Crystal: I’m Crystal DiMiceli and welcome to the Forces for Nature Show.

Do you find yourself overwhelmed with all the dooming gloom you hear of these days? Do you feel like you as just one person, can’t really make a difference? Forces for nature cuts through that negativity? In each episode, I interview somebody who’s doing great things for animals and the environment. We talk about the challenge they’re addressing, the solution they have.

We’ll keeps them going, and we’ll leave you with practical action tips so that you, YouTube can become a force for nature. I’m changing it up today by sharing with you an episode from a podcast that I was a guest on a few months ago. The podcast is called Casa De Confidence, and it’s hosted by the incredible Julie De Luca Collins.

The show description says that it highlights individuals who are confident dreamers, people who have embarked on a path to go after their dreams and live a life they’ve imagined. Forces for nature is one of my dreams, and the path I have taken to get here and to Rome where I currently live have been all about following my North Star, although not always confidently and definitely not always easy.

I’m sharing it with you so that you can get a better idea of who I am and what’s my why, and just maybe it’ll give you the confidence to follow your dreams.

Julie: Welcome back to another episode of Casa De Confidence. Today I have someone that I met, uh, through a coaching group. And I was intrigued by what she does, and I was mostly intrigued about the fact that she lives in Italy. So I have invited her to be on the show because I wanna talk all about her platform, her podcast, she is a podcaster, but more importantly, she’s making a big impact than the world and she lives in Italy.

So Crystal, welcome to Casa the Confidence. Tell us a little bit more about you and who you are and what you do.

Crystal: Hi, Julie. Thank you so much for having me. Um, yeah, as you mentioned, I currently live in Rome. I’m born and raised in New York City, or excuse me, I’m born and raised in New York. Um, not too far from New York City, but I’ve actually lived abroad for the past 10 years.

Um, just this one, this past year in Rome. And I currently produce and host the podcast forces for nature. Where I interview people who are doing great things for animals and the environment and do other things as well.

Julie: That’s terrific. You know, I, I was so intrigued by the name of your podcast, Forces for Nature, Not of Nature, and what I really love about it is that we all have the ability to be able to make an impact.

And when we come to the conversation of the environment, when we come to the conversation of sustainability, we feel like such a daunting task or become divisive in some ways or others. But we can create a ripple effect in the world and, and we can be the force that then creates that further, um, impact.

And it doesn’t mean that, you know, we’re gonna solve the problem, but we can be part of the solution. So that’s the first thing that I thought of when I, um, came across what you do. What inspired you to start this?

Crystal: Well, I’ve had a, let’s see, an internal mission to, to help animals and the environment. As for as long as I can remember, I mean, I, I have a photo of when I was a toddler laying in a dog bed.

Cause I remember like waiting for the dog to come. Cause I wanted to play with the dog. I’ve loved animals and I knew I wanted to do something to protect their home from them, for them. And so that’s, I’ve. and through, through college and, and my career up to this point has been around conservation, environmental education in some way and.

Were you asking how I

Julie: came to do the Yeah, because if you, I mean, and, and will you walk me through what you wanna walk me through? Because I guess for me it is, and again, um, we all have either been the kids that got the strays home or love animals and we’re the first ones to pet the dogs when we see them on the street.

But you are now creating. A, a, a sustainability, um, podcast that, and, and it’s creating an avenue to help animals in create an awareness of the things that others are doing to make an impact. So where do you go from the little girl that was in the dog bed, and did you go to college for this? Did you know that you wanted her to do this?

And now what made you start a podcast? So walk us through that. So,

Crystal: yeah, I had always known that I was gonna do something along those lines up for a while. While I was a teenager. I thought I would become a veterinarian and then I, I got a, you know, summer job as a helping a vet and realized that wasn’t quite for me.

Um, but then I, I went to, it was actually called the College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Oh. Like, was the name

Julie: of the school. That’s awesome. So the

Crystal: people who there really legitimately interested in like working for the environment mm-hmm. . But funny enough, as at that time after, after starting college and a few years into it, I started feeling like an imposter.

Like I wasn. Really meant to be there. And that feeling carried over into, I did a semester, or I should say a summer semester abroad in New Zealand, and I can specifically remember the, the day, even the moment when that imposter syndrome started to melt away because we were hiking up to the Pinnacles, which is this particular mountain range in New Zealand.

And it was just before Don and a few of us who wanted to, a few of us who wanted to go to the the top were making our way up. And I mean, we were practically rock climbing. It was not an easy hike. And it was the first time I was ever really doing something like this because even though I was. Definitely dedicated to working for the environment.

I wasn’t really so much of a hang out in nature person. Mm-hmm. myself

Julie: at that point. I can identify with that. I, I, I would like to say I’m a, I’m a proponent to the environment, but I am not, um, what you would say an outdoorsy girl, although I, I really enjoy it, but, My friends, that’s, you know, they make fun of me.

Um, and, and we can go into talking about, you know, how much they have made fun of me because I, I brought a hair dryer to a hiking trip once. So .

Crystal: Yeah. I mean, up until that point in my life, like I was more about going to the mall and the movies on the weekend. I was not hiking, I was not camping. And here I was on this hike.

Like my feet were killing me because they were the first pair of hiking boots I had ever owned, and they were brand new. The jeans were sticking to my legs because I didn’t have hiking pad. You didn’t have

Julie: hiking pants. And for people who don’t know, don’t, No. Here’s, if you take one thing today, please wear hiking pants hiking, because jeans is not the way to go, especially if you get wet and it rains and then you’re like, You’re gonna be hyper hypothermia because you’re so cold.

So, yeah, I, I hear you girl.

Crystal: But we, we got top just as the sun was starting and. I, I mean, I was cranky. I was huffing and puffing, but I stood up and the sun was starting to peep over the horizon. Mm-hmm. the, it was starting to turn the valley into like greens and purples, and then there were two water bodies to either side of us that were starting to shine silver, and it was breathtaking.

Ugh. And I was in that moment where I was, I knew I was where I was meant to be and I wasn’t an imposter because there’s so much magic in the world and it’s worth being protected. Mm-hmm. and however, in whatever your capacity is. Yeah. And. I made it my mission from that point to, to help people real, like, to help people see that magic for themselves.

I mean, you can go for a

Julie: walk playing with your dog,

Crystal: watch birds flying around. They, they help you to remember that you’re part of that. That’s so

Julie: good. And so

Crystal: from that point on, I mean, I was pretty diehard optimist. Mm-hmm. for the next. 10 years, let’s say, like I was gonna change the world, uh, real life.

Batted me down a little bit to the point where I almost consider leaving, um, the, the environmental field entirely. But I asked a friend of mine who is a rockstar in, in this field, in, in wildlife conservation, and I asked him what kept him going. Mm-hmm. , uh, when there’s just so much against him, right?

Against us, against everything. And he said, what he said to me was this, Progress might be slow. Mm-hmm. , but progress is undoubtedly being made. We are on the right side of history with everything

Julie: Crystal. That is so powerful and he’s so right.

Crystal: Yeah. I mean, when I was growing up, We didn’t have, like recycling wasn’t a thing and now I dunno, a community that doesn’t have a recycling program and um, humpback whales would be extinct if it wasn’t for the effort.

Mm-hmm. like it’s extinct today. If it wasn’t for the effort of so many people and now they’re on their way to, their numbers are

Julie: doing great. Yeah. That’s so good. I, I, I think that that’s, that’s the thing. And, and, and I wanna pull a little bit from what you’re saying because this is so valuable. Two points.

Number one, progress may be slow, but if we look back, Then we’re going to see what an impact. And, you know, I, I typically tell my clients consistent action gets you traction. And when you are filling a bucket, one drop at a time, you are not gonna feel that the bucket is getting full, But, If you’ve been doing it forever, then yes, your bucket is going to be full, and that’s really important.

The other thing too is our brains are always going to go to the negative and like, Oh, well what can that do? What? Well, a lot if you just allow yourself. To have that consistency if you just ask the right question as opposed to say, Well, that’s not gonna do anything and being negative because then yet our brain does that.

But we can say, Well, how can I do something right? And that, and, and a lot of people had to ask themselves, Well, what can I do? And make an impact with the hump back whales. Right? So I love this. This is so gold. And, and I love that your friend share that with you because now he created that ripple effect in which you are here now and you are sharing with others and, and on this podcast and people are gonna be listening to you.

So I love this. It all comes full circle. It

Crystal: does, and it, it really like what you’re describing was the purpose behind me creating. Um, forces for nature. Mm-hmm. , because I wanted, over the last few years, I started seeing the, the benefits of optimism Yeah. In the conservation space. Mm-hmm. , because usually I need it from conservationists themselves.

All you hear is the doom and gloom. Yeah. And, and that’s not gonna motivate people’s acts unless you want the action to be going into a corner and crying. Right. For sure. So I wanted to. Focus on what’s working out there. Right. Because believe it or not, there is actually a lot of great things that are working out there, , and we have so many manmade problems, but we have even more manmade solutions.

Mm-hmm. , that people are putting into action. Right. And, and you don’t have to be like this multimillionaire or you know, the super influential person to do it. Yeah. You can. Make a change from your couch, like by signing petitions or something like that. I, I mean, There’s so many different things we can do, and it’s not about like people get so overwhelmed with, you know, the zero waste lifestyle.

Mm-hmm. and being a hundred percent eco-friendly. I’m not a hundred percent eco-friendly by any means. Oh, for sure. But, you know, I’m very, I’m very conscious in my choices and no, they’re not all gonna be, uh, great. I do my best. And that’s what like I encourage other people to do within their capacity.

Mm-hmm. . Cause everybody has different capacities, you know, with where you live and so on and so forth. And if we all are doing. Like making eco efforts mm-hmm. , however, and perfectly for all doing it, we’re gonna make a

Julie: huge change. Yeah. And you know, I I, I was actually, um, over the weekend and, and to your point, yes, we can make an impact and, and you shared your, um, the favorite quote.

Is, um, one by Gandhi and where he says that be the change you wish to see in the world. And I love that quote. I actually have it in my upstairs bedroom in, in our guest bedroom because that’s where my closet is. And it reminds me that I can. In my own little way, make an impact. And I actually, you know, this weekend I was away with my girlfriends and the house where we were, they, it was in a lake and they don’t have a, a recycling program.

And, and we did have, um, bottles of wine. I hope so. Yeah. And I, and, and I came home and I thought, why didn’t I bring the bottles to recycle? And, and I, and I kept thinking like, that was so simple. But sometimes we don’t realize that. We take for granted the opportunities in which we can make a small change.

And that would’ve been like, so easy, right? To bring it home. Um, so now I know for the future. Um, but I think that that’s, we, we have been in power to be able to do that. And the fact that people like you can help us find the different ways and remind us or give us the opportunities or connections to be able to, um, make our little footprint.

And be that little change that, that the world deserves to have. Um, so I, I love that and I love this conversation. You know, when you’re talking about also that hiking trip that or, or that adventure, I think that everybody deserves to have that moment. Like I said, I am not an outdoor person, although I do go out and, and I have done a lot of, uh, trips.

Um, there is a magic. To that dawn or that intersection of the moment when we’re at, in the moment in which nature is doing its thing, and it is definitely magical because we see the pictures, but we don’t realize that, you know, from moment to moment life can evolve so slightly, but the colors shift. And, uh, I, I was remembering when you’re making your description.

Um, I was in Israel sometime back and, um, I did the hike, uh, the, the dawn hike up to Masada, the. The mountain of Masada in. Um, for those who don’t know the Bible, that’s where everybody, and maybe I’m gonna be wrong saying this cuz it’s been a while since I’ve read the story, but where everybody at the top spoke different languages anyhow.

But it’s, it’s a huge mountain and it, it’s, um, It’s not an easy hike. And we left Jerusalem to go to the desert to climb up this mountain in the middle of like the night in Jerusalem. And when we got to the mountain it was similar, like, I’m like huffing and puffing, like I can’t believe I’m doing this.

But as we were starting to get up and when we got to the sunrise up the mountain and seeing the sun just come up over the desert, I, I remember. It was probably one of the most magical moments I’ve had. Uh, and then you can see the sun shining off of the dead sea in the distance, which was terrific. Um, and we, we don’t see that beauty, and I think that people need to take time out because in the midst of.

What we deal with every day. There’s a lot of other opportunities. And you don’t have to go to New Zealand or Israel Sure. But you can find the places near you when you can have that appreciation and it definitely can fill your cup with some peace and joy and love, uh, for the moment. Don’t you agree? I a hundred percent don’t agree.

Yeah, absolutely. Now you’re in Italy. Tell us about that. Um, how did you end up in Italy and what is it like to living the expat life?

Crystal: Well, I, I love it. , Um, the, the road to Italy has been, um, through a few different other countries as well. And actually it was because of the, well, the internal mission that, that I have, that I mentioned earlier of being, of wanting to.

Work in conservation that has led me here. Mm-hmm. indirectly, but to, to start, um, so when I was living in. New York. Mm-hmm. . Um, I had moved to New York City in my twenties and I was working for the Wildlife Conservation Society while there mm-hmm. and, um, I, I was working as a zookeeper, which was such a cool job.

That is cool. I got to train BA wounds and rich otters and received sea lion. That’s

Julie: amazing.

Crystal: It was a lot of fun, but there was something like, I wanted more mm-hmm. . And so I went, uh, while working. I got my master’s and in, in nonprofit management, but I focused the studies on ecotourism. Mm-hmm. because I wanted to travel and, and do conservation at the same time.

Girl

Julie: after my own heart and

Crystal: mm-hmm. and, and after graduation I had the opportunity to, Thankfully my job gave me a leave of absence, although honestly I was willing to quit for this. But I had the opportunity to do a six month fellowship in Panama e Company that was contracted by National Geographic. I gotta, um, so went to Panama.

Long story short became disenchanted with ecotourism. Mm-hmm. , but met my now husband. Okay. While there. And, um, he, but so like, I knew I wanted, Wanted to go back to Panama, but mm-hmm. , the sexy Latino wasn’t enough to make me just drop my career aspirations, uh, and go hang out on a hammock. I said that I wouldn’t go back until I had a job, and nine months later I was able to secure a position with, um, Aian Tropical Research Institute where I was working first in development and then environmental education.

Julie: Oh my gosh. That’s awesome.

Crystal: And then five years later, so we were Panama for five years. Mm-hmm. , um, which I mean, That was my first experience being an expat. I didn’t know Spanish when I went to Panama, so you know, it’s not easy. Mm-hmm. , it’s not an easy thing to do, but it It’s worth it. Yeah. It’s worth it.

We, we can’t just go into it. Think saying, It’s, you know, all sunshine and rainbows and adventures. So it’s a lot of heartache and

Julie: tears and Oh, definitely. You know, I, I know someone, and actually she’s been on the podcast, um, Dr. Jackie Black, I don’t know if you know her from Clubhouse, but, uh, Dr. Jackie lives in Panama and she.

Um, is, you know, she is a therapist. She works with couples mainly, but she does a lot of really great work and loves it there, but it’s not, you know, we see the Instagram real, right? Or, or the high highlight where, how fun and like how exotic it is. And yeah, there is a level of that, but the reality is that, um, culture in, in having travel around the world, for me, I realized that the culture’s very different.

And sometimes even my husband, we went to El Salvador in January, um, and it was his first time going to Latin America other than Mexico, but. He loved it. But then there were moments in which the culture is a little different and you’re like, What do you mean? Or what, what is, you know, it takes you by surprise and you know, living there as opposed to visiting is very different.

So I could see that happening. Very much

Crystal: so, and it got a little bit harder. Mm-hmm. . So five years later, um, my husband got this wonderful opportunity in Columbia mm-hmm. . And so we moved to Columbia and, but I didn’t have a work permit. Gotcha. And so I was not able to work and that was really hard. Yeah. Uh, and I floundered about for.

Six months until I was able to reframe the situation as an opportunity. Mm. And you know, like I had this opportunity to do something for me and something I always wanted to do, except I, I didn’t know what that was. , um, But I eventually landed on the Forces Furniture Podcast because it kept me within that conservation space, but I could do it from afar.

Yeah. And it didn’t matter that I wasn’t, I still wasn’t fluent in the language. I’m much better now. . It was embarrassing. Five years in bad. I still wasn’t fluent in Spanish, but um, Yeah. And, and then from Columbia, we came here with a little bit of a pandemic stop over in Costa Rica. Oh, was not planned. .

Julie: So fun.

So super fun. I have to say, you know, the one thing that you said as well, and I think that this is something that we forget, that we have the opportunity that in the situations, and we just said that, right? We said that earlier, that when something happens that maybe is not the way that we would like, We have the opportunity to reframe our brain because our belief is really what’s gonna drive the actions that we take.

So if we believe like, Oh, this is a terrible situation, I can’t work, then it is gonna be a terrible situation because your actions are gonna be, well, won’t want, I’m gonna sit here and, you know, uh, so, or, or feel, um, you know, Begrudge my husband that he brought us here and oh my gosh, I’m losing my touch with my, my career with what I do.

But you reframed it and you said, Well, rather than like, I can’t work, you said, Well, how can I do something right? That, and, and that was a great birthplace for the podcast. I, I love that. Um, I have to ask you, because you mentioned that when Panama, you went in, um, you were doing some e ecotourism with National Geographic.

I, um, I visited, I don’t know if it’s still owned by them or run by them, but, and in Costa Rica, I went and I stayed at the resort. Um, it’s not a resort, it’s a hotel, I guess, at the foot of the active volcano, . Oh, and it’s run by National Geographic. Um, have you been there? Oh, mm-hmm. Now this is in Costa Rica.

In Costa Rica. Yeah. No, I don’t think,

Crystal: I didn’t realize I was from National Geographic. I mean, yeah, it was so I, I know of one place. Mm-hmm. , I don’t know if it’s the same one, but,

Julie: Oh, how interesting. Yeah, it was super, it was really interesting. So I went and, and I was not married to handsome hot husband Dan.

I was married to my practice spouse and it was really fun trip. I mean, my, my, my practice spouse and I. Do a lot of traveling and, and we had a lot of fun. Keith, he’s a good traveler. He was not a great husband, but he’s a great traveler companion. And we went and stayed at the, uh, National Geographic and I, it’s, they don’t call it a resort, but they actually, you know, they, they measure the, the, um, Volcanic activity, I guess.

And you can, I, I don’t, Okay. I don’t like frogs and Costa Rica has a lot of frogs, a lot of, And I don’t like snakes, so I, and, and you know, there’s a lot of like, um, Oh, I can’t even think of the word because I’m thinking in Spanish, cuz I’m thinking Costa Rica. But there’s a lot of, of. Animals that I don’t prefer

And so even though it was a beautiful place and we, so we had a, a room that overlooked the volcano in, of course it’s an active volcano. There’s a level of like, Ooh, could we die? If we have aion, there’s, there’s that thought. But, um, it was really cool to walk around the grounds and to do some hiking there.

And, uh, they have, uh, yeah, so if you’re, if you’re interested, I highly recommend that that adventure. So Crystal, now that you, you’ve been living in Rome and you have this revolving door for visitors, I have a question for you. Tell me, um, what are you hoping to accomplish for yourself, for the work that you are doing, and how can we support you and what are the things that people can connect with you about?

That’s

Crystal: a wonderful question. So I’m, I am looking to, to grow forces for nature. Um, as a matter of fact, uh, well, not specifically for forces of nature, but I was recently contracted by an ocean conservation organization to produce and host a podcast for them. It’s so exciting. So, yeah, I’m, I’m very excited about, um, the idea of, of doing podcasts for conservation organizations.

So that’s something I’m working towards as well. Um, but in growing forces for nature of the podcast and also the idea behind it. Mm-hmm. , um, people can come find me on Instagram becoming forces for nature, and they could also go to the website. Mm-hmm. www.fornature.com. And if you, you can sign up to receive a free, um, a free checklist on like a, some great ideas on how to easily start becoming a force for nature yourself.

Mm.

Julie: So good. So, you know, I, I saw on your Instagram there was a post where, um, you talked about how if everyone in the US ate no meat or cheese, For just one day a week. One day a week, it would be like taking 7.6 million cars off the road. I thought that was crazy. And again, going back to how do, can we make an impact?

It doesn’t take much. It doesn’t take much. No, no. I mean, people

Crystal: are intimidated by the idea of like, Well, I have to become a vegan because I’m not allowed to eat meat. Right. No , you, you can still eat meat, just do a little

Julie: bit less and, and crystal, I, I know that I know the impact of that and I know what the reasoning behind it is, but I would love for the person who is sitting like, Well, you know, I mean, I don’t understand.

What does eating meat? How does that, you know, lessen what a car does? So explain that to us, because I think that, um, and I, of course, I think I know, but I could be wrong. So explain that to me, . Well, there’s

Crystal: a, there’s a few factors. Mm-hmm. , um, first of all the, to, in order to have cattle, um, a lot of places clear cut the forest, so they’ll chop down.

Of forest just to have wide open space of grass. And so clearing the forest, you’re reducing the ability for what the forest, you’re reducing the ability of what the forest used to do by sucking, cleaning out the carbon dioxide from there. And then when you put the cows on that land cows by. Burping for a lack of a better word, and, and the other direction as

Julie: well.

Actually, I will say it. They’re

Crystal: farting. Faring. Okay. Do They’re burping and they’re farting. Um, they release a lot of methane, which is actually a stronger greenhouse gas than even carbon

Julie: dioxide. Wow. I didn’t realize that. See, you’re educating me. I love this.

Crystal: Having cows is not necessarily a bad thing.

It’s also how you do the agriculture. Mm-hmm. . So, um, In many places in the US uh, many places in Brazil, you have factory farms where you have just a ton of cattle on one piece of land, and that land just keeps getting impact, impact, impact and just becomes basically dead land. Right. But if you were to, um, Raise the cattle in a way where, okay, they stay on one piece of land for a few months, they eat that grass, and then you take them off that piece and move them to another piece and allow the original part to regenerate that allows for the, the vegetation, the grass, all the, the biodiversity that lives within the soil.

It doesn’t get. To, to revitalize. Gotcha. It’s not stamped out. And in order, in, in having that biodiversity of the soil, the grasses, the bugs, all of that, that helps to suck the carbon dioxide out of the air as well. So cows aren’t inherent inherently bad. Right. It’s how we. Raise them on the factory farms.

That’s the problem. And also the clear cutting of the forests. Right. Um, in order to have them. Yeah. Are there ways to do it that there, there

Julie: are ways to do it. I actually, we have a dairy farm not too far from here. Um, because I live in the suburbs. That’s the last suburb before you get to lake.

Countryside. And for New York City girl, that’s a lot. Um, I saw a tractor that when I first moved here. You’re girl too. Yeah. So when I, when I, when I moved here 10 years ago and I was going to the gym in the next town over, which is an a mile away, this a tractor that got in front of me and I was on the phone with my sister.

I’m like, Oh my God, there’s a tractor. What, where am I? Mm-hmm. anyhow. Um, but yeah, so there is, but that, that farm is there and I, and I actually love the work that they’re doing because they do, um, very sustainably move their cows from one piece. They have several plots, and at different times I see the cows go from this place to that place, to that place.

And at first I’m like, What the heck are they doing? And then I kind of figured it out. I was listening to another podcast that was talking about, I think is, maybe it was Costa Rica, where they actually do the type of farming where I think it was green beans and coffee. They plant them in the same place.

Mm-hmm. and, And yeah, like, I’m not even gonna go out and explain it because. Yeah. There. I mean,

Crystal: even in the States, um mm-hmm. , they have, well, there’s goodness, What is the word? Well, I think there’s a few different terms, but one of them is regenerative agriculture. Yes, that’s exactly, which is, um, farming.

Mm-hmm. in a way that actually benefits the land. Right. Rather than strips it, it strips it, which is a lot of the factory farming is, is it strips

Julie: the land and kills it. Yeah. And there’s, there’s different little things that you can do. You know, the I, um, when we went into lockdown, Um, we, it, this is so funny.

It just came back in my memories cuz obviously we, we were in March and one of the things that I did before we went into lockdown and it was just a, my friend had gotten one and I thought, you know what? I think we should get one and we will help the environment if we use less toilet paper. And we got a, a day.

My husband thought I was crazy for making him. A bid day. He’s like, This is all stupid. Fine. Well, when we couldn’t find toilet paper, I was like, Aren’t you grateful? We have, and we had some toilet paper, but then I was like, You know what, we need to do more than just this. And I switched. And I noticed in your Instagram as well that you did too.

Mm-hmm. , you switched to. Um, so we, we, I ordered it from Grove. and I love it, but it’s the, It is is the bamboo toilet paper and it is mm-hmm. . So good. So perfect. And it’s not clogging on my toilet number one. And it’s sustainable because bamboo grows so easily and it doesn’t have the pesticides and all of that.

And it’s an easy change that you can do. And guess what? I don’t even have to go to the store and fight for somebody else for a roll of toilet paper. Mm-hmm. , I’d have it delivered to my house once a. And I think I finally got, I finally got the right, um, the, because I was either ordering too much and then the next order would come or I would have to delay the order.

But now I think I have the formula. I know how much to order for the two of us in what timeframe. It’s perfect. So yeah. And little things like that can, can make a big impact. Um, it does. So good. You know, I, I can’t wait to release this because I’m gonna release it around, um, birthday of course, because I think that, you know, this is a go, a good God incidents that, uh, we were able to connect and we were able to meet.

Um, where do you see yourself in the next two years? Five years? I.

Crystal: Well, it, location wise, you never know. Um, , so my husband grew up in 10 countries and I have a feeling our lifestyle is gonna be similar to how he grew up. Um, but I’m excited for what, what might be next that in that regard. And professionally wise, I wanna continue with forces for nature.

I want to create podcasts for other conservation organizations, and I want to. Start working with people mm-hmm. either in group settings or one on one, um, and helping them to make the sustainable changes that they’re able to Yeah. Within their, to fit within their lifestyle. I’d love that.

Julie: I think that that would be a great idea for you to be able, because you, you know, the way that you, um, your podcast is laid out in the education you make, get so, um, digestible.

In, in, in, in the tips that you give and the things that you talk about. So it would be great because I think that we all can use common sense, easy to implement things that, um, we can, you know, don’t, don’t make it feel like, Oh my God, how do I change the world? Right. Well, one, one small time, you know, piece at a time.

So, yeah. And you can do it. You can definitely do it. So I, I think that that’s terrific. And I, I would love for you to definitely, you know, keep us abreast of what you’re doing and the things that you are, you are participating in, because we’d like to cheer you on and, you know, keep in touch with what you’re doing.

And definitely when I go to Italy, oh my gosh, I was invited to Rome this, this year, but I don’t think I can make it happen. It’s coming too fast.

Crystal: Well, when you come, I will bring you to the best pasta place in town.

Julie: Perfect. Perfect. I, I, I honestly love, I spent about 10 days in Italy and it wasn’t enough, so I need to, I need to go back for sure.

But Kristin, it’s, it’s so fun to talk to you. Thank you so much for being a part of the podcast. Um, what is your one tip for people who. Need to find a little bit of confidence in their life and in themselves to go after their dreams.

Crystal: Remember, you’re North star. What is it inside that you just have to do? Love it. And. It’s gonna be uncomfortable. It’s gonna be hard. Mm-hmm. , But stick to it because I love it. We never know. It’ll where

Julie: it’ll bring you. You’re a North Star, is a way to go. And you guys make sure that you, you go and give Crystal some love that you check her out, go to her podcast and listen and, and find ways in which you can make it attainable.

And YouTube can be the force of nature for. To change our world in, Uh, again, give her, give her some love. And thank you, Crystal. Where can they find you? You

Crystal: can find me at becoming forces for nature or forces for nature.com.

Julie: Excellent. Well, great. Thank you so much again, and we will see you soon. Don’t forget, go confidently.

Crystal: Don’t forget to go to forces for nature.com and sign up to receive emailed show notes, action tips, and a free checklist to help you start taking practical actions today. Do you know someone else who would enjoy this episode? I would be so grateful if you would share it with them. Hit me up on Instagram, at Facebook at Becoming Forces for Nature, and let me know what actions you have been taking.

Adopting just one habit can be a game changer because imagine a a million people also adopted. What difference for the world are you going to make today?