Weight Loss, "Better Life Now" │ Jenn Trepeck, Founder

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Kayleigh Christina, COO & Co-Founder of "ClearSTEM", sits down IRL to discuss her journey with acne and her line of groundbreaking, innovative products (anti-aging, anti-acne, non-toxic). We also discuss why education is so important, the high costs and effects of stress/hormone changes between men and women, setting personal boundaries, healthy work balance routines, self-image and mental health, pressures of being an entrepreneur and not feeling constantly behind compared to others, and how to find fulfillment in your current job.

LEARN ABOUT CLEARSTEM: https://www.instagram.com/clearstemskincare/

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

• So Kayleigh, briefly explain to us what is ClearSTEM?
• People experience all of kinds of traumas or health issues, not everyone makes it their professional life. im curious what about your experience was so impactful that made you want to go into this full time and dedicate yourself to it?
• I’d like to focus in on is the education component to your business, and building a community around it. Because I feel like where most Millennials struggle is in finding fulfillment and meaning in their career, or doing things just for the optics of it. And you wear your heart on your sleeve and are very vulnerable to the outside world. Tell me more about that decision and strategy to focus on the education aspect
• Not to make this a gender thing, but I didn’t realize how much women deal with skin issues and the complex web of decisions and money associated with it. Let’s list them. Hormones, birth control, digestion, exfoliation, expensive serums, antibiotics, supplements, endless prescriptions. It’s exhausting just thinking about it. Do we need to educate men as much as we do women?
• Do you ever feel overwhelmed? How do you create routines and practices to find balance?
• After your own experience with acne and meeting Danielle, why did you decide to go the CPG/product route, as opposed to being a coach or creating an online course? 
• Let’s talk briefly about building community. How do you get the word out? How do you grow a community? Is it all word of mouth? Do you have to spend heavily on Instagram and facebook ads? What tips or lessons can you share?
• Other than improving their own skin, what does the ClearSTEM community care about? What are some common themes or trends you can share, or repeated misinformation?
• I want to ask you about self-image. Because you’re both a beauty company and a health company. On one hand, you help people regain confidence in themselves and improve their overall skin health. That’s an incredibly important thing, and there’s nothing controversial about that. There’s nothing wrong with people wanting to look and feel good, am I right? On the other hand, as a society, and with social media, often people feel really pressured to have perfect skin, perfect body, free from any imperfections, using filters. What’s your take on that, and where’s the balance from a mental health perspective?
• (Are we too much of a consumerist culture? As you said yourself, people always want whatever is new and exciting. But often it can be misleading.)
• What pressures do you feel Kayleigh?
• What advice would you give to those who don’t feel fully satisfied in their career or current job?
• Hypothetically speaking, if you hadn’t discovered Danielle, what would you be doing?
• What is something you wish you had known 5 years ago, or that someone had told you, which would have made your life so much easier?

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Tracy Komlos and Aimee Greenacre, Co-Founders of "LA Hike Club", sit down to discuss their journey creating a community with over 900+ members (and growing!) exclusively through word of mouth. We also discuss why having a barrier to entry is a good thing (hint: better group energy), how do you build a culture that people want to be a part of? Tips on how to create a community, fear of failure vs. fear of success, when does a side project turns into a full time business?, avoiding burnout, worldwide expansion, the importance of having a morning routine!

SOME OF TRACY AND AIMEE’S FAVORITE HIKES:

Temescal, Westridge Trail, Los Lionnes, Pasa nuermas, Will Rodgers, Murphy’s Ranch trail

LEARN ABOUT LA_Hike Club: https://www.instagram.com/la_hikeclub/
JOIN THEIR TELEGRAM GROUP: https://t.me/joinchat/1gZvzllfQ6M1NzBh

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

• Did you guys meet while you were both attending University of South Wales in Sydney? Tell us briefly about your journey to LA Hike Club and collaborating together.
• This to me is about so much more than hiking. Hiking is easy. What’s more interesting is how do you build a culture that people want to be a part of? The importance of having consistency, even when no one initially shows up. Everyone has to start from the ground floor so to speak. I’d love for you to share with listeners some insights into key lessons you’ve learned about building a community, managing a community. It takes a lot of work.
• A lot of people don’t start things or take initiative because they either fear failure, or actually fear success. I’m curious if you’ve ever felt that way, and how did overcome that? What advice can you give to others?
• As you grow, how do you make sure that new people feel welcomed? Is that important? Are people nervous or self-conscious about their own level of fitness when they show?
• How do you create a community that doesn’t feel cliquey, and is inclusive? Hiking requires a certain level of fitness, so it probably attracts people who are into wellness, or aspiring to increase their level of fitness. As you grow, how do you make sure that new people feel welcomed? Is that important? Are people nervous or self-conscious about their own level of fitness when they show?
• What are your goals for LA Hike Club? After what # of members do you feel the need to monetize? What if you wake up and tomorrow you have 20,000 members in your telegram group?
• Conversely though, how do you avoid burnout?
• What is something you wish you had known or that someone would have told you 5 years ago that would have made life so much easier? How can people learn more about LA Hike Club and get involved?

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Kelsey Tracewski, Founder of "The Chronically Well", sits down to discuss her career transition from a busy corporate lifestyle to owning her own wellness coaching practice, her journey with Crohn's and important lifestyle changes to prevent chronic illness, the effects of stress and inflammation in our daily lives, the challenges of switching careers later in life, importance of community and accountability, and how to differentiate yourself professionally within any competitive landscape.

LEARN ABOUT THE CHRONICALLY WELL: https://www.thechronicallywell.com/
INSTA: @thechronicallywell

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

• So tell us a little more about this big change in your career, what motivated you to start the chronically well? What’s the backstory?
• When did you start thinking about changing careers?
• Let’s talk about Crohn’s. So I have to admit I know of the term, but honestly don’t know exactly what the disease is. Can you describe to us a little more about what is Crohn’s disease? From a very high level?
• So is your work specific to helping people with Crohns, or any chronic illness? It’s hard to group all chronic illnesses under the same umbrella, is it not? Or do all chronic illnesses respond favorably to your program?
• Can changing your lifestyle now be preventative for the future? And how do you get that across to someone who doesn’t currently have a problem and thinks their lifestyle is okay? In other words, not to scare people, but is it possible that I may genetic predisposition to a chronic illness that I’m not even aware of, and maybe I’m a month away from it revealing itself? I’m sure most people only seek help after there’s a problem, not before. I’m curious of your thoughts on this?
• Should or can people test for genetic predispositions to chronic illnesses?
• I’m sure there are people listening now who also are thinking about changing careers, but fear taking that plunge. Who might be feeling stuck in a comfy corporate lifestyle. We all have financial concerns, no matter what our financial situation is. What advice would you give to others who might be considering making a career change? What are some lessons you’ve learned so far in your journey?
• I’m going to ask you a tough question. There are many coaches in the world. What gave you the confidence to say to yourself, “I can enter this really competitive landscape and differentiate myself”? And how does one differentiate themselves?
• Tell me about the community aspect to your work. 1 on 1 coaching is necessary. But how can you leverage a community to help people? In other words, we all need accountability partners in order to make sustainable change. It’s hard to commit to something by yourself.
• What is something you wish had known 5 or 10 years ago, that would have made your life so much easier had you known?
• How can we learn more about you and get involved? 

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Eric Dybvig & Meredith Baker, Co-Founders of "More Of That", unique and "bar-alternative" experiences to foster deeper meaningful connection, sits down IRL to discuss their origin story, their experiences living across the world and the psychology of tribalism, loneliness & social anxiety, how to prevent people from being "cliquey"?, alcohol and why many Millennials rely on substance-use for social connection, insights into their ideation process, differences between being single vs. in a relationship, and the what the future holds for More Of That....

LEARN ABOUT MORE OF THAT: https://moreofthat.life
INSTA: @more.of.that

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

• What is More of That? More of what?
• What’s been your favorite event so far?
• What’s your Origin Story?
• Why are people tribal? How do we break that pattern?
• Loneliness -Why does connection need structure in order to work?
• Alcohol - I’d be really curious to hear your thoughts on why alcohol, or drugs or substances in general, plays such a predominant role in social interactions. Does it go back to social anxiety? Or just looking cool? 
• Why is it so hard to scale community businesses?
• What's your Ideation process. You’re promoting unique, alternative events. How do you come up with these events? Do you feel pressure like you constantly have to “one up” each previous event in terms of creativity?
• I feel like when you’re single you care more about meeting others, and then there’s a clear divide. Once you start a family, you no longer actively seek out connection. Is that a fair statement?
• How can people get more involved and learn about more of that?

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Tasha Blank, founder of "The Get Down", a conscious dance party, and her newest project "The Portal", sits down virtually to discuss the former Get Down (the best dance party in New York City), how the dance floor is a microcosm of life, her upbringing raised outside D.C. and Minneapolis growing up surrounded by music and creativity, the connection between dance and trauma healing, her own struggles with shyness, social anxiety, sadness, anger, and how dance allows to connect with your inner beauty, feeling judged, brave vs. safe when feeling aligned, her post covid pivot, burnout, and next steps with portal.

LEARN ABOUT THE GET DOWN: https://www.thegetdownnyc.com/
JOIN THE PORTAL: https://tashablank.mykajabi.com/tasha-blank
INSTA: @tashablank

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

• Briefly explain, what is The Get Down?
• This to me feels like a Millennial version of Studio 54. It is the coolest, most fun, eclectic dance party out there. To me, it is the archetypical Millennial community. At face value, it seems so simple, centered around dance. But it’s actually much deeper than that, and touches many social issues, in terms of inclusivity, stereotypes, gender, race, etc. Is that a fair statement?
• Tell me about your upbringing briefly. I know you attended NYU….did you grow up in New York City? How would you define your childhood?
• I know you’ve spoken previously about trauma, depression, eating disorders, feeling defeated. What advice can you share about trauma healing? Other than dancing as the cure.
• I want to talk about inclusivity…..But to go from the opposite approach, what has happened with society, where it feels like we can’t even express ourselves with words? We’ve become so polarized, so overly sensitive to anyone feeling marginalized, that the least controversial thing we can do is move our bodies….and even that might be politicized or labeled. Is dance the only safe way to express ourselves anymore?
• Covid has to be hardest thing for you….how has get down pivoted? So much of energy is about experiencing it with other people, feeding off their body movements. You lose that virtually.
• What are the barriers? What prevents people from signing up?
• Dancing often can be associated with drinking or drug use, festivals, burning man, etc. allowing us to free ourselves. but interestingly, you encourage the opposite, and promote sobriety at your events. I’m curious if you could shed light on this decision, and why that is such an important aspect?
• Competitors….daybreaker. What makes you different? What's the magic sauce that differentiates you?
• What is something you wish someone had told you five years ago, or you had told yourself, that you had to learn on your own, but would have made life so much easier had you known?

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Tarek Kholoussy, Founder of "Nomads Giving Back" and "Nomad Skill Share", a community and social enterprise inspiring the nomad movement to connect with locals and give back to local communities, sits down IRL to discuss the multiple subplots of his life, his 180 degree journey from corporate life at Goldman Sachs to becoming a nomad, capitalism vs. social impact (can they co-exist?), the divided society we live in of traditional and non-traditional career paths, why the label “digital nomad” can be offensive, is “structure” a good thing or bad thing?, his future vision for the company, and overcoming fears.

JOIN THE NOMAD MOVEMENT: https://nomadsgivingback.com/
INSTA: @nomadsgivingback
CLUBHOUSE: search "Nomads Skillshare"
TAREK: @tarek.world

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

• Tell us, what exactly is Nomads Giving Back, and the soon to be launched Nomad Skillshare?
• Not to get political, but is there something inherently wrong with the capitalistic society we’ve created?
• So I do have a few specific questions I want to ask you.
• I feel like there’s a divide in the United States. Either you work in corporate life and have a feeling of stability, or you’re a risk taker and entrepreneur. It feels like a very binary choice. And depending on what path you choose, people from the other camp are going to have a hard time understanding you. My question is, why is it so difficult for people to be open minded about non-traditional career paths?
• You’re obviously very plugged into the digital nomad community. What are some of the top lessons you’ve learned from your peers in all of your experiences you’ve had, compared to city life?
• Side question: Can you finally explain and educate me as to why people don’t like being labeled as a digital nomad? I’ve never understood that.
• For the first time in my life, I’ve now lived overseas for the last 6 months, and I can tell you it’s hard to find community and structure. I don’t know if it’s just that nomads are too independent to a fault, or if it just takes an extra layer of discipline to stay focused while living a remote lifestyle. I’m curious of the challenges you have faced, if any, in staying structured and any tips you can provide?
• It’s interesting, I feel like as tragic as covid has been for so many, it has given your organization a shot in the arm (no pun intended), because post-covid so many people are now virtual. I’m curious of your thoughts on what the world looks like on the other side of this pandemic? Isn’t now the strongest case you can make for converting people to nomadic life?
• What’s your vision for Nomads Giving Back? Obviously, empowering local communities is your main focus. But is it to have a huge online community to leverage for corporate sponsors? Do you want to have a licensing model and have independently operating communities all over the world? Ten years from now, what does success look like for you?
• Tell me about your vision for Nomad Skillshare?
• What is something you wish someone had told you five years ago, or you had told yourself, that you had to learn on your own, but would have made life so much easier had you known?
• How can people find out more about you and get involved?

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Julia Sokol, Founder of "Sass Class," a women's empowerment dance studio and community, sits down remotely to discuss her novel “Dance Video Program”, her journey growing up in Manhattan and New Jersey to graduating cum laude from Brandeis, her marketing background working for Tripadvisor and Carat; choosing a career path solely to appease friends and family, sex and empowerment, balancing masculine energy of the workplace, Sass Class for men and male empowerment.....Do men need to feel more empowered? Or less?..... a female's innate desire for celebrity and fame (hint: it's more about wanting attention and admiration), her business model, competition, franchising vs. licensing, and the importance of trademarks and having a good accountant!

JOIN SASS CLASS: https://www.sassclassnyc.com/
INSTA: @sassclassnyc
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCiccpOHsjT4KlvU0yOQkWg
SLIDE INTO JULIA'S DMs (business & cat videos only): @julsoko

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

• So briefly explain what is SassClass?
• Why do you focus on female empowerment? This seems to be more about the emotional experience than the dancing.
• When did you realize you weren’t passionate about the corporate trajectory you were on?
• What advice can you give to Millennials that are struggling with this idea of being disowned from their family?
• Let’s talk about sex and empowerment. To be frank, a lot of your dance style is very sensual. You talk about part of the genesis of SassClass is being rooted in balancing the “masculine energy of the workplace.” You would naively hope that it’s 2021 and we’ve overcome this by now, but it seems we still have a long way to go. How does dance liberate you from feeling overpowered by men? And is sex, as a weapon, the solution to this problem?
• Let me play devil’s advocate….,not to be controversial or make it about gender, but whats the equivalent of sassclass for men? Do men need really need to feel empowered more? Or less?
• Okay, so I understand the appeal of sass class from a female empowerment perspective. You’ve also mentioned it makes you feel like being a kid again – a feel of innocence, childhood. But let me take a different perspective. On the other hand, part of the appeal is this fantasy and desire for celebrity and fame. If that didn't exist, there would be no Sass Class. Why do we glorify media and entertainment, and is this a problem? Is this really where we should be putting our attention to?
• Let’s talk business..What is your competition? Are you competing against the yoga and classpass studios of the world? I noticed you have “drop in” classes. Or is it all these tik tok dance videos? What about a company like steezy?
• You previously stated, “I persist knowing that what I'm doing is for the greater good. In the same way, my clients and even colleagues do not see the big picture that I see as the CEO & Founder of my company” – So Julia, What is the bigger picture here? Do you want to create a franchise or licensing model?
• What is something you wish someone had told you five years ago, or you had told yourself, that you had to learn on your own. But would have made life so much easier had you known?
• How can we find out more about you and get involved with Sass Class?

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Dylan Gambardella and Justin Lafazan, Co-Founders of "NextGen HQ" sit down remotely to discuss “The Momentum Movement”, their global business hub supporting entrepreneurs to "fire them up and chase their dreams", their journey from meeting at a high school party to attending Duke and Wharton, respectively, founding their first startup "Students4Students", before founding NextGen in 2014. We discuss the importance of freedom and momentum (and what kills it), Why entrepreneurship is so tough? And how to break past that?, Constant validation/dealing with negative feedback, Importance of a co-founder, If and when to accept failure (secret: never), How to monetize and measure TAM and KPI’s, and their Vision for the future of entrepreneurship.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT AND SIGN UP FOR THEIR NEWSLETTER, CLICK "GET MOMENTUM" ON THEIR WEBSITE: https://nextgenhq.com/
INSTA: @nextgenhq

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

• Can you briefly explain to the audience what exactly is NextGenHQ and NextGen summit?
• Why were you so resistant to going into the traditional corporate world?
• Shifting gears to nextgen. Why do you focus on momentum as the primary focus for nextgen? Why is momentum so difficult to obtain? Or can you boil it down to simply a lack of self confidence and negative self talk? And related, how have you struggled with momentum in your professional lives?
• Do you think our generation needs constant validation?
• Is it important to have a cofounder? Does that help solve the momentum problem? 
• You also recognize that many startups fail. You talk a lot about supporting the entrepreneur’s journey, as opposed to an incubator. What was the opportunity you saw which didn’t exist? 
• Do you guys not accept idea of failure? I mean it’s one thing to be energized and talk yourself up, and don’t get me wrong, that’s a crucial ingredient to potential success.  I mean, at what point do you say to yourself, “I’ve been doing this for X number of years. I spent X number of dollars. This just isn’t working. It’s not the right idea, or it’s not the right timing”? 
• Talk to me about monetization and your business model (which may be changing with covid). How did you come to a conference-based monetization strategy? Why not charge dues or create a private membership model instead of just a free facebook community? Or is the model more of a freemium model, to ramp up user engagement first, then start charging for services later?
• What are your KPI’s and internal metrics that define success for you? Is it number of tickets sold? Number of facebook group members? The reason I ask is because you guys are working double time, not only are you trying to grow your network of users, but at the same time you’re trying to convince enterprise companies of your legitimacy and leveraging your community strength in hopes they’ll sponsor or partner with you.
• Let’s talk about Gen Z and Millennials.  I’ve noticed though that a large majority of your core user base is Gen Z. I’m wondering if you can shed light on why that is, and the differences you’ve learned between these two generations?
• What’s your biggest challenge to growth? Is it just awareness?
• What is something you wish someone had told you five years ago, or you had told yourself, that you had to learn on your own? But would have made life so much easier had you known?
• What is the best way for listeners to get more involved?

Playing METAPHOR DICE with Taylor Mali live!

(SEE PREVIOUS EPISODE FOR INTERVIEW, OR CLICK HERE: https://apple.co/31xl4oE
*FOR A FREE PAIR OF METAPHOR DICE, LISTEN TO FULL EPISODE AND FIND THE HIDDEN GIVEAWAY EASTER EGG!)

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Taylor Mali, 4x National Team Slam Poet Champion, original Def Poetry Jam member, author of multiple books, creator of "What Teacher's Make" and founder of "METAPHOR DICE", sits down remotely to reunite with his former sixth-grade student (me) and discuss the strategy of poetry slams, the etymology of the poem “what teacher’s make”, why property taxes influence schools, what makes a “good teacher” vs. a “bad teacher”, why social media discourages expression of ideas, the anti-intellectual culture of Millennials and poetry, the power of nuanced opinion, and the creation of METAPHOR DICE….and Taylor’s continually failed quest to be published in The New Yorker Magazine (I feel this is the year!)

ENTER PROMO CODE "MILLENNIAL" AT CHECKOUT TO RECEIVE A 10% DISCOUNT: https://www.metaphordice.com/
INSTA: @metaphor_dice
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MetaphorDice/

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

CAREER
Take me back in time briefly to 1995-1996. How do you make the transition from teaching to poetry? We’re you already doing it as a hobby? 
What did you actually say to the lawyer at the dinner party when he asked you what teachers make? Did you just laugh it off regretfully? Does he know about the poem?
TEACHING
What makes a bad teacher from a good one?
If you hadn’t become a teacher what would you have done instead? Taylor the advertising executive?
Respectfully, you don’t come across as a politically charged person. I don’t hear it in a lot of your poems. But teaching is a very political issue – problem isn’t getting smart people to teach, it’s incentivizing them and paying them enough to want to, instead of them going into finance or other industries. And then there are issues of tenure, unions, etc. I’m not suggesting money is everything, but many teachers can barely get by. How do we solve this issue?
POETRY
How do you make poetry cool and mainstream for millennials? Had a moment. Def poetry jam – in the early 2000s. slamnation documentary and slamplanet. Then we seemed to get caught up in EDM electronic music and cat videos on social media. One of my biggest frustrations with millennials is that it somehow became cool to be anti-intellectual. You post something educational on social media, it gets 5 likes. You post two girls doing a choreographed dance, it gets 10,000.
To follow up on that, I would argue social media has made it hard for people to want to express themselves out of fear of being attacked for their own views. Which doesn’t help encourage people to write poetry. Curious of your thoughts?

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Taylor Mali, 4x National Team Slam Poet Champion, original Def Poetry Jam member, author of multiple books, creator of "What Teacher's Make" and founder of "METAPHOR DICE", sits down remotely to reunite with his former sixth-grade student (me) and discuss the strategy of poetry slams, the etymology of the poem “what teacher’s make”, why property taxes influence schools, what makes a “good teacher” vs. a “bad teacher”, why social media discourages expression of ideas, the anti-intellectual culture of Millennials and poetry, the power of nuanced opinion, and the creation of METAPHOR DICE….and Taylor’s continually failed quest to be published in The New Yorker Magazine (I feel this is the year!)

ENTER PROMO CODE "MILLENNIAL" AT CHECKOUT TO RECEIVE A 10% DISCOUNT: https://www.metaphordice.com/
INSTA: @metaphor_dice
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MetaphorDice/

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

• CAREER
• Take me back in time briefly to 1995-1996. How do you make the transition from teaching to poetry? We’re you already doing it as a hobby? 
• What did you actually say to the lawyer at the dinner party when he asked you what teachers make? Did you just laugh it off regretfully? Does he know about the poem?
• TEACHING
• What makes a bad teacher from a good one?
• If you hadn’t become a teacher what would you have done instead? Taylor the advertising executive?
• Respectfully, you don’t come across as a politically charged person. I don’t hear it in a lot of your poems. But teaching is a very political issue – problem isn’t getting smart people to teach, it’s incentivizing them and paying them enough to want to, instead of them going into finance or other industries. And then there are issues of tenure, unions, etc. I’m not suggesting money is everything, but many teachers can barely get by. How do we solve this issue?
• POETRY
• How do you make poetry cool and mainstream for millennials? Had a moment. Def poetry jam – in the early 2000s. slamnation documentary and slamplanet. Then we seemed to get caught up in EDM electronic music and cat videos on social media. One of my biggest frustrations with millennials is that it somehow became cool to be anti-intellectual. You post something educational on social media, it gets 5 likes. You post two girls doing a choreographed dance, it gets 10,000.
• To follow up on that, I would argue social media has made it hard for people to want to express themselves out of fear of being attacked for their own views. Which doesn’t help encourage people to write poetry. Curious of your thoughts? How do we bring this to the next generation?
• How do you make a name for yourself, when so much of poetry is subjective? In other words, what makes a good poet from a bad poet?
• What is something you wish someone had told you five years ago, or you had told yourself, that you had to learn on your own, but would have made life so much easier had you known?
• METAPHOR DICE
• Briefly explain, what is it? How did you come up with the idea?
• What is the biggest challenge you’re facing in terms of scaling it?
• What is THIS IS THUNDER DICE?