You Actually Can Make A Difference with Kerryn Vaughan

November 8, 2022
58. You Actually Can Make a Difference

Kerryn Vaughan is an international speaker, author, facilitator, and podcast host. You need to hear her inspirational stories about how she works with people to help them reach their full potential.

Here are some important moments with Kerryn from the podcast: 

At 5:25 What advice do you have for people who want to make the world better?

At 9:50 Do people come up to you after your talks and tell you how it’s opened their eyes to what they should be doing?

At 11:45 You tell people they have to start doing something within 24 hours? 

Here are some ways to follow or contact Kerryn:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getoffthebenchaustralia/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerryn-vaughan-9a1b4268/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getoffthebench/

Website: www.KerrynVaughan.com 

Important information from Homeowners Be Aware:

Here are ways you can follow us on-line:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homeownersbeaware/

Website: https://homeownersbeaware.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-siegal/

If you'd like to reach me for any reason, here's the link to my contact form:

https://homeownersbeaware.com/contact

Here's the link to the trailer for the documentary film I'm making: Built to Last: Buyer Beware.

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Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Kerryn Vaughan: 0:00

Well, that's what I'm talking about, about being proactive. Do you know, you know, like, like not waiting for disaster to happen. Let's fix it before it does. You know, let's, let's start. I don't know how you do it. I have no idea how you change the, um, mindset of builders. Do you know? And, and they're just, I don't wanna say, but perhaps, perhaps they're just trying to get money. Perhaps the insurance companies,

George Siegal: 0:18

I'll say it for you. That's absolutely what they're doing.

Kerryn Vaughan: 0:21

You can say it. I don't wanna get kicked out. America.

George Siegal: 0:24

We'll let you stay. I don't think there's any doubt that, that that's what they do. Look at this spectacular place that we are, we're on the bay. If that hurricane had hit here when we talked about which it was going, yeah, we were the bullseye. We wouldn't be sitting here right now. This would be. Probably a pile of rubble. Yeah. I'm George Siegal, and this is The Tell Us How to Make It Better podcast. Every week we introduce you to people who are working on real world problems and providing actual solutions. Tell Us How to Make. It Better is partnering with The Readiness Lab, the home for podcasts, webinars, and training in the field of emergency and disaster services. Hi everybody. Thank you so much for joining me on this week's Tell Us How to Make It Better podcast. After you're done listening today, if you can remember to subscribe so you can become a weekly listener and even share the link with people that you know, that would be awesome. About a year ago when I started this podcast, probably a little over a year ago, I met this woman from Australia. Her name is Karen Vaughan, and what struck me about this woman was her enthusiasm and you know, I thought I enjoyed what I did. I'm not even on her level because she legitimately loves what she does, and she loves sharing her message with other people. And I, I was a guest on her podcast. She came on my podcast. And then, um, recently after Hurricane Ian, she invited me to come back on her podcast to talk about what we experienced here in Tampa, Florida and what we might have experienced if the storm had hit us. And during our conversation she said, Oh, by the way, I'm gonna be in Tampa next week. And I said, Wow, we have to get together. So I had the opportunity to go and meet her in person and record a podcast episode with her. And I'll tell you, she is even more energetic and enthusiastic in person than she is on her podcast, and that's pretty hard to believe. So here's our conversation. Karen Vaughan, Welcome to my home in Tampa.

Kerryn Vaughan: 2:20

I know how cool is that? That is very well, It's actually not cool. It's very hot . It's very hot.

George Siegal: 2:24

It is quite a bit hotter than Australia.

Kerryn Vaughan: 2:26

Yeah, well I just come from Detroit. Detroit, actually Michigan and uh, it's cold there. Stepped off the plane and thought I'm gonna die. It's beautiful.

George Siegal: 2:35

Yeah. I told you when we were walking over here that I lived in Detroit for three years. I loved it. I thought it was such a great place. But in the winter. It's not winter yet, but it, it can be brutal. Very cold. And you got to see the leaves changing and everything.

Kerryn Vaughan: 2:47

Yeah. I, it was just coming to the end, last winter in, in 2019. I was over here. It was coming into winter. It was snowing, cold and I got drenched in Detroit. Not, not enough clothing. No raincoat. Got sick. As sick as sick. But I still love it.

George Siegal: 3:04

Yeah, it is, it is a really cool place. I know it gets a bad rap and it, that's really not fair cuz it's, the people there are great and the, and the city is great the whole area, I love it is a lot of fun. Now, I wanna ask you a couple questions before we go into talking about how you make things better, uh, because I think you're such, such an exciting, enthusiastic person about making things better. What is your favorite place to go in the United States?

Kerryn Vaughan: 3:26

You're gonna make me say Tampa.

George Siegal: 3:27

No, I'm not, because I'm not from here. I live here now. I'm originally from New York. So you tell me the place that you've gone to, that you've gone. Wow. I could see living here. Is there a place?

Kerryn Vaughan: 3:35

Uh, Hawaii. Yep. Hawaii. Okay. Are you gonna call that United States?. Yeah.. Well, I love Hawaii.

George Siegal: 3:42

We're not giving it back.

Kerryn Vaughan: 3:43

Yeah, I know. I know.

George Siegal: 3:45

And then your favorite American meal?

Kerryn Vaughan: 3:47

Oh, um, there's not many because they're too greasy. I don't know, honestly. That would be fair. Uh, yeah, I, I don't know. I can't think of anything.

George Siegal: 3:57

So what'd you eat in Detroit? Great Greek food there.

Kerryn Vaughan: 3:59

I dunno. We, we just went out to a whole heap of places and I don't remember cuz I ate stuff that I would not normally eat and now I feel So You're bad. Yeah.. George Siegal: Okay. Well, um, so let me ask you now, you, because of the, all the different things that you do, and we'll have you talk about that. The theme of my podcast is identifying problems and then doing something to make them better. Yeah. What would you say is the key thing that you have identified as a problem and that you're trying to make better? Kindness? You know, it's, I think that the, I do a lot of things, but the one thing, the one message that I try to get across to everybody is just be a little bit kinder every day because that ripple effect has a massive impact. You know, like I was saying before to somebody else, it's the, um, used to be six degrees of separation, you know, now it's like two degrees of separation. Just that little bit of kindness to somebody else, um, and makes 'em believe that they can make a difference. Do you know? It makes 'em feel great about themselves and they go and change so,

George Siegal: 4:53

Why do we have such a problem with that? Why? Oh, I don't, People seem to be getting meaner.

Kerryn Vaughan: 4:57

I don't know. I, I really don't know cuz I can't see how it's so hard.

George Siegal: 5:01

I mean, if you watch this country, you probably, I, I imagine from a afar see a lot of discourse, a lot of, uh, a lot of tension because people on opposite sides of the political spectrum can't even talk about their differences. I know. So how do you inject kindness into that?

Kerryn Vaughan: 5:19

Well, I didn't say I had the answer either.

George Siegal: 5:22

It's just that you're working on it.

Kerryn Vaughan: 5:24

I'm working on it. Well, I'm working on it through, I mean, we can talk about the stuff that I do, you know, it's like, uh, you know, people have an idea that they wanna make the world better. You know, it could be any sort of idea, like doing a dog rescue, or it could be starting a domestic violence shelter. Or it could be just, you know, you know, small, small things. Writing a book about something. And most people believe they can't do it because I think it's too big. Do you know? And they have a lot of self doubt and that kind of stuff going on. And so my job, this is what I get up every day for, is to inspire people to believe that they actually can make a difference. Do you know? And they try to. Um, somebody's just said to me, only today, I was talking in, uh, in Brighton Michigan this weekend. And my talk was about confidence and about why we don't take action. And I was saying that we always try to do the really big thing. So, you know, I wanna, for example, proactive heroism. Well, let's say, you know, reactive and responsive is dragging someone out of a burning car. But proactive is, well, let's, let's look at, can we make fireproof paint? You know, can we make a fireproof spray? So we still wanna have car accidents, but we're not pulling people out of burning wrecks and that sort of stuff. So proactive is like preventing how, what can we do to prevent the need for these reactive heroes and that kind of stuff. And I talked about how, if we can, um, when we build our confidence, because we, we, there's five things that I think get in the way of us taking action. And that's self-doubt. Imposter syndrome, not knowing where to start, overwhelmed by the big picture. And fear, and fear of criticism, failure, rejection, that kind of stuff. And, and what happens is we live in this world. We are too ashamed or too embarrassed to say I'm scared. You know, I, I, I fear failing and, and we, we shrouded in this world. If I was confident, you know, oh, one day, you know, it doesn't really matter if I was confident, like you, you know, I'm not a confident person. And I was talking about that. And we, we go for this confidence like, um, the end picture, Well, I'm not confident to create fire. A fireproof spray. Therefore, I just won't do anything. And I wanna bring it back to, I just wanna be confident in my ability to learn and to take the next step. Do you know, And that shifts the whole thing about confidence. Does that make sense? Rather than...

George Siegal: 7:36

it does. No, I, But I think our whole nature, human nature is, I can't speak for other places in the world, but we're a very reactive society. Yeah, very. You'll notice we have, we build houses by the water and then we're shocked when they blow down because they were built poorly. So rather than build them right, we just rebuild them poorly again. Yeah, totally. And, and the insurance companies, rather than throw their money into saying, Let's educate people and stop this problem, they just come in and try not to pay you after you have the damage. So everything is happens after the fact here. So it's, it's changing an entire mindset that I think is very difficult to do.

Kerryn Vaughan: 8:11

Well, that's what I'm talking about, about being proactive. Do you know, You know, like, like not waiting for disaster to happen. Let's fix it before it does. You know, let's, let's start. I don't know how you do it. I have no idea how you change the, um, mindset of builders. Do you know? And, and they're just, I don't wanna say, but perhaps, perhaps they're just trying to get money. Perhaps the insurance companies...

George Siegal: 8:29

I'll say it for you

Kerryn Vaughan: 8:30

ripping people off

George Siegal: 8:30

Absolutely what they're doing.

Kerryn Vaughan: 8:32

You can say it. I don't want get kicked outta America.

George Siegal: 8:34

We'll let you stay. I don't think there's any doubt that, that that's what they do. Look at this spectacular place that we are, we're on the bay. If that hurricane had hit here when we talked about which it was going Yeah. We were the bullseye. We wouldn't be sitting here right now. Yeah. This would be probably a pile of rubble. Yeah. That or there would be damage, uh, flood damage up to floors. I mean, just the turn of a storm, not because we did anything right.

Kerryn Vaughan: 8:58

Yep. I think that's all. But we could have done something right. By, by changing building codes. Sure. That's what we need to do. Like this is where we need to be more proactive. And the thing is, we don't do it because we get away. If I can get away with something and charge you a ton of money, I'm not gonna, Why bother? You're gonna keep buying it, you know, I dunno what the answer is. I have no idea what the answer is, but, um, I wanna inspire people and, and empower people so they take action in their field of expertise. I'm not an expert builder. I have no idea. But if I can inspire someone and they're like, Yeah, well I am in that field and I think I can make change, I wanna do that.

George Siegal: 9:36

When you're in a place like Michigan and you're ha and you're doing a talk with people, what do you sense is their reaction? Does, Does it inspire them to come afterwards and up to you afterwards and say, Wow, I had no idea about thinking this way? Does it wake 'em up?

Kerryn Vaughan: 9:48

Yes, it does. It, it really does. I've had, I had somebody come up to me and say, Well, actually in 2019 I did a workshop there. And this, this woman, Jamie, she's, this is the T-shirt I've actually got on, Sorry, George, not yours, but I I will put yours on later.

George Siegal: 10:01

What's up?

Kerryn Vaughan: 10:02

Uh, coffee rescue. And she was, she was at my workshop. She had a an old ambulance, she turned into a coffee van. It was fantastic, right? And she just loved her coffee, loved her, uh, coffee business. But on the other hand, she wanted to do dog rescue. And she was like, Well, I can't do both. So after sitting in my workshop, she's like, Well, I can do both. I can actually start giving some of the profits from my coffee, you know, to, to the dog room, dog rescue. And now she's teamed up with, um, uh, Joe Ghetto, you know, from was in Practical Jokers, and they've got ghetto pups. He's got ghetto pups and she's giving money to that, you know, so she's doing both. She was there this time and, um, she was, she was actually telling people while I was around the workshop, believe her, believe her, this stuff works. And afterwards, um, and another lady come up to me and she said that her and her cousin are gonna build a, uh, like a cabin getaway for battered women up in Colorado. Which, which they will. I know they'll do that. Um, somebody else said that they've just, that's it. They're writing their book now. They're gonna go home tonight and, you know, start, start laying out the chapters and that kind of stuff. And I always tell 'em, you gotta take action within 24 hours, or you're not gonna do it. You're just not gonna do it. But, and then I got another, I've had two emails since leaving Michigan only two days ago. Um, people saying how, how impactful its been. So, Yeah, I, I believe it.

George Siegal: 11:23

Yeah. I think that 24-hour thing is pretty important because I, I think of all the trade shows that I've been to, and you fill that bag full of stuff that you walk around collecting. Yep. And then you get home and you don't look at it. So all of a sudden, a couple months later, it has no context. You mean, what is this, what is this company? What is that company? And if you can actually just do it. Yep. I imagine that makes a huge difference.

Kerryn Vaughan: 11:41

Makes a massive difference. I say to them, You know, if you don't do it, you're gonna take this home, put it on your kitchen bench, and a week later you're gonna either throw it out or put it in your room somewhere, then it'll never get done. But if you just do, and I'm really big on that first step and that first step could be just looking something up on the internet. Do you know, it could be just made a phone call. It could be just telling a friend, that, that's all. Cuz once you get the ball rolling, you're telling your uni, Well I'm gonna go woo woo and say you're telling the universe. But for some other people listening, they might be, Kerryn, that shit doesn't work right, But , But you're telling your brain, you're telling, you know, you're activating something that that. Well, let's go. Okay, let's go scientifically and biologically. You, you, you activate your reticular activating system. It actually looks for what you're telling it. Do you know? So if you, if you're telling it, telling your brain everything's wrong, everything's wrong, it'll, it'll make sure that actually happens. But if you're telling your brain, you know, and away, when I'm saying telling your brain you're, you're saying it outwardly so you actually hear yourself say I'm going to do this. It starts looking for opportunities to make that happen. So I don't wanna explain all, I'm not a neuroscientist, but this stuff actually works.

George Siegal: 12:48

That's what I was gonna say. So you could tell people that you've actually done these things and it does actually work, as opposed to thinking it's just a bunch of mumbo jumbo that, that somebody says to you, like I, I know you probably get this with your podcast. A lot of people that are coaches or motivational speakers, they all want to come on to talk, and a lot of times the message is, Jumbled. Jumbled. Very. And it's very similar. Yeah. Yeah. I had a guy on recently though, who, who said his whole premise is getting the workplace, taking people outdoors. So you're walking with people, talking outside and being out in nature. And I go, Wow, I thought that was really good. That was a different approach. And with you it was, you were so enthusiastic and so positive about everything, and I think that really makes a difference.

Kerryn Vaughan: 13:30

I look, I believe in this stuff. I've seen it happen over and over and over, and I love it. I, I love it. And yes, I think because I know it works, I get so enthusiastic about it. People listening to me go, Yeah, I'm gonna do this because she said it works. And, and I give examples of how it works, you know? And then they're like, Well, there's no reason why it can't works for me. So they, they go, start it now. I'm not gonna say they all finish it because that little voice in the head starts, you know, back again. Uh, you can't do this, you know, the whole imposter syndrome stuff, but for those who do push through and it is hard work, they do it, They, they do it. Whatever it is they set out to do.

George Siegal: 14:06

Now, how much more difficult is it if I go to, I hear what you're saying and I try to do it, but I'm surrounded by a bunch of people that just go, they're rolling their eyes and going, Oh, that's a bunch of garbage.

Kerryn Vaughan: 14:15

That's difficult. Really difficult. And that is about finding a handful of people who say, who are encouraging and, and they might be completely out of your circle. You know, that whole Jim Roan thing that says you're the sum of the five people you hang around with. I think that's really important, you know, because if people are putting, and, and, and families will often do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've said that before. That's not a good idea. Why don't, why don't you just focus on, you know, something else? But I think you've gotta hang around people that are encouraging. At this workshop on, um, Saturday, I, I asked around, I asked the room, I said, Is there anyone in this room who thinks they're, they're looking around the room and they think their idea is really dumb, and everyone else in the room has got a great idea that they can fulfill. Mind you, we hadn't, nobody had talked about there ideas. One, one woman up the back said, Yeah, me. And I said, What's your idea? And she said, um, Oh, I've got a friend who's broken up with his girlfriend and he wants to express it in a song. And I'm, I'm, I wrote the song for him and I said, Do you see how powerful that is? And she's like, No, not really. I, I don't think I'm as good as anyone else in this room. And I said, You actually probably like that that stuff can save a life. It can save, save him, you know, doing something stupid because he hasn't, hasn't got an outlet to deal with his emotions and that stuff. She said, no one's ever encouraged her like that, you know? And she was real, She even come to our after party and she was just like, she couldn't get enough of, of me telling her how good she was, you know? And I think that stuff's really, really important. But she sent me a song and it's called Victim, Don't Be a Victim, Be a Hero. And I. It was, it was insanely beautiful like a Sarah McLaughlin song and, and here she was thinking that in this room everyone else would've had fantastic ideas, but hers wasn't. So it's crucial to be around people who were encouraging her.

George Siegal: 16:04

She could have been the . Most talented person in the room.

Kerryn Vaughan: 16:06

Oh, possibly. Probably. I'd say probably. But you know, it's, if we are not hearing it from people, we're just going to not believe it. and think that well, I'm just me. I'm not good enough. You know, that sort of stuff. But I, and, and that's what I think is important when I talk about kindness, is to tell people you like to be enthusiastic about people. Do you know? And say, You're doing a great job. I love what you're doing. I love what you're doing. Not to, um, not to bullshit to them. Do you know? Mm-hmm. really? If you think it's great, encourage them. That's kind.

George Siegal: 16:39

Yeah. This guy that I was talking about that had the outdoor thing, he was also saying something about a gratitude loop. You think about people that might have influenced you or directed you in your life in a certain way, and you make a thirty second recording thanking them and then sending it to 'em.

Kerryn Vaughan: 16:54

Oh, what a great idea.

George Siegal: 16:55

I mean, I thought that was interesting. The problem I had was I, I was coming up with more people that held me back than I thought that people that helped me. So I was having a tough time coming up with names.

Kerryn Vaughan: 17:06

Oh, well just do one. Like I always say, do one. Do the first. Exactly. Just find one and then you'll find another.

George Siegal: 17:12

Now I remember when we, we did our first podcast together, um, I told you I was talking about how difficult it is to find an audience, how difficult it is to grow. Yep. And you said you can't think about that. You put it in terms of just trying to reach one One person.

Kerryn Vaughan: 17:25

One person. Yep.

George Siegal: 17:26

Talk about that.

Kerryn Vaughan: 17:28

Well, you know, this started for me years ago. I played in band, We were playing in a pub in a, in a hotel, and this cricket club came in and they were drunk and obnoxious and really awful. And I said to my drummer, there was just me playing guitar and the drummer. And I said, A few obscenities, I won't say on your podcast, but basically that I could just rip my guitar off and smack them around their head, you know, I was so angry. And he said to me, Karen, look at that. Look at that lady up in the back corner with a blue jumper on, a green jumper on. And, and she was tapping away and singing. She was in her own little world singing to our music. And he said, That's, that's the person that you're doing it for the power of one. Do you know? And I'll never forget that. And it's probably 20 years ago. And I, I always think with workshops, with talks, with everything I do, if I can reach one person and change one persons life then my life, my job on Earth is successful. Do you, You know, because you don't know what that one person's gonna do. You don't know. And I don't, I don't even do downloads. I have no idea how many downloads my podcast gets. I have got no clue. I never look. I don't care. Yeah, I don't care. I don't care how many reactions I get on Facebook. I don't care how, I don't care.

George Siegal: 18:38

God, I wish I was more like that. I just, I've just, I'm too competitive. It bugs the crap out of me. When, when, when I think I've done a really good show. And, and maybe very few people listen cuz I look at the numbers all the time and then I see some other podcasts where it's two knuckleheads sitting in a room talking about nothing. And I see that thousands of people are listening to that.

Kerryn Vaughan: 18:57

So how is that benefiting you?

George Siegal: 18:59

Benefiting me? That, that I'm doing that to myself. Yeah. It's probably not, but I think that's also what drives me. Okay. To keep doing it. Yeah. It's like, okay, I'm not gonna fail at this. How. You know, I like to think it's good stuff. I like, how can you make it better? How can I make it better? And so I, I keep trying to do that, but I can't, I, I understand what you're saying. I just haven't been able to fully embrace it.

Kerryn Vaughan: 19:21

But we're different personality types anyway.

George Siegal: 19:23

You're much nicer than I am.

Kerryn Vaughan: 19:25

That wasn't what I meant. But why? Look, I don't care. I just don't look, I just do not care. And I, and I'm literally mean that I do not care. Of course I want people to like me because the world is much nicer when people like you. But I don't need people to like me.

George Siegal: 19:41

You don't need that validation.

Kerryn Vaughan: 19:42

I don't need validation. I'm gonna go and do what I'm gonna do. As long as I know in my heart I'm doing good and doing the right thing. And, and people wanna come, they come. If they don't wanna come, don't come. Like that's, you know, I only want them to come, so they'll learn to do good. But they don't come because they like me.

George Siegal: 19:59

You ever kicked anybody out cuz they were just too negative, said, Look, I can't have you. No, you, you turn 'em around. Yep. Yep. Is this something, Did you have this when you were a kid? Were you like this? Were you the good kid in in the room that was caring and nurturing to all the other kids? Or did you just evolve into this?

Kerryn Vaughan: 20:14

No, but that's no, But there's the point. It's not about being caring and nurturing. When I was a kid, I was playing bands with a tennis racket, no matter who else is playing with me. And I was skateboarding with my rabbit up my jumper, no matter who else was coming with me. Do you know what I was? I've always been and playing music in my room, and I've always been, I'm gonna do what I think's right and what makes me happy. So it hasn't been about being nice and kind. It's been about me standing my ground. Yeah. I've been like that all my life. Yeah.

George Siegal: 20:43

But I don't think you could really do the kind of stuff you do if you didn't also have kindness behind it. I think, Well, I am a kind do that because I, I think when people come up and meet you, I've met people, I've met celebrities that I idolized and then I found out they were total assholes. Same. Yeah. It's just horrible. Same. So it, it can be an illusion. I've met TV personalities where you think, God, that guy that does sports guy seems like a really good guy. And then you meet him, he's an asshole.

Kerryn Vaughan: 21:06

Like, is that you talking about you? George Siegal: I like to think I I think everybody just, That's their one impression of you. Yeah. And if you don't leave them with a good impression, they're gonna go home and say, The weather guy just saw the guy. What a, what a jerk. Yeah. So you have, I thought you, I had to be nice to everybody, so, But a lot of people don't feel that way. Well, I want to be nice to everyone. I don't feel like I have to, I just want to be nice to everyone. But I meet jerks. Don't worry about that. Like the guy that was sitting behind me on the flight here this morning and constantly head banging my seat, I have no idea what he was doing, but I did wanna turn around and say, Can, please don't.

George Siegal: 21:44

Did you?

Kerryn Vaughan: 21:44

No, I didn't. I sat.

George Siegal: 21:46

You just sat with it. The whole two, what? Two and a half hours?

Kerryn Vaughan: 21:48

I did, and I just lent forward and played with my phone so that I wouldn't have to feel him banging in my back. Yeah.

George Siegal: 21:54

Did you see the video of the woman recently that had long hair and she had it thrown over the back of the seat and it came onto the tray of the person?

Kerryn Vaughan: 22:00

I would not like that. No, I didn't.

George Siegal: 22:03

Would you have done anything about that?

Kerryn Vaughan: 22:05

I probably would've cuz hair hair's, I'm not keen on hair. Yeah. Yeah. I probably would've said, maybe cut it off. Yeah. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't, No, I would just say my, your hair's in my food. Could you? Yeah.

George Siegal: 22:18

And, and, and you don't want to go off on an airplane because Karen is very much like Kerryn?

Kerryn Vaughan: 22:23

I am not.

George Siegal: 22:24

No, no. Not personally. But you wouldn't want people saying, Oh, look at this. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Because everybody's got a camera Now I'm assuming that I was a Karen. Going off in public on people has an extreme downside to it. It does. People lose their jobs. Yep. People can, can get in a lot of trouble with that.

Kerryn Vaughan: 22:39

Yeah. I I'm not big on going off on people. No.

George Siegal: 22:43

So you probably did the right thing on the airplane.

Kerryn Vaughan: 22:45

Yeah, I did do the right thing on the airplane and then I look at him when we were getting off, I looked at him, he looked at me and I thought someone loves him. There's gotta be something nice about him. I'll love him too. That's what I did.

George Siegal: 22:57

I had somebody tell me one time, You never have any idea what's going on in that other person's life. Yeah. Yeah. And you gotta have a little, comes back to kindness or understanding, maybe understanding

Kerryn Vaughan: 23:07

or empathy

George Siegal: 23:08

or both.

Kerryn Vaughan: 23:08

Yeah.

George Siegal: 23:09

So what would you say to people, Let's put a button on this. Somebody's sitting out there with an idea. Maybe it's the next great song. Maybe it's the next great house that could be built that will survive a hurricane, but they're just sitting at home going, I can't make a difference. What would you tell' em?

Kerryn Vaughan: 23:23

Um, you can absolutely can, and you know what, you might not be able to, you might not know how to build a house or how to change a building codes or anything like that, but you can do something. You can step up and start talking about it. You know what I mean? You can, you can. Everybody can do something. Absolutely. Can. Am I not giving you the right answer? You're looking at me like more, Give me.

George Siegal: 23:43

No, I think that's a great answer. That's, that's telling people to do something.

Kerryn Vaughan: 23:46

We can do something. Yeah. Yeah. We can do something and, and we might not be the person, but somebody listening to your, somebody you talk to might be the right person. If we don't open our mouths and, and speak up and say, This is a problem, nobody will do anything. So every single person can have an impact. Every single person can have a ripple effect.

George Siegal: 24:05

Yeah. I would say the downside of social media is we see so many videos of people complaining about things. Yeah. And things they don't like. And that's part of what my theme was. Okay, well make it better. Don't just complain about it. Complaining is kind of frustrating to listen to all the time.

Kerryn Vaughan: 24:20

Yeah. But I think in America, and I, you know, your American audience might not like me saying this, but me being from Australia, when I landed in America, I, I landed in New York. And I actually wrote a post on it, you know, that, that I saw that energy was like, Oh, I was so aggressive and thick and, and I got swept up in it. And I was so angry. I'm like, Oh my God, what is this energy? And then I had to stop and, and it was, I said to myself, Right, just stop. What's, what's the very next thing you need to do? You know? And it just pulled me right back down. But I have noticed, Yeah, when you talked about America being very divided, it's a natural energy that I see within America that is just grinding and you know, and it's just for me. Um, and I'm not saying Australia's perfect, that's not what I'm saying, but it's a much more laid back.

George Siegal: 25:14

Well, I think every time I've gone to New York the first day or so, everything is fast. Yeah. And then as you're there longer, maybe you didn't, weren't there long enough. Things slow down for you and it starts to calm down a little bit because it just can be really overwhelming right when you get off the plane.

Kerryn Vaughan: 25:28

There and that's what happened. Yeah. And once I sat down, I sat down with these three African American guys on this platform with, you know, just like steps. And we are just sitting there and I didn't realize, I just sat between them, do you know? And charged my phone and sort of thought, I'm gonna sit back and. And then I realized that, uh, that here I was with these three dark dudes and I'm as pale as anything anyway knew, knows that I look like I'm as lily white. And I just thought, What a photo. And then I just started smiling. I'm just thinking is this is how the world should be. You know, that people just, just sitting amongst each other, loving each other. Do you know what I mean? And just sharing space.

George Siegal: 26:03

I think we have a lot of places in this country that are like that. Unfortunately, what everybody sees is the bad stuff. I know. You know, I, I don't think people, a lot of people are unsafe when they're walking around or feeling Yeah. As much as it's drummed up in the media to make it seem like everything's falling apart here. Yeah.

Kerryn Vaughan: 26:20

Well, I agree. Look at Detroit. Everyone bags Detroit, but I, I feel completely safe walking around there.

George Siegal: 26:26

Yeah. I worked in downtown Detroit. I never, One time I was going to this restaurant for dinner and they told me in the newsroom, Make sure you stay on the main road because if you turn off the wrong street, you're not coming back. Yeah.. So there are some rough parts in downtown Detroit.

Kerryn Vaughan: 26:39

Yes, there are. Yeah.

George Siegal: 26:39

But you can also avoid them and it can be a great experience. Yeah. Yep. I agree. Hey, this was really fun. I want to thank you first of all because you're so, I, I find you truly inspirational, but the odds of you being on the other side of the world and us sitting down in person and doing a podcast, I hate zoom. I if I, if I could sit down with everybody in person, I think it would be a much different experience.

Kerryn Vaughan: 27:01

It'd be fantastic, wouldn't it?

George Siegal: 27:02

Yeah, it would be, but it's too hard. We don't have a budget for that. No, I know , I didn't fly you in. You just happened

Kerryn Vaughan: 27:08

to be here. And I came to do your podcast. I flew from the other side.

George Siegal: 27:11

And what'd you get for it?

Kerryn Vaughan: 27:12

And for that, for that I got a make it better t-shirt that, uh, I should have put on probably before we did this, but

George Siegal: 27:18

Nah, because the coffee thing is pretty cool too.

Kerryn Vaughan: 27:20

Yeah, this is pretty cool. But I love this t-shirt. Thank you. It was so nice to meet you in person. It was so nice to meet you too.

George Siegal: 27:26

And tell the other guests that come on that they don't all get T-shirts. It just happens to be,

Kerryn Vaughan: 27:29

By the way, you guys, anyone else coming on this show? You don't get t-shirts. I'm sorry about that. You, you have to fly halfway across the world to sit with George in Tampa.

George Siegal: 27:37

Exactly. And if they do, I'll get it.

Kerryn Vaughan: 27:39

They'll get a t-shirt.. Well I kind of opened you up to that, didn't I? Sorry about that.

George Siegal: 27:43

I would love it if they did. You actually. Thanks Kerryn.

Kerryn Vaughan: 27:46

Thank you.

George Siegal: 27:47

Thank you so much for listening to today's Tell, Us How to Make It Better podcast. All the ways of reaching Kerryn are in the show notes as well as all the social media ways to reach or follow me, and there's also a contact form there if you have any ideas for future episodes or things that you've liked that you've heard, or things that you haven't liked. I always love to hear from you. Thanks again for listening. See you next time.