On today's episode, I am talking about Nerds of Joy and giving you a refresh on who I am and the tenets of the work that I do here on digital media.
We're also talking about how you can put yourself out there in a safe way on social media and also we'll lean into how our children are brokering this and what we can do to help them.This is a quick bite episode.
A lot of people don't think about these things and a lot of people actually don't talk about these things either.
So it's a very delicate balance in getting all of these things right to optimise not only yourself but also the people surrounding you, especially our precious children.So listen in and I will see you in just a couple of moments.
Hello and welcome to today's episode.
I'm your host, Joy Pereira, and I'm so pleased to be bringing you the very best ideas and interviews in this podcast, Nerds of Joy, to broker and grow your digital strategy, amplify your business, and broadcast yourself with less fear, to create real life opportunities for greater success, and intentionally design the life that you deserve.
It's long overdue, right?So sit back, listen curiously, and enjoy the show. So I thought it might be about time that I reintroduce myself to my audience.Thank you for those of you that have been with me since the very beginning.
And for those of you that might be stumbling across this video today, I thought it was a great opportunity to get to know a little bit about me and my background and why it might be worthy for you to click that follow button to follow me.
My name is Joy. Joy Pereira, I was, I still am I guess, a professional stage manager for over 20 years.
I worked at wonderful places like the Sydney Opera House as well as on other world events and I had a wonderful time on stage mixing it with a lot of celebrities and artists and people with beautiful creative process to bring the very best shows to Sydney.
and around the world.But there came a time where I decided that I wanted to go large and I wanted to work on my own projects.And I thought digital was the key.And I also wanted to start a podcast because I knew I inherently had things to say.
So I started the Nerds of Joy podcast.It gave me the opportunity to really hone my craft. which has actually gone really fantastically.
I've had some amazing guests, entrepreneurs, creatives at the top of their fields, experts, and we have talked in this really walls-down approach, getting to know the people as well as their expertise, but also their struggles and challenges.
And the podcast has been just a beautiful space to culturally come together and workshop a few ideas and just things that resonate with me. Nerds of Joy is a bit of a strange title, but really it's just about how you nerd.
What are you passionate about?What lights you up?What fills your cup?What can you share with an audience?And that's what I ask from my guests all the time.I don't want people who continue to go on podcast after podcast spruiking their book.
I really love to discover and unearth the hidden gems that are out there that might be a little bit more timid or shy to tell their story, but have got a wonderful story and they've got a whole body of experience.I think that's what
I'm truly excited about bringing to you all the time in all the works that I do because we have this overconsumption of social media.
We also have just this tsunami of people coming at us, always sprouting about what they're doing and their expertise and showing their best selves on social media.And as you know, and I'm sure you must have discovered, it ain't always that way.
But there is a lot of things that we can do in our day to cure out our time, curate our attention and enjoy who we follow online.So that's what Joy Pereira Creative is.It's about stretching ideas.
It's about helping people out there to broker their own ideas and also come together and use their voice for your platform to grow your business or to get your message out there or to feel a little bit more comfortable in your skin.
That is essentially what my podcast is also about, and I hope that you enjoy that.
A little back story for me, and you can also, there's a much deeper episode on the Nerds of Joy podcast that lists everything about me, but I think it's really important just to give you a tiny snippet of who I am.
So, I'm based in Sydney, I have some beautiful people in my life, and I have that experience of growing little people as well.
I also really think very deeply about creative process and how we truly do curate ourselves and our lives and actually get the very best from what we're doing.So that's been really a core tenant of the work that I've been doing as well.
I love cause organizations.I love not-for-profits.I like shopping local, eating local and seasonally.I try to reduce waste and I think about the planet a lot, what we're leaving for our children and how we can do effective steps every single day.
to make things better.That's kind of the premise of me.Love pups, love golden Labradors and Retrievers.I do love high-end things, but I also like just beautiful things that are actually recycled, things that help us tread more gently on the planet.
So, my feed is eclectic and I think that that's probably the way that we all could be a little bit more.My feed is not highly curated in the sense that, you know, I'm not showing all of the best holidays or this vision splendid for you.
What you're seeing is the creativity that comes out inherently in me and you're seeing a lot of eclectic guests coming together on things that I think is really topical at the time. Now it's not easy to put things together when you're a solo maker.
I don't have a massive production house.I don't have a million assistants next to me.I don't have the backing of some media conglomerate.It's just me and sometimes a little bit of help on the side.
But essentially what I'm doing is what you could be doing as well.You could use it to broker your business. You could do it to get your name out there.There's a whole list of different things you want to do.
And I've spent pretty much the last six years getting to know not only social media but digital platforms and things, what works, what doesn't, how much of a head space that we need to be in to present on camera, but then how much of it takes away from our inherent goodness when we give a little bit too much to the audience that might be watching this, let's say.
So, it's a really fine and delicate balance, and I've always, always, always want to embed ethical tech in the works that I do as well.
I think well-being and our health is so important when we're on these digital platforms, speaking to an audience, doing all of these things, cultivating these things as well.
It's so hard for parents at the moment, and it has been for at least 10 years, to navigate how to roll out everything digital.
We were introduced iPads in the first instance at the age of seven, I think, for my kids, and I had to really push back on that so that they weren't just embedded in the tech without being able to grow and reveal their little tiny brains without the digitization and the dopamine hits that would have been sought out through gamification
of our education.So, that's been something really important to me, how we broker that, how we don't allow our children to be on social media early so that they have the true space to start to form their identity.
It's really hard because, as we know, it's well beyond teenage years where you really start to truly feel out who you are.So how do we mitigate the risk with that?There's a lot of effective steps that you can do.
It can be really difficult for some parents to broker.And I completely understand time poor juggling.
For me at the time when the kids were little and all of this tech was coming in, I was working 16 hour days, doing massive shows at the Sydney Opera House, coming home, juggling kids, taking them off to daycare, dropping off grandparents, whatever it took.
to get the work done.I was over stacking and multi stacking.Things have changed a whole lot.
Life has changed a whole lot and I've had to implement a lot of strategies and I've had to put a lot of things in place and learn a lot of new skill and ways of being that have actually made things a lot better.
I think I live in terms of health and well-being and looking after myself a whole lot better because I lived by mantra of the show must go on for so many decades. You know, we have to deliver.We have to be on time.We have to do all these things.
We have to be reliable.But I think that there's a different approach that we can take in the raising of our little people on social media or not on social media.Mine are actually not on social media, which is a good thing.And it's really helped.
But to all the parents that are out there that really struggle with brokering the time and just getting sort of like everything, the basics of growing little people to teenagers and then to adults.
There's a lot of supports out there and there's a lot of different things you can do and organisations that are helping now.And I hope that social media changes and that things have to unfortunately be implemented by decree.
And I think that's an important thing.It's good that things are starting to be slowly brought in to wheel back the mystery of social media and the availability of social media to our younglings.
For us as well, we need to manage how much we do on social media and what we put out there.And also we have the challenge of AI.
It's just been rolled out writ large really and there have been no breaks or nothing applied because it's all about the bros and it's all about the funding and the potential of earning for the top people who are able to get in early.
and reap the benefits of things like this.
But if it's harnessing off the backs of creative artists and essentially all of us and through all of these different platforms where we share photographs and ideas and we use our voice and we talk and we integrate communications with other people, if that's all being harvested and cultivated and scraped
to develop these things, then that's something that we need to sort of readdress and come back a little bit about.
This has ended up being a longer video than I thought I was going to do, but I think it's really important because this is kind of where I sit, and it's sort of in this intersection between tech and creativity and creative process.
There's an opportunity for us to do all of these things.
It's not a case of shutting down the tech because we can use wonderful platforms to do this kind of work and we can put ourselves out there and we can be more digital and we can work in different ways and connect with people all across the world.
That is something that we just didn't have 20 years ago and it's brilliant in that way.But we also need to forge deeper connections within ourselves to know who we are
What we want to say, be authentically ourselves, and you know what, I maybe had that option of being who I was before socials rolled, but that's why it's even more important for me to help my kidlings to be able to form who they are.
develop their identities and know and feel comfortable within themselves and within their skins to not be shook if things go a little bit wrong or if there are friendship fires or if there are just main trogs out there in the schoolyard, you know, there's
value that we can have in the way that we harness these things and I think that that is what Nerds of Joy is all about.I give ideas and tips and speak with experts that will offer solutions and ideas on what parents may need or just the individuals.
You don't have to be a parent to listen to Nerds of Joy.This is certainly not a parenting focused podcast.It's a podcast just about curiosity and I've had So many different experts.I've had people from high tech come in and talk about AI.
I've had wonderful entrepreneurs who have started their own businesses.I've had doctors specializing in pairing menopause and menopause recently.
There's been people who have sort of more taken that lifestyle coach branding scenario on how to get your social media profiles up and followings in that way.
I've spoken to people just who have had like 50 years of experience in business, women in business, and that has been beautiful because they have this other way of sharing and how difficult it would have been in those days for them to have done this work.
So, yeah, there's a whole lot for you to dig into in the back catalog.
Sometimes I just might put on my podcast from like two, three years ago and pick an episode with a guest and have a bit of a listen back as I'm about to fall asleep and think, wow, you know, what sort of nuggets are these?
Things that I've missed in the production and hosting it live and doing all of that.To come back to your own podcast is pretty meta and find out new kernels of wisdom, so I encourage you to get into the Nerds of Joy podcast.
It's available on all your favorite listening platforms.I also ask for you to like and rate if you so desire, because that will help me to be followed by more people. It's a difficult labor, if you will.I don't have a massive following.
I haven't been on The Bachelor.I haven't been on reality TV to have an instant following.There's none of those things.I don't have the production houses knocking at my door saying, we want to produce you joy, we want to produce you joy.
This is purely something that emanated from me about five years ago, before the pandemic, where I thought, I want to share something.
I want to build something and create something and make something that's truly mine, because when I left the stage, I didn't have, like a potter would have pots, or a painter would have paintings, or an actor would have a body of work as well.
I didn't have any of those things, but what I did have was the ability
to create and the ability to adopt new tech to be able to function and make without having a production crew, which is what I was used to, which was very privileged and fantastic that if I wanted something done, I could ask and I could get what I needed created.
So going out solo is a really, really difficult thing, but I applaud you if you're doing it.So that's kind of me in a nutshell, living in Sydney, got some beautiful people surrounded by wonderful creative community, more so overseas than in Sydney.
I don't really have a close network of people in Sydney who are doing the sort of things that I'm doing, and I think that that's because it's quite different to the traditional industry of theatre and performance and entertainment that I'm used to.
But I have met some fantastic people when I did some creating work with Mark Cuban's fireside.I met some wonderful people there.I have met some wonderful people through the Zuckerberg Institute.
I've met some wonderful people just from being online, and who would have thought that 20 years ago you could have met people online that share similar values and Yeah, it's been really fantastic to get to know some of the communities.
There's been fandoms out there when we went to address our nerdy business as well so that's been a lot of fun.I think it's just really being able to now mold and shape where I'm at because I can be very corporate if you will.
I can be very professional if that is such a thing and LinkedIn worthy but I can also
funny, silly, communicative in different ways and I think that that speaks to the agility and skill that I have of being able to work with all different types of people.I've worked with kings and queens essentially.
to people who have full performance backgrounds in Hollywood, to little kids who are just starting out, to not-for-profit organizations and people who are caused-based.There's just a huge cross-section of people in the world that I've been able to
and had the privilege of working with, and so I think I bring all of that.It's like I octopus all of these skills and these things that I've done, and I'm bringing it into this podcast and rolling it out.
Nerds of Joy is in its 10th season now, and I wonder where to next?Do I just dump it and move on to something else?
Do I curate my own audio version of Only Murders in the Building and do something really creative like that, which then harks back more to my professional production theatre base? It's a possibility.And I think that that's what it is for all of us.
For all of you that have stayed with me for, gosh, over 18 minutes, it's having that ability to bring things together, enjoy what you're doing, and somehow monetize it, obviously.But first comes
developing your creative process first comes taking the first effective step to doing something.And if you do a little bit of something every day, a little becomes a lot over time.So, never give up.
Even if you're time poor and you're working in that current job that you're not so enthusiastic about, but you're doing it, Just think about ways in which you can do things.Maybe it is a little bit of a night course.
Maybe it is something online that you're brokering.Maybe it's a little bit of skill.Maybe it's volunteering.What kind of experience can you have from doing these kind of things?Who can you connect with?
Just to not suck them dry and take all of their information.But I think it's more so just to get a bit of an idea.Who can I follow?
that is going to light me up in certain ways which makes me want to extend myself and actually grow myself because for someone like me, I did 3 years at university and when I came out of it, yes I got work in the industry and I did work for 20 years but besides a bit of a marketing course and I think there was a few little smatterings in between work-related learnings, I didn't do anything else.
And it wasn't that I didn't want to, but often there were times when I was time poor, but then also, I didn't really even think that there were other things to learn, or that I could learn, or that I should learn.So, just recalibrate your mind.
Learning can be expensive, but it can also be offered to you in different ways.If you're in an organisation, can you go and see the learning and development team?Go and see what's available.
Are there any sort of secondments within your industry where you can move sideways and learn some new skills that will bring you back to your current job with even more skills?
There's so many things that I guess I didn't ask at the time when I was working in a big organization because I didn't know.I didn't know that I had a voice and that I had options.
I just thought what I did was what I did and I had to wait to have the head pat on my head to potentially go for the next higher up job.
But you can move sideways, you can move down, you can move up in different ways, you can collate skills and this is information I'm sharing with you now. that I just didn't know about.
So I hope that that helps some people, some of you that have reviewed this.I think that there's just opportunity everywhere and sometimes like at the moment I'm really gathering a lot of information and collating things and learning a lot of things.
I've been learning about animation and ZBrush and all of these things like for visual effects
And that is so out of, well it's not out of my wheelhouse but I would have had other people to deal with those things if that was something that I needed perhaps in some sort of video content.
But it's something now that I'm starting to master and learn myself because I think it's important to understand the process of those things and what could I potentially make that might over time add or build to the skills that I have.
And even if I'm not actually on the tools, What sort of way can I then incorporate that knowledge into the next role that I might be potentially doing?And I think that the possibilities are exciting.
Certainly for me, I am now looking to do something with this podcast, the Nerds of Joy podcast.I think we have over 100 episodes now, and I've had a caliber of guests where I don't really think you could get any better.
These are people at the top of their field.They might not be the celebrities, and often celebrities is what gives you traction or it gives people the illusion that
This is an award-winning podcast, but we have been nominated for awards and we are doing these things with these people at the top of their fields.They just don't have the little stamp of Hollywood on them.
Maybe I'll interview a few more celebrities.I have done a couple.I haven't made a big deal about it. Maybe I will.And that's a little flick of the switch and lens that I need to work on myself.It's not boastful.It's promotion.It's not egotistical.
It's advertising.That's what it is.So, I myself need a little bit of a reframe because we do have the Aussie Toll Poppy Syndrome thing that we can often feel.And I certainly was raised on the belief that it was important to be humble.
But that doesn't mean having an ego.So it's really a delicate dance when you're on social media.
It's really a delicate dance in finding the right tone with your audience, how you're going to connect with them and whether they actually have the ability to stay with me for what, 24 minutes now.
Thank you for being here if you have watched this whole thing.
It was really only going to be about two, three minutes, but I feel that with this beautiful opportunity to record, I'm going to put it out there because I think it's important for all of us.
So grow, stretch, ask the right questions, maybe put your hand up, learn something new, feel a bit more comfortable in your skin on camera or whatever it is that you need to do to get to the next step and just
Take a breather, you know, really go slow with the stuff that you're doing because we have this capacity of really trying to run ourselves into the ground to hustle and certainly that was a word that I thought was awesome.
maybe six, seven years ago, but now I'm completely away from that way of thinking.I really just believe that we've got to maintain and be one with who we are and how our body's functioning.
Ladies, we have certain situations that appear from around 35 up, so just be aware of those things.I won't go into that, but there is a special podcast episode for you as well.
If you're searching without any sort of solutions to why things are going a little bit pear-shaped, something that I searched for for way too long, I'm going to now love you and leave you.I think that this has been a nice share of an episode.
It's become an episode actually.It was actually just meant to be like a two-minute get-to-know-you that I was going to throw up on Instagram for people that haven't come across me before.
But hey, it's all about sharing and being able to talk off the top of your head and feeling comfortable that what you're saying cuts through to an audience.It's cogent.
You can obviously do your R's and your little bits and pieces and you can clean up in post or you can elect to just put it out there immediately.
I'm wishing you all the best, and yeah, that's me, Joy Pereira, Nids of Joy Podcast, professional creative.I'll leave it at that.If you like what you've heard, then please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or subscribe.
If you know this episode could help a friend, please share it with them right away to spread the joy and follow me on my Instagram at joypereiracreative to see what I'm up to and to find out how to work with me. Thanks for listening.
I love producing this podcast, and I really want you to have the digital gains you deserve.
I'll be bringing you more of the very best conversations and stories to exchange ideas, nail your time, and hit your goals for optimal results in your work, life, and business.It is within you.Don't just sit there.Be curious.Curate your life.
