(OnFocus) Pittsville native Carrie Gillaspie has made a career in media as a TV interviewer, active lifestyle blogger, and also as a podcast host.
In her podcast “Candidly Speaking,” now close to 60 episodes, Gillaspie uses her natural skill set to provide relatable interviews with inspiring messages from guests.
“Because of what I do and what my husband does, I’ve been able to meet a ton of amazing and inspiring people. I would find myself getting to know these people and having amazing conversations with them that would leave me inspired or uplifted,” said Gillaspie. “I’d walk away from the convo thinking ‘man, I wish other people could hear this person’s story/advice!’ Starting the podcast was a way for me to share these stories with others.”
The stories told are as unique as the guests who come on the podcast.
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that a lot of people don’t think of themselves as inspiring until you look them in the eye and say, ‘hey, what you did, or what you went through, or what you’re building, is really incredible and I’d love to have you share that story with others,'” said Gillaspie. “It’s so powerful to remind people that their story can help and inspire others.
“It’s also helped me to learn not to keep good thoughts to myself! If you admire someone, or if they put a smile on your face, or if you just love their shoes, tell them! Don’t keep good thoughts to yourself! We’re not meant to be stingy with our kindness.”
Gillaspie loves all of the episodes for different reasons, but she recalls a favorite interview last November with friend Taylor Way, an intuitive wellness coach in Brooklyn.
“I listened to it several times over because it was so full of so much truth and magic,” she said. “I also did an episode a couple weeks back with my husband’s childhood best friend, Alex Mortensen, who is an model, actor, and producer, in San Francisco. Alex’s insight and vulnerabilities in that episode were so life-giving and exactly the kind of content I wanted to be able to share with others.”
Since episodes of “Candidly Speaking” began airing a year and half ago, the project has grown and changed — just like those who share their stories.
“The journalist in me loves storytelling so sitting down with someone and sharing their story will always be something I aim to do, but there is a huge part of me that also loves pop-culture, current events, and trash TV,” she said. “So I would love for it to be beautiful mixture of story-telling interviews with inspiring people, and some fun light-hearted topics like discussing the latest castoffs of The Bachelor.“
She hopes listeners walk away from each episode with a greater understanding of how people are more alike than different, and use that understanding to better empathize with others.
“Empathy isn’t always a natural thing for humans to give out, especially when it’s a stranger. But when we can sit down without the smoke and mirrors and listen to one another, be vulnerable about our journeys, our successes and failures, our lessons learned, our goals and dreams, we can come to terms with their humanness and our own,” she said.
“The byproduct of radical empathy is a kinder, more understanding, more inspiring world where we can all see that the dreams we have are possible if we’re willing to show up as our full, authentic selves and do the work to get there.”
To listen to episodes of “Candidly Speaking,” visit CarrieGillaspie.com/podcast.
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Author: News Desk
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