0:00

in everyday communications, AI has been

0:02

so helpful. I would say just

0:04

in terms of testing, A -B testing

0:06

different marketing campaigns, being able to

0:08

input the data that we want

0:10

and saying, okay, if we could

0:12

frame it this way, A or

0:14

B, let's test those things out

0:16

and see how it works. Welcome

0:22

to Mick Unplugged, the number

0:24

one podcast for self -improvement,

0:26

leadership, and relentless growth.

0:28

No fluff, no filters, just

0:30

hard -hitting truths, unstoppable strategies,

0:33

and the mindset shifts

0:35

that separate the best from

0:37

the rest. Ready to

0:39

break limits? Let's go!

0:43

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another

0:46

exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And

0:48

today we are doing, I don't

0:50

want to call it a redo,

0:52

maybe a remix, with one of

0:54

my really, really, really close friends.

0:56

She's one of the most intelligent

0:58

people that I know. She's also

1:00

one of the best painters and

1:02

artists that I know. I

1:04

have representation that she's created

1:06

in my home. And

1:08

we're going to talk about all

1:10

things life today. I'm talking to

1:12

the brilliant, the fascinating, the

1:15

beast, Miss

1:17

Dr. Amara Pope. Wow,

1:19

thank you. I'm flattered. How are you doing?

1:21

I'm doing well, thanks. It's so nice to

1:24

catch up. It's been a couple months since

1:26

we last chatted. It has been.

1:28

It has been. And so much has changed,

1:30

not only in the world, but I

1:32

think in our lives too, like our personal

1:34

lives, our business lives, like everything is

1:36

going amazing. And so, you know,

1:38

when we talked last time, Amara, we

1:40

talked about that brain

1:44

of yours and how brilliant

1:46

you are. And then it

1:48

was like, wait. Amara paints? Amara

1:50

is an artist? And then,

1:52

you know, I purchased some things

1:54

from you. They're like centerpieces in

1:56

my home. Where did

1:58

that come from? Where did artsy side

2:00

of you come from? Because, you

2:02

know, you and I talk offline. Most

2:04

people that are brilliant from a

2:06

mental perspective, that creative side just isn't

2:09

there. Like, I'm one of those.

2:11

Like, I'm not creative at all. You

2:13

know, stick figures. Maybe.

2:15

I can barely write the alphabet to

2:17

make it legible, right? Where did this

2:19

side of you come from? When did

2:21

you first know that that was a

2:24

thing for you? Well, first off, everyone's

2:26

creative in different ways, I will say.

2:28

Just because you can draw stick figures

2:30

doesn't mean you're not creative in just

2:32

your expressions, you know, your mannerisms. That's

2:34

very, very creative, I would say. So

2:36

everyone has their superpowers. Everyone has their

2:38

talents. Amar's trying to make

2:40

me feel good. No, no, I'm serious. You

2:42

have great expressions, Mick. always

2:45

say that and to be honest I grew

2:47

up in a household where no one liked

2:49

to paint and draw I got my little

2:52

brother into it but honestly that was something

2:54

I didn't really get from my parents so

2:56

that's why I always say we're we have

2:58

our own skill sets but I remember watching

3:00

tv at home and Like

3:02

I had told you in our past

3:04

conversation, I grew up in a really

3:06

small town where there was not a

3:08

lot going on. And my brother and

3:10

I were very close. And I found

3:12

a really cool hobby that I picked

3:14

up, which is drawing the cartoons we

3:16

saw on TV. And that just evolved

3:18

into a passion for art. I would

3:20

volunteer my time to draw with little

3:22

kids. And that also led me to

3:25

pursue one of my two majors in

3:27

my undergrad is fine arts. And I

3:29

kind of so I did that during

3:31

my undergrad. enjoyed it so much, but

3:33

I ended up going down more of

3:35

the academic route in communications and media.

3:37

And as you know, on my corporate

3:39

side, I'm more in marketing and communications.

3:41

But I always found that fine arts

3:43

helps me learn like compositional analysis that

3:45

affects the way I create social media

3:47

posts or marketing campaigns. So those soft

3:49

skills resonated with my academic work as

3:51

well as my industry career. But

3:53

it wasn't until I was wrapping up

3:55

my PhD that I was able to pick

3:57

up that paintbrush and kind of ignite

3:59

that passion in me that I had time.

4:01

PhD was done. I was married. Everything

4:03

was kind of like falling into place in

4:06

life. And I took that time to

4:08

really explore that creative side of myself again.

4:12

So I know, again, talking with you

4:14

offline a lot, you know, it's

4:16

like your nights and weekends, right? Like

4:18

you like to have paint. and

4:20

canvas and brush so how much time

4:22

does artist pope spend right like

4:24

walk us through that process of you've

4:26

got a vision or someone's commissioned

4:28

something for you like what's that what's

4:30

that moment in the moment like

4:32

for you well for me when i

4:34

do take on a commission or

4:36

there's one piece that i'm working on

4:38

It's just that it's in my

4:40

head. I have to get it out.

4:42

That becomes kind of the focal

4:44

point of my life for those couple

4:46

months, however long it takes. And

4:48

I think it's because I really like

4:50

to wrap myself up into one

4:52

piece at a time. I tend to

4:54

kind of block out everything. We

4:56

have an unfinished basement. So I go

4:58

in there. plug my headphones on

5:00

around me is very chaotic and it's

5:03

a mess, but because it's unfinished,

5:05

I can make a mess and have

5:07

all of my paintbrushes around me.

5:09

And that tends to be when I'm

5:11

outside of work. So in my

5:13

evenings and on the weekends when I

5:15

just want to wind down, because

5:17

to me, art has become a form

5:19

of meditation. So I'm, I'm very

5:21

busy. You're very busy. You understand the

5:23

need to kind of decompress and

5:25

have that downtime. So for me, it's

5:27

either the gym or it's painting. And

5:30

sometimes both. Yeah. And usually

5:32

both. Not

5:34

at the same time. I got

5:36

you. I got you. You said you

5:38

plug your headphones in and you go. So,

5:40

you know, last year was some

5:42

music controversy out there in your world

5:44

of hip hop. Right. So.

5:47

Talk to me in your earphones. Are

5:49

you Team Drake because you're Canada?

5:51

Are you going Kendrick? you going Pac?

5:53

Are you going big? Oh, man.

5:55

Yeah, you're getting called out. You're coming

5:57

at me with a hard question.

5:59

Let's go. I was interviewed by NBC

6:01

when the Kendrick Lamar and Drake

6:03

battle came out. And what I did

6:06

say was, depending on your taste

6:08

of hip -hop music, I think Kendrick

6:10

Lamar is more the traditional route, the

6:12

hard raps, the hard beats. I

6:14

would arguably say Drake, as you know,

6:16

in my PhD thesis, is a

6:18

more contemporary side of things. He's a

6:20

little bit more experimental. Sometimes you

6:22

hear a song of his and he's

6:24

got three different compositions in one

6:26

piece. So I don't know. I lean

6:28

right now. It changes, but I

6:30

lean right now more towards the traditional

6:32

hip hop side of things. So

6:35

there's my answer there. I want some hard

6:37

beats going in my ears as I paint

6:39

and as I work out. So you said

6:41

team Kendrick. Indirectly,

6:43

I'm saying it different times, different

6:45

people. Omar, you

6:47

can answer the question. Okay. All right.

6:49

Well, I did actually do an analysis

6:51

of Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance, and

6:53

I thought he was a genius. So

6:56

I'll leave it there. Okay. He's not

6:58

answering the question, ladies and gentlemen, but

7:00

we got the answer. She

7:02

is in Canada. Yes, I

7:04

am. I understand. I understand.

7:07

Cool. So another thing about you, and

7:09

we were just talking about this,

7:11

is you're making a... a purpose in

7:13

25 to spend more time with

7:15

family and particularly your parents, right? So

7:17

tell us about that. Why is

7:19

that important to you? I think that

7:21

for a very long time in

7:23

my life, I prioritized my career and

7:25

my academia. I knew I was

7:27

going through those years of the grind.

7:30

And it was really important to

7:32

me that I finished my PhD that

7:34

took seven and a half years

7:36

because I was working full time during

7:38

that entire process. So it did

7:40

take me a long time. And

7:42

then kind of building up my industry

7:44

career, I was at some points doing

7:46

four different jobs at a time just

7:48

to try to get that work experience.

7:51

So having immigrant parents, I saw the...

7:53

they made for me and my younger brother

7:55

so I had that drive in me

7:57

to kind of make it somewhere when it

8:00

came to academia and industry but now

8:02

that the PhD is done I want to

8:04

focus on having a family one day

8:06

that time for me is so priceless and

8:08

I've been able to kind of accomplish

8:10

those personal career goals of mine I'm still

8:12

going I mean I'm never going to

8:14

be completely satisfied but priorities shift in different

8:16

stages of life and I think I'm

8:18

at that stage now where I can Put

8:20

that a little bit to the side

8:23

and focus on my family time. I know

8:25

parents are aging. Stuff

8:27

happens in life. I lost somebody very

8:29

close to me last year and

8:31

I know how precious like value and

8:33

time is. So that to me

8:35

is the new kind of shift for

8:37

2025. I love it. I

8:39

love it. In our last recorded conversation,

8:41

we talked a little bit about your

8:43

parents and their journey and everything. But

8:45

for the viewers and listeners, because, you

8:48

know, I know you personally, but. What

8:50

do your parents mean to you? They

8:52

are my world. I mean,

8:54

I am very close with my

8:57

parents. They're Trinidadian, so family

8:59

is huge to Trinis. And

9:01

growing up, you know, they immigrated to

9:03

Canada kind of on their own. We have

9:05

a few aunts and uncles in the

9:07

States and Canada. But again, moving to a

9:09

really small town, we were a far

9:11

stretch away from a lot of family members.

9:13

So as a unit, my brother, my

9:15

mother, my father and I became very, very

9:18

close. That is

9:20

such a blessing. That was something I didn't

9:22

really recognize at the time when you're growing

9:24

up. But now that I had moved away

9:26

to actually Vancouver and then I moved back

9:28

to somewhere closer to my parents, I'm about

9:30

a 40 minute drive. I still make

9:32

sure at least twice a week to see

9:34

them, whether I'm driving down and working from

9:36

home by them because I work remotely

9:38

or just seeing them for like a Sunday

9:40

brunch. I think that that's really important. And

9:43

their drive really enabled me to ignite a

9:45

passion of mine to follow kind of the

9:47

pursuits I have now. Yeah. And I

9:49

know you spend a lot of time with

9:51

your parents, right? Like I see it on

9:53

social. Over the last couple of years, what's

9:55

been your favorite memory with your parents? Oh,

9:57

that's a good question. I

10:00

would say we went to

10:02

a boat party for

10:04

Caravana last year. My

10:07

family, they're very pretty to the bone,

10:09

I would say. They know how to party,

10:11

they know how to move, they can

10:13

drink. They were outdoing me, and I was

10:15

trying to keep up with my parents,

10:17

and that was a very harsh reality to

10:19

see, wow, my parents can party better

10:21

than I can. It was

10:24

lovely. My, my, my brother was there with

10:26

his wife, my husband, my parents, and we

10:28

just, we had such a good time and

10:30

my cousin and, and his father was there

10:32

too. So we just, we made a big

10:34

family affair. We suffered the next day and

10:36

we made sure we got some food in

10:38

us, but I don't know if that night

10:40

or, or, you know, the next day was

10:42

more fun for me. Just kind of seeing

10:44

us all rally together. Yeah, no,

10:46

that's awesome. Like to me, and I

10:48

remember seeing those images. Like

10:51

to me, that's like just great

10:53

for your soul, right? So from

10:55

a self -improvement mental health standpoint,

10:57

when you can have those moments

10:59

with your family, right? And you

11:02

can celebrate and you can, as

11:04

we call it, you can go

11:06

hard in the paint with your

11:08

parents and your brother and your

11:10

husband. What does that do for

11:12

your soul? I think that

11:14

is a very grounding experience because it just

11:16

reminds you of what really matters to you

11:18

in life. And to me, those moments of

11:20

just laughing with my parents, being able to

11:23

just spend time with them. My parents both

11:25

hit kind of milestone birthdays this year and

11:27

I was this past year and I was

11:29

able to. take my mom horseback riding

11:31

for the first time. That was something she's always

11:33

wanted to do in her life. And being able

11:35

to kind of take some of the things I've

11:37

been able to accomplish and bring that back to

11:39

them has always been a goal of mine. I

11:41

was able to just take my dad on a

11:43

surprise trip to Florida to see his family out

11:45

there. And just those are the things that I

11:47

live for right now. Being able to kind of

11:50

spoil my parents in a way that I've wanted

11:52

to do for so long. Yeah, that's

11:54

cool. That's really cool. I know earlier

11:56

this year, you spent some time in

11:58

Japan. oh so yeah that was

12:00

actually last november i went okay i

12:02

actually so i went with my husband and

12:04

my aunt and uncle and it was

12:06

a trip we've always wanted to do because

12:08

um i just found japan was it

12:10

we knew it was going to be a

12:13

complete culture shock for us completely different

12:15

and we wanted to go for two weeks

12:17

and explore the country we didn't want

12:19

to see kind of only the

12:21

tourist traps so we booked this trip with

12:23

kind of a larger group and we

12:25

went to a different city almost every night

12:27

and sleeping on floors in in uh

12:29

different places and and just really like it

12:31

was we went to a monastery so

12:34

we were able to experience that and that's

12:36

where we slept on the floor then

12:38

we would go to to just downtown seeing

12:40

tokyo and being able to see all

12:42

the different car meets going more to osaka

12:44

and the beautiful landscape there it was

12:46

just such a variety of different experiences in

12:48

one country so that's why i wanted

12:51

to cover as much as i could in

12:53

that one space and then the cuisine

12:55

i'm a sushi lover so of course i

12:57

love the food there and snacks they

12:59

have every little snack you get you know

13:01

how many kit kat different flavors they

13:03

have it was amazing really um yeah oh

13:06

man there was oh there's just so

13:08

many and then For me, before we go

13:10

into Kit Kat, I will say they

13:12

have these little tuna sandwiches that they come

13:14

in little triangles and they're wrapped in

13:16

seaweed. And that became, it's every gas station

13:18

or rest stop. That became my go -to

13:20

snack. Like they have all the things

13:23

I wish I could have here. And the

13:25

drinks are unbelievable. I'm going on and

13:27

on about the food. The culture itself is

13:29

also really amazing though. I got to

13:31

dress up as a geisha. I got to

13:33

do like a nice tea ceremony, learn

13:35

the kind of practices and the customs, went

13:38

on some hikes. it was just

13:40

it was crazy to do in two

13:42

weeks we were exhausted after but

13:44

i can say i felt fulfilled after

13:46

that trip because i find that

13:48

going to different countries with completely different

13:50

scenarios and then cultures it just

13:52

takes you out of your comfort zone

13:54

but also reminds you of what

13:56

you've become so accustomed to and what

13:58

becomes mundane in your everyday life

14:00

because there's certain things that you take

14:02

for granted like the practices of

14:04

just greeting people there is so different

14:06

from here or just just just

14:09

everyday ways of communicating and i found

14:11

that it was really really great

14:13

for me to just kind of step

14:15

outside the box and see those

14:17

differences no i love that i love

14:19

that what's one thing from the

14:21

culture in japan that you didn't know

14:23

going in that just totally wowed

14:25

you when you were there i think

14:27

that the tea ceremonies were the

14:29

most interesting to me because there was

14:31

such a particular way to sit

14:33

down to slurp the tea to demonstrate

14:35

um a real appreciation for

14:37

the meal in front of you the way

14:39

that you eat the little biscuits they

14:41

give you and drink it there's like a

14:43

certain pattern to do things and it's

14:45

just so very polite and there's so much

14:47

etiquette to it that i i didn't

14:49

realize like i i mean i'm oblivious i've

14:52

gone to a high tea thing once

14:54

you know like i've never but that's so

14:56

different from the customs and practices they

14:58

do there and i think just the level

15:00

of respect that they have for one

15:02

another in kind of the different scenarios i

15:04

was in at least That was

15:06

something I really appreciated. That's

15:08

awesome. So I have to ask you,

15:10

ask everybody that goes to Japan

15:12

this one thing. So at dinner, did

15:14

you get to pick your own

15:17

fish and eat it fresh? Did you

15:19

experience that? I did not. No,

15:21

I did go to the fish market

15:23

though. And I got

15:25

to see kind of the crazy

15:27

shuffling. The bargaining they

15:29

do in the fish market is so crazy. It's

15:31

such a high energy space. But no, I did

15:33

get to select certain things when I came to

15:35

sushi, but I didn't just get to pick a

15:37

fish and have it cooked for me. No, I

15:40

didn't get to do that. So

15:42

next time you go, you got to do that. Okay,

15:44

sounds good. You got to do that. So these Kit

15:46

Kats, though. So I don't

15:48

even like Kit Kats, but... If you

15:50

told me that I could have peanut butter,

15:52

I would do it because peanut butter

15:54

is my weakness. Oh my gosh. That's so

15:56

funny. The one, I actually have some

15:58

still downstairs, but I brought home a whole

16:00

bunch of snacks for my little brother

16:02

to try because he's a huge snacky. And

16:05

the Kikka I loved the most was

16:07

a strawberry flavored. I can't even tell you

16:09

what's in there because everything's written in

16:11

Japanese, but it's really good. And they're actually

16:13

like a strawberry colored like pink. So

16:15

it's really cute. Yeah. I

16:17

love it. I love it. So

16:19

let's switch gears a little bit. Since

16:22

the last time we talked, AI

16:25

has like completely blown up in

16:27

a good way, right? Like when

16:29

we talked the first time, like

16:32

ChatGPT had been around and there

16:34

were some other AI things, but

16:36

nothing that was really confirmed. And

16:38

now it's like everything has some

16:40

type of artificial intelligence component around

16:42

it. How are you? utilizing

16:45

artificial intelligence in the things that

16:47

you're doing from a business perspective

16:49

or a personal perspective? Honestly, in

16:51

everyday communications, AI has been so

16:53

helpful. I would say just in

16:55

terms of testing, A -B testing

16:57

different marketing campaigns, being able to

16:59

input the data that we want

17:01

and saying, okay, if we could

17:03

frame it this way, A or

17:05

B, let's test those things out

17:08

and see how it works. But

17:10

I also find... If you're using

17:12

platforms like ChatGBT for copywriting, so

17:14

say you want to write an

17:16

email, you pump it in there,

17:18

it presents it in a professionalized

17:20

way. There's so many keywords

17:22

that if you look for in an

17:24

email, in a LinkedIn post. Oh,

17:26

you know. In Instagram, it gives it

17:28

away. Don't use Delve. I found

17:30

Delve is like a go -to kind

17:32

of way to spot it. But so

17:35

there's been ways I've been able

17:37

to utilize it to better my corporate

17:39

communications. Also recognizing

17:41

what are the key things that

17:43

you should make sure you look

17:45

out for. But it's definitely helpful

17:47

in everyday life when it comes

17:49

to comms and marketing. Yeah, like

17:51

I've created some closed sourced AI

17:53

of my brain, right? My intellectual

17:55

property things that I've done. And

17:57

I've been able to train it so

17:59

that it is me, right? And it

18:02

is freaking scary. But

18:04

I guess that's what it's supposed to be, right?

18:06

Like it's artificial intelligence. So you train it, it

18:08

learns you. It's been kind

18:10

of cool. So I'm definitely into closed

18:12

source building. Like, I think that's

18:14

where the next wave is. So imagine

18:16

Amara, right? You're talking about wanting

18:18

to have kids and create a family.

18:21

Well, if you can take your

18:23

brain, right, and continue to build so

18:25

that generations after Amara know Amara,

18:27

right? And to me, that's what it's

18:29

about. It's being able to create

18:31

a legacy that passes on. But then

18:33

also being able to be me,

18:35

but smarter than me and faster than

18:38

me and quicker than me and

18:40

analyze better than I can. So like,

18:42

if it knows how you think,

18:44

it can make you think better. So

18:46

communicating in my style, reasoning in

18:48

my style is totally awesome as well.

18:50

What are some of the platforms,

18:53

the different platforms that you're using today?

18:55

I think honestly, a go -to for

18:57

me is actually ChatGBT, which is

18:59

why I'm talking about it. But I

19:01

think it's really important the way.

19:03

you're explaining it that the more data

19:05

you feed into it the more

19:07

improved the outcome is going to be

19:10

because if you're putting stuff just

19:12

say even just verbiage that sounds more

19:14

like you it'll pick up your

19:16

tone of voice it'll pick up your

19:18

mannerisms it'll pick up the way

19:20

that you communicate and have dialogue so

19:22

when it speaks back to you

19:24

it sounds more like you the more

19:27

frequent that you communicate with it

19:29

but i always think that AI,

19:31

there's so much scare around AI.

19:33

And working in a telematics company,

19:35

we try to demonstrate how there's

19:37

so many ways it can be

19:39

used in powerful ways that it

19:41

can help diminish errors, improve safety,

19:43

do a lot of different things

19:45

that the human brain and human

19:47

capabilities cannot. And I think that

19:49

rather than being scared of it,

19:51

working in tandem with it is

19:53

so important. No, I

19:55

totally agree. So for the person, Amara,

19:58

who... I'm not going

20:01

to say they're afraid of AI. They

20:03

just, they're like, oh, I'm not going

20:05

to use ChatGPT. I'm not going to

20:07

use the Canva new tools that are

20:09

AI powered. I'm not going to use

20:11

AI to edit videos. Give them the

20:13

stance and reasons of why they should,

20:15

because you're going to say it much

20:17

nicer than I am. I'm going to

20:19

say quit being old and quit digging

20:21

your heels in. The world is going

20:24

there, right? It's almost like the internet

20:26

20 plus years ago, right? It's like,

20:28

hey. It's evolving. This is where the

20:30

world is going. Adapt. So you say

20:32

it better than me. We

20:34

can start with something like Canva.

20:36

I also use that platform regularly.

20:39

You can take a simple task.

20:41

Say you want to edit a

20:43

wedding photo and you just need

20:45

to remove a little person or

20:47

something in a corner. All it

20:49

takes is a quick eraser. AI

20:51

generates it and you have a beautiful

20:53

picture. Something as simple as that, it doesn't

20:55

have to be scary, but if you

20:57

start off with baby steps and see how

20:59

it can help you in your everyday

21:01

life, I think that's beneficial. If you're already

21:03

on Word, say you're using Microsoft Word

21:05

and you're using Spellcheck, you're already working in

21:08

tandem with a computer to help you

21:10

spit out that essay or that email or

21:12

that report. So just think about it

21:14

as an additional tool rather than something you're

21:16

battling. I think that's the best way

21:18

to put it. No, totally agree. And I'm

21:20

a huge fan of Canva too. So

21:22

shout out Canva with some of the tools

21:24

that they have as well. Amara,

21:27

again, going to switch gears one

21:29

more time because you are

21:31

one of the smartest people that

21:33

I know on earth. That's

21:35

very smart. For

21:38

the viewer or listener. And

21:40

when I say this,

21:42

I don't mean institutions

21:44

all the time, but.

21:47

How powerful, how important is

21:49

continuous education for society

21:51

today? And again, I don't

21:53

mean you've got to

21:55

go get multiple degrees like

21:57

Dr. Pope over there,

21:59

but I do, I am

22:01

a huge proponent of

22:03

self -growth and self -education. So

22:05

from your words, how

22:07

important is that for society?

22:09

I think that any

22:11

kind of form of education.

22:14

is important and continuing education whether that

22:16

be through skills and trades or

22:18

that's through a traditional institution of a

22:20

university or college I think it

22:22

really helps you when you graduate you're

22:24

a young adult you're still learning

22:26

about the world and learning about yourself

22:28

I found that going through university

22:30

of course I went for my undergrad

22:32

master's PhD I was going through

22:34

a long haul but I also had

22:36

those real world skills where I

22:38

was jumping into the workforce and trying

22:40

a bunch of different things. You

22:42

learn a lot about what your likes

22:44

are, what your passions are, and

22:46

also develop a lot of soft skills,

22:48

your discipline, your ability to focus

22:50

on something, your ability to communicate with

22:52

others. I don't think that we

22:54

should think about higher education as just

22:56

learning books and theories and ideas

22:58

and facts. It's also about developing the

23:00

self and understanding these are soft

23:02

skills that are going to take you

23:04

forward. Yeah, I love it. I

23:06

love it. All right, Amara, you ready

23:08

for your hot five? Okay, hit

23:10

me. Hot five with

23:12

Amara Pope. All right, Amara,

23:14

your favorite comfort meal? Oh,

23:18

right now it is overnight oats,

23:20

which just sounds so boring

23:22

and old, but really, really like

23:25

overnight oats right now. I

23:27

say comfort. That is comfort.

23:29

You know, you could add chocolate chips, maple

23:31

syrup, some berries to that. I thought

23:33

I was going to at least get poutine

23:35

or something like that. overnight

23:37

oats. I don't know. Okay.

23:40

What's the best meal

23:42

that Amara cooks? Ooh, a

23:44

good chicken Alfredo. And

23:46

my Italian husband says it's

23:48

comparable to his Nona's.

23:50

So I will take that.

23:52

Ooh. Okay. Okay. Yeah.

23:54

I like it. I like

23:57

it. Yeah. Your

23:59

favorite rapper

24:01

dead or alive.

24:06

That is controversial, but I

24:08

always go with Lil

24:10

Wayne. Lil

24:12

Wayne, because to be honest,

24:15

I think some of his

24:17

lyrics are to me

24:19

like modern day Shakespeare, which

24:21

sounds crazy. That

24:24

might be the first time I've

24:26

heard that comparable. No, seriously. And

24:28

I might like it. I might

24:30

like it. The interplay,

24:32

the wordplay he has, and if

24:34

you really analyze some, of course,

24:36

there's going to be outlying songs

24:38

that are just hilariously dumb. But

24:40

some of the wordplay that he

24:42

makes, if you listen to just

24:44

the metaphors and just analyze it

24:46

through a poetic stance, I think

24:49

it's great. I did my second

24:51

major was in English. So I

24:53

can analyze something as like a

24:55

poem and I see the different

24:57

forms of wordplay, the rhythm. the

24:59

beats. It's just, oh, that is

25:01

what gets me through a hard workout is Lil

25:03

Wayne. Everybody that knows me knows

25:05

poetry was my first love. So,

25:07

you know, I, I try it. in

25:09

my heart every day. Take out his voice, read the lyrics

25:12

and you're going to see it. It'll hit you at a

25:14

different way. I

25:16

will do that. I will do that.

25:18

All right. So you've had a, you've

25:20

had a challenging day, right? And it's

25:22

time to go into the gym. What's

25:26

the workout you're doing to relieve

25:28

that energy, release that stress? Always

25:30

heavy lifting. When I'm frustrated

25:32

and angry, it's not cardio. It's

25:35

not doing abs. It's not

25:37

doing lightweights. Anger translates

25:39

well into heavy

25:41

lifting. Definitely

25:43

that. I like it. I like it.

25:45

All right. Last for your hot

25:47

five. What's the

25:49

piece, the

25:52

art? that you haven't created

25:54

that you want to create? I

25:58

think something paying homage

26:00

to Trinidad and Tobago and

26:02

just the vibrancy of

26:04

that space, the beauty of

26:06

that country, something I want

26:08

to create soon. Okay.

26:10

I like it. I dig it. That

26:12

was your hot five. You did good.

26:14

You did good. Although the overnight oats

26:16

was questionable. Yeah.

26:20

You couldn't give me a

26:22

meatloaf. You couldn't give me a

26:24

curry chicken. And wings. I

26:26

don't know. Overnight

26:28

oats. Tells

26:32

me a lot about you. Oh

26:34

my gosh. Don't judge me based on the

26:36

overnight oats. This

26:38

is my podcast. I can vote.

26:40

And I am judging. Just

26:42

don't title it overnight oats, please.

26:49

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

26:53

Amara, again, I just appreciate

26:55

you. I know how busy you are.

26:57

I appreciate you being a great friend.

26:59

I appreciate the pieces that you built

27:01

for me, the New Orleans piece. I'm

27:04

going to send you pictures of

27:06

my downstairs so that you can see.

27:08

We've totally themed around the piece

27:10

that you did for us. That's so

27:13

amazing. Thank you so much. It

27:15

is awesome. It is awesome. So how

27:17

can people follow? and find

27:19

you and purchase some

27:21

artwork from you? They can

27:23

visit my website. It's

27:25

www .dramarapope.com. And my handles

27:27

are all the same across

27:29

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X.

27:32

It's all at Dr. Amara

27:34

Pope. Dr. Amara

27:36

Pope. Yes. Dr. Pope, thank

27:38

you for being a great friend. Thank you

27:40

for all the inspiration that you provide.

27:42

And just thank you for being present. You

27:44

don't know what that means to me.

27:46

Just you being present means a lot. Well,

27:48

I really appreciate it. And all of

27:50

our chats, they're always grounded. They're always full

27:52

of random conversations. And I appreciate you

27:54

so much. I appreciate you backing for all

27:56

the viewers and listeners. Remember, your because

27:58

is your superpower. Go Unleash It. you

28:02

Thanks for tuning in this episode

28:04

of Mick Unplugged. If today hits

28:06

you hard, then imagine what's next.

28:08

Be sure to subscribe, rate, and

28:10

share this with someone who needs

28:12

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28:15

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28:17

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28:19

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28:23

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28:26

Until next time, ask

28:28

yourself how you can step

28:30

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