instant calm breath and
we're like let it go.
Jess (21:24):
And then take the call and finish answering.
Yeah, then take the call.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (21:26):
With you guys cameo in it.
Jess (21:28):
Yeah, let's bring it back so.
So a lot of this is dealingwith stress or stressful
situations, but one of thethings you also highlighted is
work-life balance, because youhave a full-time job and you're
a content creator.
How do you manage it all?
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (21:44):
Yeah , I'm still working on trying to
manage it all.
So I have three kids as well.
I mean, I have three kids allthe age of 10.
We're still in the swing withour youngest because he's he's
two and a half, so we're stillstruggling to sleep through the
night.
We're almost there.
So it got to a point where likethat's where some of my jokes
(22:05):
come from is really settingthose boundaries, because I
started to realize, especiallywith, like helping for work,
like trying to be present for afamily, I'm one of those people
where I work to just pay for thethings I want to do.
Work is not my life, um, so Itry to find ways to kind of
squeeze it in.
So, with content creation, ifit's during my lunch break or a
(22:28):
quick breather, I'll actuallystart filming something on the
go, or even driving to pick upthe kids.
If I have an idea, I'll juststart snapping b footage and
film myself.
So that way I'm kind ofcondensing content creation and
work almost at the same time.
So that way when I shut off, Ican try to be present at home,
because one of my biggestrelease to besides making people
(22:49):
laugh or thinking I make peoplelaugh is cooking.
So I like to cook dinner me andmy kids will cook together and
then just trying to be presentfor those moments.
Because I'm starting to realizeI only have those moments for a
short time, especially myoldest, who is 10, like he's 10
now all of a sudden.
And I'm like whoa, when didthis happen?
And it wasn't until recently.
(23:10):
I started realizing that Ican't do everything perfect and
some things are going to have tofail.
If I'm going to choose yes, andit's definitely okay.
And that's where anyonelistening, if anyone's saying
they're doing it all and it'sperfect, it's not.
Some things you just have tocompromise and let go.
So it changes per day, per hourwhere I just realized that, no
(23:33):
matter what I'm doing, if it'sthe podcast, my family knows
like I'm going to be present forthis right now, but then once
I'm off, I might just be present.
Dinner time is present, or bathtime or game time or when I'm
at work.
I got to finish this like thisis what I got to be present for.
It's always a work in progress,but it's always just trying to
find compromise where you canand just try to be present as
(23:55):
much as you can be in the moment.
Jess (23:57):
Yeah, I think this is where it goes back to your
comment of you've got to giveyourself respect to do that too.
There are times where you haveto retrain your brain right,
because even when you're withyour kids, you're sometimes
still thinking about work, oryou're thinking of an idea, oh
this would be a great.
This would be another greatcontent creation.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (24:19):
You have to constantly give
yourself the pause.
It's okay to wander, but bringyourself back, yes, and it's
okay just to not do it.
Yeah, sometimes I would justcall into work and be like I
just can't today, and I'll eventell my kids sometimes like I'll
get overstimulated, which, likewhich parent doesn't get
overstimulated, but I'll getoverstimulated.
Like daddy needs like fiveminutes yeah, oh, oh, yes, oh
yeah.
Claude (24:33):
I do that a lot.
That was when it was like mybedroom.
That is my time, like at nightyou know when it's like I'm like
that's it no more.
Nobody comes to In there.
It's my time.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (24:44):
My favorite videos that I make is
the me time that you have.
Then the next morning you justcomplain that you're tired and I
feel like as parents, or evenlike working visuals.
But even with parents, likeonce everyone's in bed, I'll
grab my glass of wine or mysnack and like doom scroll or
watch my show or read.
Jess (25:04):
Mine is watching endless Netflix shows.
I don't know why.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (25:07):
I will do it all the time, I will
complain about it and then Iwill make another video about it
.
Jess (25:12):
Yes, that is true.
The next morning you go, man,I'm so tired, and people are
like, should you work less?
No, no, not at all.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (25:20):
I know there's that funny video
where it was like you're tired,You've been stressed out and
you're not getting enough sleep.
Did you think about just goingto bed early?
No, no, that's my time which Idid go to bed early one time,
and then I was like, oh, it doeshelp.
Jess (25:35):
Wow, that's what I look like without bags under my eyes.
Claude (25:38):
Thanks, Speaking about kids.
What is very sad is that mytime was going to the
supermarket.
Jess (25:44):
Oh, the relax just getting out of the house.
Claude (25:47):
Yeah, getting out of the house and like especially when
they are young, or whatever.
That was going to Target orsupermarket.
That was my time.
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (25:57):
I just picture you like driving
really slow and being like sorry, they were just stalking I was
just waiting for them to put iton the shelf.
Claude (26:05):
There was so much traffic.
Jess (26:08):
Wait, were you the one that hit my coworker?
Is that the reason?
Claude (26:13):
I'm going to say one thing, though I used to go.
Sometimes we were going out forwork or whatever, and when my
it sounds terrible.
But when my son was maybe three, two or three and he had like
really a bad time right.
I used to live across thestreet from a park, so when it
was 8.30, I knew that it wouldbe the time to get ready to go
(26:36):
to bed.
I didn't want to do it becauseI had just come from a nice
dinner.
So I was waiting in the park oh, for someone else to put your
kid to bed, for my husband toput the kid to bed.
So I was waiting about 20minutes Just sitting in the park
.
So I was waiting about 20minutes just sitting in the park
, because I'm like in the nightevery single day.
(26:58):
So once I'm going out I'm goingto wait that's a good one for
you.
Jess (27:05):
That's the person who sits ?
In the car outside the house.
Marcus aka Not Your Aver (27:08):
That's the same example of the meme
yeah, you see the kids likelooking to the blinds.
I see her.
Jess (27:13):
I see her on the park bench.
The kids like looking throughthe blinds.
Is that like I see her?
I see her on the park the kidshand just reaching through so
work-life balance is always awork in progress.
One of the things that I thinkdoes help us is bringing it back
to your work.
Memes is some of the stuff thatyou provide, the content you
put out.
There.
We talk about how, on thewellness side, you don't have to
(27:33):
run for a half an hour.
Take your walk for half an hour.
Sometimes it is just laughingtwo or three minutes of looking
at memes and laughing.
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (27:41):
Yeah .
And I feel like I'm just beingpresent in that moment to like
take that breather and then,even if it's just like a quick
breath, a quick walk, a quickstretch, like just taking that
time, truly helps for you tostart decompressing and take a
step back, so that way you'renot feeling that overwhelm of
the job just sitting on yourshoulder and pressing you down.
Claude (28:02):
And also sending each other right.
How many memes did we of yourmemes have?
Marcus aka Not Your Average (28:06):
we sent each other back and forth.
Claude (28:08):
This is me, this is what happened, this today, et cetera
.
You know, and and it's nice, itbecomes also that community we
are all in the same, we all havethe same issue, we have, you
know, all the same problemrelatable.
Jess (28:22):
It's so relatable from your perspective because your
stuff does hold true across somany different industries.
How do you see your contentevolving?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (28:32):
I am going to start branching out
.
I want to try a few differentstyles because I always get
jealous like looking at othercontent creators and just like
trying to expand.
I definitely want to includemore millennial and parent kind
of like humor stuff.
Jess (28:48):
Okay.
Marcus aka Not Your Average (28:49):
But I also want to kind of like
branch into, like into thisbreaking the fourth wall kind of
style, where it's more so likewe're talking, like this, like
I'm talking to my viewers, to myfollowers.
I want to try to experimentwith that.
I'm starting to take it alittle bit more serious.
I think with some contentcreators I'm lucky enough that
I've started to get a couple ofdeals.
So then I was like, well, waita minute, this could actually be
(29:13):
something.
So now structuring, in my mindthis could be something that
could lead an open doors tosomething else.
Taking it slightly more serious, since I've started to get some
more opportunities lately, andfor anyone making content, it
really doesn't matter the size.
If you could resonate withsomeone Like I remember when I
(29:34):
only had like 300 and somethingfollowers, I would just like
throw and stuff out there.
But what was kind of cool is Iwas getting messages, even like
from the same one or two people,or my mom, just being like, oh,
I totally get it.
It made me feel better.
But I actually ended up gettingone of my first deals when I
had just a few hundred followersand I was like, oh, this is
cool, but then it just kind ofslowly, hundred followers and I
(29:54):
was like, oh, this is cool.
But then it just kind of slowlypicked up and I was like, well,
maybe, and it took until, likeI think, a year.
Now, a year later, where I'mlike, well, maybe maybe I should
start making this a little bitmore serious.
So I started looking into likechanging the production style, a
little bit, kind of playingaround with some other footage.
So there's more to come yay, Ican't wait.
We're excited to see it and somecollaborations are to come, so,
(30:16):
um, I'm going to be workingwith some other content creators
, which I'm really excited aboutfantastic, that's awesome very
exciting and around when.
Claude (30:26):
In how many months would that come?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (30:30):
I would say you might see some,
some new stuff in the next fewweeks.
So I've already started kind oflike filming some stuff.
This is like a little teaser,and watch out that I do this.
I'm actually trying to make,like you know, there's like
medical prescriptioninfomercials.
I'm going to make one that'skind of like similar to that.
So we'll see how that works out.
Jess (30:49):
I can't wait.
So, mark, this has been solovely.
We so appreciate you being here.
I did want to ask because webrought it up in the very
beginning.
We wanted you to answer for ouraudience.
How do you feel you can usehumor to help tackle workplace
burnout and stress?
Marcus aka Not Your Average C (31:07):
a humorous person, or if you have
that co-worker that is a funnyperson, or even if it's sharing
memes back and forth, you canalmost use that as an avenue of
that laughter release to kind ofrelax and get that out there.
But I think it's a good way tolike start exposing things that
might be happening even in yourown corporation, and that's why
(31:30):
I like some of these memes thateveryone make and you start to
see the overlapping themes.
But I feel like if you kind ofbring that up in a meeting or
with coworkers and it starts toget known like, look at this, I
feel like it can kind of shine alight on the issues that are
even happening at your currentworkplace.
And it's a light way beforechange can happen, because I've
(31:53):
made plenty of jokes even in mycurrent company and then, like,
some changes started to happen.
So I think by using that humoryou can start to bridge gaps, to
make new work besties oh no,there it is to make new work
besties but then also just kindof expose what's going on and be
(32:14):
able to laugh, talk and thattalking about just laughing
about the situation, you canactually start thinking about
results.
We've had memes that we sentbefore and be like, oh, doesn't
this remind you about so-and-soor that situation?
And they're like, wouldn't itbe great if they would have done
X Y Z?
And then you're like, wait aminute, you could do X Y Z and
that would fix the problem.
(32:35):
So I feel like sometimes thehumor can help bring along some
solutions.
Jess (32:40):
Marcus, thank you so much.
Before we close out, we didwant to ask how can people
follow you?
Where should they be looking?
Marcus aka Not Your Averag (32:48):
Yeah , so I'm mostly on Instagram at
not your average coward.
You can use the same handle onTikTok and YouTube.
I'm starting to try to put someof this stuff on there so you
can find me on those threeplatforms.
And Facebook still all the samehandle.
I was able to lock them alldown, so just find me on any of
those and hopefully I'll makeyou laugh.
Claude (33:06):
Yeah, definitely so to all our work besties.
If you're ready to lighten upand really want to laugh about
work, about life, please makesure to follow Marcus for more
(33:26):
laughs.
And in the meantime, don'tforget to listen, like and
subscribe.
Jess (33:28):
Thank you all, Bye next time, remember whether you're
swapping snacks in the breakroom, rescuing each other from
endless meetings, or justsending that perfectly timed
meme.
Having a work bestie is likehaving your own personal hype
squad.
Claude (33:42):
So keep lifting each other, laughing through the
chaos and, of course, thriving.
Until next time, stay positive,stay productive and don't
forget to keep supporting eachother.
Work besties.
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