Stephanie Hurd and Ali Manning

[00:01] STEPHANIE HURD: Hi, I'm Stephanie Hurd I'm 29 years old. Today is January 21, 2024. I'm in Memphis, Tennessee, with Ali Manning, my friend, sister, and just, just good girlfriend.

[00:17] ALI MANNING: Hi, I'm Ali Manning, 35 years old. It is January 21. We are in Memphis, Tennessee. I'm here with my friend and soul sister, Stephanie Hurd So, tell us, how would you describe yourself? Oh.

[00:37] STEPHANIE HURD: I am. I serve. I empower, I teach, I drink tea. I'm stylish. I don't know. I'm so many. I'm so many things. I'm a creative, I'm a learner, a multi passionate girl. Just all the things.

[01:01] ALI MANNING: Multi passionate. I feel the same exact way. I like to say that I am a multi hyphenate entrepreneur. Creative entrepreneur. Right. Because we're artists, and we're in our field, and we're doing the work to teach and share, but we're also artists. Right. I would describe myself as very much that someone who's passionate about various disciplines, passionate about art in its various forms, and passionate about pushing myself to the highest form.

[01:33] STEPHANIE HURD: And we see it. We see it. It's evident. The people probably don't know this, but you came in, and all yellow is a look from head to toe. And so it just reads lively and just a burst of energy, and it's all over the social medias. But I get a chance to know you in real life, so I'm like, yes, it's all of those things.

[01:53] ALI MANNING: Thank you.

[01:53] STEPHANIE HURD: You're right. When I think of us, I don't think of just one thing. Cause when I met you, we were doing something totally different.

[01:59] ALI MANNING: That's right. That's right. When we met, I remember this beautiful young lady, you know, who was an artist. So Stephanie does makeup, y'all. Stephanie is a makeup artiste. Okay, girl. And, you know, I love to model, and I've always enjoyed modeling, and so I came across an opportunity to do just that. But Stephanie was the makeup artist, and she could get my complexion, you know, this beautiful, dark, melanated skin, and she accentuated it and brought it to life and light.

[02:31] STEPHANIE HURD: And that's the one thing I was gonna say when I first met you. The first thing. Cause I was trying to be in my professional bag. Cause I was an assistant to a makeup artist at the time. So I was like, this lady's skin, and I don't even know if you know, but that was the first time she actually let me just go off on her face. What? And so I just. We connected. But, girl, I remember the blue. I went crazy under the eye. That's what. Yeah, that's how I remember you. So, again, you were a model that day. Yes, I was a makeup artist now herbalist, food scientist, author, like, all the things. Yeah, you know what?

[03:07] ALI MANNING: You're so many things, but your latest stage in life is herbalism. How do you. What is that? Can you tell us a little bit more about what you do and what that means?

[03:17] STEPHANIE HURD: Girl, it fell in my lap. Honestly, my whole life, I've been just taking in so many different things, but it never made sense. And so when the pandemic started, I started drinking tea, but it's always been in my life, it's always been something I've done as self care, but I started using it as medicine then, and I was like, oh, wait, this is. It.

[03:40] ALI MANNING: Is.

[03:40] STEPHANIE HURD: Am I healing? Is this healing? And so I started looking for certifications, and now I'm working on my masters in herbal medicine. So I wanted to just not only drink tea, but I wanted to make it a whole thing. I wanted to use it for, you know, for a mode of healing. And so now that's what I'm into.

[03:58] ALI MANNING: Yeah, I love it. It is so fun because you have your business hackberry tea company.

[04:04] STEPHANIE HURD: Mm hmm. Yeah, I do, girl. And that is. That's how it started. It started as a tea company, and people started trusting me with their. Their health issues and concerns, and I was like, oh, y'all think I know what I'm doing. Let me go and actually go to school for this, since y'all trust me. But, yes, that's how I started. But you were a food scientist when you introduced yourself to me, and so now you an author. Can I play with my food? Still in the same realm, but tell us about it. How did you even get into writing? Like, what is this?

[04:37] ALI MANNING: You know, what? How did I get back to writing? You know, the pandemic was such a pivotal time for all of us, whether we know that or not, it was a pivotal time for us, not just in our nation and health wise, but just in a creative resurgence for a lot of people. And I got a chance to get back to writing. You know, my mother always talks about how it would write on the walls. She was that mom. She would kind of let me do some things within my limits, you know? And so, you know, I was writing these motivational messages, and I love to journal, and I wanted to be a journalist. You know, there were all these things that I thought I wanted to do, but I took the traditional route, and somehow life has led me back to all the things that I love to do as a child. And so writing was very much that. And when I began writing, can I play with my food? It was during the pandemic, doing it leisurely, you know, but then I would get downloads in the morning and get up at 03:00 a.m. and 04:00 a.m. with all these ideas. And one thing I love to also do was draw. So I started drawing, you know, as much as I could, like fruits and vegetables. And then chickens became a little bit difficult, you know, I didn't know how to draw chickens, you know, so then I began to, you know, find an illustrator. So God began to bring people into my life that would help me follow through this mission of becoming an author. Becoming an author. And the story just took shape, you know, Lexi. Lexi is my sister, Alexis, and in the book, she's this adventurous little girl who's exploring food and science, and she doesn't have any limits. And, you know, children with down syndrome, they have their limitations, but not always. And so I wanted this book to inspire people and inspire those like Lexi.

[06:34] STEPHANIE HURD: I think it inspires parents and people who care for children with down syndrome, because for me, it's like, I think we put the limits on our children. I don't think they put those limits on themselves. Like, you know, we all are creative. Like, when you say a child writes on the walls or plays with their food, we tell them that it's wrong.

[06:52] ALI MANNING: Yep.

[06:53] STEPHANIE HURD: You know, so I think it's us who put limits on them. So I love that your book can even reach from the baby bone up to the old people. Everybody who can read can get this book, and I love that.

[07:03] ALI MANNING: Yeah. And the title, can I play with my food? Can I play with my food? You know, I don't. I feel like it's an opportunity for kids to re explore food. Texture, flavors, sensory characteristics, smell, because a lot of our food lacks that these days, you know? And that's why I encourage people to go to the local farmer's market, shop with local vendors, artisans, so that we can enjoy the things that we complain about not having.

[07:30] STEPHANIE HURD: Okay, so does this branch out from food science for kids? Because, see, I know you be teaching the children. You teach the children about their food, and just kind of what you were saying, play with your food. It's not just something that you eat. It's not just a vegetable.

[07:48] ALI MANNING: Yeah, yeah.

[07:49] STEPHANIE HURD: But, you know, you get a chance to explore it. Explore the colors, you know? Are you eating your color wheel? That kind of thing. I love that you're actually reaching the children and making food fun, for sure.

[08:00] ALI MANNING: This book, you know, it's so wild that food science for kids was created at the same simultaneously. You know, I didn't even know what I was. I was just trying to give the kids a cool opportunity to learn food and science, although we were apart, you know, to teach food science for kids during that time and teach little ones from Wyoming to Texas. This virtual program that I had kind of developed out of this need for children to have something fun to do, you know, it really has evolved into camps, special programs, you know, teaching, you know, now going on my 3rd, 4th year of teaching, and of course, can I play with my food is definitely a branch in an arm of that because food science is something that every little kid should have. Grade school students should be able to experience this program. You know, it teaches them more. It's so eye opening what it exposes them to.

[09:02] STEPHANIE HURD: Mm hmm. You know, I agree. I'm learning, and I'm not a kid anymore, but you still, you touch on the things that, you know, children need to learn. We need to know. We need to go back to, like, for me, being an herbalist and partnering that with gardening, things that have always been in my life, but now I'm like, you're teaching me how to compost. So I'm like, okay, let me add this other layer. So I think, like, again, everyone can benefit. It's not just a child thing and it's not elementary, but I think everyone needs to go back to gardening, go back to health and playing with your food, playing with your herbs, using herbs and spices and trying.

[09:44] ALI MANNING: Yeah, and different techniques. You know, our grandmothers used to can, they used to, you know, preserve. These are all food science methods, you know, that we're all familiar with, but we've gotten away from, because of convenience foods. We always, we want convenience, and we, and now we're seeing a shift in the consumer trends around more natural products or non dairy products. There's a resurgence around functional foods, foods to help with anxiety and sleep, melatonin snacks. And so it's very much driven, consumer driven work that I do. But it's got to change because our world really does depend on it. Animal and food, I guess meat production consumes a lot of energy and resources, and so we've got to find new solutions around that, too.

[10:41] STEPHANIE HURD: Yeah. And look at it like self care, because for me, I just, we have been world, we have been snowed in for about four or five days now.

[10:51] ALI MANNING: Yes, we just got out the house today.

[10:54] STEPHANIE HURD: Literally today. And so I'm like, you know what? I have been leaning into self care. I have been leaning into my tea drinking, but also, I've been been making my own mask. Like, girl, I have been having a bomb. Yes. And it's with food. I've been using my food and eating my vegetables and my fruits and stuff, but I've also been trying to romanticize every moment and care for myself in every moment, because, you know, we don't look at food like, let me enjoy this meal. We just like, girl, it's time to eat. Let me go eat. I ain't have to eat, you know? And so I'm like, let me enjoy myself. How can I take this a little bit farther? How can I take this herb one.

[11:33] ALI MANNING: Step farther and it stays in gratitude, right? Like, you exude gratefulness, grace, and gratitude for everything that you do. And I love that when you say you romanticize your moments. Cause you're right. You know, when we're juicing fruits and we're fasting, we could use the pulp from the juice that we get or fruit that we get and put it on our skin, exfoliate, you know, and we really have to rethink waste.

[12:01] STEPHANIE HURD: Mm hmm, mm hmm.

[12:03] ALI MANNING: Rethink waste.

[12:03] STEPHANIE HURD: And I think that with my tea bags, like, you can make them in so many other things. Like, put it in your bath for me. My extra herbs that I have just, like, laying around, I'm like, let me just make me a little bath smoke. Let me, you know, a little lavender. I love it. It just makes me feel good. But I'm like, I want everyone to feel good and to do one thing that makes them feel good for you, it could be eating, playing with their food. For me, it could be making my matcha tea, a matcha mask, and sitting.

[12:31] ALI MANNING: There not doing a single thing, you know? Because after a certain age, staying in the house really is a privilege.

[12:37] STEPHANIE HURD: It is. I've been embracing it. You know, when the world stop, I listen. I listen to that. I take that as a sign to sit down somewhere, and I do just that. So, again, it was so much going on. If you just embrace every bad thing, like, people without heat or all these different things, ice and all of that, it's like, let me. I'm gonna find me some. I'm find something. I'm gonna find me a ray of sunshine and something. Even if that means I need to put on a cute outfit for today, like, I'm gonna do it.

[13:07] ALI MANNING: And that, you know, that really sparked the road to joy for me too.

[13:10] STEPHANIE HURD: Mm hmm.

[13:11] ALI MANNING: You know, working in a corporate setting, you know, for all those years, was great, but I had lost a bit of me, and that's where the self love, self care, self healing, self discovery, self excitement, acceptance comes from. That's a mouthful.

[13:28] STEPHANIE HURD: Yeah.

[13:29] ALI MANNING: But it's so much work related to that. And so in doing that work, I've been able to discover more of my passion and create more than I consume. And that's kind of my goal for 2024. How much more? What am I creating today? And in that, you know, it sparks joy with my writing. It sparks joy in cooking. You know, my husband and I try new recipes, and, you know, we get really creative. Modeling continues to push me in my, my artistry as well. And so it's just nice to find those joyful moments and the little things, for sure.

[14:04] STEPHANIE HURD: Right. You sure right about that. And one thing you said about fashion, because that's something a lot of people don't know. That's where I thought I was gonna, when I was little girl, I thought I was gonna be a designer wardrobe stylist, all of the things creative. And going into that corporate space, you lose so much of yourself. And this currently where I am, like, where you were able to be like, you know what? I'm gonna go and be an entrepreneur. I'm gonna create my own colorful world. I am now in a space where I'm trying to create that inside of corporate America. So I literally went in a meeting the other day, the only person wearing color, and I was like, I know this can't be. Just because you're at work don't mean you have to be like.

[14:47] ALI MANNING: And nature expresses color in every season, yet we continue to wear black, beige and brown and gray.

[14:55] STEPHANIE HURD: I did have silence, but I'm going, I had. All right. Cause, you know, you still have, you need a neutral. You know, the neutral. You feel the corporate is still there.

[15:03] ALI MANNING: Yes.

[15:04] STEPHANIE HURD: Embedded. But I said, I'm gonna wear a pop of color because it makes me feel good. So I just. You say, what can I create today? I say, what can bring me joy today? What am I gonna do that makes me happy.

[15:14] ALI MANNING: Yes. And, you know, it's just so interesting when you say that, because my last name, my maiden name is gladness, you know? And I think if you have a name like gladness, there's no way that you stay in that sadness for too long. You know what I'm saying? You know? And so I think that that's kind of carried me through wherever I am, you know, understanding that we must be that light wherever we are and be true to ourselves in these spaces and understand that there's a lesson in it. You know, it may be very uncomfortable at times to be in these rooms and have the only color on or be reported. Cause I was reported for wearing purple to work girl a whole nother day. That was so weird, like, why people will dim your light, and you're just trying to show up and live, you know? And so I think, you know, just what we do is really in protest. You know, how we show up is in protest to, you know, the norm.

[16:17] STEPHANIE HURD: Yeah.

[16:17] ALI MANNING: And that takes bravery and courage.

[16:19] STEPHANIE HURD: It does. It does. It's so exciting, though. I'm gonna do it every time, I'm telling you. So how would you want to be remembered?

[16:29] ALI MANNING: You know what? I would love to be remembered as someone who explored her creativity and followed her curiosity to the end of her earth, her time on earth.

[16:43] STEPHANIE HURD: Oh, that's a good one.

[16:45] ALI MANNING: You know, seize the date. You know, I always. You know, my instagram hashtag is alliemanning. Carpe diem. I live by seize the day. It's tattooed on me.

[16:59] STEPHANIE HURD: Yeah.

[17:00] ALI MANNING: And so for me, it's, you know, my grandmother, she had Alzheimer's, you know, and for me, it's like she. She may have lived her best life at that time, but I. For me, looking at her, I was like, what else could she have done and enjoyed, you know? And I think we don't explore that, you know, enough, because we feel like we have to do these things, rudimentary things that society tells us to do, when ultimately we just need to be listening to our call and going forward full force.

[17:33] STEPHANIE HURD: Ooh, you just said a whole lot. I loved it. You know, people say. People say, how do I want to be remembered? And they probably just say one thing. I want to be remembered as a nice person or a kind person. But I love that when you say, she lived her life, she created. She just did all the things she put her mind to. I loved it. And I think it shows. Like, it shows.

[17:55] ALI MANNING: Thank you, girl. I wish I had a cocktail. I'd give you a cheers.

[17:58] STEPHANIE HURD: I know, right? We need a cocktail.

[17:59] ALI MANNING: But, you know, I want to see a better world. I mean, I'm really in that millennial. Am I a millennial?

[18:05] STEPHANIE HURD: You are. You know, the bracket get wider and wider. You are, though. And I think this for me too. Like, I just. I want to be. I want to be known as.

[18:23] ALI MANNING: Take your time.

[18:26] STEPHANIE HURD: I want to be someone. I want to be known as someone who lived out her purpose, who, like, really lived her purpose, you know, a lot of people, you see something for them, but they don't ever do it or they don't carry it out. I want to be the person who lives out my purpose. And I think with me being an herbalist, I think that's a lot of how I show up in the world. But for me, I was my mom's caretaker, and when I was her caretaker, we did not have answers. You know, she would get sick, and I literally watched her follow my grandma's footsteps, too. So it was literally, the women closest to me had crazy sicknesses, and I cared for them, you know, but I had no answers. And so, for me, being able to connect people with resources, I do that in my work life. I connect people with resources. But for me now, as an herbalist, I want to connect people with resources, be it a resource to self care, a resource to your healing, or whatever that it looks like for you. But I want to provide that service to people that I didn't get when I was taking care of my mom.

[19:31] ALI MANNING: Incredible.

[19:32] STEPHANIE HURD: Thank you. I think that's how I want to be now. And I think that's something that the world needs. And I think, like you say, you're liked, you being bold enough to create, being rebellious enough to show up as yourself, I think that's what the world needs. And I think, you know, I also show up like that, you know, you sure do. And I think that's more of us showing up as ourselves. I think that empowers other people to show up as their selves, too. And so I see it in spaces I go in. I know you do, too. And I like to say that I have a network of women who also do that. I think when I look around my friend group, every woman that I'm connected to, they show up in such a powerful way in their spaces. And it empowers me to go in mine and be like, you know what? Yes, I'm at work, and we have to work, but I'm going to be cute and colorful. I'm going to play with my food. I'm going to romanticize my mornings. I'm not going to just get up and running, you know, you can't let.

[20:27] ALI MANNING: It get me down.

[20:27] STEPHANIE HURD: I'm not. I refuse.

[20:29] ALI MANNING: Mm. Cheers to that.

[20:31] STEPHANIE HURD: Cheers to that, girl. We need cocktails next time. We should do. Yes. But I'm wondering, since you guys both touched on this a bit, what did food, and also, maybe if this is related self care, what did those things look like in your homes growing up, and how did that inspire what you both do today?

[20:49] ALI MANNING: Yeah.

[20:50] STEPHANIE HURD: Oh, that's a good one.

[20:52] ALI MANNING: You know what? I always had access to food growing up.

[20:57] STEPHANIE HURD: Mm hmm.

[20:58] ALI MANNING: That's a privilege. I always had access to gardens. We would always have gardens and muscadine vines. I would go out to the backyard and pick plums. I would go to my grandmother's house and pick blackberries, you know, and get prickled on the prickle bush. I'm from Alabama, y'all. But, you know, it was always accessible, and I always knew how to grow it and even preserve it, you know? And so, for me, I've always enjoyed food. Now, when my sister came along, she. Because she has down syndrome, you know, limitations with texture and satiety, that feeling of fullness and, you know, picky eaters. So we had a different, you know, kind of lifestyle, which led to a much healthier lifestyle for me because I was healthier, but I a more stagnant lifestyle for her. And so she's obese. And so now, you know, I think that also in the back of my mind, you know, was the reason why I went into food science, because I want to teach little kids, you know, I want to teach parents. I want to teach families and show them how they can prepare foods differently, you know? What are some low sodium food solutions? Some low sugar, you know, that don't necessarily have to say low sugar, but that are better for you than the typical things that we eat? And so, you know, it's interesting that my life has evolved, but I've always been a foodie. You know, food is just. Food is what I love.

[22:30] STEPHANIE HURD: Yeah.

[22:31] ALI MANNING: That's what I spend all my money on. But, you know, it's driven my work for sure.

[22:37] STEPHANIE HURD: Okay. Okay, so same question for me. You know what? I was a little girl. I was. I remember I was in kindergarten, and kids would be a recessed, and I would be playing with, like, I would be making paper mache doll. I mean, purses and doll clothes. Like, I was over there stapling and just arts and crafts. I was always a crafty kind of person. DIY girl. And my mom, she would always be like, you can make that. Like, literally, I would see a bracelet, dollar five. She would go and spend dollar 40 on materials. Cause I could make that. And so that just got me to make stuff like clothes, jewelry, all the things. And, like you said, you met me. I was a makeup artist, wardrobe stylist, model, like, all of the creative stuff, but it wasn't looked at as self care in my home, my mom, and it's something I just literally unpacked. I'm almost 30, unpacked in therapy not too long ago. But my mom, she would always empower me to do my own makeup or learn how to do my own hair. But for her, it was out of sight scarcity. Because if no one. If I didn't have money at the time, no one had to know. But for me, now, I'm looking at it like, this is how I should live my life. Like, I should have cute hair and cute nails, you know what I'm saying? And so I do it all the time. I spend my money on my appearance because I enjoy it now. And it's not looked at. Like, you just need to be able to have a side plan b, a side hustle kind of thing. And so I looked at my mom like, she didn't do a lot of self care. And now I do enough for me and her. Like, I embrace it. I embrace self care. I embrace ease. I welcome ease. Like, I am not a get up and running type of person. I am a slow, peaceful.

[24:38] ALI MANNING: This is a wellness podcast now.

[24:40] STEPHANIE HURD: This is girl. That's how I like to exist because, like, so much is so much uncontrolled chaos around. And now I'm looking at it like I am embracing self care. It's not a thing of scarcity. It's not a thing of. You need to be able to provide for yourself in case of it is a. You need to provide for you, you need to take care of yourself because.

[25:03] ALI MANNING: And that. And that goes hand in hand with.

[25:05] STEPHANIE HURD: The food that we eat.

[25:07] ALI MANNING: You know, when I was just telling the team, you know, when I started out, I started out biology, pre med, you know, I still was in that health field. Like, we healers, we know that we want to help others. And so, you know, spent some time studying the MCAT and realized that food science was really my path. So I switched my major in college, and I got a job in my field and worked in the industry. But I would work on products that at the time, I didn't realize that they were so detrimental to the health of society. But I was working on these products for these brands, and I didn't feel aligned. After a while, I'm throwing away food for studies, trying to preach this thing at home while also working in this industry that's very wasteful and creating these products, you know, and it just. It didn't feel meaningful or fulfilling. And so, you know, after some time in the food industry, doing what I was doing. I had some great opportunities. I worked for some incredible brands. I did some really cool projects, but there was still something lacking. And that was the creative part of me. And so that's what I remembered in my childhood, the creative part, the gardening, the planting, the picking, the eating the outdoors part of life. And we were stuck inside, you know? And so when I moved and created my consultancy, you know, that was an opportunity for me to serve food entrepreneurs in the city, not realizing that all of this work that I was doing for others was also helping me understand more of my passion for serving the community, my passion for sustainability and environmental justice, passion for teaching little ones how to read, and that chickens are birds, you know, and having these breakthrough moments with kids in my community, in underserved neighborhoods, and in private charter schools. You know, it's a contrastingly different scenario when you go to a school that has a farm, a garden, a greenhouse, and then you have a school that has nothing, and the kids are eating processed food all day. And so it's this dilemma because, yeah, I'm a foodie. I love to eat out, but what are you doing in your operations? Where are you sourcing your stuff from? I'm asking a lot more questions, and it's defining more of who I want to become and what I want to see, you know, and being that change that I want to see. And so, yeah, food, self care, wellness is all wrapped up in that. You know what I mean?

[27:44] STEPHANIE HURD: Yeah.

[27:45] ALI MANNING: What are two things that you would tell your younger self?

[27:54] STEPHANIE HURD: Don't shrink and have fun. I would say live a little. You know, I was, you know, as a child, you're just like, I want to do everything right. I want to. I want to please the people. I don't want to disappoint no one, those kind of things. And I think I took myself way too seriously, and I think I still in some kind of capacity, because I still am in corporate America, I still kind of take myself way seriously than I, you know, than I want to. So I would just say, have fun.

[28:29] ALI MANNING: Yeah.

[28:29] STEPHANIE HURD: Don't shrink. Don't go into spaces and shrink yourself.

[28:33] ALI MANNING: Don't do it.

[28:33] STEPHANIE HURD: Just be okay with standing out like I was literally the tallest girl for a long time in the classroom. So, you know, you get accustomed to trying to shrink and trying to fit in and trying to, you know, conform in a sense, and that follows you. You know, you don't take. You don't pay attention to those things that you do as a child for, like, survival or to fit in or to, you know, the Maslow's hierarchy of niche. You don't pay attention to what you do. And so now I'm like, I see it manifest in different ways, and I'm like, uh uh.

[29:04] ALI MANNING: Nope, you're absolutely right. Nope, you're absolutely right.

[29:07] STEPHANIE HURD: Yeah. So I'm telling myself this now. I would tell my younger self this, but this is something that I speak into myself currently.

[29:14] ALI MANNING: Yeah, I love that.

[29:16] STEPHANIE HURD: Thank you. What are two things you would tell yourself, man?

[29:25] ALI MANNING: Hold your head up, remove your hand from your mouth, and speak up.

[29:29] STEPHANIE HURD: Ooh, she said, oh, she felt that.

[29:35] ALI MANNING: I spent so much time thinking I was less than. And, you know, I think about how even my aunt would tell me, don't go out in the sun. Don't get too dark.

[29:44] STEPHANIE HURD: Ooh, I Hurd that, too.

[29:46] ALI MANNING: That southern, you know, slave, you know, imprint of our history as slaves.

[29:55] STEPHANIE HURD: Yeah.

[29:56] ALI MANNING: You know, and we perpetuate that when we continue to tell our nieces, our students, our kids, don't play with your food. Don't get your clothes dirty.

[30:05] STEPHANIE HURD: Oh, yes.

[30:06] ALI MANNING: And I think it continues to validate me when I see them, you know, and them have their breakthrough moments, because I'm looking at this beautiful black girl, this little dark skinned girl just like me, and I'm telling her, with my lab coat on, this is who you can become. Hello.

[30:27] STEPHANIE HURD: Come on. With my.

[30:29] ALI MANNING: With my lab coat on. Food science for kids. And the second thing is, don't you listen to the world? Don't you listen to them? We're all figuring it out as we go. We're all figuring it out as we go. We have to create our own dream and fulfill it. If you've got those inner childhood dreams and desires, fulfill them, because that's probably what you should have been doing in the first place before the world told you you needed to go to college, get a man, go to school. Da da da da da da da da da.

[30:59] STEPHANIE HURD: Okay.

[31:00] ALI MANNING: Which is fine, but that's not. Our path is not linear, and we are not machines, and we are all made to be individual, authentic people, you know, beings.

[31:12] STEPHANIE HURD: Yeah, I agree.

[31:14] ALI MANNING: That's it.

[31:14] STEPHANIE HURD: I tell her, tell my younger self that also, I need to. The people need to.

[31:19] ALI MANNING: We need a reminder.

[31:21] STEPHANIE HURD: Hear that? Also, girl, I have enjoyed this conversation with you today.

[31:26] ALI MANNING: Thank you so much.

[31:27] STEPHANIE HURD: Thank you for sitting with me, girl. This felt so good. You know, we gonna have to go and get cocktails.

[31:33] ALI MANNING: Yes, but, you know. Yes, it did. Thank you so much.