Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] Ooh. Oh, what's this? Hello there. How's it going, fam? Look what I just found. That's right, fam. Just found this. 0:17 Should we try it out? Oh, wow. Less than five ingredients with a scan me for a free airdrop. [upbeat music] Here's the magic part, fam. Got it right here. Give it a go. Woo, that was amazing. Refreshing, 0:36 all the salts you need in your electrolyte premix. Definitely check out CryptoRush now. It even has a bonus of creatine. That's right, gotta build those strong muscles. Helps with all that muscle recovery. CryptoRush. 0:52 Mm. Gives you the rush that you need to propel yourself throughout the day. Crypto Fam Radio, I'm your host Mountain Dew. Let's go. Get some CryptoRush now. I have so much to say. 1:10 I can hear you. I'm so... You can? I can hear you. Okay. Good. I think so. It... Okay, do you want the bed as the backdrop? Because that's what's gonna be on YouTube. Are you cool with that? [laughs] I don't really care. 1:21 I mean- Awesome... I always feel like the fake backdrops are weird. Do I- They are. That, that's why I tried to customize mine. I don't know if you see that. I was like, "Oh, I want the middle mat." I know. 1:30 I mean, sadly, like, I mean, I guess I could be in her living room, but- Yeah, that's fine... her whole place is kind of chaotic, so it's... I don't know, this feels like the simplest backdrop, even... 1:42 'Cause there's, like, neutral tones at least. Definitely. [laughs] It is a bit bright over on the left side, if you don't mind maybe shutting down the curtains or the window, closing the curtains. 1:51 I don't know, it's just so bright on that corner of the screen. Or just move the screen. There we go. That's better. Yeah, there we go. Yeah. There we go. Whatever works for you. 2:00 Um, Fiona, I know you have so much to say. Uh, thank you so much for coming on the One11 podcast. This means the world to me. Uh, you know this isn't a traditional crypto podcast, right? 2:13 This is a podcast for everyone, and this isn't just your story, right? This is your... 2:20 Not just your story, but it's the, the stories, uh, the connections, the humans that you have made contact with over the years, compounding and pressing on you to be the best version of yourself today. 2:34 So, I absolutely- Abs-... love that. [laughs] Absolutely. Yeah. And we'd be remiss to not include canines as- Oh, my gosh... part- Please introduce him or her and her name... Her. Okay. This is Lucy. 2:47 She's an 11-year-old, like, street mutt. De la calle. Mm. De la calle de California. [laughs] All the way from Cali? Are you for real- Yeah... that we found her? Well, she... 2:59 You know, rescue organizations, um, brought her and a bunch of other dogs from a kill shelter to be adopted, and- Aw... she was being fostered, and I met her through her foster mom- Oh, my gosh... and then I adopted her. 3:12 Sweet baby. I'd been looking for a dog, uh, at that time, and she just captured my heart. I mean... And, you know- Yeah... she's, uh, she runs the show. [laughs] I am an employee. Yes, she does. [laughs] Yeah, she does. 3:25 My cat Stella's the same way. Aw. I got her over COVID. Wait, where, where are you based right now? Currently I'm in Florida with the fam. Oh, nice. I'm getting ready to gear up my digital nomad life again, and- Nice... 3:38 I'm prepping for Vegas in a- Oh, wow... few months. Yes. Oh, I need to connect you with a... Sorry, I know you're started recording, but- No, you're good. 3:46 [laughs] I need to connect you with a another, a really good crypto friend of mine who lives in Vegas. Mm-hmm. I would absolutely love that. We can definitely cook it up later after the interview. 3:56 There's a lot of people, actually. There's a big community there. Oh, really? Mm-hmm. Like, a crypto community? I, I would assume there's a lot of crypto conferences that happen in Vegas. Well, conferences in general. 4:04 Well, like, also the laws in Nevada are very favorable. Oh, really? I mean, they are in Florida, but New York- They are... not so good, [laughs] which is why- I've heard, I've heard about New York. Yeah... 4:14 I'm establishing residency in another state. Well, South Dakota for nomadding. South Dakota? Oh, my gosh. Can you tell me a little bit about that? And let's get into- Sure... your story a little bit. 4:25 Why don't you introduce yourself, Fiona, and tell me a little bit about yourself and, and- Sure... what's up with South Dakota. Thank you. All right, sure. [laughs] So my name is Fiona Abboud. I am Brazilian American. 4:37 Um, I've been a social impact artist in many different forms for the past 25 years, and I've done projects all over the world, and I've had the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life, and it's been incredible. 4:54 And one of the things that I'm most excited about is what this technology, what blockchain technology allows for, uh, in terms of distributing money globally. Um, so I'm primarily a photographer, and, uh... 5:11 But when I got into this space in during the pandemic in 2020, 2021, um, 5:18 I started a more of a multimedia kind of also technology practice where, um, I not only make pieces that I create with, uh, my camera, but they're also kind of, like, layered. 5:33 I do some digital stuff, and now I've been coding with, um, AI, with my AI assistant. Uh- So cool. [laughs]... ChatGPT or, or, or Geppetto. There you go. Geppetto, as I call him or her. Fair enough. I don't know. 5:50 I call- Fair enough... I say that they're, they're, they're non-binary, 'cause- Ooh, that's a new one. [laughs] I mean, it's a piece... It's code, right? It's like- I know. So- Yeah... but- I feel you. 6:02 [laughs] I feel like right now, like right at this moment- Mm... 6:06 right after this amazing East Denver conference that we met at, we are at such an exciting turning point not only for, you know, blockchain and AI, but just for humanity. 6:20 Like, there are endless opportunities of things that can be done to, like, alter millions and millions of lives. We just have to put the pieces together correctly. [laughs] That's right. Which, I don't know, we'll see. 6:34 [laughs] And then there's regulation, which is a whole other issue. [laughs] Right. But yeah, so, so I'm primarily an artist, but I also think about the world in a larger kind of communal way. Um, I'm, you know, uh, 6:52 I'm a big believer that, like, we shouldn't have world poverty. World poverty shouldn't exist. Like- Mm-hmm... we have the tech, we have the money, period. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But there's human greed. 7:02 There's, you know, people's egos. There's lack of knowledge, lack of awareness. Mm-hmm. And the US, we're so sheltered, too. Like, we don't- Mm-hmm... think about, like- Mm-hmm... what's going on in Sudan. 7:14 Like, what's going on in rural Brazil. Like, I know where is your family from originally? Um, originally from Florida, actually. Okay. Um, Panhandle near, uh, Pensacola. Okay, okay. Um, but, um, yeah. So it's, uh, 7:31 it's, it's an exciting time and I'm really... I'm very optimistic, 'cause that's just my personality. But, you know, [laughs] I love that. There are moments where I'm like, "What the hell?" [laughs] I know, I know. 7:41 A- Like the crypto scams- Mm... like hap- like, at this conference I learned that- Mm... 50% of the GDP of Myanmar and Cambodia are crypto romance scams. No way. So like, what's up with that? What? 7:55 Like, why are we so lonely? Like, why are we so lonely- Wait, wait, wait... that we're- Crypto romance scams? You gotta break that down. I had no idea about this scam, Fiona. Please tell me more. I know. 8:04 So, well- Tell me more... I mean, I, I went to a security conference at East Denver. Okay. Um, and this, this one's shameless. Um- She loves, she loves it. [laughs] And yeah. So, I mean, crypto scams have become so... 8:19 it's a $7 billion industry. Right. That's huge. So, and most of the people perpetuating them are victims of sex trafficking. Like, they're kidnapped as, you know, young women- Oh, my God... 8:31 in whatever country, brought to, like, these compounds in- Mm-hmm... Myanmar and Cambodia. Right. They establish relationships with lonely men online. 8:42 And after, like, six months of texting, videoing, whatever, they're like, "Hey, can you send $20,000 to this crypto address?" Or, or maybe they put it as, like, an investment thing. No way. And it's like a fake dex. 8:58 It's a fake, you know, thing, and the person sends the money, and then poof- Mm... you know, that person's- They're gone. They're gone. Right. Which is so wild, with all the information, that that is still going on. 9:08 Yeah. And obviously it's hard to get real numbers, because if I was scammed in that way, I would not tell anybody. I would, like, take that shit- Right... to my grave. [laughs] Right. So- Right. So yeah. 9:20 So, I mean, listen- Crazy... this is one of the reasons why I think a lot of people have trouble taking crypto seriously. Right. And not... 9:30 I hate when it's the butt of jokes, but, 'cause I'm like, "But, but, like, you don't get it." Like- [laughs] So I created an art piece in 2023. Mm-hmm. I called it Flamingo With Love. It was an AR sculpture. Mm. 9:42 Augmented reality sculpture where, you know, you put your phone, you can put the sculpture anywhere. And I sold it as an NFT. Yeah. And in the code of that NFT, that non-fungible token, was a split contract saying- Mm... 9:55 for every one sold, I did 50% distribution to a very small community in Brazil that is just underserved, for mostly the fact that it's very rural. Mm-hmm. 10:07 And people were able to collect that money directly on their phones. Mm. 10:11 So to put this in a crazy perspective, you know, perhaps they don't have access to consistent electricity, consistent clean water, but they have phones and they're transacting using the Celo, which is, uh, an Ethereum virtual, uh, E- Ethereum layer 2. 10:29 I'm trying to keep this in very simple for- [laughs] terms. So- Thank you. [laughs]... basically it's a cheaper blockchain than Ethereum. Sure. Ethereum has very high gas- Right... 10:37 which makes it a very secure blockchain. Mm-hmm. But Celo, uh, migrated to this Ethereum kinda layer 2 to, um, add to the ecosystem, to be able to benefit from all of the things being built on Ethereum. Mm-hmm. 10:53 And yeah, this blockchain has stable coins all over the developing world. Wow. And is, like, I've heard, I've never been to Kenya, but I've heard that in Kenya they, they use it constantly. Wow. 11:06 And it's a huge part of their economy now. And, uh, we're not seeing it here, but in countries where, you know, you don't trust the government... I mean, we're dead. Mm-hmm. Where you don't trust the government. Mm-hmm. 11:17 You know, your currency is completely devalued. Mm-hmm. Um, y- you have this, uh, digital stable coin that allows you to transact quickly, cheaply. You have the phone. Um, so yeah. 11:29 So that, I use that art piece as, like, a proof of concept. Like, look what we can do. Like, look at this amazing technology. I created a physical sculpture 11:40 to, like, help spread the message, and I schlepped that physical sculpture everywhere. I brought it to Miami for Art Basel, I brought it to Venice for the Venice Biennale. Wow. I brought it to Denver last year. 11:53 Um, and yeah. And so I do plan on continuing these projects that show off the pow-... blockchain, the power of blockchain to essentially help eliminate poverty globally. Which just saying that gives me chills. 12:09 [laughs] But it's like- Huge... how do we structure things- Yeah... in our society, in our payment system- Mm... to help make that a reality? That's the, the hard part. 12:20 But for now, I'm taking a deep dive into this, these new AI agent bots, like Clawbot, like Clawhood, like- Mm-hmm... there's hund- there's hundreds of them it feels like. And seeing, like, how can they benefit people? 12:37 How can they make people's lives better? Because even though we have this tech, I feel like people still have to deal raising their kids, taking care of their parents, uh, you know, taking care of the bills, paying the- 12:53 Mm-hmm... cell phone, the ga- whatever, whatever it may be. Um, and life still has its challenges regardless of the fact that I'm speaking to you on a, you know, my iPod, my little black, like, cute phone. 13:08 [laughs] That's awesome. Isn't this awesome? Technology is great, right? I know. It is great. Technology is so cool. And yet it can do so much more for us. Mm-hmm. And we've, like, just hit, like, the tip of the iceberg. 13:18 Mm. Is that the analogy? And I'm- Yeah... very hopeful for the future. I just feel like governments need to get out of the way. The issue is, again, this side of security- Right... and the scams. 13:32 Like, uh, adoption is still challenging for people. Mm. S- people feel... You know, people wanna feel safe, you know? They don't wanna feel like- Right... 13:40 they're gonna get hacked and their whole investment, their whole life's investment is gonna go out into the ether. Yeah. Um, so it's this like, this tension, right? Of like- Mm... this amazing tech. 13:52 It's so exciting, it can do so much, but yet it's still so new and it's so... It's not there quite yet for grandma. Mm-hmm. Right. Like, is grandma gonna be on board? 14:02 [laughs] Like, do you have a grandma or, I don't know if she's got- Right. I think my grandma-... online, buying crypto stuff... just finally got on Facebook. Yeah. Okay. Oh, there you go. [laughs] Hey, hey, 14:12 30 years too late- Okay... or whatever. Yeah. Right? Right? Maybe a bit too late, but good for her. Understood. Good for her. I, I, I always think, Fiona, it's a generational problem. It's true. That's what it is. 14:21 And it's a mindset problem too. I mean, new things- Mm-hmm... are hard. Like, my mother's aging. It's true. And I tell her every day, I'm like, "You have to do hard things with your brain." You do. 14:31 I mean, at these hackathons, I'm probably double the age of most people participating. No way. But I don't care. I don't care. I just don't care. Yeah. Right. And I'm like, "I'm learning this. 14:41 I wanna teach this to people," especially women, because adoption- Mm... for women is less because we're more... we're less likely to take risks in the same way that men do. I've heard. 14:52 And, you know, like, so, you know, like, crypto, like- Mm-hmm. Uh-huh... 14:57 like, I, you know, men running, like, their ClawBot to, like, do trades and, like, scrape Twitter for, like, information on this coin or this stock and, like, short sell and, like, all these complicated, like, crypto... 15:11 Like, oh my God, this one guy was telling me this one thing and I was like- Mm... "Oh, okay. That's cool. I'll go look into that." [laughs] Like- [laughs] It just, like, go over your head. You're like- Yeah. 15:20 It's like-... "Oh my gosh." [laughs] It's so much... I think, like, the simplest thing- Yeah... if I were telling someone- Yeah... why they should get into crypto- Mm... 15:27 I would tell them, "Open a Coinbase account, deposit just cash- Mm... convert it to USDC and earn 3.5%. It's stable. 15:40 It's backed by Coinbase," which is the largest, I think, one of the largest, uh, um, uh, exchanges in the world. Mm-hmm. And all of their USDC is backed by real dollars. Mm. So you're earning... 15:54 How much does the bank give you? Like 1%, less than 1%? I don't even know. I, I don't know. So- Depends on the savings account, but yeah. 16:01 [laughs] So you put in whatever money you have sitting in dollars in your bank account. Mm-hmm. And if you need that money, you can then just transfer it back to your bank account. I think it's instant. Mm-hmm. 16:12 Or, you know, whatever, keep a certain amount in your bank account. And you're earning without even thinking about it, 3.5%. Mm. You don't need to take the risks. 16:19 You don't need to weather the ups and downs of Bitcoin or Ethereum. Um, which, you know, I joke that it's like having a, like, a, a lover with, or, like, a boyfriend or girlfriend with, like, a personality disorder. 16:34 One day they're like, "Hi, what's up? How's it going?" And then they're like, "Oh my God, I'm so depressed." [laughs] Like, it's like- [laughs]... "Okay, Bitcoin, chill out already girl." Mm-hmm. Like, "It's fine. 16:44 We're gonna be fine." Yeah. I know. The markets, right? Volatility. But with stable coins, I think it's making a lot more people feel safer, right? Of course. 16:53 More secure when they put their money into any kind of crypto, any kind of blockchain, central exchange, or even a DeFi wallet. You know? Like, these DeFi wallets have its use cases as well. 17:05 Um, one I highly recommend, a central exchange, another one is crypto.com. Okay. So I love, love that one. I've had some pretty bad experience with Coinbase on a personal level, but on crypto.com, oh my gosh. 17:18 It's, it's- Okay... where it's the alpha is at. I highly recommend. It's a central exchange. Love it. It's, it's FDIC- Of course... insured as well. Oh, really? [laughs] Yes. It's backed. Yeah. It's backed by the banks. 17:28 It- it's really... I, I'll send my- I have an account through- I knew my referral... Coinbase is too, to some extent. Mm. I feel like there's a caveat there. Mm. 17:36 I feel like there's a caveat, because it can't be every coin. Crypto.com is not legal in New York, actually. You cannot use it in New York. Really? Really? That, that amazes me. 17:47 New York State has some of the strictest crypto laws in the country. Wow. And it makes- That sucks... it very hard. Yeah. I think it's probably because of Wall Street, but- Mm... 17:56 I'm not gonna say too much 'cause I don't want anyone to come after me. No, you're good. But I'm, I'm- [laughs]... I was just seeing on the news crypto.com just made a deal with the Trump administration. Amazing... 18:05 like for, I know, I know Um- Like, they're doing moves on, on a world- And seeing the SEC at- Mm-hmm... Ethereum conference- Right, right... this November. Right. 18:14 And it was so funny, the guy I was with, he kept asking his AI, "Who is this guy?" And it didn't have, like, recent information that he's the chairman. Oh, oh. I kept telling him, "He's the chairman of the SEC. 18:26 Like, the guy, like, who replaced- Mm-hmm... Gary Gensler," who is notoriously anti-crypto. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 18:32 And yeah, I mean, whatever your opinions about Trump, his role in crypto will hopefully be, hopefully be legendary. Yeah. [laughs] And it will... 18:43 You know, I know there's conflict about him enriching himself with his coin and deals- Mm... with Saudi Arabia, investing in his crypto company. Mm-hmm. 18:52 Um, but the fact remains it is the easiest way to send money around the world. Like- Okay... in Denver, for instance, I had Uber guys from Ethiopia, from Sudan- Mm-hmm... from, uh, you know, Dominican Republic. 19:06 And I a- I asked all of them, "How do you send money home?" And all of them said, you know, "I s- I use this service. It charges between one and 6%- Okay... depending how much money I send." Mm-hmm. 19:17 And I'm just like, oh my God, crypto is going to wipe that off the planet in I don't know how many years. [laughs] But, like, and for free, basically. Mm-hmm. 19:27 I mean, okay, if you use, like, an E- if you use Ethereum, you're gonna have to pay gas, but with all these layer twos, you're not, you don't have to. It's, like, cents. Exactly. 19:39 Like, Solano is, like, cents, like,.0 whatever cent per transaction. And it's fast. It happens like that. I'm doing a hackathon tonight for Monad, which is another Ethereum- Ooh... 19:50 and it's, um, again, like, super fast, and it's penny- not even pennies, so. I love that. Yeah. So you're, so you're getting into hackathons? Are, are you a dev yourself, or you just vibe code? 20:04 Or tell me a little bit about that. [laughs] I like to say I have a, a very smart, uh, team. A, a agentic team. [laughs] There you go. I like that. I have my UX designer. Yeah. I have my coder. [laughs] Oh, cool. 20:18 I'm kinda like the founder. [laughs] Oh, got you. You got all the AIs. 20:23 Yeah, I find, I find engaging with this technology at a hackathon, even though I don't have all of the knowledge, it allows me to, like, really get to know the tech. And once I really know the tech, I can make- Mm... 20:36 more art kind of, I don't want to say based on the tech, but using the tech in creative ways. 20:42 And perhaps I'll build out this project that I, that I did for Youth Denver, and that I, I'm continuing it, uh, tonight at this other hackathon. Um, but yeah. 20:52 I mean, it's just, like, a way to, like, keep involved and to, like, really deep dive and to, like, understand the components of an application and to understand now, uh, you know, uh, Clawbot, which has, like, 21:07 exploded, like, in AI. Just this idea of, like, I have a little guy in my computer and, like, he's being like, "Oh, hey, you got a meeting today at 10:00. You got this to do at 11:00. 21:20 And, uh, while you're doing that, I'm gonna put together some research on this project you're working on," and- Nice... "Oh, y- you know, I don't have this set up for myself yet, but the possibility is there." Mm-hmm. 21:31 "Oh, you need to book a flight to Mexico? Let me go find the cheapest flight. I'll book it for you and send you the email." 21:38 You know, it's like having a, a free assistant to do all the tasks that are on your list that, you know, you might put off or forget or, um... Mm-hmm. And it's, we're just in the beginning of this. 21:51 And is it ready for grandma? No, absolutely not. No. [laughs] Is it even ready for us? [laughs] There are so many security risks still. Right. And then there's all these, like, doomsday stories. 22:02 Like, I was reading one yesterday of this woman- Oh, no. [laughs] Tell me... that set up... Uh, she works for, like, Meta or something like that- Mm... 22:10 and in, like, secur- or something, like, crazy that she let this happen. Mm-hmm. She deployed... 22:15 So just for people that don't know, so Clawbot was founded by this guy, um, I'm forgetting his name, but he basically wanted to code an assistant for himself. Mm-hmm. So he created this 22:28 agentic AI who is basically like a free range. Like, you don't need to pro- you can prompt him or her, they, whatever- [laughs] Sure... and they'll do your bidding for you. 22:40 And you can do anything, like, um, connect it to your email, connect it to your desktop. You can just connect it to Telegram for you to message it. 22:51 Um, it's very powerful technology, but it's also given a lot of permissions, and it's not perfect. Mm-hmm. So sometimes it can run amok, and that's what happened to this woman. She let it 23:03 go through her email and say archive or delete. Mm-hmm. And the bot just deleted all her personal email. [laughs] No. I've heard this before. Which is funny, because, like- Yeah... I don't really email. 23:14 I don't really have personal emails anymore. [laughs] I just have texts. Like, I just- Really?... text people. 23:19 Like, email to me is, like, the spam email or, like, my plane information or, like, I need to pay a bill or something. Right. Right. But you still check your email every day, right? 23:31 I do, but it's, I don't, I don't really email friends. Like, I'm not like, "Hey, how are you doing?" [laughs] Like, I'll text them. 23:37 [laughs] What about, like, business partners or something or, like, other fellow artists? Or you just do it through social media? Telegram, Slack. And TG. Okay. I don't really... Well, for projects I've used Slack. 23:48 Yeah, projects. Slack? Okay. Asana. Okay. Asana. Um- Asana. I haven't heard of that one. Yeah. Email is, like, I don't know. Yeah, I kinda, I don't- What about- I don't know about the way it, like- Yeah. 24:02 I, I- Like, I'm getting things, and there's so much-... spam that goes. It's not really productive for me to use I know. You gotta wade through all that spam and everything. And, and I assume you have a Gmail, correct? 24:14 Or is it a different email? Yeah. Yeah. And Gmail has always been Gmail. I don't think they've ever been through any kind of updates. Yeah, I, I know they try to do the promotion photo, uh, or folder. 24:26 You know, they separate the folders for you. They, they try to help you a little bit, but it hasn't really been updated in, like, over 10 years. And it's like- Yeah... 24:33 this is one of the problems I'm faced, because I come out with a weekly newsletter, right? With Crypto Fam. Cool. And so I automatically wanna know, does that newsletter end up in your unread, you know, in your inbox? 24:44 Does it go to your promo? You know, it's like- Yeah... 'cause I need to know that because I'm the one writing this weekly newsletter to keep you up to date on what we're doing over at Crypto Fam. 24:53 So it's good that you, you know, have that, um, sense of, like, you still check your email. That's great, 'cause I'm gonna add you to the newsletter. But at the same time- [laughs]... like, where [laughs] 25:03 where do you end up, you know? Because I wanna make sure that you're getting what I'm sending. [laughs] You see what I'm saying? Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. 25:12 And you know, as an artist, I used to send promotional emails. Hmm. Yeah. And after a point, I kinda stopped because- Yeah... and I sent in-person postcards because- Mm-hmm... 25:22 it just sort of felt like it was getting thrown out into- Hmm... people's junk and nobody's- Me?... opening. In the beginning it was great, and I got- Right... a lot of work from it, but- Oh... 25:33 people were just evolving so quickly in the way they Hmm... consumed it. And, um- That's true... we're, we're really living in this crazy world, and it's exciting- Yeah... and it's also terrifying. 25:45 There's like part of me during this security conference that I was like, "Okay, let's just move to the woods, get a cabin, and, like, start homesteading- [laughs] Oh... 25:55 and, like, having my own, like, chickens and l- and cows." Right. That's a simpler life, isn't it? And, like, grow the carrots. [laughs] Like- That sounds so nice... own organic gardens. 26:03 You know, like, but there's a- I could, I could, I could totally see you doing that, by the way, Fiona. I could. [laughs] I probably- I could see you. [laughs] You could pull that off... 26:11 after a couple months, but I probably could maybe do it. We'll see. Yeah. The problem is, is like, I see... I want to be at, like, the nexus- Hmm... of, like, allowing this push for- Hmm... 26:25 really solving problems that we should've solved 50 years ago. Right. That, like, we should've figured out as humanity. Hmm. Like, why are people still living on under $2 a day? Why are kids still hungry? 26:37 Why are women still dying in childbirth? Like- Right... you, I have a, a flat iPad screen looking at me talking to you in floor. Like, why? Like- [laughs]... there is no reason for these basic-ass- Yeah... human- Hmm... 26:52 misery problems- Hmm... that people experience. And, like, we don't see it because we're in a bubble. You know? We are. We're in so many bubbles right now. 26:59 And it's part of my job as a podcast host, too, to pop those bubbles and to- Yay... y- you know, as a journalist, you know. My background's in journalism and PR. 27:09 Part of a journalist's, um, you know, uh, mission is to go out and get the story, right? 27:13 I'm constantly having to talk to new people in different bubbles and assess and distill and then communicate tho- that message back to my audience, you know? And this is why we're doing what we're doing here, Fiona. 27:24 So I am just so glad, so grateful that you're here, and I want you to share with me a little bit about your story as a digital nomad. You know, how did you get started doing that? 27:34 You know, like, it sounds like you're okay being displaced every so often, because we're always on this sense of, you know, an adventure, right? This process. We're always in process. 27:44 So walk me through a little bit about how you got started on your digital nomad experience, and, uh, tell me what's in store for you in the next three to six months. Sure. [laughs] So I've just really started. 27:57 So I lived in New York for 30 years. I went to school here. I got married here. Wow. I had kids here. Oh, wow. I got a divorce here. [laughs] Oh my God. I, I, you know, my kids are in college. Wow. 28:09 They're both superstars. Like, I could not be happier. Aw. They're both, like- Great... mentally well-adjusted. Like, one of them- Good... is playing D2 basketball. The other one's studying computer science. Love it. 28:19 I'm a super proud mama. Aw. And, like, this is my moment. Like- Hmm... I'm trying to help my mom out, kind of like be like a person that's like, "Hey," like, "maybe you could change this. Maybe let's do this." 28:31 Like, and she's making really good progress. Great. So I always pop back in here to, like, check on her. Mm-hmm. But, um, really, East Denver was, like, my first kind of... 28:41 Like, I, I gave up my lease at the end of January, which is, for a word of advice- Ooh... never move in the winter in New York City. [laughs] It just, the way- Hmm... the card, the cookie crumbled, like- Hmm... 28:53 I feel like it took my kids, like, a semester to really get, like, established. And then I was just like, "You know what? I don't need..." Like, I had my whole art, all 25 years of art-making in that studio- Mm-hmm... 29:05 and that place, and I was just like, "I don't need this anymore." I put everything in storage. Mm-hmm. And I'm, I need to organize it a little bit more, but, you know, no judgment. I made it work. 29:15 [laughs] Um, I have like, I really, you re- we really don't need that much, you know? No. Laptop, iPad, iPhone. Mm-hmm. Uh, like two, three pairs of pants, two dresses, bathing suit- Yeah... 29:30 uh, underwear, socks- [laughs]... bra, whatever. Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. And that's it. And the sneakers, like maybe a nice pair of shoes or like a comfy whatever. Yeah. That is it. 29:39 And that's pretty much what I have at my mom's. I have a little bit more, because, like two suitcases, let's say. Mm-hmm. And, and then I have this fluff ball, this accessory. Aw. 29:48 And I haven't quite figured out how to travel with her, but like- Really?... it is, well, no, I haven't done it yet. Like, I didn't do- Wow... East Denver 'cause I stayed with friends that had cats- Aw... 29:58 and they all don't want, "We don't want- Right... a dog here." Aw. "No dogs ever." [laughs] Sorry. But I'm gonna, I'm going to Brazil to visit my family in- In April with my daughter who- Okay... 30:10 hasn't been back in 10 years because of her training for basketball. Wow. Um, and then I'm gonna go to Europe. So I'm gonna do a project- Wow... so the Venice Biennale is, like, the art Olympics is how I call it. Ooh. 30:23 And, like, every country has an artist and, and then, like, the big famous artist will do, like, their own kind of bespoke projects all around, um, the I- you know, the Venice is, like, a crazy place that I've been several times, but it- Wow... 30:36 blows my mind every time I go back. Mm. And it's very dog friendly. Yeah. The Italians, you know? Of course. Certo il cani puede venire a Venezia. [laughs] Aw. 30:48 Boots, we're gonna dress you up crazy and you're gonna be an art... No, but I, I will do a project. I always try to engage with the art world there. Yeah. 30:56 Um, in 2019 I did a piece with a friend of mine who we did a performance trying to, um, put attention on the migrant issue, and I, I forget exactly the news that was going on at that point in time, but we basically wrapped her in this red fabric. 31:12 The project was called We All Bleed Red, and then I photographed her in different, like, iconic, uh, kind of Venice settings. And- Wow... what's really interesting is people's interactions. Like- That's cool... 31:23 you saw some people checking on her, making sure she was okay. Yeah. Uh, girls, like, just doing a selfie in front of her. You saw the- Wow... we got in trouble with the Venice police just for- Really? Why? 31:34 Being- What happened? Well, because it's like they wanna control, they don't want things to get out of control, especially during the Biennale. Mm. 31:42 And, um, I think this year I'm gonna do a project about women's maternal health. Ooh. Um, again, with a performance piece and this time I'll make it an NFT. I didn't know about NFTs in 2019, so [laughs]- Oh, okay... 31:56 um, this time I'll make it, um, an NFT, and I wanna support some kind of global women's maternal health, uh, initiative because, you know, like- Mm... women have babies and our women are dying from it, and it's- Yeah... 32:10 unnecessary. It's totally unnecessary. It is. 32:13 Um, and it's, uh, you know, we have the technology, we have the money, and it's, it's, um, I've, I don't know the exact statistics, but it's, it's alarming and it's more than it should be. Um, so yeah. Mm. 32:26 So I'm gonna do something. Last year, last Biennale, I brought my flamingos and I spoke about them. I dragged them all around town. I- Wow... engaged with people. It's really a chance to, like, 32:37 engage with humans, not only in the art world, but people that live in Venice too. And since I've gone back all the time, I've made friendships with people that live there. 32:47 And, um, there's one specific part of the island where I spend more time and, like, it's a very small local community and I, I wanted to create a piece last time about this kind of disappearing true Venice population. 33:03 But sometimes I have projects in my head that I, I photograph and I have it in a folder, but I, I never get a chance to actually produce the project. So it's just- Mm... 33:13 because, you know, things move so quickly and I'll get a new idea and I'll act on it because, like, I've been applying to many artists. So this is another part of my nomadic journey. 33:22 I've been applying to many artist residencies around the world- Ooh, sick... where I'm able to work on specific projects that I pitch. 33:30 So I haven't let go of my identity as an artist, but engaging with this technology and having the free space and the, you know, I'm not paying New York rent anymore, which, oh my God. So, so good. I've heard- So-... 33:44 it's expensive. [laughs] You know, and obviously- Crazy... tickets are expensive, so I have to plan accordingly. Yeah. And, um, and this is where the South Dakota residency comes in. They have- Oh, right. 33:56 Share with me about that... they have a really interesting program for digital nomads where you go- Oh... you spend one night in the state. Mm-hmm. You can go to the DMV, get a driver's license, uh, register- Wow... 34:09 any vehicles that you may have. Mm-hmm. Um, I'm gonna have a mail, uh, service that scans my mail, and if- Oh... I want a package delivered there, they can send it to- Wow... wherever I am in the world. 34:24 And it just makes things so easy. And the laws in South Dakota are very favorable to crypto. Right. They're very, um, favorable in terms of tax, taxes. It's nice. For pay very high tax. Really? 34:37 Um, I do have a business registered in New York, which I think I'm gonna close, so we'll see. I don't know. I, I mean it- Just move it, move it to South Dakota, no? 34:46 Well, I think I've kind of moved on from my brand as- Oh... a photographer. Always. I feel like 34:54 I'm engaged in so many different projects, whether it be crypto projects, you know, crypto blockchain, AI projects, art projects, that my identity as a photographer, even though I'll always think like one, is very different now because- Mm... 35:09 of how I'm interacting with, um, all of this different... You know, I mean, my work is more abstract. It's more based on, I would say, human connection too- Mm. Mm... which is not considering it's on the blockchain. 35:24 But, but what I try to tell artists when they think of, oh, crypto scam, NFT scam, like, I'm like, "No, this is a way to store your work, your archive, your hard work on the blockchain in perpetuity- Mm-hmm... 35:38 with code that can say," and I always attach physical pieces to NFTs because- Right... for me, I'm very attached to the physical object. Mm-hmm. If this sells in 30, 40, 50, 100 years, it says in the code that my 35:53 beneficiaries, my children, will get a 5% of that original sale price. Whereas, like- Wow... if you look on auction of all the artists that have been dead for, like, 100 years- Mm-hmm... 36:06 their work, their estate gets nothing Mm-hmm So this is a revolutionary technology for artists, not just for your archive- Mm-hmm... but for the history of your, of your legacy, for your family. 36:19 Like, you know, Jasper Johns like just sold something at auction for like 100 some hundreds of millions of dollars. His estate gets nothing, none, no part- Mm... of that because there was no blockchain, you know? 36:30 And this is such a special moment for artists, and I- so many of my artist friends like see all the crypto scams, see all the crypto bros, their Lambos, flexing their wealth, and this and that, and they're like, "I want no part of that," and I get that. 36:43 I want no part of that either. But the technology is the technology. You can't deny it. Mm-hmm. And it's, it's, um, like maybe the hype of the NFT thing has faded, but the technology hasn't. It hasn't changed. 37:00 In fact, it's evolved even more. Now I, with tech, I can write my own smart contract and say, "Maybe I want my descendants to get 10%, 15%, 50%." Whatever I wanna say, it can happen, and it's just numbers. 37:14 It's just code. It's, it's, you know, code isn't, doesn't have a personality luckily. Luckily. Oh my God, can you imagine sassy, smart contract? [laughs] I don't give you 5%, I wanna give you... 37:25 [laughs] Oh yeah- I'm gonna write myself-... I was gonna get to that point... 2% You're gonna have a little, you're gonna have a little chat bot, you know, a little AI bot- Yeah, right... 37:32 that's a bit sassier than the other one, you know? And anyway, a- and it's so funny, yeah, you mentioned tech, right? And it's like, that's the real utility- Yeah... on blockchain, in crypto. It's not vaporware. 37:44 We have to focus on the tech because everything we see outside on social media with these bros, you know, like highlighting their cars, their mansions, that's all marketing, right? Totally. 37:54 They're all good marketers, or they think they're good, right? But we know, you know, what, what's really behind that. And at the end of the day, it's those people that are willing to build community, right? 38:05 That are willing to be consistent. So t- talk to me more about how you got into crypto and how you're able, as an artist, sell your NFTs, and how you create communities through your art. Sure. 38:18 Um, well, I still am a big believer in the in-person community, which is how we met. Yeah. Uh, there's something magical that happens when you- Always... put people together in a room. Mm-hmm. 38:27 It doesn't matter who they are. Yeah. Um, and I'm a very social being, even though I spend a lot of time alone just- Mm... on the computer. Um, I love being social. 38:37 Um, so my community mostly started on Clubhouse during the pandemic. Wow. And I would say about half of those artists are no longer in NFTs and crypto. Oh. And, you know, art has always been hard to sell. Mm-hmm. 38:52 Like the excitement of that NFT kind of thing, and there was excitement. You know, some people really blew up because, like you said, they were good marketers- Mm-hmm... 39:01 and their stuff sold for lots and lots of money, and that was amazing to see. There was definitely a gold rush. Mm. But that's because people were just so excited. And, uh, there was also a market, right? 39:10 And when there's a market, heavy trading volume, uh, values get inflated. 39:16 But, you know, art, like even Jackson Pollock, one of the most famous artists whose work sells for hundreds of millions of, of dollars on auction- Mm... he would trade his dentist dental work for paintings. 39:29 Imagine that, Jackson Pollock doing that in his lifetime. What? At, I know, right? Crazy. Crazy. 39:35 And, you know, art, 'cause it's, it's hard to sell s- the, you know, your creativity, your vision, unless someone really connects with your work. Right. 39:43 So, you know, personal relationships, like the last piece I sold was to a guy who, who works for the Arab Swiss Bank- Mm... um, who I showed, uh, this piece I did. 39:54 Uh, it's a combination of, of me and my great-great Lebanese grandmother- Wow... who emigrated from Lebanon to Brazil. Wow. And, uh, he's Lebanese. He really connected with the work- Mm... 40:06 and felt an emotional attachment to it and, and bought the piece. Mm. It is, it is a long sale. Like, you know, I knew him already for a year, and you have to kind of be a squeaky wheel. And, um, I am a big fan. 40:20 I will eventually do an in-person show in New York. There's a lot of empty storefronts. Uh, I have all my work in storage. I wanna produce kind of a new body of work before I do that. Mm. I make it a group show. 40:33 I might, you know, I need to kind of meet the right people to make that happen. Mm. Um, I'm a big believer in the in-person. I'm also a big believer in art, making art fashion too, like- Yeah... something you can wear. 40:46 Uh, I feel like people are much more likely to spend like 30 to $100 on like a cool l- like shirt or leggings or scarf, rather than a, a, you know, a tableau that's like maybe like thousands of dollars. Um- Right... 41:03 but, uh, yeah. I mean, I feel like art is a, is a, a means of expression, but it's also a political, a way of expressing like, you know, for me, it's the social impact side. 41:16 It's like, "Hey, look what we can do with this tech. Isn't this amazing?" Um- Love that... you know? And it's, uh, like the flamingo NFT, I really marketed that heavily, and I was able to sell, I think I... 41:32 I had like a few thousand dollars of those, and a lot of it went to the community. 50% was in the smart contract. Mm-hmm. Um, and I, I was working with this DAO that was ha- such a great idea, but it- Mm... folded sadly. 41:46 No. Before AI coding became a thing, I think their costs were too high- Oh... and they had to fold. But the idea of this DAO, it was called Changed Out- Mm... was that you had social impact artists. Okay. 41:58 Everyone would re- release a, um, project, and like a certain percentage went into the treasury- Mm... and then that treasury would go to fund further artistic projects that had social impact. Oh. 42:11 It's a great idea, but, you know, it- So, like it builds on itself over time, essentially. Yes. Okay. Yes. I love that Funding for projects. 42:18 Like, one of the AI agents I wanna build is an AI agent that's looking for residencies with, like, parameters that I specify. Ooh, that's smart. [laughs] And even though I will still do the application myself- Right... 42:31 um, finding these residencies sometimes can be tricky. Right. I currently pay for a service that, like, it lists... The problem is there's so many, and there's so many, too, that are, like- Right... glorified vacations. 42:43 Like- Ah... they're like, "Oh, you come, you pay for your..." You know- Right... they're not really residencies, they're like hotels that are just like, "We're residencies," and- Right... 42:51 I want, like, real residencies with real, kind of, uh, integration into the art world and into people that can mentor you. I never went to art school, so having that, like, mentor- Mm... relationship is really cool. 43:05 I love that. Having that community of other artists building stuff around you. Like I said, the in-person energy is electric. Like, that, for me, that's what's so, I was excited about ETHDenver. 43:15 Everyone's building their own thing. Everyone has their own knowledge. Right. Everyone is, like, working on something cool, especially where we met, at Blunt Out. Like, ugh. Yes. It was the bomb, art. Oh, my gosh. 43:26 I love that community- Yeah... so much. Aw, really? That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not super familiar with that community, but I knew a lot of people within that community. 43:35 And so just in order to just be in the same room, you know, and feel the energy, it was, it was so captivating, so magnifying. But talk to me more, uh... Man, there, there's a few points I wanna come back to. Right. 43:48 But, like, I keep hearing social activism, right? With your art. And I really, really like that because another artist which I feel like I need to connect you with, Jen, with One Love Art DAO, she's- Oh, I know Jen. 44:00 I'm part of One Love. You do know- I'm part of- Oh, you are part of One Love. Okay. I showed- That's what I thought... with them last, wait, was it last- Okay... 44:06 the year before at their, they had a big event at Art Basel, and I showed my sculpture with them. Yeah. Yeah. Jen is awesome. Jen is an icon. I- She is... I really admire her. I am bad at voting in the DAO, 44:19 but I am part of the DAO. You should vote. That's how- I know. I need to- That's, that's a part of the DAO... I think, you know- That's, that, that's- I need to get, I need to make it an AI chatbot that reminds me. 44:30 You know- Yes... it's the, like, r- there's so many things I need to do for my- Make a list... online life and my physical life- Make a list. [laughs]... that, um. But she does amazing work- She does... 44:41 at promoting artists. She does. Boosting up artists. Uh, she's an amazing artist herself. Mm-hmm. Jen is amazing. I, I really respect her, and I respect her hustle. And, um- I get it. I love it... 44:52 yeah, and so, I mean, she's Florida-based, too, and she- She's in Tampa, yeah... hosts in Palm as well, so. Yeah. 44:57 So we met her, initially me and my partner, we met her at Gates Hotel in Miami South Beach at Art Basel last year, right? 45:04 We interviewed her, uh, Zoney did, and then, uh, we published that interview, and then, um, just a few weeks later, I started getting on TikTok, and then I introduced Jen to TikTok Lives. 45:16 And then we've been doing this TikTok Live together to promote artists, right? Like, under the One Love Art DAO brand. And I convinced her to finally make a One Love Art DAO TikTok account. I know, right? I follow. 45:29 I follow. I follow. Right? Right? Yeah. And I was like, that wouldn't have been possible if me, myself, and, you know, like Du over here started his daily TikTok Lives. 45:37 And I convinced Jen, I was like, "Jen, you gotta do this. This is another great resource for artists," and she kept putting it off. And I'm like, "You gotta take the leap," you know? 45:47 And she finally did it, and we've been pretty consistent for the past... We, we do a weekly live now every Sundays at 4:00 EST. Oh. So hopefully we'll... I, I need to follow up with her for this Sunday. 45:59 You know, we've just been so busy trying to catch up from ETHDenver. And, uh, so that, that's our main TikTok, uh, daily lives, or I was just, I should say weekly lives. 46:08 But we will begin starting to do X spaces again, because she doesn't like hosting X spaces, and I'm like, "I love it. Let me host, and you can be my guest." [laughs] I am with her on that. I know. I love Clubhouse. Yeah. 46:21 I felt so intimate. I was so comfortable. Mm-hmm. I used to host the beginning onboard space for artists and whoever. Mm-hmm. But when everyone moved to X, I just, like- I know... It's different, isn't it? 46:34 It's a different vibe. So interesting how UX matters so much, right? It does. Like, good UX, UX that makes people feel comfortable. Mm-hmm. Um, I don't know. Yeah, X always, it feels like a big black hole to me. Really? 46:49 Oh, that's so sad. But TikTok Live. Mm-hmm. So I think what I'm going to do is- Join me... I'm gonna create a TikTok for this project that- Yes... I'm working on right now. Okay. 47:02 And so basically it's an AI agent to help parents. Cool. Because when you're a parent, you have all the chaos. I don't know if you've spent any time with little kids. But- Um, every so often... it, it can be chaotic. 47:13 There can be, like, cycles where you're just like, "Oh, my God, I need a timeout." Right. [laughs] And to have this, like, intelligent assistant- Mm-hmm... you can be like, "My kids are having a meltdown. 47:23 I'm having a meltdown. What can I do?" Right. And it'll come back to you with, like, a few suggestions, and you're like, "Oh, my God, AI. That's a really..." 47:29 You know, I, I call it Mamaset, which is like marmoset, but it's like mama and set. Oh. So it's- Cute... it's, like, so far the logo is a little mamaset holding a little baby mamaset. [laughs] Aw. Love it. 47:43 Um, so yeah, so, and the idea, too, and it uses blockchain. Like, you can message it with Telegram, message it a photo you just took. 47:50 It'll, um, put it on IPFS, and then you'll be able to take those photos and memories and create books using, like, chatbooks or... 47:59 So basically it's a way to just stream life, streamline, like, all the things that you want to do. Like I have- Mm... 48:06 hundreds and thousands of photographs of my kids, and of course I've messaged them to people, like, uh, you know, my ex-husband. You know, we're still good friends. My, I- Aw... we talk and text all the time. 48:17 That's great. You know, we always send each other photos of the kids when they were younger. Yeah. Um, and my parents and my brother, um- But if I had, if I, if the, this Mama Said Bot had been on that chat- Mm... 48:30 she could be making these NFTs so they're archived on the blockchain, organized. Mm-hmm. And then I could have made books easily, and I wouldn't just have a bunch of stuff in a million hard drives. 48:41 Although I did organize it and archive it, and it's backed up, like, four times. Nice. There's four terabytes of images of my daughters from their life. Wow. That's amazing. 48:51 I think there's more photos than my parents ever, like, looked at me. Oh, my gosh. [laughs] Well, you know. You, you need to put those into actual photo books, you know? Tangible. You need to eventually do that. Yeah. 49:01 And then you'll have something tangible that you can always look at. I'm just gonna build an AI agent to do that for me. [laughs] Yes. There we go. There we go. There we go. But you need that. You need that. 49:10 [laughs] Because I used to be a wedding photographer in another life. Oh, yeah. And so I, I, I, that was my upsell, right? To the couples, "Get the wedding album." Mm-hmm. 49:18 "Because you're not gonna know where these images, they might corrupt on the drive." Like, you know that sense of you don't know what's gonna happen on the, on a digital scape. 49:26 And that's another thing- That's why you need tangible. Tangibility is huge... for using IPFS. Mm-hmm. The Interplanetary File System. Mm. Which is a decentralized storage system for- Right... NFTs. 49:37 'Cause the actual NFT is a string of numbers, right? Mm. Mm-hmm. So IPFS allows you to store the actual image on a decentralized file storage, so you don't lose that. Wow. 49:50 And so it's there for as long as we don't have the, what is it? The electromagnetic bomb that's gonna wipe out all the computers. [laughs] EMP, right? EMP. Sorry. I am optimistic, I promise. I just sometimes- I've-... 50:03 I'm like- I've heard of that. I've heard if the president's close there is, like, your phones don't work. They stop working if he's doing, like... 50:11 Yeah, if you ever go to an event where, yeah, the President of the United States is speaking- Oh... they, they actually have that EMP I've heard. I've heard from other people. Oh, okay. 50:19 But if you go to a rally or something, you can't use your phones. Like, they just- They block the signal... they, they block it. They block the signal. They jam the, the wi- Yeah... or the- They jam something... 50:28 the cells... the, the 5G, the towers, so you can't, you can't document. You just, you can't do anything. Your phone's useless at that point. I've heard, but I don't- Mm. Mm... I don't know. 50:37 But I, I think that's just interesting- Oh... because, you know, more and more as technology gets, um, more sophisticated, we're always looking for ways to counter that sophistication, right? 50:48 We're always looking for ways to, okay, even though technology's here, we can always, you know, have something to, not beat it, but I guess counter it, I guess, in a way and, and have that defense in case, you know, shit hits the fan, I guess. 51:01 I don't know. Oh. Yeah. No, absolutely. Um, yeah. I mean, and that's, uh... It's like, I think the military was using Anthropic- Mm... for, um, some of their missions, like their- Oh, for sure... 51:18 manless drone missions. Oh, right. And Anthropic were like, "You can't do that." And they're like, "Yes, we can. The Defense Act," whatever. Mm-hmm. Um, there's always this tension, right? Between- Right... 51:28 technological innovation and government control. Right. And, and in some ways government protects us, and in some ways it stifles us. Right. So- Absolutely... 51:39 you know, when crypto has a bull market, people are like, "Why is crypto being so regulated?" When it has a bear market, they're like, "Okay, maybe the government was right." So- Right? Like, what the hell? 51:49 There's that FUD, right? There it is. Yeah. There's, there's also FOMO at the same time, so it's like- No FOMO. [laughs] Well, a lot of people are getting FOMO over ETHDenver, and we haven't really even touched on- Oh... 52:02 your experience at ETHDenver. And I've been posting these little Day in the Life of Dew on my TikTok. I saw those. You should check them out. They're so cute. Thank you. Thank you. I love those. Oh, those are great. 52:12 I've got one more part, uh, and then it'll be a miniseries. Good. It'll be... So, so I'm working on it later today. I'm looking up- Hopefully I'll have it done by today, 'cause I wanna post it today... 52:19 did you submit to the content guys? Um, to Humpty- What do you mean?... uh, Humpty and, uh, David Hernandez? No. They did a, they did a content hackathon, hackathon. Hmm. Really? 52:32 But, but I, I documented the process of my hackathon, but I was busy with another project I was involved in the day after, so I wasn't able to submit. Yeah. But, um, I'll connect you to Humpty. You should. 52:45 I would love that. Um- Because this was part of the content creators program put on by ETHDenver, so that's why I got the little badge. Oh. 52:52 I was able to get the po- I was ba- able to get access to the podcast lounge so I could interview people, right? Oh, okay. So this is what was special about applying for the content creators program. 53:03 You're ba- it's basically a little media pass. That means you could go around, you could interview anyone, you could talk, you know, like, actually- Yeah... like, do stuff around the conference. 53:11 And then u- and use the podcast lounge, which was incredible. You saw it. It was super bright. Yeah. The camera, the mic. I used it last year. I... Oh, they had it last year, too? Yeah. That's incredible. Yeah. 53:21 So it's like, I love that ETHDenver... And it was all for free. Like, we didn't have to pay a single dime, and that's the beauty of ETHDenver. General admission was free. Um, everything was free. 53:31 It was to the public because they want people to come. They want people to experience crypto, experience how beneficial it can be for your life. 53:40 And I wanna hear more about your experience at ETHDenver, what you took away. It sounds like this wasn't the first time you've been to ETHDenver. So maybe compare it to the last time you went as well. 53:50 I, I wanna hear all about it, uh, Fiona. So, and then your camera's just messed up for a second. I think you gotta fix that. I just turned off my- Okay. No, you're good. [laughs]... 53:57 uh, alerts because it's driving me crazy. Okay. No worries. I think- You're good. You're good. Take it away. [laughs] Um, so all right. 54:03 So my experience last year, I mean, every experience is great and every experience- Mm... is different. And I try to never have FOMO because I always feel- Right... like I'm always in the right place. Mm. 54:14 I just turned that off. Maybe it's you. Anyway, so, um, I u- I'm very, like, go with the wind, like, my intuition, like, what does my heart tell me that I want to do. Mm. And so what I did was I went... 54:26 So not only is the conference free, they have a free Three-day beginner class that helps people learn Solidity- Mm... which is the programming language of Ethereum blockchain. Right. 54:37 Which is basically, um, how to code smart contracts. Mm. Now, you know, a smart contract is basically just code that says, you know, "If you do this, I do this. 54:48 And if that person does this, I do th-" You know, it's just instructions, basically. Right. Um, and, uh, so what was really exciting about that Build conference, uh, the Build... I did it last year too. 55:01 Last year I had no idea what I was doing. Mm. AI coding was just starting. I was using this application and th- and I just like, I was all over the place. Yeah. 55:10 This year I had more of a sense of like problems developing in AI, you know, what I actually needed Solidity for. And the, the, uh, the new evolvement of this OpenClaw technology really captivated me. 55:26 We had one of the teachers, Austin Griffin, Griffith- Mm-hmm... I think is how you say his name. Mm-hmm. 55:31 And he was telling us about all of his claw agents and how they all communicate, and how he interacts with them using Telegram, and I was like, "Oh my God, this is such an opportunity. Let me take this technology and..." 55:45 Um, sorry, is that me or you, the beeping? That's you. No, I'm not beeping. Ah. That's totally you, Fiona. Ugh. I'm on do not disturb. How is this- I don't know. I definitely not sure what's going on. [laughs] Ah. 56:00 So unprofessional. I'm very sorry. It's, it's okay. You're fine. Um, I- Keep, keep rolling, keep rolling. I- Eat Denver. Eat Denver. All right. Eat Denver. [laughs] You got this. So I saw this opportunity- Yeah... 56:08 to really, like, dive in. And you know, it's that social pressure too, everybody's making something. Mm. And there are mentors there if you run into any kind of problems. So I was like, "You know what? 56:18 Let me build something I wish I had had when I was- Mm... a mother and I had small... I had twins." Right. Small kids. 56:24 Like, something that's like, oh, you know, small things like I have chicken, eggs, flour, broccoli in the fridge. What can I make? Mm. Or, you know, my kid's having a meltdown, what do I do? 56:34 Or I'm looking for basketball programs, or keep track of, you know, school deadlines I need to apply for. Mm. Um- Okay... especially when you're, like, working and being a mother, like- Mm-hmm... it's just overwhelming. 56:45 Right. So having a really intelligent, uh, AI assistant would be- Mm-hmm... something that I would've loved. Mm-hmm. So I built this mama set. I, you know, and I celebrate every small step. 56:56 I successfully installed a VM, which I didn't know about the previous year. I was able to run the claw, the claw through it. I was able to integrate Telegram. I was able, you know, now I'm building it out right now, 57:10 and now I'm adding the component of the blockchain and storing memories and photos on the blockchain. Um, yeah. So it, it really motivated me and kickstarted me into going. Mm. 57:23 And while I wasn't able to do as many social events, I definitely did some. Mm-hmm. And I was able to present in front of the audience on stage. The last day they had a claw, an OpenClaw kind of showcase. Yeah. 57:36 I was there. Um, my, my project won most, Most Heartfelt, which is, feels like- Oh... a little bit like a participation prize. But, but the function and the utility of this project- Uh-huh... 57:47 I'm a big believer in it and I really am- Yeah... I really do believe that parents need, uh, something like this. Because like I said, like, we still have these basic human issues that are, uh, 58:02 impacting people, whether or not we have iPads, iPhones, computers, little doohickeys that do this and that. Mm-hmm. So I really wanted to dive into this tech, get to know it. 58:13 I'm going to do a TikTok on the process of doing it for other people to learn. Nice. Um, I think that it's... And it's valuable coming from me because I'm not, you know, a 20-year-old coder who's like, 58:28 oh, like studying computer science. Like, there were these adorable kids from Purdue that won, uh, I think they won an, like- Yeah... an honorable mention at the hackathon- Yeah... 58:35 for this incredible game, this staking game that they created. Yeah. Um, you know, that's not me. I'm, like, so practical. I'm like, "What can AI help me with in my life, or my previous life?" Mm, mm-hmm. 58:46 Um, or help mothers, fathers, caretakers. Um, and like that, for me, is the essential, is like kinda like I felt drawn to it. I did it. I successfully produced it. 59:00 Last year I met amazing people and made friends for life. 59:04 But my hackathon team, we, we were trying to create, um, a bill splitting app that had social impact, that had instead of like a credit card, which gives 3%, which three, takes 3% from the merchant- Mm... 59:15 um, it would be multi-platform and it would distribute, like, a 1% to a local, like, social impact cause. Mm. Our team couldn't really coalesce for some reason. Like, 'cause there's so many things to do. 59:29 This one was at that thing, this one was there, and we, like, barely, when we got together we just had like 10 minutes. 59:34 So you really need to, like, lock in and work on something and work through problems with hackathons. So this year I was like, "You know what? I'm doing it myself. I have the AI to help me," and I was able to do it. 59:46 And that felt like a really big accomplishment. And now I'm, I'm going to a hackathon tonight where, um, I'm gonna be using Unlink and Monad. Monad is, um, also a layer two. Mm-hmm. 59:59 Ethereum, again, cheaper, and Unlink is like a privacy layer. Mm. So, um, I need to learn more about it before I can talk intelligently about it. Of course. 1:00:08 But for parents, I think that that's really valuable, to have this idea that, you know, their stuff on IPFS is not linked to them- Mm-hmm... and that they feel like it's, you know, it's private and secure. So- Love it... 1:00:22 I will talk to people about my project. The idea of a parenting app is not sexy to, like- [laughs]... year olds, like they- Well, they can't relate... but it's not fake. That's DeFi, and it makes you rich Right... 1:00:35 and that, like- Right... arbitrage trades for you on different exchanges and- Mm... makes you millions of dollars. Like- Right, right... 1:00:41 it's actually, like, a helpful, emotionally intelligent being, and I don't need that. I need something to make me rich. [laughs] Right. 1:00:49 Well, when you have to think about it, most people in their 20s, they don't have kids, right? Right. Most of them aren't moms. They can't relate, so Right, they're gonna check out. But- Sure... 1:00:57 at the same time, uh, there are tons of people I meet on Spaces. They're parents. They're- Ah... and they are trying to teach their kids about crypto in a very, you know, a way that they understand. 1:01:09 And their kids catch on quick because, you know, they're either on... What is it, that one game? Um, I forget. It's, like, Minecraft or something. Yeah. Block- Blocks, Builder Blocks, something like that. 1:01:20 You know what I'm talking about. There's always new ones. Or, or they're on YouTube. Yeah. Or they're on YouTube. Something like that, so they're always... Like, they're, they're integrated. They're already... 1:01:27 It's already coded. Like, they're gonna make it as long as they keep staring at their screens, right? So I'm like, "Dang, this is crazy how much kids can pick up these days." 1:01:37 And I think they're gonna be using AI in incredible ways that we are just hitting the surface, you know? I think I just heard that- Mm... Meta announced that Facebook is going to do, like, stable coins or something. 1:01:50 What? No way. I think I just heard that on an AI podcast I listen to. I don't know exactly the rollout, but maybe- How's that gonna work?... grandma's gonna be using stable coins before long. Maybe. I wouldn't doubt it. 1:02:02 The problem is always, like, the on/off ramp, right? Like- Mm... how do you get your cash to crypto? And then once- Right... you're in crypto, what are you gonna buy? What are you gonna use it for? Right. 1:02:10 Right now I can't really go to the pharmacy and be like, "Hey, I need to buy, like, toothpaste with, you know, crypto." Like, that doesn't happen. Right. But I can use a credit card where I earn crypto. [laughs] See? 1:02:25 So how's, how's that work? Or you get cash back. Like, I have the crypto.com card. Oh, okay. They have a debit card, and they have a credit card, actually. Okay. 1:02:32 So they let you use the credit card, and every time you use the credit card, you get a little cash back in CRO, right? That's their reward token. That's their native token. Oh, okay. 1:02:40 And then that little bit of CRO, you know, depending on what CRO's sitting at, I don't know what it's at, 8 cents, 9 cents, it doesn't matter. The point is [laughs] you get the CRO back, right? Okay. 1:02:49 So it's like, it is a cash back kind of, you know, thing. Okay. You pay off your card every month. Do they stake it for you so you're earning returns, probably? Um, you can yourself. 1:02:58 It's not an automatic stake, but you can go, and you can stake it yourself in the form of these airdrops. You put so many in, and they lock your token away for, you know, I think up to three, six, nine months. 1:03:08 You can pick, and then you get choice between the APY of how much you want based off the stake, and that's what I usually do, too. Okay. Um, and you... You know, there's a bunch of stuff you can do on crypto.com. 1:03:18 We can talk later about that. But- Yeah... at the same time, you know, like, it sounds like, you know, ETHDenver was a success, obviously, right? Yeah. 1:03:25 So it was one of the better, um, conferences you've been to compared to other- ETHDenver is hands down my favorite conference. Really? Favorite. Because it's just... It's... Okay, it's more tech-based. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. 1:03:40 It's less art. Mm-hmm. But it... There's something about it, about, like, people building in all different aspects, and there's something about the innovation of it. Mm-hmm. Something about learn- the learning of it. 1:03:54 Like, even though I didn't necessarily get as much out of... Well, actually, that's not true. I got a lot out of the, the builder, the free... I mean, a free three-day class on Solidity. I mean, come on. It's huge. 1:04:06 That's huge. Like, that class would probably cost $1,000 if you paid for it. At least. Mm-hmm. And you're taught by, like, you know, Ethereum OG, like, superstar teacher Cuppa Jo, who's, like, very famous in the space. 1:04:19 Oh, wow. Um, and you know, there's another teacher named Solange, who's Brazilian, actually, and- All right... Austin Griffin. You have a lot of really great guest speakers, too, that come. 1:04:29 And any question, they're available to you, and it's, it's amazing. They're just there, you know, to help you. 1:04:35 And, um, and any time I want to message them, I can, and that accessibility to people that know so much is pretty magical. 1:04:42 Um, and there's just something about the culture of Ethereum and ETHDenver that, like, I don't want to miss it ever. [laughs] Like, I- Right, right... 1:04:52 I've been to ETHNewYork, and that was really fun, and I had a great time. Okay. That was my first really big Ethereum conference. Oh. And they're actually doing ETHNewYork again in June 2026. What? Okay. 1:05:04 Trying to get my daughter to do it, but I... Any- Wait... I- Are you gonna be here? Are you gonna be in New York in June? I think I will be in New York in June. Okay. So- 'Cause we're gonna have to link up. 1:05:14 We're gonna have to go- Okay... obviously. We'll go. [laughs] We'll go. We'll go. Well, because I, I haven't heard about... My, my next conference, uh, is Vegas, right? Bitcoin and XRP Vegas. 1:05:25 Those are, like, right next to each other. Oh. Those are the end of April, and so I'm like, "I'm gonna go to that," because- That'll be awesome... 1:05:32 yeah, because we're hoping- And Bitcoin conference is interesting in its own right. It's a different- Mm... culture, and there is- That's good for them... some, like, more Ethereum around it. Sure. 1:05:39 It, it's very interesting. I, I've been to Bitcoin Miami. Oh, okay. And I, I thought it was really interesting. Um, I didn't feel the same, like, community- Mm... but... 1:05:50 And the Bitcoiners are a little bit more, like- What? [laughs]... I wouldn't say extreme 'cause it's a little bit more like- Oh, yeah... "I live in the woods. I got my guns. I got my Bitcoin. I don't- Mm. 1:06:01 "I'm off the grid." Dang. Like, I... The government doesn't know. Dang. It has a little bit more of that spice. Okay. But that being said, I, I've minted on Bitcoin. I, I minted. I've inscribed on Bitcoin. There you go. 1:06:13 That's what it's called. I ran a, a contest- [laughs]... for artists- Right... to inscribe on Bitcoin- Right... as a means of preserving voice. Mm-hmm. 1:06:20 'Cause when you inscribe on Bitcoin, nobody can do anything about it. Nobody at all. And- Right... and the security of that is 1:06:29 people could argue that inscribing on Bitcoin is the most secure, even more than IPFS, even though IPFS is decentralized. Because no one can mess with the Bitcoin blockchain. 1:06:40 It's, like, the strongest, most decentralized blockchain out there. Mm. And It's the oldest [laughs] You know, it's going through a tough time right now. Um- No, it's okay. 1:06:52 And- It's a perfect time to buy it, what are you talking about? And I try, I try to do my DCA throughout the whole- I know... existence of it. You can do it. Yeah. 1:06:59 I always say, like, why spend six, $7 on a coffee when you can just- Mm-hmm... put that money away and, you know, make a coffee for, like, 20 cents at home or whatever. Right. Or free for that matter. 1:07:10 Like, seriously, coffee is for cheap. You get free coffee. [laughs] Why to go to Starbucks? Why to go to Starbucks every day, spend almost 10 bucks at a coffee- Right... 1:07:17 when you could pen- spend that $10, put it in Bitcoin every day. Yes. DCA the Bitcoin. That's what I tell people. I say- Mm-hmm... you don't have to spend thousands. You don't have to have that money. Mm-hmm. 1:07:27 You can spend just a tiny amount and you put it away, and yes, it's high risk. Yes, the price goes up and, up and down, but in 10 years, I mean, who knows where it will be at? And, you know, now- That's right... 1:07:37 they're talking about all this insecurity, like, with quantum computing. Mm. But they are gonna do an upgrade, uh, Bitcoin will be upgraded, and- Mm-hmm... 1:07:46 it's, it's the most kind of decentralized currency that we have on the planet. Um- That's true. That's true... so barring all the computers being wiped out by an alien invasion. [laughs] I'm just kidding. 1:08:01 Are we talking about aliens now? We've talked about- Sorry... do you believe in aliens, Fiona? [laughs] I mean, I feel like you'd be, be myopic to think that we're the only life form. That's true. 1:08:10 I just think that, you know, like, we just haven't seen them. Maybe they don't think we're cool enough. Like, they're just like- Not right now... "Ugh, humans, they're so basic." So basic. 1:08:19 [laughs] I think, like, they're just, like, not interested in us. Really? I- I feel like they live among us. I feel like they're already here. Oh, really? [laughs] Yeah. They're, that is possible. 1:08:29 I feel like they're already here. Mm-hmm. I do think Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, is AI. He's gotta be alien. He's like- He's gotta be alien... for sure. He's like slash AI, slash alien at this point. Maybe. 1:08:39 I'm sure, I'm sure he has a little QR code in the back of his neck or something. Like, seriously, he's- Next level... standing every day. Like, it's just like Black Mirror. Next level. It's just Black Mirror to me. Yes. 1:08:48 Yeah. It's all coming true. It's, it's all. And- It's all Revelation. [laughs] The amount of respect I have for him for forming this is tremendous. Oh, for Ethereum? Mm-hmm. 'Cause without Ethereum- Right... 1:08:57 you don't have all these interoperable things that can happen on this technology. Right. You don't have the NFTs, you don't have the real world assets that people... You know- Mm... 1:09:09 someone in Nigeria can invest in the US stock market using tokenized, uh, tokenized, uh, S&P 500, uh, what do you call it? Like, a fund. You know? Mm-hmm. 1:09:20 Like, like, it allows for so much, and like, I think there's some statistic, like, there's, like, a... This even feels like a low number. I- Mm. 1:09:30 I wanna say it's, like, a $1 trillion market, but it could even be bigger, of real world assets that have, like, yet to be tokenized on the blockchain. So this is an aspect. 1:09:39 Like, when people talk about crypto prices, I'm like, "Yeah, whatever." Think about all these real world assets that can be tokenized, traded, invested in globally. Mm-hmm. 1:09:49 You live in a remote part of Africa, Brazil, whatever, you can now buy into this investment that'll maybe return 5 to 8% a year. And, you know, that's more money for you to feed your family. Um- Exactly... 1:10:04 it, it's really, like, this dawning of a, of a new age where, like, borders don't matter. Geographic location. This is another reason to be a nomad. Mm-hmm. Geographic location doesn't matter anymore. 1:10:16 I mean, time zone, yes. But, you know, it's, um, it's really, we're really a global world, and we're all human. And, like I said in my project, like, we all bleed red. So all of this, like, 1:10:31 BS about, like, you know, immigrants and- Mm... "Oh, you have this color skin," it's just bullshit because- It is... we're all blood and guts and organs underneath it all. Yeah. And, you know, we've just- Mm-hmm... 1:10:44 adapted as humans to different environments. And, uh- Mm-hmm... I don't know. Who knows? Maybe we'll grow another appendage so we can be, like, typing on the computer and, like, texting on the phone at the same time. 1:10:58 Um- That's, that's alien right there, let me tell you. Full evol- yeah, maybe. Who knows? That's alien, let me tell you. Who knows? Who knows? It's like we are this, like- Mm. 1:11:07 Where humans are really amazing, but they're also pretty terrible, too. Yeah. And we're really tribal. We're... And you see it in the digital world. We're so tribal. We're so tribal. Tribalism is pervasive. 1:11:17 How do we break that tribalism? That, that's a good question. What, what do you think as an artist? Yeah, just getting together in person. Mm. 1:11:23 You know, there was this really interesting documentary that I saw about, like, white nationalist groups that this... I feel bad that I don't remember the name of the director, but it was on Netflix a few years ago. 1:11:33 Mm-hmm. And she went to, like, a really, I forget even the name of the white nationalist group in, like, somewhere in the South. Mm-hmm. 1:11:40 And by the end of the documentary, the leader of this group said, "I can't be a part of this group anymore because I met you and I saw how awesome you are, and I don't wanna be a part of it anymore." And- Wow... 1:11:54 you know, it's, humans need to interact with each other, right? Yeah. And then you can see, like, wow, like, this person is totally different from me, is so amazing. Look at all the things they're doing. 1:12:03 Like, how can I hate this X, Y, Z person, or this color per- I mean, it's ridiculous. It's, and it's all- It is... because people feel threatened, right? Oh, is that it? 1:12:14 And- Is that why people kind of revert to tribalism? Because they feel threatened- I think so... or they feel judged, maybe, or they feel ashamed or, like, the color of their skin? 1:12:23 Like- I think sense of lack of resources- Mm... and that they're being left out, right? And if they don't stand up for whatever group they're, you know, a part of, they're gonna get left out of jobs, money-... 1:12:37 uh, opportunities. That's true. And so the idea is, like, you know, think about when you were a kid and you would get, like, picked for, like, dodge ball. Oh, yeah. I was always one of the last ones picked. 1:12:47 Like, [laughs] okay. I know, me too. I'm just saying. I was such a small kid back then. Never freaking first. [laughs] Yeah, I know. I know. And I used to always feel left out. 1:12:55 But I was, I was never the last, but I was, like, always the second or third or fourth to last. You know- Yeah... it was always like that. And oh my gosh, she's stealing the show. Hi. Oh, she's so cute. She is adorable. 1:13:05 I know, me too. And little did they know, I was like a killer athlete [laughs] when I was little. Right? I was same. [laughs] I was tenacious, let me tell you. I was, uh- Small and mighty Never- Just like this one... 1:13:16 that's right. Just like this nine pounds of fluff right here. Oh my gosh, fun size. That's right. She really is. How old is she? She, she looks like- She's 11. She's a little pudly. Okay. 1:13:25 She's getting a little bit there. Yeah. But she loves going around with me in her bag. Oh. Aw. Oh, she likes to travel. That was my next question. Yeah, she likes- Do you feel like she's like an adventure dog, or-... 1:13:35 to go in your bag... okay. Oh, okay. She's- Oh, she's gone... oh, she knows when she goes in her bag she's going with me. Oh. I might bring her to the hackathon tonight in her bag. [gasps] You should. 1:13:44 That would be so fun. Uh, you know, um- Sometimes people get upset, but- Yeah... I don't know, some part of me doesn't care. Aw. She's so quiet. She just sits there. Great. 1:13:53 If she's quiet, she reminds me of, uh, did you meet, um, I'm blanking, Danielle from the Doginal Dogs. She was coming around with her little chihuahua, Mu Mu. Did you see her? No. Wait, did I s- She was at ETHDenver. 1:14:06 She was at ETHDenver. She was at an XRP event, I saw her as well. We've been following each other on Instagram and just DM'ing each other just randomly. It's so funny. But she's, she's Jersey. She's the Jersey girl. 1:14:18 Oh, no way. Did y- yeah, did you meet her? I'm biased for chihuahua. No. Yeah, she w- Which is mostly chihuahua. Yeah, yeah. Th- her, her dog is well, but it's like all chihuahua. And her name is Mu Mu. 1:14:29 And basically she carries Mu Mu around, like, literally, like, on her arm, like, just, like, there the entire ETH conference. She was like- The best-... the only one with this chihuahua, let me tell you. Like, she was... 1:14:40 A- and, and she's an identifier because I'm like, there's no one else that brought their dog at ETHDenver like Danielle. And so that, that's the only reason I remember her. So it's so funny. 1:14:50 You should've done the same with your dog. [laughs] I know. I know. I just, I- [laughs]... I tried to make it as economical as possible going just because- Right... you know, it's, it all adds up. 1:15:00 And, um- Yeah, that's true. That's true. And, uh- That's-... it also allows me to do creative things with my money too, like- Right... 1:15:07 I'm working, I'm current- I'm, I'm at the tail end of finishing this documentary about this woman and- [gasps]... you know, this old nun who- Whoa. Oh, wow... 1:15:14 sh- she basically lives a life where she spends nothing, and she gets all her food outside the grocery stores, like they throw out- What?... like almost expired food. Wow. She's crazy. She's amazing. 1:15:25 And she's donated all this money, and she ended up- Mm-hmm... funding this recent African immigrant, this was years ago- Yeah... who escaped the genocide in Rwanda, and he came to New York. 1:15:36 He was, like, homeless and had all these health issues, and she helped find him a place to live. And he ended up- Wow... 1:15:42 studying at the Harvard School of Public Health, fo- and founding the very first women's health center in Burundi. Uh, it's called Village Health Works. 1:15:50 And it's served, it's expanded and it's served, like, thousands and thousands of women in that neighbor- in that area who, you know, didn't have access to, like, maternal health or a place to give birth. 1:16:02 And, and she- Mm-hmm... it's just an amazing story. And so, uh, with a few other people that I've connected with, we've put together a short of her. Mm-hmm. 1:16:12 And we're at, like, kind of like the final stages of putting it together. So, you know, putting money into that, or putting money into, like, this project I wanna do in Venice. Mm. 1:16:22 Um, so the more I kind of am creative about, you know, maybe sharing resources with someone, like, you know, we share an Airbnb in a, in a remote place. Um, there is value to, like, sharing and to, like... 1:16:34 Like, I was, I'm sort of semi-professional chef because I cooked for my kids for 18 years. You are professional. Oh my God. My friends- Come on... I know. My friends have been saying this You are pro. You are so pro. 1:16:43 I made them all these dishes. I made them- Aw... like, a kind of like a Syrian chicken that I make. Uh- Love that... I made them chicken tacos. Love that. Um, uh, protein, fresh protein bars. Oh my God. 1:16:54 I made all these things. Can I hire you? [laughs] Yes, please. [laughs] So that's another thing, is like- [laughs]... traveling and cooking for people. I love cooking for people. Yeah. I love feeding people. Aw. 1:17:05 It's one of my biggest joys in life. Yeah. And, um, you know, and eating good food. I mean, there's nothing like it. Mm. I mean, you know this. Seriously. I know. Yeah, I love good food. 1:17:15 When people up at our block- I love good food... after the food came out, everyone was like, "Ah." Yes. Yes. I did notice that. [laughs] Yeah, at the block, the, the blockchain church there. Yeah. Yeah. 1:17:25 They were just all over that. But, um, man, so that, that was another question I had too. How do you make your money? How do you continue doing this kind of digital nomad experience for those who are trying? 1:17:37 'Cause that's the number one thing with artists, right? It's like we've got great ideas, right? It's like, but how do we get the funding? How do we get the money so we can actually do what we wanna do in life? 1:17:47 Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, when NFTs first came about, I did do, uh, trading, and I did do some things- Mm... to make money during that first chunk of time. And- Gotcha... I've been able to... 1:18:01 Well, before I was a professional photographer, like, people would hire me. Right. I would shoot a ton of corporate head shots. Nice. And that kind of fell off after pandemic. Sure. 1:18:10 And then when crypto came out, I did do, like, NFT trading. Um- Nice... and you know, like, that was really fun, 'cause it was like Pokemon cards. Um- Yeah. [laughs]... now I'm, I'm kind of in a rebuilding stage. 1:18:23 Like, right now- Mm... I'm trying to figure out, I'm, I think I'm gonna build out this app. I wanna make it affordable, but I also... You know, I need to make money doing it. Right. 1:18:32 [laughs] So, um, I've been, I've been like thinking of ways to do, um- I've been thinking about maybe hosting... 1:18:40 I don't know if you're familiar with the book The Artist's Way, but it's a really good, like, book for not only artists, but any- Mm... person kind of trying to release ideas to- Mm... 1:18:51 um, to get things out, to, like, work through their blocks. I mean, we all have blocks, right? Mm-hmm. Our brains are always playing tricks on us. Mm. 1:18:58 Um, I've been thinking about hosting groups like that and charging, you know, a- an affordable amount. It's a 12-week program. Sure. Doing applications for that. Um- Love that... 1:19:08 yeah, so I'm, I'm kind of in a rebuilding stage right now. I gave myself kind of like, uh, January, February, um, off to like move- Mm... and restructure my life so I could be nomadic. Mm-hmm. 1:19:21 And thank God for that, because I do feel more free. I have a lot more head space- Mm... to focus on important things. Um, I, um, I'm gonna win this hackathon this weekend. [laughs] Yeah, you are. Yeah, you are. 1:19:33 I feel it. At least- I'm giving you good vibes. I'm sending you the vibes... at least, uh, you know, get, get some money from that. Um- There you go... we- we'll see. 1:19:40 I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm lucky that I have this space that, to, you know, s- crash out at my mom's where it's like- Yeah... I'm not paying rent. I don't have to pay money to be here. [laughs] I do cook for her as well. 1:19:52 There you go. Um- Trade a service. [laughs] But I, I also love physical activity. Like I- Yeah... I've been, uh, studying, like, Pilates and yoga for- Mm... Pilates I'd say like two years, and yoga for 10 years. Nice. 1:20:06 I've thought about teaching that maybe on Zoom. There you go. Uh, you know, so I could be mobile. Um, but- Mm... yeah, I have a few things kinda in the works to make money. Yeah. 1:20:17 I, I guess I could try to go back to photography, although- Yeah... it doesn't feel like anybody pays for that anymore. What? Maybe still weddings. What? Don't say that. Maybe still weddings. No. Maybe. Right. Right. 1:20:28 But- Right... you know, you have to really be in one place to do that, and there's- Right... 1:20:34 too much of an opportunity now to, uh, document, uh, things going on around the world with crypto to really see how the impact is having, to experience, uh, different Ethereum communities globally. 1:20:48 And you're wearing "I love Japan." I'm- Mm-hmm... pondering now how I can make it to Japan in September for ETHJapan. [laughs] I'm planning to go to Japan towards the end of the year. I actually- Oh, good... 1:21:01 know September, I didn't know ETHJapan was happening in September. That might be an event I'll be at. But I wanna actually st- stay there for at least three months with my partner. My partner is basically manifesting. 1:21:12 She's like, "I'm sick of the US. I wanna go to Japan." [laughs] I've been to Japan before. She's never been to Japan, though. Oh, good. 1:21:21 So I, I went back in 2024 and, uh, I spent about four, four, almost five weeks there visiting Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Narita, and like- Oh... there's a few other tow- It was immaculate. Immaculate. 1:21:35 [laughs] I highly recommend. I know. The food, the people, the convenience. Fiona, the convenience. It was so real. You don't need a car to go anywhere. Like, seriously, it's so convenient. Japan is where it's at. 1:21:50 And people are so nice, right? So nice. And you know what? Even if you don't know Japanese, most people there know English. They just prefer obviously Japanese, and there's always English signs. 1:22:01 You've got these translators now. I think that- Are you lear- Huh? Are you learning Japanese? Not yet. I just- Oh... th- there's this time factor, Fiona. There's this time factor. I don't- Gotta learn... 1:22:12 have enough time. I know. I just need to wake up earlier. Konnichiwa. Right? Say it. Konnichiwa. I know konnichiwa. Konnichiwa. Yes. I know konnichiwa. Uh, my partner is helping me learn, too. 1:22:20 She's very into it, and she, she wants to move there full time. A- and it was so funny. She was like, "With or without you, Donald, I am going to get there." [laughs] Wait. You- Do you, do you know... 1:22:31 Uh, I need to introduce you to Hikari. Hikari? Okay. Hikari is Japanese. She was at ETHDenver. Uh- Okay... she was at the Base House. Nice. And she- Okay. I might hit there... 1:22:42 she partners with Luciano, who, who actually I did my very first hackathon with. Okay. Who's been very involved in Ethereum for a while now, and he's very involved in Base. Yeah. So she runs a hackathon in Japan. 1:22:54 It's happening right after, um, ETHJapan. Oh, nice. And it's to basically, like, reinvigorate a small community- Mm... in, uh, Japan. It's in the south. Yes. I'm forgetting the name of it, but it's, it's very cool. 1:23:09 It's a two-week hackathon, so, like, there's- Cool... housing, food, and it could be really interesting for you to document that, so- I would love that... like I am up for it. Pay for my travels. 1:23:19 I will document the whole thing. [laughs] She, she's awe- Yeah. She's awesome. She's really- I would love that... unique and rarely involved in this community and really... You know, she, her, her... 1:23:28 I think she's probably, like, like of Japanese people I've met, her English is, like, amazing. She- Really? She won a prize in Japan for her English and- Oh my gosh... 1:23:37 and she, she's very involved in this space and promoting this technology, and she's like- I love it... the sweetest human being. We, we had a little sauna day after- [gasps]... ETHDenver in Denver. Aw. It was so good. 1:23:49 It was so good. I love saunas- So good... by the way. They're so good for your health, recovery. We haven't even touched on the health and wellness. 1:23:55 I feel like you're kind of a health and wellness, uh, nerd in a lot of ways. I, I, I try. [laughs] I love that. A- and, and I wanna... 1:24:02 Before I get into that, though, I just wanna go back to what we were talking about in relation to traveling, right? And going out, adventuring. How important is travel for you, Fiona? It's essential. 1:24:16 I, I grew up, my dad worked in Third World, like, development. Mm-hmm. And I grew up going a lot to Central America, going to Brazil to see my family. Mm. So I've always had a very global perspective. 1:24:28 Like, it's not just about the country you're in. It's about the world. And I've been very lucky. Like, I've done photo projects in Sierra Leone. I've seen, like- 1:24:39 You know, how people live all over the world and what needs, what people's needs are, and that's one of the most exciting things for me. Like, the world is benefiting so much from blockchain. 1:24:50 How do we amplify that even more? Mm. 1:24:53 And so having those new experiences, trying those new foods, going to places that people are like, "Oh," like, okay, you don't wanna go into a war zone, but, you know, people stereotype the developing world as like, "Oh, it's so dangerous." 1:25:05 Like, you go, you don't wear anything fancy. You're chill. Like, you can have your boundaries and be perfectly safe, and, um, it's really important. Travel is essential, and I joke that I'm this... 1:25:18 Lebanese people are, like, wanderers, right? Like, wandering Arabs through the world, and that's really my goal for the next, like, I would say 10 years. Like, until I'm a grandmother. 1:25:28 [laughs] Until I'm a grandmother- Mm... I'm gonna be nomadic. Ah. And I told my kids this. I was like, "Listen, I might not always be around." Yeah. I'm always a phone call away, but I- Yeah... 1:25:41 feel this need and this pull to, like, adventure, do the things I couldn't necessarily do when I was a mom, even though I did- Mm... plenty of travel when I was a mom, too. 1:25:51 But this idea of, of, like, really reaching out to the world and seeing how people are adopting blockchain, be able to communicate that to other people, um, and to, to just, like, have those life experiences for myself, too. 1:26:06 And, uh, I'm really interested, one of the things I might pursue is documenting how blockchain adoption is happening in- Mm... Brazil and Kenya, Tanzania- That's huge... 1:26:19 um, or other countries that are, you know, really heavily adopting. Um, I'm also very curious about these, like, crypto states. You know, like Prospera and also El Salvador. That's right. 1:26:31 Um- They adopted Bitcoin on their ledger, right? 1:26:33 You can literally use Bitcoin for anything in El Salvador, and I heard a lot of South American countries are starting to adopt, like, cryptocurrency as their main legal tender. Yeah. That's huge. It is. That's huge. 1:26:46 It- And I know Africa's are already doing that with their stable coins, and I feel like, and don't, you know, mistake me if I'm wrong when I'm saying this, but I feel like crypto is, is, like, a bigger deal outside of the US- It is... 1:26:58 than it is inside. Like, it's more utility outside. That's right. And, and I don't, I don't really understand that because I feel like we have a pro-crypto administration right now, right? 1:27:07 So it's like- But our money in the US works for us, you know? Oh. Like, for instance, in Lebanon, like, there was one point where the government froze all withdrawals from banks. Boom. Wow. You can't have your money. 1:27:18 That's scary. That's not- That's scary... self-custody. Yeah. No one can tell you you can't have your money. Your money is there. It's yours. Right. 1:27:25 Um, like, I think there is a sta- statistic, and I don't know the exact numbers, so Celo, which is an, uh, layer two Ethereum. Right. Um, they are very popular in the developing world. 1:27:37 They, they have stable coins all across Africa, South America. Uh, the statistic of the amount of volume that increased on Ethereum when they joined, and it was just in 2024- Mm... was outrageous. 1:27:51 You can look up the numbers. Oh, wow. It's, it's... When I saw it, it's, like, shocking. So when your money doesn't work for you or you're, you don't trust your government, you know, it's a- Mm-hmm... a big incentive. 1:28:02 Self-custody is huge incentive, even if it's, uh, ri- riskier, let's say, but it's also riskier to keep your money in the bank where the government controls the bank. Right. Mm-hmm. 1:28:14 So it's a huge advantage, um, in the, [laughs] in the developing world, and that's why we don't see, like, our businesses... 1:28:21 Like I said, with this piece I did in Brazil, when people got the money, the Celo real, which is the Brazilian currency- Right... in their phones, they could then spend it in local stores 1:28:33 that were onboarded onto the platform. It's this app called MiniPay, which is, like- Mm... on Celo. Um, and they could spend it on whatever they want, and it's, it's their money. It comes di- they're, they're allowing... 1:28:45 You know, banking the unbanked is no joke. Like, the money that they're getting, they can invest in DeFi. They can, uh, loan it to a friend. They can, uh, loan it to a larger pool. They can invest in these S&P 500. 1:28:59 I mean, I don't know for a fact through that app. [laughs] Sure. But in theory- Yeah... 1:29:05 you know, in theory, things that have been inaccessible, and if you think about the amount of capital that means even to companies- Mm... in the United States, it's huge. It's, it's really, like, um... 1:29:18 It's, it's really expanding our world, and like I said, we really don't... 1:29:24 We need, like, local governments for trash cleanup and healthcare and schools and things like that, but, like, maybe not even schools in the future. Who knows? But, um- [laughs] 1:29:36 But this idea of, like, localized thinking, myopic thinking- Mm... only people that look like me, think like me is dead, is dead. Mm-hmm. And to force the issue feels so dated. Yeah. And- It does... and right now, like, 1:29:55 tech is going to completely, this AI revolution, I mean, it's gonna- Mm... 1:29:59 take a little bit of time, and there's gonna be hiccups, and there's gonna be hacks, and there's gonna be security problems, but we're gonna see whole industries gone because of it. Right. This is true. 1:30:10 We're gonna, we're gonna see massive layoffs. Yep. People that can't innovate, that can't keep up. You know, I mean, maybe it'll be good for humanity. Maybe it'll be in more in-person things. 1:30:22 Maybe there'll be, like, a UBI that people get from these big companies that are not paying taxes. Mm. 1:30:29 You know, and they're in, they're cozying up to leaders so they don't have to pay taxes, and they can run through, you know, become monopolies and- Mm... take everyone's money. 1:30:40 And, and there is the convenience factor, sure. Mm-hmm. But, um- Yeah... yeah. It's a changing world, and- I can't imagine being an old person in today's world. I'm really lucky. 1:30:50 I'm like in my 40s in today's world and people- No, you're not. Shut up. You're not 40. Well, I have 19-year-old kids, so I have to be something in my 40s, right? Late 30s. Okay. Late 30s. Come on. 1:31:00 I'm gonna be vague as to where I am on the spectrum, but- Late 30s. Late 30s probably... late 30s. Late 30s. You, you look so... You... Maybe it's your genes, maybe- It's energy... the way you take care of your skin. 1:31:10 [laughs] And that's what I wanted to get into real quick before I forget. Sure. We're gonna wrap this up probably in the next 20 minutes, just to give you a, a bit of a timeframe here. 1:31:17 But tell me more about your health and wellness routine. How do you look so good at such the age you are? Yeah. What kind of skin routine you do? Share with me a little bit about your self-care. Sure. 1:31:31 Um, well, water, first of all. I drink, try to drink- Mm... as much water as I can. I do drink coffee. I love coffee. I'm Brazilian. Yeah. So [laughs] I can't give that up. Um, I try to do movement every day. 1:31:43 You know- Yeah... walking. I do Pilates a few times a week. Yoga. Mm. I try to just like move and move and move until, like, I have to keep working, or, um... And I try to push myself. Like, uh, I do weight training. 1:31:58 I try to weight train at least once a week because it does- Mm... allow for, like, that, uh, load on your, on your joints. And I feel like as we age, that becomes more and more important. Mm. 1:32:08 But Pilates keeps me really, uh, my core really strong, and overall more healthy and mobile. Mm-hmm. And the yoga, I kind of, I... It's like a mental wellness thing, too. Um- Love yoga... 1:32:21 I have in the winter a pretty basic skincare. Mm-hmm. I use a Weleda, um, face wash, and it's, like, called Skin Food cream. Mm-hmm. And that's it. And I do use serums. Wow. I do use serums sometimes and vitamin C. 1:32:36 In the summer I do, uh, one of those, like, more exfoliating things, like the- Mm... um, the A- I think it's A- A H- A or whatever. Mm-hmm. I have used retinol in the past, but I don't know if that does anything. 1:32:52 [laughs] The hype. [laughs] I don't know. Yeah. Uh, sometimes I'm skeptical about these things. I know. I do have good Lebanese genes. I do have- I'm gonna say. Um, and, like, keep... I feel like... 1:33:03 And, like, it's also the brain-body connection. I was listening- Mm... to a podcast- Mm... the other day about how leg strength is really important marker in terms of developing Alzheimer's. Mm. 1:33:14 So, and also doing hard things with your brain, like this hackathon. Yeah. Learning all this new tech. Right. Asking all these questions. Learning Japanese. You know- Yeah... 1:33:23 I mean, my Ja- I know a few words right now, but I'm working on it. Me too. [laughs] Um, you know, even, like, watching a TV show or movie in another language- Right... works your brain. That's tough. That's hard. 1:33:33 Mm-hmm. Very tough. I mean, obviously with subtitles. Right. Of course. [laughs] But, um, but just, like, really engaging in life and all aspects of life. Mm-hmm. Sleep is important. I did not get sleep last night. Huge. 1:33:45 Oh, no. But yeah. I know, right? [laughs] Sleep is important. Yes. Um, Bootsy, come here, baby. How much, uh, sleep do you get on average, or how much do you need to- I try to get between six and eight hours a night. 1:33:55 I'm happier when I get more like seven, eight. Right. But six, I got six last night. You know, six is doable. I can use my- Six isn't bad. Yeah. Thanks. 1:34:02 Anything like those kids that won the hackathon, they said they got two hours of sleep. Oh, my God. Dude, that's- For the whole week... that's crazy. I was like, "Oh, my God. How are you not having a mental breakdown?" 1:34:13 Seriously. And there really is this aspect of, like, are you having mental health problems or do you just need more sleep? 1:34:19 And you know, the brain, when it functions without sleep, is just, it's not as sharp, it's not as fast. Mm. It's not- No. You gotta get sleep... as skilled. Mm-hmm. Like, all of the cellular turnover that we have. 1:34:30 I try to eat healthy. I, I eat mostly plant-based. I do eat some meat. Um, I don't really eat red meat because of just the impact on the environment and just, like- Nice... 1:34:40 it doesn't seem like the healthiest kind of meat for our bodies. When I go to Brazil I get, like, bullied into eating some red meat, but I try to limit it. Really? Mm. 1:34:48 Chicken and fish or mostly, like, tofu, tempeh, uh- Okay... vegetables, healthy grains. Um, very, like, Lebanese kind of diet, Brazilian diet. Mm-hmm. 1:34:59 Um, not too much sugar, although, you know, who doesn't love a, like, gummy bear sometimes? I know, right? [laughs] No. Gummy bears, I love gummy bears. I feel you. Um, I try to be really in touch with my body. 1:35:11 I, I did, I did have a meditation practice that I haven't really kept up with. I've tried to... It's just sort of a part of my yoga practice now. Mm. 1:35:19 Um, but every morning when I wake up, I do some kind of movement, even if it's just, like, 20 jumping jacks- Yeah... to get my body moving. Good. 'Cause that burst of just, like, I'm moving my body. 1:35:30 Like, even if you're just doing, like, Pilates in bed, like- Yeah... put your knees up, you know, press your hands against your knees and just activate your lower, your lower abdominal. Like, press your abdominals in. 1:35:41 Like, just that mind-body connection as much as you can make it happen. Mm. Or, like, if I'm sitting for a long time, I'll take a five, 10-minute workout break. Mm-hmm. It doesn't... 1:35:51 Working out doesn't need to be this, like, big, long event. Like, it can happen on the floor, wherever you are, at the airport, even though you look ridiculous. Mm-hmm. 1:36:01 Like, you know, taking time, like, after a big push- Yeah... like December, go to the sauna. Mm-hmm. Relax, unwind, sweat. Mm. Jump in that cold plunge. Mm. Um, just, you know, I don't... 1:36:15 Just, like, being really intuitive. I feel like people come into problems when they push themselves too hard, they don't listen to their body, they don't love their body. There's a lot of body shaming. Mm. 1:36:26 You know, people getting surgeries, all that stuff. It's like, no, no, like, let's just, like... We're given... Like, and when I photographed amputees in West Africa, like, you really have this appreciation. 1:36:38 Like, I have two legs and two arms, and I'm grateful for those. Let me move them so I can keep using them. Um- Yeah... and- So important... you know, just, like, health is wealth. It really is. 1:36:52 And you know, I've had issues like- Giving birth was very challenging. I had an umbilical hernia. I had- Mm... a few years later, I had an appendix burst. Mm. 1:37:00 I've had, I've had my fair share of health problems, and- Right... exercise and wellness has helped me get back, and am a big propon- I'm a big proponent of... 1:37:11 And I'm a big proponent, too, of, um, using things like psychedelics to expand, to, like, get past mental blocks that, like, traditional therapy can't really do. 1:37:22 Like, there are certain things that are, like, stuck in our subconscious, and something like a hero's, a, a trip sat by, like, a professional journey with whatever your psychedelic of choice can really help, like, unlock things, and then- Mm... 1:37:38 through talk therapy, and just through your own affirmations. Like, you really have to tell yourself, like, "I can do this. 1:37:45 Like, this is something I can do, and I'm competent, and if I run into problems, I run into problems." Who ru- You know, I listened to the interview with the guy that founded Claw Code. 1:37:54 I mean, not Claw Code, OpenClaw, and he had all these issues. Like, this guy, this genius who- Right... created this thing that everybody's using- Mm-hmm... had issues. So he's like, "I've got everyone," you know? Like, 1:38:06 I used to be a, a photo assistant on Victoria's Secret's first digital catalog. Oh. I helped them. I did, like, digital photography consulting- Oh... way back when digital photography was first starting. Wow. 1:38:18 And you saw all these gorgeous models. All of them had body issues, and I'm like, "Girl- Right... you are the model of what every woman wants to look like." Right. 1:38:27 And the minute I saw that, I was just like, "No, I'm done." I'm done, like, you know, inheriting body issues- [laughs]... from previous generations. Like, no. Right. You know? It's like, I produced two healthy kids. 1:38:38 Like, I'm healthy. Mm-hmm. I'm alive. Like, I have a friend that just passed away a month ago at my age, and it's like, why are people so self-hating? 1:38:51 Why is the plastic surgery industry, the fillers, the Botox, the this, why is that so popular? Like, that money- Money. Money... buy crypto and invest in your future- All about money... instead of- Yeah... 1:39:03 wasting it on just, like, these things that are just marketed to people. Like, you can look better, do this and do that, and it's... I don't know. It's- It makes me, it makes me a little sad, but- Yeah... 1:39:14 I also- I can see that... it's your body, your choice. I have no judgments. Right. It just makes me wish that our society was a little bit more just grateful for being alive, and for... 1:39:28 And, you know, some of the most gorgeous women I know, they're, like, in their late 70s. They're glowing. Right. They're filled with life. Mm-hmm. So, like, this one woman, like, she still smokes. 1:39:38 Like, she's living her- Wow... like, she enjoys her li- like, she's just, like, I don't know. That's so cool. She's like- But she's, like, radiant with energy- Yeah... 1:39:46 and life, and that's definitely my goal is, like, how do I stay engaged, active, involved? Supporting other creators too, like supporting you, supporting Jen, supporting- Yeah... my friends in this space. Yeah. 1:39:59 Thank you. Um, you know, being a mentor to people. Like, I host this kind of informal, uh, crypto kinda sorta onboarding and sort of questions for this women's group called- Yeah... Hermanas, which is a global- Yeah... 1:40:11 women's group that started during the pandemic, and it... I wanna create kind of a safe space where it's not recorded, it's not anywhere, but it's just like a- Yeah, a place... I call it crypto therapy. 1:40:22 And it's like, why are things happening the way they're happening, and, you know? Oh, talk therapy. That's a thing. Talk therapy is totally a thing. Yeah, but it's more, like, crypto therapy for people. 1:40:31 Like, [laughs] and it's- Oh... more, like, it's more about, like, all of these decentralized applications and AI and, like, what you can build. And actually, you know what? 1:40:41 Maybe I should do a ClawBot seminar and charge- Sure... a reasonable amount of money. I always want to make things free for people that really can't afford things- Right... because access, I don't wanna restrict access. 1:40:55 I hate gatekeepers. I hate- Right... like, you know- Right... if you don't join this multi-thousand level program, you're not- I know... gonna reach enlightenment. Oh, no. I know. Like- Oh, no. FOMO. 1:41:06 Here we go again. 1:42:46 That's, that's [laughs]... Money. Money. Setting it up on that, on a V- on a virtual machine where you can really isolate it, setting up a new email. 1:43:04 Um- Mm-hmm... I don't know. But I also have one of those, like, uh... It was actually ironic. During the security conference at ETHDenver, I get... I have Norton LifeLock because of s- you know, identity theft. Oh. 1:43:18 Um, and um, I got an alert that someone tried to open up [laughs] a bank account using my Social Security number and name. And I was like, "I- Crazy... 1:43:29 all my credit, I think, is lo- uh, uh, well, I rechecked that it was locked, but- Right... it was like, I was like, "Oh, how ironic. Am I getting hacked by someone at the security conference right now?" 1:43:39 [laughs] I've always thought those Norton or McAfee, those, a- all those little, you know, pla- That's why, yeah... programs- Like, you-... that supposedly help you, I feel like they're in a scam in itself, you know? 1:43:52 Because they just, like, rob- They do. Mm-hmm. But they are also another line of defense. Uh, es- Are they? [laughs]... especially for malware, malware, identity theft, and hacking. Mm. 1:44:03 I mean, everyone's data is on the dark web. Right. Everyone. Everyone's. And they're all phishing scams. 1:44:09 Even if it's not crypto related, you'll still get phishing scams on so many other different ways, uh, if you go online. I think that's what- Oh-... a big reason- Every day... yeah, every day, you know? 1:44:19 Not, just not in crypto. And every day, I was talking with this with Russell, with, um, myunicorn.eth. He's one of the chairman of, uh, Spork DAO. Um, Rus- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. 1:44:28 So I in- interviewed him for the podcast. It'll come out later, fam. But he was telling me there, there's phishing scams, um, they're, they're everywhere. And it's like you have to be vigilant. 1:44:38 You have to have that security. You gotta have your seed phrase written down, you know? 1:44:43 You have to, as much as we want that privacy too, we have to always know that once we're online, that's, that's kind of a, an afterthought, right? Like, people need our information so we can do things. 1:44:55 Google, the only reason [laughs] we're having free connection, right, free videos, because they're data mining our, our information, right? Like, everything is being data mined. So 1:45:08 even though we like it or not, you know, Google has probably one of the largest catalogs for information, right? So we always have to be cognizant about that. We always, always have to realize, you know, it doesn't... 1:45:20 Like, you can say whatever you wanna say at the end of the day because a- as long as you're authentic, right, as long as you're true to yourself, that's, that, that, that, that's what brings true meaning to our conversations, right? 1:45:32 Of how we're connecting with each other. And so at the same time, yeah, we wanna, we want that privacy, we want, we want the security, but we have to know that it's just, it's not possible with technology. 1:45:42 It just doesn't work together, unless you have found a resolution with that, Fiona. Like, I haven't. Like, I've just given up that, you know? At that point. 1:45:49 I mean, listen, it's only a matter of time before you click on a phishing link. Right? It's just because they, they mask themselves as the bank, as your phone- Mm-hmm... as things you interact with. 1:45:59 That's why I've kind of, I kind of have don't really even go on my email. Like, I have- Mm... my alerts, I know my credit card bill, like- Right... on auto. Sure. Whatever. 1:46:09 Um, and I keep all my, you know, bank, anything having to do with money, it's on a dumb phone. It's not- Mm. Doesn't have a phone number. Smart. Everything's on a different phone number. 1:46:21 Um, and you just have to kind of parse your life. It's like you have your computer- Mm-hmm... where you're clicking on links, doing research, uh, you know, chatting with friends on X, whatever. 1:46:35 And I mean, but even the most, like, powerful, secure people get hacked, you know? See? Um. [laughs] See? It's like, when does it, when does it end? It doesn't end. You just have to, like- And everybody-... give over... 1:46:45 in crypto's been hacked once. Like, I, I- I have... have definitely been hacked once. I've been hacked. I've had, I've had my wallet drained. That's twice. I had my- I've been hacked twice. Right. Yeah. Yeah. 1:46:53 I've had ETH wallet- In the space, and it was in the beginning where, like, I wasn't really sure what I was doing, and I was playing around with stuff. Right. Right. I was like, "Oh, this is cool. Let's check this out." 1:47:01 You know, like, I, you know, like, Discord, like, do not put Discord on anything where you have your wallet, any of that. No. Because Discord is blazing filled with phishing, phishing- Yes. 1:47:13 And, like, even people that you know, like, even their account can get hacked. And, and now with the digital- Mm-hmm... 1:47:19 the AI voice, like, you could get a phone call, like, I could get a phone call sounding like my daughter saying, "Oh, you know, I'm in..." Like, even putting this on YouTube, my voice is out there too. I could be... 1:47:31 So it's good to have, like, security protocols within your family, within your special- Mm-hmm... relationships that, like- Right. You know... you can confirm that that person is- Is real... 1:47:42 who say they are because of voice. There is nothing unique now. Everything is mined. Everything, you know, bots are- Yes... 1:47:49 like, I just try, my, my daughter really likes sneakers, and she has [laughs] like, some birthday money- Yeah... she wanted to spend on sneakers. And- Sure... 1:47:57 Nike's like, "We're making sure no, no bots are sniping this." And I'm like, "Yeah, I'm sure there's bots." But- Ah... you just [censored] know a bot. Like, it's hard to tell now what's a bot and what's human. 1:48:09 And even these AI agents can even solve cap- CAPTCHA puzzles. Oh, the CAPTCHA ones, yeah. Yeah. To avoid, yeah. They're, they're gonna have to, I guess- Confirm that they're not robot. They can solve it. Right. 1:48:21 They can solve it. They can solve those. Yeah. So I guess everything's gonna move to, like, 2- 2FA, right? Is it the 2FAs? They can't break into 2FAs. 1:48:28 Ye- yes, but they can, they, if you give them access to two-factor authentication, they can authenticate for you. Damn, that's scary. It, yeah, it'll be- That's scary. 1:48:40 I wouldn't, I wouldn't ever trust them- It, it definitely-... with my 2FA. I'm sorry. I just, I, I'd have to. Yeah. 1:48:45 The, the guy who I learned from at ETHDenver said that he gave his agents access to crypto wallets, and that they were... Yeah, yeah. Scary. I wouldn't do it. That's, that's definitely, like- I wouldn't do that... 1:48:58 something I would do- [laughs]... in a very secure environment. They would- Yeah... be on a budget. Right. Right. My agent would be on a budget. Sure. And it would be for something very specific, like- Sure... 1:49:08 like an arbitrage play or, like, a- Sure... some kind of, like, um- Right... you know-... one specific thing, like your budget's 20 bucks, and you got this crypto, and go do it. Mm-hmm. And let's see how it turns out. 1:49:23 And make me money. [laughs] Um, it'll be an experiment. I often joke- Of course... that I don't learn about things unless I spend money on them, and that is- Oh... true to an extent because- Right... 1:49:33 once you've spent money, you are invested in it. Hmm. True. And you're kind of like, you want to learn about it because you've spent money, if that makes- Right. Mm-hmm... 1:49:42 um, but there's plenty of free things I've learned plenty from as well. [laughs] YouTube. YouTube's a great resource. Oh, my God. You can learn anything on YouTube. 1:49:49 Although, you have to watch out because on YouTube- Mm... there are all these companies that will, like, hire the tech pro- Right... to push their service. Right. 1:50:00 And then you have to really do your own research because then you go on Reddit, you ask GPT to do more a deep dive of, like, problems- Mm-hmm... 1:50:09 and there's all these problems people are having with this service, you know? And, like, so maybe it's not a good fit for you. So there's a lot of, like, despite the tech, you still need to be your own best advocate. 1:50:20 Like, do your own research. Like, we really live in the age of, you know, don't trust anybody. Don't trust me. Don't trust you. Yeah. Verify for yourself. Do your own research. 1:50:30 Like, don't, don't let anyone sell you anything until you've, like... And you know, anything. With skin cream, crypto, uh, n- news. Even news. Like, all this- That's-... AI swap that's being put out now. Right. 1:50:46 Like- Been hearing that lately... you know, to get engagement. Like, the other day I was on TikTok, and it was like, "Shakira dead," and I'm like, "Nuh-uh. She's not dead. No way." I would get a New York Times alert. 1:50:58 Right. That'll be interesting, too. As a journalist, I've- Mm-hmm... uh, blockchain use of, of verifying and, um, a kind of, um... What's it called? 1:51:08 Like, verifying and, uh, recommending journalists, like, uh, and, and minting, uh, as NFTs stories so you know origin, you know who did it. Mm-hmm. Uh, sort of that open, um, very transparent, uh, also 1:51:26 supply chain of news, like where it originated, who refiled it, who's endorsing it. So you know, like, where does it lean in the political spectrum. I mean, that's gonna be a huge use of, of journalism in the future. 1:51:39 I was at a hackathon where that was the project, and I was like, "Oh my God, we gotta build this." Interesting. They were, like, kids. They were like, "Yeah, we just did it to, like, win the- Yeah... uh, whatever." 1:51:48 And I was like, "That is an awesome product," and that's really what's needed because these traditional outlets like you see, like, you know, they're... 1:51:56 Some of them are just purely to push a certain political agenda, which is ridiculous. News, news should be as impartial as possible, and the source you get them from, and- [laughs] You know? But now- Yeah... 1:52:09 with AI, it's like, who knows what percentage of journalism right now is being written by AI. Oh, man. Don't even get me started, all right? 1:52:18 I, I feel, I feel like journalism died in the '60s, but you know, that, that's another story for another day. Um, I just wanted- Oh my God, we could keep talking and talking and talking. I've, I appreciate you- I-... 1:52:29 being patient with my ADHD conversation. I know. No, this has been a, a grand time. The breadth of... Okay. This has been huge. Uh, Fiona, I really appreciate you. 1:52:37 I have one more question, though, I wanted to just throw at you before we end the interview. Sure. 1:52:42 Because you were talking about psychedelics earlier, about your open exper- And I wanted to follow up with you, and I, I kind of forgot. I dropped the ball, but I picked it up again because I was like- [laughs]... 1:52:52 you were at E-Denver. You were at the Zen Room. You remember the mushroom guys in the back, correct? [laughs] What did you think about that? 1:53:00 Um, I, I'm sure you've tripped on mushrooms before, but just shed me some light about how psychedelics have really opened you up to I, I, I guess, a new life, right? Because we're talking about new beginnings, right? 1:53:11 We're 1-11 here. So share me a little bit about, I guess, your psychedelic experience and then also, like, just overall, like, like, what's your takeaway? 1:53:20 Do you feel like everyone needs this to kind of, like, um, create a new beginning? You know, something to that effect. I think that people, especially... Oh, shoot. Sorry. 1:53:30 [laughs] My, my iPad is complaining that it's low on batteries, but- Oh my gosh. We're almost done, iPad... I think it'll last. I think it'll last. Okay. So I think anybody that's experienced trauma- Hmm... 1:53:41 in life, um, you know, that trauma, it gets stored all in the body- Hmm... and in the subconscious. Yeah. 1:53:48 And what psychedelics do, and when you're doing it in this therapeutic context, you're doing it with someone that's, like, babysitting you, basically. Hmm. 1:53:56 And I did it, I did a Vipassana, which is a 10-day silent meditation- Wow... which is probably one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, but- Yeah... 1:54:05 sitting there with yourself, with your brain, no tech, no, you know, just, you're not talking to anybody. You see how much I like to talk. You really- Oh... 1:54:13 kinda go through this journey, and then afterwards, I did this hero's dose mushroom trip with a advisor. Hmm. And it really opened up my subconscious to, you know, my mother's had all these issues with 1:54:25 body, body shaming herself- Right... body shaming me, you know, just throughout my whole childhood. 1:54:31 [clears throat] And it really unlocked this immense amount of gratitude that I have for my health, for my kids, for what my body's been able to do. Mm-hmm. 1:54:41 And it set me on this path of being free of this, like, stigma, and it's a society stigma too, about just, like, you know, I'm curvy. I'm, you know, not a certain way. 1:54:53 And, and I'm not, I'm not in, I'm, I've always known that changing it would never fix it because then once you change one thing, you wanna change something else. And, um, 1:55:03 I think this self-love, and we all work on it every day, and it's- Mm-hmm... necessary. And I think it's the, I don't wanna say the key to happiness, but it, it definitely, like, 1:55:13 feeling good about yourself is, like, the number one thing you can possibly do in your life. Hmm. And I think psychedelics are something that's been stigmatized by governments. 1:55:22 They see it as like, oh, people just wanna get high and party and whatever. [laughs] And that's fine. Let them do that. Right.... magical, natural, medicinal, historically medicinal. 1:55:33 I mean, there's all kinds of psychedelics. It doesn't have to be mushrooms. Mm-hmm. Um, there's this documentary I saw about use of MDMA to help, uh, people that have s- experienced acute trauma. Oh, wow. 1:55:44 And, you know, I've had, I've had, um, I've also done, uh, uh, ketamine therapy too. I had a- Oh, wow... a repressed childhood thing come up. Mm-hmm. And I'm not gonna go too much into it, but- Sure... 1:55:59 the, the, the reformatting of the way my brain was processing at that time was really powerful, and without that kinda innovation, it wouldn't have been possible for me to kind of- Mm... snap out of that. 1:56:12 And it really set me, it set me up for success, and I've been able to... You know, and just being in touch with your own brain and how you, how your brain works. 1:56:23 Like, for women, the hormonal cycle is a very strong, uh, factor in how your brain is. And also the aging female brain too, like- Mm... going through, I'm in perimenopause right now. Um- Mm-hmm... 1:56:36 and so knowing about all these things, being able to use the right resources, and being open to it too. And sometimes mushrooms don't have an effect on people. 1:56:44 Like, I recommended it to my mom, and she didn't have any of... She did a very, very high dose, and it did nothing to her. No trip. Yeah. So maybe it's, maybe it's not for everybody, but- Mm-hmm... 1:56:55 I was also very open after this meditation thing that I did. I highly recommend people look into it. It is a by donation thing. Mm-hmm. 1:57:04 So if you, you know, can't afford very much or you can afford to donate a lot, it's very accessible. 1:57:11 It's a little bit, like, a little dated in the sense that they show videos of the leader who's, like, he died in, like, the '80s or '90s or something. Oh, wow. But the principles of it are basic. 1:57:24 Like, you sit with yourself, you pay attention to your breath, and you do that several times over the day. You eat very nice, like, light vegetarian food. 1:57:33 I can go back now, since I did it once as, like, a server, and do the course and feed people, which is my favorite thing. Mm-hmm. Um, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna make space to do that again. Um- Yeah... 1:57:45 it's definitely like, yes, it's great to be engaged. I'm doing all these things. I'm gonna eat dinner. I'm doing this hackathon. But then also, let me pull back for a minute, regroup, take that time. 1:57:55 I think it's okay, it's okay to, to detox. Mm. Uh, I joke that I'm retoxing now, 'cause I'm, like, so heavy into the, all this tech stuff. Um- I know. And you don't have to be perfect. We're not perfect. We're human. 1:58:08 Yeah. We make mistakes. Um, you know, you have to be forgiving. And you, if you need to slow down and rest and shut off everything for the weekend, do it. Like, there's nothing saying... 1:58:19 Like, all these mental, all these kids, like, all these lawsuits now against social media are heartbreaking- Oh, yeah... because people lost their lives over something so stupid like- Right... Instagram. 1:58:30 But for them, in their own, like, bubble, and not having the experience and the perspective- Mm-hmm... and protection, uh, against it, it's- Right... caused people to lose their life, and it's devastating. 1:58:42 So it's, it is a balance, right? Yeah. It is a balance. Evolving, engaging in tech, um, and learning and being out there, but then also having perspective to be like, "All right. I need a break. 1:58:56 I need to meditate for whatever." [laughs] Even though that was really hard, 'cause, like, all this stuff comes up for you and you're like, "Ah." Ah, there's so much. 1:59:05 And like, when you're on your phone, like, you can't... You know, sometimes the reaction, the human reaction is when you're going through something hard, you distract yourself, right? Mm. 1:59:13 As opposed to then just sitting with the discomfort, and that, that's, it's good for you to do even though it's really hard. [laughs] It is. 1:59:21 But just sitting and just being present with yourself alone I think is massive, because that's when your brain starts to think. Wait, for, for... Wait. Yeah. Yeah. 1:59:31 That's how you get creative, having a boring time where you sit and do nothing, then your brain has to churn something, right? And you start really thinking. It's true. It's true. It's- A- and in this- Mm-hmm... 1:59:42 instant, you're forced to just, like, just be with your breath, you know? And you just breathe and you sit and you breathe and you walk around. It's amazing how heightened your senses get- Mm... 1:59:53 when you're just doing that and you're, you're not having, like, screens. Like, the world really sparkles. Like, every leaf sparkles. Like, it's a, it's a int- a really wild experience. And they're global too. 2:00:07 The Vipassana organization, it's spelled V-I-P-A-S-S-A-N-A, I think. Mm-hmm. It's a global organization. It's everywhere. Um- Okay... and, uh, yeah, they make meditation very accessible. And, um, I recommend it. 2:00:23 I love that. Look it up. It w- don't expect to text me after you're done. Like, that was so much fun. I, I wouldn't s- call it fun. I would call it a journey and enlightening. Yeah. 2:00:33 And it was im- an important part of my growth- Mm... for sure, as a, as a human being. So- I love that. Yeah. I love that, Fiona. Thank you so much. Uh, where can people find you, uh, if they wanna contact you- Ooh... 2:00:47 or, like, give me- Word... give me your socials. Where can people- Sure... get with you? [laughs] Give me a social security number and seed phrase. [laughs] Uh, not that far. Not that far. All right. 2:00:55 You know what to say. [laughs] Email? I don't know, website? Um, I am @fiona, F-I-O-N-A. Okay. And then my last name is Aboud, A as in apple, B as in boy, O-U-D as in dog. 2:01:07 I'm all over Twitter, Farcaster, Instagram, TikTok. Okay. I'm my name everywhere, just to make things easy. Okay. Perfect. 2:01:16 And if you reach out to me on there, maybe say you saw me on this so I don't know that you're a scammer. [laughs] Send me a crypto- This is a great way to verify, right? I- Building credibility through a podcast. 2:01:27 This is huge, you know? Yeah. It's true. This, this, we're real. It's true. We're not AI. So this is another reason I do what I do. [laughs] Exactly. Exactly. No, and I appreciate, you know- Yeah... 2:01:36 when people reach out, like, if we have something in common for them to, "Hey, we, you know, know so-and-so." Uh, because yeah, you really don't know these days. You don't. And I'm always happy to- 2:01:47 Be a mentor and to- Yeah... grow and to, yeah, be a resource. Like, let's, let's grow. Definitely. And, and TikTok. You're gonna be on TikTok too. So- Yes, yes... 2:01:57 and I'm gonna help you grow on that I currently just have three videos, but I need to, um, have my AI agent help me organize and figure out, like, what, how to build that out. I do- Mm-hmm... 2:02:08 feel like there's something very intimate about TikTok. It's a very, it's a very, like... I feel like I really connect with people even though I don't know anybody. [laughs] You know? 2:02:19 Like, I know, I know zero people I follow in person- Yeah... but- Wow... there's something about that format, maybe 'cause it's like- Mm... confessional or it's immediate. 2:02:29 Uh, yeah, it's, it, it, even though I'm gonna put it on Instagram too because it- Sure... my, the lesson I've learned from watching other people grow is it just needs to be everywhere. Right. 2:02:40 You need to put yourself out, and it's scary to put yourself out because- I know... you know, people are haters and- Judgers... people want to cut other people down if they're feeling bad about themselves. So anyway. 2:02:50 Yeah. But yeah, I'm gonna put myself out there more on TikTok just to- Definitely... explain this process of building this new product and teaching people about these new AI tools, and yeah. I love that. 2:03:01 I, I always say TikTok, um, is for the creators, right? You are a creator, Fiona. So I think TikTok's a great platform to be creating your creations, and we're all content creators at the end of the day, right, fam? 2:03:14 If not on live like we're doing now or pre-taped, uh, through our posts, through our videos, through our photos, texts, everything. When you post, you're a creator, right? 2:03:24 So, um, with that being said, Fiona, thank you again for coming on OneEleven. This has been an amazing experience. Thank you, thank you, Donald. We're definitely gonna be- I appreciate you- Aw, I appreciate you... 2:03:34 for giving me this platform to- Yeah... speak about all the crazy things I'm working on. [laughs] Of course, of course, and we're definitely gonna cook later, for sure. I'm gonna- Oh, yes. [laughs]... 2:03:42 definitely, we'll, we'll hit you up. We'll get started on TikTok, and mutual connections in Vegas- Great... and so many things we have in plan. I have this whole digital nomad- Awesome... 2:03:50 experience that I didn't even get to share with you, but we'll, we'll pick it up later. Oh. Yeah, it's okay. It's okay. Okay. It's, it's, it's my interview. It's not yours. I'm gonna- This is your interview... 2:03:58 I'm gonna, I'm going to reach out to- [laughs] I'm, I'm gonna connect you- Okay... with some of my Vegas friends. Yeah. Yes. Perfect. Let's do it. So take care, Fiona. Thank you. Have a- Have a great day. 2:04:06 Thank you so much... good day. Bye. You too. Bye bye.
