WHAT YOU PUT IN IS WHAT YOU GET OUT WITH ROCCO DACOSTA

Christina: Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of I Am Christina DiArcangelo And no, you're not seeing me in the same outfit twice. I had two podcast shoots today, so I didn't get changed because I don't have time. But I'm back again, and this time, I'm back with Rocco. Welcome, Rocco.

Rocco: Hey, what's popping?

Christina: Oh, man, I'm so excited to have you on today because I try to look for guests. That one I resonate with because, you know, the theme of the show is we are the same. So finding commonality and people I purposely always look for in every single person I meet because I find that it makes it easier in life that if you can find something that makes you in common with them, you can find some things to talk about and maybe like one another instead of being mean to people. So I'm so excited to have you on because of your music. I would love to start talking a little bit about what you're doing. I love music. We were talking about music when we first met, and so we met. Ironically, Rocco is also he has multiple jobs, but he also is a barber. And I kind of just popped into the barber shop one day with my son Crish, and we just got along right from the beginning. It was amazing.

Rocco: Yeah. And it was funny because I was literally on my lunch break, and you were trying to schedule an appointment, and I was like, I don't really want to end my lunch break and cut this kid's hair, but I don't know. That same morning, I had been watching a little video from David Goggins, and he said, every single day, do something that sucks, right? And I was like, I could go and relax and eat my lunch and take my time and wait for my next appointment, but who knows who this client could be? And not only that, it's a new client. And I know for a fact that with how good I am at my job, I have a really high retention rate, so why would I deny business? And it's funny how it worked out, because just because I decided to turn it up 2% and cut my lunch break early five minutes, I ended up meeting an amazing person, or two people.

Christina: Thank you so much. It was so awesome because I was in a bind, because I had a little bit of time. I had a window of time. And my appointment, I canceled because they increased their price point 65%. And I was like, listen, this is unacceptable. I am not doing because you had to pay out of pocket. It was like a health service. So I was like, no, not doing this. So how about I take Christian to get a haircut? Because he needed a haircut. And I was over in your area, and I was like, okay. And then you had that sign, and so I was like, okay, well, I guess I'll call the number. I don't know. It says to call. I'll call and I have a California number. I don't know if he's going to pick it up. And then you were like, yeah, you called me back. Yeah, I can fit him in. And I was then at lunch with Christian. So then I'm like, hurry up, we got to go, we've got to go. And here he comes in with his little pizza into the shop. And I was just like, wow, and the shop is so cool. I just felt like I could just be myself and not worry about anything. And I know how my kid is. There's arcade games, there's all kinds of cool stuff in there. And so I was like, okay, this is great. This was such like a godsend, seriously, that this just happened and that you could fit him in. And then when we started talking about Christian's design, kind of what he wanted, and you just automatically did it, I was like, because I don't get to meet people like that often, where it's like I always say crown down to my staff. Like, it comes from the crown down that it just goes like that. And it was just so cool. And then when you drew the crown and I'm like, oh, I have a tattoo. And it was so weird with his name, and it was just so weird. It was like weird. I don't know. And then when you started working on him and then we figured out we knew similar people, you and I, very quickly. And then when you told me about the music side, I was like, oh, this is amazing. I have to have you come on my podcast because I want to share what you're doing and who you are to everyone because I see where you're going to go. Like, I can see it. And I'm connected to music people and all these different people. So I thought, oh, I hope you'd want to be on my podcast. And you agreed, so I'm so thankful.

Rocco: Yeah, I appreciate you for having me on. So what should we talk about first when it comes to music? Do you want to talk about what I'm doing today or where I started?

Christina: I want to hear everything where you started, where you are today, and where you think you want to go.

Rocco: Okay. So I was playing Mozart by memory in second grade, and I always had music in my life. I was into choir in high school, I started writing lyrics. I got catfished by this girl on Facebook, but I wrote her a song and I fell in love with songwriting even though I got catfished. And I was like, well, let me keep on doing this because I've been just a creative person my entire life. And then come college, I started rapping. And then five years ago, I started making instrumentals and beats and since then, I've made thousands of beats and written hundreds of songs. And it's just amazing how for the first, I guess, 22, 23 years of my life, I was just searching for something that I could really be like, this is my path. This is something that I can commit to. You need to find something in your life that you can commit to, like a marriage, a path. My definite destination is here. And so, after making after producing music for about six months, I was already meeting up with Grammy award winning producers up in New York and going to events, and I had realized, this feels right. I was like, shit, I could do this for the rest of my life for free and I would feel fulfilled. So fast forward. Finally, all of the thousands of hours that I put in are starting to come back. And when I look in my phone, I've got probably like, five people that are Grammy award winning. I've got engineers, mentors, and tonight I'm actually having a session with a Grammy award winning musician and a songwriter that I just started collaborating with, the same songwriter. We just had a session last night until four in the morning. And it's amazing when you align yourself with people that are just as passionate as you, that have a different set of skills, but in the same space. So him, he's a really amazing rapper, singer, songwriter, and I'm an amazing producer. And we're both driven, right? So you put us both in one room and we've had two sessions so far since we met. And in those two sessions, we recorded six full songs, completely improvised, and I made the instrumentals on the spot. And then on top of that, I made eight other instrumentals on the spot for him to use. He's coming through tonight. If we have time, I'll show you guys maybe one little sneak peek of something unreleased, but I want to keep it pretty professional. Let him release it on his own time. Right. But it's really exciting. Just a week ago, I was down in Atlanta and I booked a flight down there because I needed to find out what the scene was about. I've heard so many good things about Atlanta. All my favorite rappers and producers are down there. And so I booked an Airbnb for three days. And it's amazing when you put yourself in the position to have to grind, when you go and book a flight, you pay for that plane ticket. You move differently than you would move in your hometown. In your hometown, you can be relaxed, but when you're paying for your time in three days, I landed, went to a concert, networked with 70 artists, recorded 3 songs. Met sounded like Little Wayne, and then met another RnB artist that now I'm connected with. And they'll send me vocals to anything I want just because they believe in me. And I went and visited five of the biggest recording studios in Atlanta and got to record in one of them that sounded like it looked like a spaceship. And I got to go and check out the same studio where The Chronic was recorded in. Oh, wow. Being in alignment with this kind of energy, being in that space, it feels like you know how they say you're the people that you surround yourself with? Yes. Surround yourself with. So when you put yourself in rooms where Grammys are made, and when you put yourself in conversations with people that are working with the people that you want to work with, maybe you don't work with them directly, but you're picking up on those frequencies, and it's amazing what we do with those frequencies. And this is kind of like some stuff that we can't really prove with science. But I know that, you know, it's true. Oh yes. When you sit in a meeting with people that are successful, the conversations that come out of that, the energy that you leave that meeting with is just hard to describe, but you just feel enlightened, almost.

Christina: Yup. I can completely resonate with that through my career. If we want to talk about what career, what exact career are we talking about? Because there's so many that I have now. But biotech, that's where I started, is biotech. My second job in the industry, I worked for Johnson and Johnson, and I worked on Remicade, which later got approved by the FDA, and I sat on 32 clinical studies, and I was in my early 20s when I got into the biotech space. And I remember being in the room with these people that were just like, brilliant minds and learning and just almost like a sponge too, because they had things that they had in their toolbox that I didn't have. First off, I got to say, I love your confidence. It's not cockiness. It's confidence. And I love it because that's how I am. Listen, I know I'm damn good at what I do. It's biotech stuff. Designing protocols, fixing problems when people bomb their trials and they're multi-millions, MM, like 150, 300 million Dollars down the toilet for one trial, one drug. And I come in, and I'm like, okay, well, this is what happened. It's because of all the things I learned and all the people I've been with. And like you said, the energy you feel like you adapt and absorb, it like a sponge. And so I love that you do that too, because in my opinion, that's one of the secrets to success. You've got to be confident. You've got to know what you know, and you've got to know what you want to know, right? And find those people and put them there with you. And that's amazing. You got all that done in three days. Like, shit, that was three days, and look what you did in three days. And then you get on the plane, you're like, but you're still pumped. Because you've got to do now all those connections that you met down there and all the things that you know you're going to start working on. Now you've got to figure out what you need to do here then to meet those needs there. And man, that's just amazing. I commend you.

Rocco: Yeah, it's incredible. I feel like there are certain successful people that you'll meet in your life that will, you might have a fireplace. I'm going to use an analogy, right? People that are driven like you and I, to be successful. We have this fire that we're just born with, right? But when you surround yourself with other people that have seen success and they have accolades, maybe they've generated millions of Dollars, or maybe they're at the top of their field. They'll do things like, you might have some ideas, and then they'll just put another log on that fire, and they see that you're hungry, and they're like, okay, you're hungry. You got that going for you. Listen, I'm willing to invest in you X amount of Dollars, and it's a lot more than you can come up with by yourself. Just present me with a business plan. This happened to me a month ago where one of my clients at my barbershop heard me talking about entrepreneurship and just the way that I talk, he was like, okay, that's cool that you could come up with that amount of money. I can come up with a lot more. So give me a business plan and we'll make it happen. After that conversation, I was fired up, as you can imagine. I was like, okay, if I'm going to make a move, what move am I going to make? Ever since that, I've just been on this stream of, it's a butterfly effect. That same week, I randomly DM'd a rapper with over 100,000 followers, and he came through the studio that same day, and now he wants to work on an album. Now he's got me on his record label's group messages, and because someone saw me working with him, I met this other rapper at the bar, one of the best rappers I've collaborated with. He saw me working with this guy, and he's like, I have to get in the studio now. He came through the studio that same night, recorded a full album, and it came out amazing. And then it's like, you work with one person and that leads you to the next person, which leads you and you're on a chain, and it starts to spiral. And it's just incredible how I already had this hunger and this drive, and then now that I've been putting all this action into making shit happen, the fruits of my labor are finally starting to ripen. And I'm not going to try to yank them off the tree. They're just falling into my hand.

Christina: Right. You're catching.

Rocco: And what I've realized is that I think that a year ago, I was doing a lot of overthinking and not enough taking action. And it's just amazing what starts to happen when you align yourself with a really high level of desire for what you want in life, and then when you take action to actually make steps towards that, because nobody can make the perfect plan for success that just doesn't exist. But what you can do is you can get 1% closer every day and do your best. When you're presented an opportunity to show up and do your job, do it. And it's just amazing. Once people start seeing you working with other successful people now they want to get involved. And you might have a lot of things going for you, but no one gives a shit until and they can see it. You can go and talk a big game, but people need to see it. And once they start seeing you doing crazy things, they want to be a part of that.

Christina: One of the things, my favorite phrases that I learned a while, I don't know, back in 2012, I can show you better than I can tell you. And it is true. It's the act of showing up and showing out, like doing it. None of this is easy. Being an entrepreneur is never easy. And like you mentioned earlier, last year, you spent a lot of time in your head, right, thinking about things. And as entrepreneurs, we do that a lot. We think about things because things come to us very differently. Our brains are wired very differently, and things that we know are going to be successful because we've seen it, we see the vision, we see it. We could put it all together. Sometimes when you try to explain it to someone, right, that's part of your fold, your inner circle, whatever, and they'll look at you sometimes, really, and they doubt you, right? Yeah. Sure, there he goes. There goes Rocco. There goes Christina. Now she has a superhero. Yes, I have a fucking superhero. Because you know what? I take care of people. So it's like, I don't care anymore. I just do things that I want to do that I know is going to continue me down on this pathway of what I want to do with my life. So I love that that's one of the things that you hang your hat on, so to speak. Come on now, let's go.

Rocco: Yeah. As you develop streets more around entrepreneurs, you start to realize that it's also important to not really talk about what you're intending on doing and what you're actively doing, because there's two reasons why, right? One, it's kind of shitty, but some people will actually try to sabotage your success, and they don't do it maybe on purpose. I think it's kind of like a human nature thing, where if they feel like you're growing quicker than them, then in order for them to bring you down to their level so that they can continue to hold themselves up high. They have to put you down, and people will shoot down your dreams because they don't understand how to make it happen themselve. And and maybe you have someone in your circle that's actively doing what you want to do, and they don't that person in their circle, so they're like, impossible. Christina, you're crazy.

Christina: When I got into cannabis clinical research, that was 2016. It was not popular in 2016 for a traditional biotech executive to get into medical cannabis. So I had people talking about me. Now I'm like, some I don't know, whatever the slang is that people because I don't use that slang because I'm medical, and I do research, so I don't get involved in that. But I remember when I took that brave step, and I was like, I'm doing it. And it was only because my dad had passed away in 2015, and he died of cancer. And Relay for Life asked me to come and speak as the keynote to talk about my journey as a caregiver to my father and how I turned that horrible situation because he died so quickly, and it was just a disaster into this nonprofit Affinity Patient Advocacy. So here I am, and you know, now that I'm from the biotech side, right? So it's very buttoned up, right? Even in this Relay for Life, it's buttoned up. But I was like, no, no, I'm going to show people who I am, and I'm going to talk freely and candidly about how I felt. And if I get a little emotional, so be it. My dad just died, like, I think it was six months or seven months later, right? So it was all very triggering at times. A grower in Oregon had seen my talk and reached out to me and said, I need you because I need you to take my grow and turn it into a pharmaceutical grade grow where I have pharmaceutical products. That's what I want, and I know you can do it. And I'm like, what the hell do I know about cannabis? I mean, I was reading stuff scientifically, clinical research studies. But think about, this is 2016. There weren't that many. Now we have a lot more. And because I've worked on some of them myself, but you know what I'm saying? I was like, well, okay, I'll do it, right? So I do it. And then I get knocked around by the pharmaceutical people. Now I'm a pot smoking wacko. I started taking cannabis in 2018 when I got my two autoimmune diagnosis because I was like, why would I take traditional pharma if I could do this? I'm going to try this out and see. But my own ex husband was like, I don't know what you're doing doing this, because I don't know how you're going to make any money. How are you going to be able to do clinical studies? They don't have any money and he didn't even really understand it, but it was against the grain. And that was not comfortable. But it was comfortable for me because that's how I am. That's who I am as a human. I do everything against the grain. So I get what you're saying. When you got into this, you had to take a big step to get into this. This wasn't like a little puddle jump here. This was like going across a lake, so to speak.

Rocco: Yeah, absolutely. And people will start taking you more seriously, too, when they see that you're investing so much time and money into things. Just a year ago, I didn't have this recording studio. I've got a vocal booth over here. I got some underglow under my couch. I just got a brand new lightning fast MacBook, and just having that little sign right there even. And just all the lighting and stuff and acoustic treatment. Now that I have a recording studio where I can deliver studio quality recordings, and I just so happen to have thousands of beats and I can make them all you check off people's boxes for, is this person legit? Well, let me check. And then you nail every single one of those things, and all of a sudden, now they're taking you seriously. That being said, I'm still kind of in the beginning of my journey, quote, unquote. But I guess when you're in alignment with something that just brings you joy and you feel like this is your permanent destination, there is no end. You just keep showing up and growing, and the sky is the limit. I mean I heard an interview with Kevin Hart, and he was getting interviewed by Joe Rogan, and Kevin was saying, what does your book look like? Right. And what motivates Kevin Hart to wake up every day and to continue to take action is he's not concerned about you know, he's got all this money and accolades. He doesn't care about that stuff. He cares about the smile that he puts on his daughter's face. He cares about the people that he affects. He cares about That he touches. Yeah. And all the things that he can do. As long as you're conscious, as long as you wake up, you have the opportunity every single day to change everything and for the better, you know, like, nothing changed for the better without taking action, you know? And and that's, you know, part of part of my morning ritual, you know, like, I wake up, you know, an hour before I have to actually do anything, and I prep my brain. You know, I go for a walk up the street, and I recite the things that I have gratitude for. I talk about the things that I want to manifest for myself. And then I ask myself, how can I love life more? I got that ritual from this other successful person. But I think it's super important to have those moments when you realign yourself with your own consciousness because we can get in the habit of also just constantly rushing to the next task. And you're like, oh, I got to get out of bed. I got to shove breakfast down my face and then get to work and then get home. When is there time for you to just not do anything and be present? I think it's super important to do that. Do you meditate during the day?

Christina: Not during the day, not during work days, because I don't have the capacity. And right now we're in summer, as you know. And so my son doesn't go to camp, like out external camp. He likes more one on one, as you saw. He likes more one on one interaction. It's not because he needs to be the center of attention. It's just that he has a lot to say and he likes to do a lot of things. He's very active. So when he's here, it's a little bit harder because until Zach comes to start working with him at 12:30 in the daytime, I'm here around the corner because I'm in the mom zone, too, right? And I'm in the work zone. And then, god forbid, a patient calls, and it's a new patient that's coming through the advocacy firm. You've got to stop everything when they call you. Like when we were getting on, before we got on, I told you about the domestic one that came through. And people will probably wonder, why would a domestic person, domestic abuse person come to us? Well, it's because I'm a survivor of domestic abuse, and people know that through my brand. So I attract those people, and then I have to help them because, my god, I know how it feels to have this nonsense going on in your life, and you're just trying to keep your head up above water and we have kids and everything. It's so hard. So it's hard for me to meditate during the day, but I do meditate in the morning, and I meditate at night. A lot of my great ideas happen when I can really get to that place. Like, I go to the hyperbaric chamber once a week, and that really helps because the oxygen flow and all those things. So that nighttime after I go to the hyperbaric chamber, and then I take my diatime meds, which is my RSO. I am so in a zone that I could come up with great ideas. That was how I came up with my superhero, because I was like, oh, I could see this so clearly. So I get visual with my meditation, if that makes sense. I don't know if you do, but I can do that.

Rocco: Yeah, no, I like that a lot. There's no right or wrong way to meditate either.

Christina: No. Even praying is meditation. If you pray, that's meditation.

Rocco: I think technically, as long as you're focusing on one thing, that's a form of meditation. Like when you're driving for example, and you just have your eyes locked on the road, and you silence your mind from overthinking and you're just present. That's a form of meditation, too. I did go to school for acting for film for a year. And they taught us meditating, where you silence your brain and you try to almost imagine your thoughts are like a car at a stoplight. And when you have an idea that green light, you want to move forward and you want to finish the sentence in your brain. But the objective of this form of meditation is to keep yourself present and keep your brain completely silent. So what that does is it actually exercises the muscle in your brain that keeps you from overthinking. People that have high anxiety, I think, benefit a lot from meditating, for sure. It's definitely helped a lot.

Christina: Oh, yeah. And us being entrepreneurs, of course we're going to have anxiety. I had done an interview last year in magazine, and it was a mental health focused interview. And so, of course, they're asking me my advice about mental health stuff as it relates, because the drugs I've worked on in my career that got drug approved and patient advocacy stuff and growing up with mental health people and even my own son has anxiety and things. I have anxiety. So they asked me, though, about being an entrepreneur and about having anxiety, and I was like, of course, everybody was I going to say, no, that's a lie. Why would I do that? No, yeah, I have anxiety, but these are the things I do to help me. So I'm not all the way up here at times where I'm more level and I know things that I do for myself. So that box. There's things I do to get myself back, to regenerate myself neurowise. So I'm not concerned anymore. So I think it's awesome that meditation is one of the things you do, because I do it too, and it helps me a lot. I taught Crish when he was two how to meditate. Crisscross applesauce. All right, Crish. Ready?

Rocco: That's awesome.

Christina: Because I owned a wellness spa in Phoenixville, and so I was pregnant with him when I came up with the idea to open this wellness spa. And so it was important for me to carry forward these wellness activities to Christian because I knew that he's the next generation coming up. So we've got to help these people. So that especially he's my son. But you know what I'm trying to say. So I think it's really awesome that you freely talk about things like this because a lot of people don't. They don't talk about it because they're afraid to.

Rocco: Yeah, I think there's anxiety surrounding talking about anxiety. I think part of it is an ego thing, because if you admit that you get anxious, then that's a vulnerability. But is it really? I think it's almost a weakness if you can't address the things that stress you out. There's different ways.

Christina: Yeah. And it hinders a lot of relationships, right? If you think about a lot of relationship failures, business or otherwise, if you can't be freely able to talk to one another, how are you going to be successful in that relationship? So you said earlier about how you show up. You show up and I show up when I show up. Even when I met you, I was a little like, oh, okay, well, we got this schedule. Great. But then once I sat down in your chair and I was like, okay, now we got this situated, we've got this figured out, the hair thing, and now we could talk freely. All right. You know what I mean? That's done.

Rocco: Yeah. So I got a question for you. When you approach a new person, say you're at a bar or you're at an event, and maybe you're looking for another partner or maybe you're looking for a potential other person in your network, how do you go and approach a stranger and start a conversation? Because that can be awkward, too. We're era right now where we're coming out of a pandemic, and everyone's so used to being in their phones that people are so awkward.

Christina: It's funny you bringing this up, because I swear, because we were talking about I was talking to you earlier about Saturday, where I was like, oh, I could be Christina. Like, me, Christina? Not this corporate person, not the mom, not these other hats. I wear all these hats, and I was myself. So I was down in the city, and I went to Ocean Prime, and I was meeting one of my friends for dinner, and of course, my friend is always late, and you would think I'd be the late one, CD. No, no, not me. I showed up on time, and so I had to go to the bar because at Ocean Prime, if your whole party is not there, there was just two of us. But you can't get seated, right, because it's Ocean Prime. So okay, fine. So I go to the bar, and there was a woman that was sitting to the right of me, and she had, like, one of the pink colors that are on the back of my painting back here. She had a pink blazer on. And, you know, right now, Barbie is real hot. She made whatever they made in the box office, what, 800 Million or something? I can't remember the statistics, but I've been paying attention to this regeneration of Barbie, and she had a Barbie blazer on, right? So I was like, I've got to ask her about this Barbie thing, because it looks like that's what you did, but I don't know what her intention is. And she just seemed like a nice lady. And so I turn over to her and I go, hey, I really like your blazer. And she was with two other of her friends, and I was like, are you wearing it, did you guys go see the Barbie movie? Because you all look so beautiful. And women, most times, they don't compliment each other, right? When they're insecure. I don't care because I am secure in my own skin and whatever. However I show up, I don't care. And so I was like, I just love it. It turns out they did not go see the movie. They were meeting up and having drinks together as friends, and they were having and so I ended up just talking to them. Meanwhile, there's a guy next to me who recognized me in the cannabis space from New Jersey. So now he starts talking. So now I'm like, in the middle. So now my friend comes up, and I feel like a tap. And I'm like, oh, okay. Hey, it's about time. Because now look what happened. I have the whole bar going. Yeah. I don't know. I just love stuff like that. But I'll be honest with you, Rocco, it's not always that way, there's certain times I can't do that like just because I have so much I'm thinking about or something. There's deliverables or whatever's going on. Like the Miami event right now is taking up a lot of our time trying to get that right, get the sponsorships in, ticket sales. I have a press tour I have to go on now. And so there's all this stuff, and sometimes I just can't. So when I can, I love that time. Because that's neat. Yeah, absolutely. What about you?

Rocco: What's that?

Christina: What about you?

Rocco: Okay, so when it comes to starting conversations with people, like in a bar setting or just any social space in general, one thing I like to do is ask a question that can't be answered with one word. And if you can do it right, it really does get people to talk. But I definitely like the flattery thing. But it depends on who you're talking to. Me, being a music producer, I'm kind of dealing with different kinds of clients. I pick up on creative energy super quick, and usually it's just because of what they're wearing. It's like, you don't look like Bob. You got something about you that says you're creative. Maybe they're wearing some earrings or the way they're wearing their hair. Maybe they got, like, an artistic shirt on. But I like to say something like, you got real creative energy, man. Are you some kind of creative? What do you do? People love talking about themselves.

Christina: Oh, yeah

Rocco: but you can't gas people up too much. If I was to go up to some random rapper in Philly and be like, that's a really cute shirt you got on. Who the fuck is this guy?

Christina: And you might get punched. Are you going to steal my shirt

Rocco: bro? Right, It's like, man, you sure you have the right go to Woody's, bro.

Christina: I'm not doing that.

Rocco: Yeah, but when you talk to people, I think it's important to just have that just know your audience. I got another question for you. You know a ton of people. How do you organize your contacts? Because for me, I put emojis next to certain people. If they're a rapper or a songwriter, I put a mic emoji. So if I look up a mic emoji on my contacts, all of my songwriters pop up. And that comes in handy when I go and finish a beat, and I'm like, yo, who should I send this to? And I just mic emoji. You know what I mean? I got a brain emoji for all of my mentors I got like a trophy emoji for people that I consider friends because sometimes it'd be a Saturday night and you're like, man, who wants to hit up the bar? All right, trophy. But what do you do to make sure you got to have touch points with your clients but also with your business partner. So what are some of your organizational hacks?

Christina: So I have nicknames for certain people. Some of the people that are in the fold, I have nicknames, but I always put a descriptor about them. Biotech, advocate, fashion. Whatever. Because if it's CD or Sparkle Sisters now that's merch and brand stuff. That different. So I put descriptors in there so that I can find them through my little descriptor. I think I'm going to steal your emoji thing, though, because I love emojis. I use emojis all the time. I love them, and I love that idea that's so creative. Like, oh, I need a trophy. Yes. I like that. Right?

Rocco: I'll also put know ATL if they're from ATL Philly Like, all my Chester Springs clients have a barber pole emoji. As far as touching base with people though, is that something that you just kind of do instinctually you're like, I haven't talked to so and so. Or do you sometimes put things in your calendar where you're, like, follow up with so and so?

Christina: I do do both. I do have follow ups in my calendar, but then I vibe a lot because I'm empathic, so I feel things. And so if I feel something about somebody, I think about them, right? Obviously to feel it. So then I'll shoot a text like, hey, what's up? Kind of text just to see, is it all good over there? Because sometimes I just know because I appreciate it to be followed up on. There's lots of things that we have going on in our lives. There's lots of things we don't talk about outwardly, but if they really know you, they'll know that, you know what, maybe I should check in with CD over there and see what's going on over there. I love getting messages from people. I'm not annoyed. Yeah, I'm busy, but that's okay because guess what? You took the time to reach out to me just like I reach out to you because it kind of sucks when you're the person who's always reaching out to people because we care. It's like, come on, man, I'm not going to do this all the time.

Rocco: Absolutely. And there definitely is an etiquette to it too. People that are self centered or that have a huge ego, when they'll go and follow up with someone, they'll be like, hey, just following it up. You need my services. It's like, who the fuck do you think that you are calling me just to go and try my business?

Christina: Or they send you links of shit. They did, right? Yes. This irks my soul. Listen, I am the biggest cheerleader. People should know that about me by now. It's been what, two years I've been doing these podcasts. Now people have seen me on the other side where you're at? I'm the biggest cheerleader for people. Like, I want to support you, but then it's reciprocal, right? Like, if you're my homie and I'm always doing things and supporting you when I have a win, whatever that win is, it doesn't even have to be a big win. Say something little like whatever. Why can't they support? They don't. It's always sending their things like, oh, it is on this TV show, or I was on a news program and we talked about crime and I'm like, well, you know, my mom was involved in a crime where she was trapped in the basement. So why didn't you say, hey, listen, I've got a friend who would be perfect for your show so she could talk about elder abuse and help all these people out? No, instead you're sending me the news article. News thing. I don't care about it. That's rude.

Rocco: One book reminds me of this subject a lot. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Daniel Carnegie. I love that book. But one thing that I love about it is the way that it talks about communicating with people. Right? You have to talk in terms of other people's interests. When I was in my earlier 20s, I felt like I didn't really have control of that. So I'll talk about me a lot. But you got to engage people. If you don't end, conversations are supposed to be a ping pong match. Yes. You're not playing ping pong with yourself, you know what I mean? Do you ever run into that where you'll meet someone that maybe they have resources and really good at what they do, but then for the life of them they just don't know how to communicate with people?

Christina: They're awkward. Yeah, it happens all the time. I mean, communication is key. And also listening. Like one of the classes my dad used to teach, like the biotech space, and he was blue collar, he was a teamster for god's sakes, for the turnpike. He would come out when he would visit me for spring break and he would come out and he would teach this class the Art of Listening. And so here he's teaching all these biotech executives the art of listening from the teamster vantage point or the steelworker because he was president of the steel workers union. So very labor related. Right? But it's all about listening. But it's a give and take know, I can't stand when people do that stuff to me. I'm just like, man, what the come on, man, I got something to say. Hello.

Rocco: And, I mean, with that being said, I feel like that's another way that we can, as entrepreneurs, mediate our anxiety. If I'm talking, I'm just doing a monologue for the whole entire podcast and I don't let you talk. That would make me anxious.

Christina: Yes. And now you're seeing, like when we first talked about the podcast and we have to wrap up soon because Ry is going to kill me. That's my executive producer. Because I'm having so much fun. Normally I lock it down in 20 minutes, 25. But that's one of the things, like I said, listen, it's going to be a conversation. We're going to talk about you and about what you're doing, but I can always relate to you and you're so awesome at well, Christina, most time, and I'm not knocking on my guests. Please. I love all my guests that have been on, but a lot of times they don't have that capacity because they are nervous sometimes on being on my podcast channel. And so they just keep thinking about the stuff we're talking about that's relative to them, and they forget sometimes to ask me what I think, which is, okay, listen, it's all right. People know what I think a lot of the time. I'm very vocal, as you know.

Rocco: It's important to express that, too.

Christina: Yes, I agree. Okay, my friend, I'm going to have to thank you. We're going to have to wrap up. This has been amazing. I've got to have you on again. I want to know more of what you're doing as I see the successes because I know I can't wait. I just can't wait to see what you're going to do, honestly.

Rocco: Yeah. I mean, I'm already working with some Grammy award winning people, so I'm excited to see where that goes.

Christina: I'm excited. I'm really, really excited. And I just want to thank you for taking time out of your very busy day, seriously, for being on with me, because you work around the clock and I know that you had to map in this time. So I just want to acknowledge that. I want to thank you.

Rocco: Yeah, no, I definitely appreciate you. Sorry. Someone's like, trying to call me.

Christina: I know it happens.

Rocco: Definitely appreciate you. We're going to chop it up. I'm cutting Christian tomorrow, right?

Christina: Yeah, I'll be in tomorrow. So I'm excited. I said something to Zach. I said, oh, Christian has to go see Rocco because we're going to Miami soon.

Rocco: Records to play you because I'm having a session.

Christina: I'm excited. I'm very excited to hear because as you know, I love music. It helps me mentally feel so much better. My playlists are scattered. They're scattered all over the place. Because it's my mood. I have certain playlists for my mood.

Rocco: that definitely made me fall in love with music is a language where we can express thoughts that we can't put into words. And me being a producer, I'm kind of the responsible for cultivating that energy. Of course, I have to keep myself in alignment with amazing, brilliant people like you because then I take that energy and I put that into the music. And it's mysterious how it works, but you just show up. You're a vessel to good energy, and you just got to put yourself in that space. I appreciate you for having me on.

Christina: Oh, absolutely. Thank you for agreeing. And this has been fun. This is a great way. I have a little bit more things I have to do, but this was a great way for me to end the day because I came on and I was like, okay, the storm is banging. We have this big storm going on. I'm like, oh. But I just want to thank you again and yeah, I'm going to have to have you on again. I'm sure.

Rocco: Sounds good. Just let me know. We'll lock it in. I can't wait.

Christina: All right. Awesome. So as we say in every one of our podcasts, because this is one of our lessons, we like to teach, remember, we are the same. I am Christina DiArcangelo. Thank you.