Two Dudes

Building a Career after Dropping Out: Ashtyn's Path to Videography Aug 01, 2021

This week's episode is in response to some of the questions that Ash gets asked the most including: how can I do what you do? So we sat down and talked through her journey, step-by-step, if you're interested in knowing how you can start to book clients, are intimidated by the idea of pricing yourself or just want to know a little bit more behind the scenes it is all here.
Have a great week, friends.

Catching Up Jul 25, 2021

It feels like summer is flying by and we're right in the thick of things. We needed this week to circle the wagons and do a little checking in, so we spent some time regrouping and talking through our own current struggles. We're hopeful there's a little kernel of something that might help someone else as we all try to keep our heads above water.
Thanks for listening, friends. We love you dudes.
xoxo

Adventures in Ayahuasca Jul 18, 2021

I've attempted to write this description a number of times and I seem to keep falling short, so basically if you are interested in plant medicine, the role of psychedelics in healing, or just rifling through your own mind in general then maybe this is the listen for you. Last month I travelled to Costa Rica on a plant medicine trip and while I've talked Ash through the whole trip already, we decided to spend this week touching on what a trip like this looks like and how we got there. Anyway, life changing seems too trite a descriptor for the experience, but it definitely was eye-opening, mind-boggling, and spirit cleansing. --Lacey
Take Care, Friends.

Vogue Inspired 73 Questions - Part Two Jun 27, 2021

We had full intentions of rapid fire answering all of the 73 questions in one episode, but in true Ashtyn and Lacey form that wasn't the case. This week we finished the remainder of Vogues 73 questions - ranging anywhere from what's your spirit animal to what is most inspiring about your life currently.
We'll be off next week as Lacey is living her best life in Mexico - so we'll see you in two :)
xoxo,
Ash & Lace

Vogue Inspired 73 Questions Jun 20, 2021

So it turns out we have a pattern - hard emo episodes followed by easy fun episodes that don't require too much emotional processing ;)
We needed a little break after our own body image revelations last week so we decided to breeze through Vogue's 73 questions. If you're into knowing random stuff about us - follow along. And if not, come back in a few.
xoxo,
Ashtyn & Lace - Two Dudes

Body Image and The Struggle of Loving Yourself - with Sydney Bodensteiner Jun 13, 2021

We’ve put this one off and if we’re being really honest we had sorta convinced ourselves that it wasn’t something that we struggled with or felt qualified to talk through, so we had Syd (Ash’s sister) come on to share her own self-love journey. She takes us through her journey of losing herself doing grad school, and how she found a way out. To no surprise, through talking with her we realized we needed to be more honest with ourselves. Syd's bravery and honesty really made us start to think through the things we need to address in our own lives and mindsets.
Anyway, the point is that the more we listen and talk through the hard stuff, the more we grow ourselves.

Have an awesome week friends.

xoxo, the dudes

Unpopular Opinions- Part Two (the controversial edition) Jun 06, 2021

We got some unpopular opinions from you guys that needed a bit more unpacking than a simple yes/no breeze through. The Death Penalty, Vaccines, Politics, My Body/My Choice... Honestly, maybe an episode just asking for us to be cancelled, but if we don't talk through this stuff how can we decide where we eventually land?
Have a great week, friend. XOXO

Unpopular Opinions May 30, 2021

We asked for your unpopular opinions and you delivered, so we rattle through them and give our takes (with a little side trip on aliens and Bigfoot and mermaids/mermen?). Also, you guys are funny.
That's it. Have an awesome week, friends.
P.S. If you are legit interested in helping with our intro/outro hit me up: lacey@oakandopal.com

Build a Life You Love. 🖤 May 23, 2021

Do we know how? Not exactly, but we’re trying. And, as it turns out, Ash’s dream life includes a van. So we chat a little about that, about taking risks, about looking before you leap and then leaping anyway. We touch on this NYT article: Meet the Nun Who Wants You to Remember You Will Die and also Bhutan and their gross national happiness and this podcast in which Michael Easter touches on visiting a monk in Bhutan while researching his book. If you’re interested in the components that I (Lacey) feel have made the most sense to me while navigating the path to well-being you can check out thethirdforce.online.

That’s it. Have a great week, friends! xoxo

GRL PWR: How we view women in society, How we treat them and How we can grow through talking about it. May 09, 2021

We started this episode fully intending to discuss how women are portrayed in the media, but we ended up starting with the ways we attempt to police women’s bodies (school dress codes, anyone) which led to us discovering our own well-intentioned mistakes. We both realized that we perpetuate ideas we don’t really believe in and we’re better people because of it. Anyway, if nothing else this is a great example of how we can learn through conversations.
Have an awesome week, friends!
Show notes--link to Ben Shapiro and Billie and Britney...
They can also be found on the website under the show notes tab, sometimes the links work in the description and sometimes the host blocks them depending on where you listen.

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby... May 02, 2021

This week’s episode is about sex and it happens to be pretty wide ranging, from talking to our kids about sex to the different stages we’ve gone through in relationships. We try to stay honest and transparent about our own lives, but man, sex is a tricky topic. Regardless, it feels the most fitting that we settled on the simple importance of just accepting whatever and however you feel and being open and honest in the exploration of your normal.
Take Care, Friends. xoxox
P.S. Title credit to Salt-N-Pepa. 😉

Addiction, Alcohol and All the Things - With Connor Kingsbury Apr 25, 2021

This week you get a little break from the two of us as we have our first guest star—Connor. Ashtyn’s boyfriend joins us to chat about addiction, alcohol and navigating the aftermath by making choices everyday that keep you in the light. We promised in the beginning we’d keep things honest and nothing is more honest than sharing our real honest to goodness day to day struggles. Connor’s brave. And we hope this makes it a little easier for all of us to talk through our own struggles. We all need each other. Take Care, Friends.

The One about Relationships. Apr 18, 2021

We got a lot of questions about relationships and while we don’t necessarily feel qualified to give anyone relationship advice, we don’t mind trying. We also get share some background on our own relationships and Ash cries… again. But the only way to tackle lots of those feelings is through them and while she wishes she'd cry less, it is probably just what she needed. Be brave, friends and have an awesome week.
P.S. Show notes, if you're interested in more ramblings, can be found here.

You Asked: We Answered.... some of them. Apr 11, 2021

This week we responded to your questions, topics, suggestions and while we didn’t get to them all (not even close), please know that we did lay eyes on all of 'em and we're keeping the rest to circle back to--at some point. Basically, we heard you and definitely feel like all you shared and asked was valuable we honestly just ran out of time. 🖤

Anyway, please enjoy this wide ranging conversation from embarrassing moments to heros to tattoos and the things we land on in between.

Take Care, Friends.

College (dropping out), careers and chaos: sorting through becoming an adult. Mar 27, 2021

Not sure what you want to be when you grow up? SAME.
This week we talk about college: dropping out and the pressures of going and also deciding what you want to do the rest of your life. Anyway, if you’re feeling like you don’t have it quite figured out yet at least you can listen and know you’re not alone. 😉
Have a great week, friends. 🖤

Oak and Opal: The Final Chapters (Part 2 of our “starting a business” story) Mar 21, 2021

This week we continue and close out the story of Oak & Opal.
In the fall of 2018 we launched an eCommerce store selling t-shirts online and we discovered that literally anyone could do it and tailor their experience to their current capacity. You just have to be brave enough to let go of a fear of failing and move through the steps. We hope the rest of this episode helps you understand the basics behind an eCommerce site and our journey to Oak & Opal; but more importantly we hope you guys realize that you are ALL capable of starting an online store. And definitely share with us when you do, we'd love to be a part of the evolution of your journey. 🖤
P.S. The show notes contain some more info with links to some of the resources we mention.
P.S.S. As we discuss near the end, we’ve struggled to let go of GRL PWR, so we decided not to. The store is live again.

Becoming Oak & Opal: how we started, where we've been and the direction it's going. Mar 14, 2021

Since we started this journey, partnership, whatever you call it, we've been asked tons of times how we started beyond We took some drawings and made some t-shirts. We get into the nitty gritty decision making, platform building, mistake riddled experience and basically cover starting a business when you know nothing about "business."
In a nutshell, in the fall of 2018 we launched an eCommerce store selling t-shirts online and we honestly discovered that literally anyone could do it and tailor their experience to their current capacity. You just have to be brave enough to let go of a fear of failing and move through the steps. We hope this episode helps you understand the basics behind an eCommerce site and our journey to Oak & Opal; but more importantly we hope you guys realize that you are ALL capable of starting an online store. And definitely share with us when you do, we'd love to be a part of the evolution of your journey. 🖤

Socials and Survival Mar 06, 2021

On this weeks episode we dove into social media and the effects it has on mental health. We talked about the struggles of navigating social media, comparison, and other negative effects. Per usual we don't have all the answers - but we got feedback from our listeners on things they have done to better their experience on socials, so we hope you can find a tip here or there.

No One is Normal? Feb 25, 2021

The one where we talk about mental health (mostly questioning our own), but we don't give any answers--because we don't have them. Just a discussion of some of the ways we muddle through. Oh, and if nothing else, you'll leave with some interesting insights into contemporary therapy techniques.

Dear Jon Feb 17, 2021

We (like everyone else it seems) decided to start a podcast and we went ahead and picked one of the toughest topics right out of the gate--grief. More importantly - February 21st, and the day everything changed.

This episode is a pretty personal exploration as Ashtyn talks through the trauma of losing her dad 8 years prior. Lacey (Ash’s aunt - married to Jon’s brother), also lost a parent as a child. So this episode we dove deep into the trauma of growing up without a parent and losing someone you love. We don’t know the answers, but we sure do like talking about the questions.

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