South African podcaster and social media marketing specialist, Lizzy Hudson is the voice behind the Live to Thrive Podcast. In this episode, she shares her journey into podcasting, inspired by the tragic event of George Floyd's murder in 2020. We discuss the personal impact of this moment and how Lizzy's podcast focuses on amplifying the stories of people of color healing from racial trauma and other challenges unique to POC.
There are many vulnerable moments in this episode as we touch on Lizzy's experiences as a cross-racial adoptee, her memories from a predominantly white boarding school in post-apartheid South Africa and eventually moving to the predominantly white town of Santa Barbara in the USA. Find out how these experiences have influenced her values, career and life choices.
If you need tips on navigating the rapidly changing AI driven social media landscape while maintaining good mental; if you are curious about immigrant experience in 2020's America; or if you'd like to know the ins and outs of podcasting for impact, then join us for an intimate discussion. You will walk away reflective and inspired.
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
Kutloano Skosana: Hello and welcome to Shades and Layers.
00:00:04
I'm your Kutloano Skosana Ricci , and today we are talking
00:00:08
about podcasting for healing.
00:00:10
This episode is also the start of a bigger series where I'll be
00:00:13
interviewing other podcasters aligned with the Shades and
00:00:16
Layers mission of amplifying the stories of black and other
00:00:19
women of color in business.
00:00:20
My guest today is fellow South African and podcaster, Lizzy
00:00:25
Hudson.
00:00:25
We met in Seattle.
00:00:27
She works in social media marketing as well.
00:00:30
Lizzy podcast is called Live to Thrive and she mostly interviews
00:00:34
others who, like her, are healing from racial trauma and
00:00:37
other challenges unique to people of color.
00:00:40
She first came to podcasting in the 2010s, but this iteration
00:00:43
of her journey was sparked by the public murder of George
00:00:47
Floyd on the 25th of May in 2020 .
00:00:49
In our conversation, we discussed the personal impact of
00:00:53
this moment and how far she has come since then.
00:00:55
If you have ever considered starting a podcast, if you've
00:00:59
ever wondered how to navigate social media while caring for
00:01:02
your mental health, or you're just simply curious about the
00:01:06
immigrant experience in 2020s America, then stick around.
00:01:10
So, without further ado, let's hear it from Lizzy Hudson.
00:01:13
So how would you describe your work at Live to Thrive Podcast
00:01:19
and what's the deeper meaning you attach to the activities
00:01:22
that you engage in deeper meaning you attach to the
00:01:27
activities that you engage in.
00:01:32
Lizzy Hudson: Yeah, so with Live to Thrive podcast, I think how
00:01:33
I attached, my meaning and my work and my goals was to provide
00:01:36
a platform for people of color to come onto and speak about
00:01:42
their stories, how they can, maybe, how their stories can
00:01:46
impact someone else that looks like them.
00:01:50
I feel like when I was looking into podcasting and the podcasts
00:01:55
that we have out there, there was not many podcasts that
00:01:58
really focused on POC and how they deal with hard times in
00:02:05
mental health.
00:02:06
I think a lot of it came from my you know after 2020 with
00:02:12
George Floyd and that kind of made like this whole whirlwind
00:02:19
of how I could help in communities that were not
00:02:24
supported, and so that's my deeper meaning to my work on
00:02:31
Live to Thrive podcast.
00:02:33
Kutloano Skosana: All right.
00:02:33
So you are amplifying voices of people of color and you call
00:02:40
your podcast Live to Thrive.
00:02:41
Why is that your chosen title and how does it tie in to this
00:02:48
work in real life?
00:02:50
Lizzy Hudson: Yeah, Live to Thrive podcast.
00:02:51
I think how I came up with that name is that, no matter where
00:02:57
you are in life, you should be taking the steps to thrive in
00:03:03
what realm or industry you're in .
00:03:05
Before we started this podcast, I told you I'm a paid social
00:03:08
media strategist and I said that you know that's nothing that I
00:03:14
should like maybe talk about, because I don't have, you know,
00:03:18
a deeper meaning attached to it.
00:03:20
And now this has just come full circle.
00:03:22
I encourage people that whatever they do in life and
00:03:27
whatever they choose to do in life, they should be thriving in
00:03:31
it.
00:03:31
So something like paid social media, off the top of my head is
00:03:37
nothing that I feel like I like I'm thriving in.
00:03:42
I'm just doing it because, first of all, I'm interested in
00:03:46
social media but, second of all, I do it because it pays the
00:03:49
bills.
00:03:51
Kutloano Skosana: You need to make a living somehow, sure.
00:03:53
Lizzy Hudson: Yeah, I need to.
00:03:54
I need to make a living somehow , but at the same time, I need
00:03:59
to practice what I preach and make sure that, where I'm at in
00:04:03
life, I'm thriving in every area that I touch.
00:04:08
And so, with Live to Thrive, this is something I'm passionate
00:04:13
about, and it's why I decided to name my podcast Live to
00:04:18
Thrive, because I want to push people that look like me and you
00:04:23
, that are minorities, to make sure that they're thriving in
00:04:28
every aspect of their life.
00:04:30
Mm, hmm.
00:04:33
Kutloano Skosana: You know, the one thing you do mention is that
00:04:35
you have a full time job that helps you to thrive in other
00:04:39
areas of your life.
00:04:40
Life, and you know this whole idea of thriving has become so
00:04:45
linked to affluence and privilege.
00:04:50
You know financial means.
00:04:57
How does it land with you?
00:04:57
You know me mentioning this because of course, you've got to
00:04:59
make money to keep a roof over your head and all the things.
00:05:01
But the way thriving is sold to us nowadays is like if you're
00:05:07
not sipping champagne in the Bahamas every vacation, then
00:05:13
your life is less than worthy.
00:05:16
Lizzy Hudson: Yeah, you're not thriving, right?
00:05:17
Yeah, yeah, no, this is a good question, because I think this
00:05:21
is something that I have to really think about, because when
00:05:26
I think of thriving, my definite, my definition is not
00:05:36
necessarily sipping champagne in the Bahamas, making so much
00:05:41
money that you, you know you world, and I think for me,
00:05:45
thriving is more of like an internal feeling being mentally
00:05:51
stable, being okay with who I am as a person, not showing off,
00:05:57
not doing things just to get that pat on the back or that
00:06:03
external validation from other people.
00:06:05
I think for me, it's very much like I am okay, I have a roof
00:06:12
over my head, I'm successful in and also success is different,
00:06:17
like my success might may be different to what you categorize
00:06:22
success is.
00:06:23
So I think that is my answer.
00:06:26
I think that's where I like land about.
00:06:29
I just it's like such a very muddy waters in this day and age
00:06:37
.
00:06:37
I think that everybody wants to, you know, be Instagram ready,
00:06:41
and if you are doing this, then you should have this.
00:06:43
Or if you want to be this, this , then you should have this.
00:06:45
Or if you want to be this, then you should be able to travel
00:06:49
here like that's not.
00:06:51
That's not.
00:06:52
What I I feel is is like my end all be all.
00:06:57
I just want to help and be mentally aligned with myself.
00:07:05
Kutloano Skosana: So why did you choose podcasting as a format
00:07:09
for supporting the community and also for amplifying these
00:07:15
voices?
00:07:16
Lizzy Hudson: I think I chose a podcast firstly because, coming
00:07:22
from South Africa, I came to the States and I was super excited
00:07:27
about coming to America because I wanted to be in the
00:07:29
entertainment industry since I was a kid and I either wanted to
00:07:33
be on being a celebrity guest interview interviewer, like
00:07:40
being on the red carpet and asking people who they wearing,
00:07:43
or I wanted to be um I wanted to be on the radio, so that was
00:07:52
like my dream ever since I was a kid.
00:07:55
And when I came to the states, I really wanted to run after that
00:07:59
.
00:07:59
But during that time, know, breaking into the entertainment
00:08:05
industry as a young black South African this was 2012, I was
00:08:11
like a fish out of water.
00:08:12
I didn't know where to start.
00:08:14
I didn't know how to start.
00:08:15
And I remember a couple of years later when I was doing my
00:08:20
lifestyle modeling because that's how I got into my
00:08:24
lifestyle modeling and social media and marketing and all that
00:08:28
fun stuff.
00:08:29
Kutloano Skosana: Right right.
00:08:30
Lizzy Hudson: I found podcasting , where I actually had a podcast
00:08:36
called Lizzy Straight Out of Africa or something like that in
00:08:41
2014.
00:08:44
And I just spoke about my story a lot and that was the closest
00:08:49
thing to me as a radio host.
00:08:53
And so when I was talking about my story and people were really
00:08:57
interested in what I had to say because that's another story
00:09:02
for another day I really got.
00:09:06
I found a passion for podcasting, but I got bored of
00:09:10
just talking to myself the whole time and I was like where do I
00:09:16
have people come into my, into my space and we talk about
00:09:20
either business?
00:09:21
woman in business was one series I did and then, and it kind of
00:09:27
just grew from that when Live to Thrive really came to fruition
00:09:32
was after 2020, I went through a huge identity crisis, for some
00:09:41
like some reason.
00:09:43
Well, it's not some reason.
00:09:44
A huge reason was because when George Floyd happened and I saw
00:09:49
that with my own eyes I was like I, we are not loved in this
00:09:55
country yeah and I moved from South Africa to get a better
00:10:00
life, to find those opportunities and really get a
00:10:05
better life, to find those opportunities and really thrive
00:10:07
states, and when that happened, it kind of was like a light bulb
00:10:16
went off in my head and I was like this is something that we
00:10:18
need to talk about, I need to bring this out.
00:10:20
I need to talk to people that look like me.
00:10:23
I need to talk to minority groups and talk to them about
00:10:27
their experiences, how they go through their mental health,
00:10:32
their struggles, and maybe this could be a tool for someone that
00:10:37
is having a really hard day where they may be in an office
00:10:42
where they're the only black person, and I mean, I'm in that
00:10:45
situation right now.
00:10:47
Yeah, and I think people don't talk about it enough.
00:10:51
Like as a black woman, as a woman from a different country
00:10:55
that sounds completely different from everybody within the
00:10:59
office.
00:11:00
I have so much imposter syndrome.
00:11:03
I feel like I'm not, I'm not supposed to be there, I think
00:11:08
that I'm not worthy of being there and I have to like
00:11:11
continually tell myself that I was, I was picked to be here for
00:11:16
a reason.
00:11:16
But that little voice in my head is like you've been given
00:11:20
this opportunity, you need to be happy that you're here and you
00:11:23
need to prove, you need to work harder to prove that you allow
00:11:26
to sit at the same table.
00:11:29
A lot of pressure, yeah, it's a lot of pressure, so that's why I
00:11:34
started it.
00:11:35
Kutloano Skosana: True.
00:11:35
So who are your guests?
00:11:37
Where are they from?
00:11:38
Are they all people of color from America?
00:11:42
You know who do you speak to in general.
00:11:45
Lizzy Hudson: I speak to everybody within the United
00:11:47
States.
00:11:47
I mean, if I get big enough, maybe I'll branch out, but yeah,
00:11:52
it's everyone from the United States.
00:11:54
I do like a little bit of a screening to see if that
00:11:59
person's story resonates with my audience, and it's been like a
00:12:05
huge learning curve.
00:12:06
I mean you have your own podcast.
00:12:08
Yeah.
00:12:09
It's a lot of work.
00:12:13
Of course.
00:12:15
Yeah, you have to be really diligent.
00:12:17
You have to line up guests, you have to screen them, you have
00:12:21
to get them on.
00:12:22
It's a lot of work.
00:12:23
So all of my guests are from the states and they I I
00:12:29
primarily focus on black people.
00:12:34
It's been mostly like black woman in business or.
00:12:39
But now I've been, I interviewed a Latina, I
00:12:45
interviewed a Korean woman, so it's been I'm kind of I'm
00:12:50
branching out and it's really awesome.
00:12:52
Kutloano Skosana: Right.
00:12:53
So the podcast for you is a way to also maintain your own
00:12:58
mental health.
00:12:59
This is what I'm hearing you say, and what are you hearing
00:13:03
from your guests in terms of how they are staying sane in a
00:13:08
hostile environment, so to speak ?
00:13:12
Lizzy Hudson: First of all, yes, this podcast is very much for
00:13:16
my own mental health.
00:13:17
I think that it's helping me get through some situations that
00:13:20
I kind of feel stuck in.
00:13:22
Yes, therapy helps as well, but it's really nice to hear
00:13:26
someone else's story where we resonate and we go through the
00:13:29
same thing.
00:13:30
Second of all, a lot of my guests talk about they start
00:13:35
about like where they came from, their history.
00:13:38
Then they tell me about how they have overcome that.
00:13:43
That I've had guests on that have written books.
00:13:47
So I had a woman that actually made a journal that takes you
00:13:53
through step by step on how to overcome like that imposter
00:13:57
syndrome and that really stemmed from her background, with her
00:14:01
parents, you know, not caring for her and things like that.
00:14:06
And then, she wrote a book and that's how she got through her
00:14:09
mental struggles I have.
00:14:12
Another girl came on and spoke about how when she's having that
00:14:17
anxiety and and mental stress from work, she really, really
00:14:22
makes the point to take three deep breaths and just stand
00:14:26
where she is and feel the ground and for her to kind of come
00:14:30
back.
00:14:31
So it's just everybody goes through the same things but not
00:14:36
everybody deals with it the same , which is so great for me,
00:14:40
because now I have tools to be like oh, I can take three deep
00:14:45
breaths and just stand here for a minute, you know, like I never
00:14:49
thought of those things.
00:14:50
So it's been great.
00:14:51
It's been great hearing everybody's mental struggles and
00:14:54
how they overcame them, and it's helped me a lot.
00:14:58
Kutloano Skosana: Yeah, so what were your impressions of the
00:15:01
United States when you moved here in 2012?
00:15:10
Lizzy Hudson: Oh my word! I was a fish out of water.
00:15:11
I thought that I was.
00:15:11
If I tell you the story, you're gonna laugh, but I used to
00:15:13
watch Basketball Wives of LA oh my goodness yeah, I used to
00:15:20
watch basketball wives of la in south africa and I was like okay
00:15:23
, when I go to California I'm going to find myself a
00:15:27
basketball husband.
00:15:32
Kutloano Skosana: I'm laughing because I've seen your husband.
00:15:34
Yes, let's hear it.
00:15:35
You couldn't get more different , but yes.
00:15:42
Lizzy Hudson: So different, so different, and so that didn't
00:15:46
happen guys.
00:15:46
I do not have a basketball husband.
00:15:49
I have a husband that's in the tech industry.
00:15:52
So yeah, so when I came here, I actually landed in Santa
00:15:59
Barbara, which is just an hour and a half out of LA, and super,
00:16:03
super small town, beautiful, beautiful town, beach town, but
00:16:08
so white, like so white, literally.
00:16:11
I was like one of the two other black people that lived there.
00:16:15
Oh, wow.
00:16:16
And everybody would see me walking down the street and call
00:16:19
me hey, South Africa, oh, no, yeah, yeah.
00:16:22
Wow, yeah, so Wow.
00:16:23
Oh yeah, oh, no, yeah yeah.
00:16:26
Wow, yeah so.
00:16:27
Kutloano Skosana: Wow, oh yeah, oh yeah, I have a name, hello.
00:16:30
Lizzy Hudson: Yeah, exactly, my name's Lizzie.
00:16:32
But it was a huge learning curve because I came here out of high
00:16:36
school and, you know, I went to boarding school in South Africa
00:16:40
, so I was already very isolated .
00:16:42
And then I came to the States where it was just such a
00:16:47
different culture, different food, and it was.
00:16:49
It wasn't a huge culture shock, but it was just a lot of trying
00:16:55
to change my mindset.
00:16:56
Being in a town that was super white and having to try and
00:17:00
blend in was really hard for me, and then also just navigating
00:17:06
life as an adult.
00:17:07
I didn't have, you know, I'm out of high school, I don't have
00:17:09
my mom, I have to figure out work, I have to figure out how
00:17:12
to eat, I have to socialize and and make a living for myself and
00:17:18
make a name for myself.
00:17:19
So it was, it was hard, but I think that I would obviously
00:17:25
would not be where I am at today , living in Seattle and, and you
00:17:31
know, doing the things that I love, that I don't really have
00:17:35
to think about, which most people don't have the privilege
00:17:38
to do.
00:17:39
So I'm very, very lucky, very lucky that I landed up here.
00:17:43
Kutloano Skosana: I mean, you could have ended up anywhere in
00:17:45
the world UK, where South Africans go, australia, new
00:17:49
Zealand why the USA?
00:17:52
Lizzy Hudson: That's a great question, because after high
00:17:56
school, you know, we always take a gap year as South Africans,
00:18:00
and we I was going to go to the UK with one of my best friends
00:18:05
and spend about six to eight months there, and I then pulled
00:18:11
out just because I was like every South African goes to the
00:18:15
UK, let me try something different.
00:18:17
So I planned to come to America for six to eight months and I
00:18:24
have family that live in Santa Barbara, so I went and I stayed
00:18:28
with them for a while and then I started going to college in
00:18:34
Santa Barbara and that's how I ended up staying.
00:18:38
Kutloano Skosana: Oh, that's great, and the rest is history.
00:18:42
And the rest is history.
00:18:44
This is Shades and Layers, and my guest today is the creator
00:18:48
and host of the Live to Thrive podcast and social media
00:18:53
solopreneur, lizzie Hudson to Thrive podcast and social media
00:18:58
solopreneur, Lizzy Hudson.
00:18:59
Up next, we discuss her take on how social media has evolved as
00:19:00
a business tool and how artificial intelligence is
00:19:03
changing the landscape.
00:19:04
We also get to hear about her own struggles with social media
00:19:09
and mental health and, most importantly, we zoom in on how
00:19:13
the contrasts between South Africa and the USA have
00:19:17
influenced her career and life choices.
00:19:19
So let's talk about the freelancing side of it.
00:19:23
What do you do in that space and who do you work with?
00:19:29
Lizzy Hudson: Yeah, so I still speak to a lot of my old clients
00:19:34
in Santa Barbara.
00:19:35
Still speak to a lot of my old clients in Santa Barbara.
00:19:40
I had my own social media marketing business in Santa
00:19:42
Barbara and so with my freelancing, I help a little
00:19:46
boutique store with her website.
00:19:48
You're doing online sales.
00:19:50
It's like an old mom and pop bikini store and she doesn't
00:19:54
know how to really be online, and so I help her with updates
00:20:01
with her website and I help her with selling stuff on her
00:20:05
website.
00:20:06
I have a lady that does wigs and hair that needs help with
00:20:09
her website, and then I also just give advice on how their
00:20:14
social media is looking, how to grow their following, how to
00:20:19
keep their Instagram feeds cohesive and clean.
00:20:23
For businesses, I think that like, but now, in 2023, I don't
00:20:29
think people care about how cohesive your social media is.
00:20:33
I think it's just how authentic you are.
00:20:35
So doing that switch, and also, people just don't like.
00:20:39
You can't like.
00:20:40
Back in the day, it was like how many followers do you have?
00:20:43
Now it's actually about are your followers interested in the
00:20:47
story you're telling and are they quality followers?
00:20:50
So just giving them advice on the online presence.
00:20:54
Kutloano Skosana: Right, that's pretty cool.
00:20:56
I mean, social media is one of those areas where I think a lot
00:21:01
of people are doing guesswork.
00:21:03
Most of us are doing guesswork, so you know there's talks of
00:21:09
algorithms changing all the time and now with AI, things are
00:21:12
getting even murkier.
00:21:14
So yeah, I mean, how do you use it personally?
00:21:19
How do you advise people to engage socially if you know they
00:21:24
have a small business and such?
00:21:26
Lizzy Hudson: well, yeah, if you have a small business, I think
00:21:31
being the number one thing nowadays because, like you said,
00:21:34
ai everything is about to be so fake.
00:21:39
I got a Instagram ad, not like a couple of days ago, of a woman
00:21:45
just running down a random field and then she used AI to
00:21:49
make it look like she was running in a field where there
00:21:51
was a huge castle and water around her.
00:21:55
And it's this new app that can make you appear wherever you
00:21:59
want in the world, and that wasn't intriguing to me.
00:22:02
That actually scared me.
00:22:04
Now people are going to share, like not the truth, because they
00:22:09
want to.
00:22:10
Kutloano Skosana: And already there's a lot of that right.
00:22:13
Lizzy Hudson: A hundred percent, and AI is a good thing and a
00:22:16
bad thing.
00:22:16
I think that there's going to be things that happen that are
00:22:22
just fake living, but the advice I have for businesses is yes, a
00:22:28
hundred percent.
00:22:30
Hire your social media manager to make your stuff look
00:22:34
professional and clean and whatever you need to do.
00:22:37
But I think being being authentically yourself is the
00:22:41
biggest thing that resonates with people in general, because
00:22:47
we scrolling all the time and so if I feel like you're not
00:22:52
authentically yourself, I'm not going to follow you.
00:22:55
In a world where everybody's online all the time, I think
00:23:01
showing that humanness with you and your consumers will build
00:23:07
that brand trust and just being truthful, because Instagram ads
00:23:13
sometimes get me and I buy things off Instagram and then
00:23:18
I'm like I should not have done that.
00:23:21
Kutloano Skosana: It's so easy, it's so easy.
00:23:23
Lizzy Hudson: Yeah, yeah.
00:23:24
You asked me about my how I use social for my personal.
00:23:32
And I think when I was living in Santa Barbara, I was aspiring
00:23:36
to be a influencer and I had thousands of followers.
00:23:40
I was in the 15.
00:23:43
If you look at my Instagram now I'm down to nine because I was
00:23:47
really trying to get big and I was doing professional photos
00:23:50
and I was podcasting and I was this brand strategist and all of
00:23:53
this fun, exciting stuff and I always had to post every single
00:24:01
day.
00:24:01
And I think that during that time of my life I went through a
00:24:03
lot of difficulty as a small business owner, just a
00:24:07
freelancer.
00:24:08
I went through a lot of hard times because I had to always
00:24:12
keep up with the times Because if I didn't post content I would
00:24:16
lose my following.
00:24:17
And now I think what I use social media for is just to be
00:24:22
authentically myself.
00:24:23
I don't post every day.
00:24:25
I don't post like beautiful pictures every day of myself.
00:24:32
I look sometimes.
00:24:33
Look back at my old Instagram.
00:24:35
I was like, oh, my word cringe.
00:24:38
I was so self-centered, if you want to say, I would post a
00:24:42
picture of myself and make sure that I had over 300 likes to
00:24:48
make me feel better.
00:24:49
Now I don't care.
00:24:50
I love sharing things about mental health.
00:24:54
I love sharing things about my partner and I.
00:24:58
I love home organizing, I love looking after my plants, so now
00:25:06
I'm really trying to just be myself and being okay with not
00:25:11
getting that validation, and it's been a huge learning curve
00:25:16
for me.
00:25:18
Kutloano Skosana: Yeah, yeah.
00:25:18
So you mentioned that George Floyd was a big turning point
00:25:23
for you.
00:25:23
Was there anything else that brought you to this realization
00:25:27
that you know this whole, I would say aesthetic aspiration?
00:25:33
Was not it for you and probably not contributing to you
00:25:39
thriving.
00:25:40
Lizzy Hudson: Yeah, I think the biggest thing was George Floyd.
00:25:43
That was like my biggest thing.
00:25:45
My second biggest thing was I am adopted into a white family.
00:25:55
So I think like getting really deep now.
00:25:59
I think the trigger was George Floyd and then realizing racism
00:26:06
is very much alive in this country but it's been sweeped
00:26:09
under the rug for many, many, many, many, many years.
00:26:11
I think I kind of had my blinders on from 2012 to 2020.
00:26:16
And I shared my feelings with my mom and she kind of didn't
00:26:26
click how bad it was and she made a comment that kind of
00:26:33
triggered me.
00:26:34
Where, oh, we living in America ?
00:26:36
She's a white South African.
00:26:37
You know we went through a party.
00:26:39
You know she adopted my sister.
00:26:41
Now she's giving us so many, so many opportunities that I love.
00:26:47
And so she made a comment where it was like oh you know, we in
00:26:51
America, now we they'll, they'll figure it out and they'll,
00:26:55
they'll get justice.
00:26:57
And I was like, no, but like, just literally killed him, like
00:27:06
let's open our eyes a little bit you know, and so that was like
00:27:11
the second thing where I was just like, oh my gosh, like I
00:27:15
have no way to turn, because every time I turn there's
00:27:20
another white person and I and I'm not discriminating, I mean
00:27:23
my partner's white, my family's white.
00:27:25
We talk about this all the time and I think that, like for me,
00:27:31
it was like realizing oh, and at the time I was living in a very
00:27:34
, very predominantly white town, so everywhere I was looking, I
00:27:40
felt like I didn't have anyone to turn to because no one could
00:27:44
understand.
00:27:45
And that is when I actually went into like a depression
00:27:50
where I was like what am I doing ?
00:27:53
Why am I firstly in this town?
00:27:58
Why is my mom not clicking?
00:28:01
That there's something very wrong here.
00:28:03
Why am I feeling this way?
00:28:07
And that's when I was like I need an outlet, I need to get my
00:28:12
feelings out.
00:28:13
I need to, even if it's just me talking to myself or even if
00:28:16
it's me going online and interviewing someone that is
00:28:21
going through the same feelings of exhaustion and sadness and
00:28:27
like an identity crisis that I'm going through.
00:28:29
And so that was kind of the turning point for me and I think
00:28:34
it's kind of me, it's left a stain, I think I, it's like,
00:28:41
made me realize wherever I go in life after 2020, I am very
00:28:48
hyper aware of who's around me.
00:28:51
I never really used to care.
00:28:52
I used to to just be like people are people.
00:28:55
I love everybody.
00:28:56
Like you're black, you're white , and now I walk into a room and
00:29:02
I'll be like hmm, yeah, but the .
00:29:06
Kutloano Skosana: US will also make you hyper aware.
00:29:08
I mean, did you find a huge difference between being in
00:29:11
South Africa, where most people look like you and you never had
00:29:17
to think about being black or being a person of color, but
00:29:24
still you did have to think about things like that, but it
00:29:27
was in a different context.
00:29:28
So what were the contrasts for you between South Africa and the
00:29:35
US?
00:29:37
Lizzy Hudson: Well, I mean, I freaking love South Africa.
00:29:40
I miss it so much, but I think for me there was the flip coin
00:29:45
of that.
00:29:46
right Is I was always called a coconut growing up back on the
00:29:51
outside wide in the inside, growing up, black on the outside
00:29:53
, white in the inside, and I always felt like I had to prove
00:30:00
myself, that I was black enough.
00:30:03
And because I was surrounded by black people left, right and
00:30:08
center which was amazing, because, yeah, I saw myself
00:30:11
everywhere, I loved it.
00:30:12
But then there was the flip side, where I had to feel I had
00:30:17
to prove that I was African enough to my fellow black people
00:30:22
.
00:30:22
That was hard for me because I speak white yeah, that thing
00:30:30
right.
00:30:30
Kutloano Skosana: Yeah, you know .
00:30:32
Lizzy Hudson: I, I, I even remember like a vivid memory in
00:30:39
in in boarding school.
00:30:42
We were walking down to the hall to eat breakfast or lunch,
00:30:48
whatever it was, and we were walking in and all the black
00:30:51
kids were around a table like laughing and making jokes and
00:30:55
stuff like that.
00:30:55
And my sister was there even and I like walked up there to
00:30:59
see like what they were talking about and all my white friends
00:31:04
took me back and was like Lizzie , that's not for you to wife
00:31:07
that table, oh.
00:31:08
And I was like what?
00:31:13
And they're like you too, too white, come, come coconut.
00:31:16
And I kind of, at that point in my like growing up-ness, if you
00:31:24
want to say I was like, oh shit , like I'm black, but I'm not
00:31:34
black enough, like what.
00:31:35
That doesn't make any sense to me.
00:31:38
You know, and that's where I got the idea of always just loving
00:31:43
whoever you are, no matter what you look like around me, like I
00:31:47
would not notice what you look like.
00:31:51
Because I knew how I felt when someone noticed what I looked
00:31:56
like and said that oh, I don't belong.
00:31:59
So I told myself growing up that no matter who you are white
00:32:03
, black, asian, latina, whatever you are I'm going to accept you
00:32:09
for who you are, because I don't.
00:32:10
I just don't want anyone to feel that like the feeling that
00:32:15
I felt in that moment.
00:32:18
And then also, when I came to the States it was like that's
00:32:21
why I was so oh, love everybody.
00:32:23
And then it's just like I have a lot of weird no, absolutely no
00:32:30
, no, no, I hear you, I hear you yeah.
00:32:33
Yeah, yeah, which boarding school did you go to?
00:32:35
I went to treviden college okay and kwaZulu-Natal yeah, yeah,
00:32:41
yeah, yeah.
00:32:43
Kutloano Skosana: No, I I went to rodin and I still have scars
00:32:49
oh, really I need to know, all of those, because it's for real.
00:32:54
It is for real.
00:32:55
I mean it's the thing is it's just so insidious.
00:32:58
You know it's little things, you know it's like that, what
00:33:01
they call the death of a thousand cuts.
00:33:03
It's not necessarily just one big incident, you know, it's
00:33:07
this little things that chip away at you, but yeah, so okay.
00:33:12
So we're getting into that, those contrasts between South
00:33:14
Africa and the US.
00:33:16
But now you know where do you find yourself in terms of, you
00:33:20
know, making peace with everything that's happened and
00:33:24
living your best life, living my best life, still learning.
00:33:30
Lizzy Hudson: You know, I'm 31 years old and I'm still learning
00:33:33
.
00:33:33
I am really trying to be mindful of how I talk to myself
00:33:41
because I'm in my head all day.
00:33:43
So just trying to be mindful of how I talk to myself.
00:33:47
I am really not putting expectations on people that I
00:33:55
care and love about, because if I do that, I know that I'm going
00:33:59
to be disappointed.
00:34:00
So I don't want to be disappointed.
00:34:02
So learning to not have expectations but just caring
00:34:08
about the people that I love and really living in the moment is
00:34:12
the biggest thing that I'm working on right now.
00:34:14
Living in the moment is the biggest thing that I'm working
00:34:20
on right now In terms of peace and how I've really embraced
00:34:23
that and working through it.
00:34:27
I think that I don't have any animosity to any of the people
00:34:35
that said those things in high school and things like that.
00:34:38
I don't have.
00:34:38
I don't.
00:34:39
I'm not holding on to the past.
00:34:42
I think I am really focusing on letting go and letting be.
00:34:50
I know that sounds so cliche and cringe, but it's making me
00:34:58
really become at peace with myself, at peace with people
00:35:04
that I interact with and really knowing that wherever one person
00:35:10
is in life is completely different to where you're at and
00:35:14
you never know what other people are going through.
00:35:16
Different to where you're at and you never know what other
00:35:19
people are going through.
00:35:20
So just not it's that expectation factor again, just
00:35:24
not having expectations on people, because then it just
00:35:27
leads to disappointment.
00:35:28
Kutloano Skosana: This is Shades and Layers.
00:35:29
It's now time to get into the nitty gritty of podcasting with
00:35:34
my guest, lizzie Hudson, who hosts the Live to Thrive podcast
00:35:38
, which can be found on the podcast player where you are
00:35:40
listening to us right now.
00:35:42
We also get into the shades and layers rapid fire, so stick
00:35:46
around and find out what Lizzie is thinking in terms of writing
00:35:49
her life story and the black women she admires.
00:35:53
Podcasting for healing, healing .
00:35:55
How do you meet other podcasters?
00:35:56
I know we met online, so do you have, do you have, fellow pod
00:36:02
friends?
00:36:04
Lizzy Hudson: no, and I really want to have fellow pod friends.
00:36:06
I think it would be cool to do like a panel or something yeah
00:36:11
like you know, in podcast, yeah, it's even though we hate it.
00:36:17
We hate to love it, but social media is where I find all my
00:36:23
podcast shows absolutely that's how I mean.
00:36:26
That's how I met you.
00:36:27
I've met another woman that has her own podcast, which is also
00:36:31
just an apology particularly herself, which I've like started
00:36:36
following and stuff.
00:36:37
And social media connects me to all my pod friends.
00:36:41
Kutloano Skosana: Great, great.
00:36:42
And you know how are you organized there.
00:36:46
I know you've got this website, or rather a link tree, right
00:36:50
where people can book to be a guest, and all of that, but you
00:36:54
know how are you organized in terms of you know equipment.
00:36:57
Have you had a rough landing and learning curve as far as
00:37:01
getting into this space goes?
00:37:05
Lizzy Hudson: yeah, it was pretty rough right at the
00:37:06
beginning, but no, I have my equipment, I have.
00:37:09
You can book through link tree.
00:37:12
But yeah, there's a link, it will link you to my calendar.
00:37:16
You choose a time for screening .
00:37:19
I like to screen people, just to see the fibers, because I'm
00:37:22
just interviewing random people, so I just want to make sure
00:37:26
that we know each other a little bit before the podcast, and
00:37:30
then I'll send you a link to the actual podcast day, and then
00:37:35
I'll send you a link to where we meet, which is Zencastle, which
00:37:39
is for podcasters, and then, and then we record, and I have
00:37:44
my little recording station right here.
00:37:47
It's a big microphone, but this is good for zoom, so I was like
00:37:51
, let me use this one so I have all my equipment.
00:37:55
Kutloano Skosana: That's all good yeah.
00:37:57
Lizzy Hudson: But yeah, I do have everything.
00:37:59
Kutloano Skosana: Yeah, and do you do all your own editing?
00:38:03
Do you outsource?
00:38:04
What's your setup there?
00:38:06
Lizzy Hudson: Maybe I should get advice from you here.
00:38:09
Kutloano Skosana: Oh my gosh.
00:38:10
Lizzy Hudson: I do my own editing.
00:38:12
I did actually outsource to someone to edit and I paid them
00:38:16
a monthly fee, but I had to go into to the podcast and re-edit
00:38:21
what they had edited because they would miss out certain
00:38:26
things because, like during a podcast, not everything flows
00:38:30
right you want to cut something out, but you have to make sure
00:38:33
that it makes sense.
00:38:34
So so I outsourced and I had to always do that and I'm like I'm
00:38:39
doing more work than just sending my podcast to someone.
00:38:43
So I've just come to terms to just editing and producing it.
00:38:48
I mean, I still have a lot to learn with editing and I edit on
00:38:52
on GarageBand, which is super simple and it comes on the
00:38:57
laptop, and I haven't gotten any complaints yet, so I guess
00:39:01
that's a good sign.
00:39:05
Kutloano Skosana: It's always a good sign.
00:39:06
How do?
00:39:08
Lizzy Hudson: you edit yours.
00:39:10
Kutloano Skosana: Yeah, so I use a platform called Hindenburg.
00:39:14
That's because I'm an audio first podcast and because I do
00:39:18
have a background in radio.
00:39:19
Editing is something that I did professionally for a long time,
00:39:24
so it's it's quite easy for me to work with the platform.
00:39:27
You know, listen in, chop, change etc.
00:39:30
So yeah, so that that's that's been working for me, and then I
00:39:35
just, you know, send it out via buzzsprout and then.
00:39:39
I'm out on all the yeah it's my distribution, yeah, channels,
00:39:43
yeah yeah, and then you know, as you can see, I've got my little
00:39:47
booth here, which is literally a cupboard that my husband and I
00:39:52
kind of kitted out with.
00:39:53
You know, these pads, yeah, the soundproofing pads, and yeah,
00:39:58
little decoration and yeah, thank you.
00:40:00
It's the simplest setup under the sun.
00:40:03
My table is not even big enough for a mug of coffee, it's just.
00:40:09
Lizzy Hudson: Well, I can't see that, which is a good thing, but
00:40:14
yeah, I love it, I love it.
00:40:15
And your podcast is weekly.
00:40:19
Kutloano Skosana: So I do seasons and I usually have eight
00:40:23
to 10 episodes per season and more or less the episodes tie
00:40:27
together their themes.
00:40:28
You know, and you'll find that the majority of episodes in one
00:40:33
season is fashioned and I always have an ongoing conversation
00:40:37
about beauty, beauty standards, hair, etc.
00:40:41
All the issues that affect Black women, but mostly because
00:40:44
I find that these are the spaces where Black women have found
00:40:49
freedom and are thriving.
00:40:50
It's in service to ourselves, so I always make sure to amplify
00:40:56
that.
00:40:56
Whether you have a small batch production that makes skincare
00:41:01
or you know hair care, I always make room for those episodes in
00:41:06
a season.
00:41:06
I'm founded in the belief that we all learn through stories
00:41:11
Like if you think about it.
00:41:13
The first thing you know yeah, it's stories, fairy tales and
00:41:18
whatever folk tales, whether it's from your grandma telling
00:41:21
you stories or reading in a book , etc.
00:41:24
Yeah, our, our life lessons come from stories.
00:41:28
Yeah, so, in terms of episodes, how many do you do?
00:41:32
Do you do weekly?
00:41:33
Is it an open, ongoing thing?
00:41:37
Lizzy Hudson: I used to just do interviews, but I think that in
00:41:42
between interviews I do a podcast of like a learning that
00:41:46
I've done.
00:41:48
I did one about imposter syndrome, I did one about
00:41:52
leveling your mindset, and so I break it out between like
00:41:56
interviews and me, and then I literally do about also eight to
00:42:03
ten episodes a season.
00:42:05
But I'm trying something different this, this season.
00:42:09
I want to see how like far I can get, just consistently just
00:42:15
putting episodes out.
00:42:17
I don't have themes.
00:42:18
My theme, my constant theme, is mental health and your story
00:42:24
and then and also just how you overcame like hard situations in
00:42:29
your life, and then also very much it's mostly women in
00:42:34
business.
00:42:35
It's mostly women in business, women that, have you know, had
00:42:39
different experiences, maybe made a book, tv shows like yeah,
00:42:44
so it's just, it's just everybody and anybody that has a
00:42:52
good story to tell and contributes to my mental health
00:42:54
theme.
00:42:54
Kutloano Skosana: Right, that's great.
00:42:55
So where do you want to take it ?
00:42:57
Lizzy Hudson: Good question.
00:42:58
If I'm looking into the future, like, do I want to be like a
00:43:06
huge podcast?
00:43:07
That would be great.
00:43:08
I think that would be my ultimate goal, where I could
00:43:11
just podcast every day and like every day and meet different
00:43:15
people.
00:43:15
I think that's the the ultimate goal, but I also know that it's
00:43:19
just so much work you'd have to do it full time and there's no
00:43:25
money in podcasting.
00:43:26
Kutloano Skosana: I mean, yes, you get little advertisements
00:43:28
here and there sure but it's just like I can't pay my
00:43:31
mortgage yeah, you have to finance it some other way, right
00:43:35
?
00:43:35
Yeah, yeah no absolutely so I always do a rapid fire also with
00:43:42
all my guests and uh yeah.
00:43:45
So three questions.
00:43:45
First one what would you call your memoir and why?
00:43:50
Lizzy Hudson: what I would call my memoir.
00:43:51
I think it would just be very simple, just the life of lizzie
00:43:57
or something like that, or maybe overcoming adversity.
00:44:01
I don't know, I don't know, but those are the options or live to
00:44:06
thrive Uh-huh, I'm kidding and why?
00:44:10
I think it would just be touching on how, no matter where
00:44:15
you come from in this life, be touching on how, no matter where
00:44:21
you come from in this life, you have the option to really
00:44:23
thrive and make a life that you want.
00:44:24
I think that we get.
00:44:26
I've been in this situation where I get stuck in feeling
00:44:32
sorry for myself, so I think my memoir would be about my life
00:44:37
story, about losing my mom at a young age, getting adopted into
00:44:42
a Y family, moving to boarding school and coming to America on
00:44:47
my own.
00:44:48
Lots of turns and things have happened in my life that have
00:44:54
been scary and I think it's just to tell people that, no matter
00:45:00
where you come from, you can do it.
00:45:01
Kutloano Skosana: Yeah, awesome, and let's take that book and
00:45:05
turn it into a film.
00:45:06
Who would you pick for the lead actress?
00:45:09
Lizzy Hudson: I feel like Gabrielle Union.
00:45:10
Oh, nice yeah.
00:45:12
Kutloano Skosana: I can see the resemblance, yeah, yeah.
00:45:14
And the last one is which famous black woman would you
00:45:18
invite to dinner, living or dead , and why?
00:45:21
Lizzy Hudson: First name came up as, like, rosa Parks, but I
00:45:26
don't know.
00:45:26
I think I want to change it though, so what?
00:45:29
Kutloano Skosana: famous woman.
00:45:30
Yeah, which famous black woman would you invite to dinner, and
00:45:33
why?
00:45:34
What's her?
00:45:42
Lizzy Hudson: name, that's from Empire, Taraji P Hansen.
00:45:44
Yes, Cookie, yeah, cookie, taraji, I love her, and Viola
00:45:47
Davis too.
00:45:48
So but I think I would want to meet Viola Davis and I would
00:45:54
love to love her to take me out for dinner, because I have no
00:45:57
money.
00:45:57
So she and I would love to talk to her about just her acting
00:46:05
career, because I know that she's gone through a lot in
00:46:09
regards to her acting career and stuff like that with not paying
00:46:13
, being paid enough as other white actresses and things like
00:46:18
that and I also would love to pick her brain on all her her
00:46:22
characters, like my favorite character is from artsy getaway
00:46:27
with murder.
00:46:28
Kutloano Skosana: I love her in that oh my god, and Analise here
00:46:30
and at least yeah, oh my gosh, yes, that was one scary woman.
00:46:36
Lizzy Hudson: Yep, Yep.
00:46:37
So that's who I would.
00:46:38
I would want to chat to.
00:46:42
Kutloano Skosana: Yeah Cool, that's fantastic.
00:46:43
So where can people find you if they want to connect and work
00:46:48
with you or you know, just say hello.
00:46:52
Lizzy Hudson: You can say hello to me on on my course page,
00:46:56
which is Live2ThrivePod, so it's L-I-V-E-T-O-T-H-R-I-V-E-Pod,
00:47:05
p-o-d, so you can follow me there.
00:47:08
Kutloano Skosana: Fantastic, and that is all from me this time
00:47:12
around.
00:47:13
Thank you for listening and thank you for recommending
00:47:16
Shades and Layers to your friends.
00:47:17
For a link to Lizzie Hudson's work, please visit the show
00:47:21
notes While you are there.
00:47:23
Please do a girl a favor by rating and reviewing Shades and
00:47:26
Layers so that others can find us.
00:47:28
Five stars would be amazing.
00:47:30
Thanks so much for your support .
00:47:32
As always, I'm Guduanus Kosana Ritchie and until next time,
00:47:37
please do take good care.