Welcome to Episode 441 of What’s Your “And”? This is John Garrett, and each Wednesday, I interview a professional who, just like me, is known for a hobby or a passion or an interest outside of work. To put it another way, it’s encouraging people to find their “and”, those things above and beyond your technical skills, the things that actually differentiate you when you’re at work.

If you like what the show is about, be sure to check out the book. It’s on Amazon, Indigo, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop, a few other websites. All the links are at whatsyourand.com. If you want me to read it to you, that’s right, this voice reading the book, look for What’s Your “And”? on Audible or wherever you get your audio books. It goes more in depth with the research behind why these outside-of-work passions are so crucial to your corporate culture, and I can’t say how much it means that everyone’s reading it and writing such nice reviews on Amazon and more importantly, changing the cultures where they work because of it.

Please don’t forget to hit subscribe, so you don’t miss any of the future episodes. I love sharing such interesting stories each and every week, and this week is no different with my guest, Christie Boriack. She’s an interior designer with Angeline Guido Design in Dallas, Texas, and now she’s with me here today. Christie, thanks so much for taking time to be with me on What’s Your “And”?

Christie: Hi, John. Thank you so much for having me.

John: Oh, no, this is going to be so much fun. Thank you for being on the show. First interior designer on the show, so I’m excited —

Christie: Oh, really?

John: — for that. Yeah, absolutely.

Christie: That’s awesome. I’m glad to represent.

John: Right? No pressure, no pressure. I have some rapid-fire questions here to ask you. Get to know Christie right out of the gate here. Normally this is an easy one, but as an interior designer, I think not so much. Do you have a favorite color?

Christie: Oh, my gosh, what a question for an interior designer.

John: Right? All of them.

Christie: All of them. It totally depends on what it’s applied to, if this is for fashion, for interior, whatever. I would say my rapid-fire answer would actually be white.

John: White.

Christie: I love wearing all white. I don’t even know if you count that as a color.

John: No, that counts. That counts. Absolutely.

Christie: Yeah, that’s my rapid-fire answer.

John: It’s a crayon in the Crayola box, so I think it counts.

Christie: There you go. Yeah.

John: Absolutely. How about a least favorite color?

Christie: I don’t know. I don’t think I have one.

John: Okay. Just in case they’re listening, you don’t want to make them angry.

Christie: Yeah, I don’t think I have, off the top of my head. I think they all are beautiful.

John: Yeah. Well, you’ve seen them all used in so many different ways. For someone like me, it’s clearly vivid. It’s just easy. Red. All of them, all the reds, all the maroon. All right, here’s one for sure. Shower or bath.

Christie: Shower.

John: Shower.

Christie: Yeah. Bath every once in a while, but we do our best thinking in the shower.

John: Oh, yeah. Yeah, that’s true. Yeah, yeah. That’s a good point. How about a favorite day of the week?

Christie: I would have to say Saturday.

John: Nice.

Christie: Probably most people’s, but that day, I get to do whatever I want whenever I want. No one’s waiting on me, most of the time.

John: There you go. Finally, my day.

Christie: There’ a lot of freedom.

John: Right? There you go. There you go. How about puzzles, Sudoku, crossword or jigsaw puzzle?

Christie: Oh, wow. Do Legos count?

John: Legos, yes. I love that. That’s a great answer. That’s a great answer.

Christie: I’m going to answer with Legos.

John: Nice.

Christie: Yeah. I think Legos would top all those options.

John: Awesome. Love it. Actually, I’m going to have to agree with you on that one. That’s a trick question. Legos is the only right answer. How about a favorite actor or actress?

Christie: I love Bradley Cooper.

John: Oh, yeah.

Christie: Yeah.

John: He’s funny and good. Yeah.

Christie: Funny, good, only better with age.

John: He’s a wine. That’s what he is.

Christie: He’s a wine.

John: Bradley Cooper wine.

Christie: Yes.

John: How about Star Wars or Star Trek?

Christie: I don’t think I can really claim to be a huge fan of either one, but if I had to say, probably Star Wars just because I have sentimental memories watching that with my brothers and family, growing up. Yeah, classic.

John: If you had to pick. There you go. How about your computer, more PC or a Mac?

Christie: PC, for sure.

John: Oh, really? Okay.

Christie: Well, a lot of interior design software is not compatible or not very well used with a Mac, so I’ve just learned that PC is the easiest way to go for me.

John: I’m PC all the way as well, but I figured, with the design stuff that, yeah, Mac, they’re just acting like they’re cool.

Christie: Yes, surprisingly, too cool for school.

John: Right, right. There it is. How about more heels or flats?

Christie: Heels, oh, for sure. There’s so much power in them.

John: Right? When I wear my heel — okay, I don’t.

Christie: The clickety-clack sound, the extra height, everything, yeah, definitely more power to those women who can wear heels, and some men out there.

John: Yeah, I would have two broken ankles in about three seconds, so we’re all good on that. It’s impressive, for sure. Not that I’ve tried. One of my “ands” is ice cream. What, did you have a favorite ice cream flavor?

Christie: I would have to say cookie dough ice cream is definitely my go-to, yeah, most favorite.

John: Excellent choice. Excellent choice. How about more talk or text?

Christie: Talk, always. I’m that annoying person that will answer a text with a phone call. Yeah.

John: Right.

Christie: A lot of people don’t like that, but I hate the time it takes. I’m so bad at answering text. I don’t get back to people, and it makes me feel like a horrible person. They’ll emphasize the text message with that question mark or exclamation point. I’m like, oh, I got to give them a call and just get this over with.

John: Right? What’s with the attitude?

Christie: Really, FaceTime, honestly, over all of those. I’m a FaceTimer more than I am even a caller.

John: There you go. Nice. Yeah. How about a first concert?

Christie: Oh, my gosh. I grew up in a Christian home, and my mom loved just pop, rock and roll version of Christian music, horrible stuff.

John: Sure. Yeah.

Christie: I doubt many of your listeners will know, but my first concert was a TobyMac concert. I don’t know if he even does music anymore. He’s got to be ancient by now. At the same time, it wouldn’t totally surprise me if he does. Yeah, that was my first ever concert. It was very, yeah, this poppy Christian music.

John: Sure. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. That’s awesome. That’s so cool. How about a favorite number?

Christie: Seven, the number of completion.

John: Yeah. Is there a reason?

Christie: I think it’s just known as the number of completion in the Bible.

John: Oh, yeah.

Christie: I don’t know. It’s always just been my favorite number.

John: No, it’s one of mine, for sure. Yeah, very popular answer. How about books, audio version, e-book or real book?

Christie: Audio book. I love a good audio book. I’ve been trying to get more into physical books lately and learn to be a little bit of a faster reader. It takes me months to finish a paper book. Audio books, I love. I feel like I’m watching a movie.

John: I feel like I should record me reading my book, a YouTube video of me reading the book.

Christie: You should.

John: Then you can get to…

Christie: A book is always better read by the author.

John: Yeah. I did the audio version for mine. It’s not easy, and I wrote it.

Christie: What is that process like?

John: It’s like recording an album, I would imagine. It was about eight hours in a studio over two days.

Christie: Oh, my gosh.

John: Yeah, and somebody listening to every single word you say to make sure that you don’t switch words or skip a word. It’s an interesting study in what your brain does. Because when you’re reading, you’ll mix up words. It means the exact same thing, but it’s not exactly what’s on the paper. There were several times where I would like argue and be like, I wrote this, that’s what it should be.

Christie: No way. That’s so funny, where you wanted to change your book.

John: Right. The good thing was there were no typos. Because when you read it that meticulously, you’d definitely find that out. That’s for sure. I was pretty excited about that. When it comes to interior design, do you prefer sketching or on a computer?

Christie: I think both are crucial. In the moment, you don’t always have your computer with you. Even if you do, it’s not quite as free thinking as a sketch would be. Sketch always first is my motto and then put it in the computer later.

John: Make it pretty.

Christie: Yeah.

John: Okay. Two more. Chocolate or vanilla.

Christie: Chocolate.

John; Yeah. There you go. That was a slam dunk. The last one, the favorite thing you have or the favorite thing you own.

Christie: Oh, man. The first thing that comes to mind are my cats.

John: Yeah, that’s a totally good answer.

Christie: Probably because recently, I actually lost one of them for a day. They’re just your cats until one of them goes away. You’re like, dang, I really loved that little guy. He came back. Yeah, that’s the first thing I thought of when you said that.

John: No, that’s a totally valid answer. That’s awesome. Very cool. Very cool. That works. Let’s talk being a social connector.

Christie: Yes.

John: How did that get started? Is it something that you were doing as a kid in the playground or something that you got into later in life?

Christie: Yeah, so social connector, where you’re open to connecting and receiving people into your life, into your home, into your space; I would say it started at a young age. Growing up, I grew up in a large family. I’m one of five kids. From a young age, very much remember my home being an open one. My parents were really inviting. We wanted our house to be the one where all of our friends came over. I remember specifically Thanksgivings were a huge thing at our house, not because it’s time where our extended family would come, which they would, but my parents would announce to our whole community world and friends and be like, hey, if you have nowhere to go or if you don’t have family, or family that’s in town; come over, you’re going to spend Thanksgiving with us.

John: That’s awesome.

Christie: My mom would just coordinate with our friends in doing a big potluck, and say, hey, it doesn’t matter if we’ve never met you, it doesn’t matter if you just want to stop by or if you want to hang out for hours, you are welcome here. Our doors are open. I loved being around that. Even, I can think later on in high school, this is when it really manifested into my own thing. I would plan with my siblings, these monthly movie nights.

John: Oh, okay.

Christie: Yeah. We would invite, again, all of our friends and their friends and more. There’d be like, 50 kids at our house, once a month.

John: Oh, my gosh.

Christie: Yeah. Once a month, all piled in our game room, laying on the floor, just anywhere you could fit, to watch a movie together. I would get super into it. I’d make tons of pasta because that was what you made for the masses. I would plan a game beforehand. It was just, yeah, something we did.

John: That’s awesome.

Christie: Yeah, I really, really enjoyed that. You and I, even before this went back and forth on social connectors as a gatherer, what do you call this? I think, now, being raised in that kind of environment and now being an adult and acquiring it in my own life, I’ve learned that it’s become more than just entertaining people as guests.

John: Right. That’s very surface level. Everyone’s putting on their best social media face and their best dress and whatever, and I’m acting, whatever. It’s like, just be real. When it’s movie night, you can’t fake it. We’re here.

Christie: We’re not here to impress. Yeah.

John: Exactly.

Christie: That’s a huge differentiator there, is not coming with any sort of expectation or wanting to impress your guests, but making them feel a certain way, is where it’s really, really important. Growing up, I think my parents did a good job of exemplifying that. Especially my mom, she was really good at greeting people. Everyone who walked through the door was like a celebrity.

John: Oh, wow. Okay.

Christie: If Megan came through the door, she’d be like, oh, my God, Megan’s here, yay! Just give her a hug. You guys, Megan came. It was everyone. Everyone got that treatment.

John: I feel like that’s what my dog says, every time I come home.

Christie: Right, making people feel celebrated as soon as they walk in, and she did a good job of not — even when people were over and if the dishes piled up or if there was a mess in the kitchen or things were unorderly or maybe not overseen at all times. She could be in the corner, talking to a friend with a really intense one-on-one tearful conversation for a second and then come back. Yeah, I think it began there.

John: Yeah. Just imagine everyone feels like TobyMac, coming in your house. The whole time, you’re like, is TobyMac here? Oh, it’s just Wendy. Never mind. Forget about it.

Christie: Yes. Yes.

John: It’s not even close. It’s circle back for everybody. I think that’s so great. There’s more than the invitation and the space to have people hang out. There’s the intention behind it. It’s a genuineness there, I feel like, that’s deeper and richer, which is great.

Christie: Yes, and that is so rare now.

John: Oh, for sure.

Christie: Every day, our lives and our society revolve around our devices and our phones and social media. Although, intelligently used, that can be a wonderful tool and a great asset to life. I think, in a lot of ways, it’s caused this generation-wide disease of social anxiety, especially, I can say, for my generation, as millennials, we are most known for having that. We have this fear of social settings a lot. We have this anticipation of anxiety that we’re going to get when we walk into a gathering. We have, honestly, poor verbal skills.

John: Oh, yeah.

Christie: From not having enough one-on-one conversation practice and a lot of texting.

John: Just look me in the eyes. Can we start with that? Let’s just start with that.

Christie: Exactly. All that breeds this insecurity and this anxiousness. I think providing an atmosphere where, honestly, you just simplify it. I think people think of hosting or think of inviting people into your home or into, it doesn’t even have to be your home, into any space that you offer can be an overthought thing. We can overthink. Okay, how’s the house going to look? What kind of dishes am I going to lay out? What kind of music should I play? What could I wear? Again, we start to overthink and get this weird expectation of perfection.

John: Yeah.

Christie: I think if you just simplify it down to only focusing on the person in front of you in that moment; of course, you might have responsibilities, or of course, you might have things to do while you’re in that space; but honing in on that person is going to just let down all those walls and allow them to be more raw and have that practice of getting some genuine, raw human connection, away from their devices and away from their phones and away from distractions and hurriedness, constantly. It’s a really crazy idea that we’re not used to doing that, that we do the opposite, 90% of the time.

John: Yeah, it’s sad. Especially as adults, we’re done making friends. We’ve already made our friends. Actually, we’ve started to lose them now. We’re pairing them back.

Christie: It’s so sad.

John: It’s crazy. Yeah. I love that, how it’s at your home. I’ve always said, if I’m going to invite people over, this is my home. If you don’t like whatever, then you’re not my friend, number one. Number two, you can go. I’m not holding you hostage. He doesn’t have his fancy plates, or he doesn’t, whatever. It’s like, really?

Christie: Yeah, surprisingly, they don’t care. They don’t care if — yeah, I was over at, it was a gathering of girls. We were having a dinner. It was a group of girls that I didn’t know very well. I had gone over to this one girl’s apartment, and she had all these ladies over. She had such a sweet and beautiful intention to have a really cute, fun time. She had the table out, candlesticks, tablecloth. It had the potential for being really awesome, but I remember, honestly, the thing that sticks out to me, looking back at that event, is that she was 100% in the kitchen, busy, busy, busy, so concerned with, is the food out? Is it hot enough? Is it ready? Is everyone comfortable? Does everyone have a drink? Does everyone know where the bathroom is? Does everyone — where to put their bag. Of course, as we say in the south, bless her heart.

John: There you go.

Christie: It is coming from a place of love and good intention, but you just wanted to shake her a little bit and be like, sit down and talk to me.

John: Just dial it down a little bit.

Christie: This doesn’t have to be forced. We don’t care about your dog barking in the other room. We really don’t care about doing the dishes right now. It was a good perspective to be on the other side and be like, yeah, I really like it when people can just hover around a table or hover around a living room and get lost in each other for a second and allow the freedom to come in, the barriers to come down, and just for a moment, you forget about your persona and your, again, your device. When you come out of that, you’re like, wow, that was really refreshing. Wow, that was life-giving. That was really fun.

John: I love that so much. Yeah, that’s awesome. Do you feel like this skill, if you will, at all translates to work?

Christie: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I think your surroundings really do shape your perceptions and how you think and how you build relationships. As an interior designer, when I walk into a space, I am always thinking about the connections that are going to happen there, the life that’s going to be lived there, and how that’s going to play out, not only in function, but on a relational level. I think, yeah, being able to draw from personal experiences and from personal, just rituals and again, this is like a hobby of mine and can be of anyone’s, to make these connections happen and make these moments happen for people; yeah, absolutely helps me in my job, for sure.

John: Which is hilarious because I’m sure at no point in your education did they tell you, hey, host a lot of gatherings or do movie night as a kid, and you’ll be a better interior designer and architect and what have you.

Christie: Right.

John: It’s like, you’re way ahead, which is cool. Is this something that comes up at work? Do we sometimes invite coworkers to things?

Christie: I have before, probably not enough, honestly. A lot of the times, the conversation looks like, what did you do this weekend? Or, did you do anything fun? Or, do you have any plans coming up? I can always say, oh, yeah, you know what? I went on a walk with a friend and then was like, I have some strawberries in my fridge. You want to come up and eat some strawberries with me? It can be as simple as that, as taking the time and the intention to be like, I have you here. I’m not done talking with you. Let’s hover a little longer and enjoy each other’s company and do life together. That’s not really easily explained to your coworkers, or it’s not really something you can get across quickly that you’re really trying to build connection here and not just have a party.

John: The depth of it, yeah, exactly.

Christie: Yeah, the depth of is not communicated.

John: Because it’s like, oh, I had some friends over. Oh, okay, whatever. No, no, no. We actually put all our phones in a basket when we walked in the door, and we didn’t even look at them for three hours. We solved all the world’s problems. It was amazing.

Christie: Yeah. It was unplanned. It was spontaneous. It was at the park.

John: Yeah. That’s awesome. Then we did Movie Night. What? As an adult, that would be incredible.

Christie: Wouldn’t it be so fun to —

John: Right? I would totally fly to Dallas for movie night, totally.

Christie: You’re invited.

John: Depending on the movie, of course, but yeah.

Christie: Isn’t that crazy though? You’re making me think. As a teenager and as a kid, it was so much easier to connect and make friends fast, to where inviting them over wasn’t awkward, if you had just met them. It wasn’t. It was like, hey, you can play with me.

John: Yeah, and asking them about their life and who they are, get below that surface level.

Christie: Right. Where do you live? Who’s your mom and dad? Yeah.

John: It’s just what you did. We forgot how to make friends now.

Christie: Along the way, yeah, we lost that. It’s such a sad thing. Then we learn how to fear or be guarded. The world tells us to be a certain way, and then we get really insecure. It’s so sad. It really is.

John: It really is.

Christie: It’s something that I’m trying to bring back, and I know I need in my own life. It’s not just a hobby all centered around others. I get so much out of this. I need this.

John: Yeah, you’re the Timberlake. You’re bringing friendships back. No, but it’s so true. Would you say that that’s maybe why people dive into their professional identity so much, because it’s safe.? You can defend that. You have a degree. You have this experience. This is who I am. It’s in a suit of armor.

Christie: It’s only such a small part of yourself, and a lot of the times, it’s where your value is held. As long as I’m bringing value, I’ll let you know me. As soon as any kind of vulnerable aspect of me, my failures, my fears, even my desires or dreams, then I’m going to put a guard up. Making friends as an adult, with that kind of depth and that kind of connection can be so awkward at first, but I think you have to just embrace the awkward. You have to embrace it to move past it. I know the place where, a lot of the times, our discomfort comes from or where we get a resistant feeling is where the most opportunity lies, and we’ve got to embrace it.

John: I love that.

Christie: Yeah. That can be applied to career as well, a lot of things, but I think people forget to embrace the discomfort and awkwardness of relationships, people, community and your inner circle. There’s so much that can be benefited there from having that.

John: Yeah, and it’s in life and at work. Those connections that you make in the office, whether it’s with clients or customers or other departments that you’re interacting with, or just someone that you’re working on a project with, just work is better. It’s still human to human transactions happening, even though we both work for companies or whatever it is, type of thing. That’s so great, so great. How much do you feel like it’s on the organization to create that space for people to be able to have these deeper conversations or share a little bit of their “and”, if you will, or how much is it on the individual to just get it started?

Christie: Yeah, I think it’s on both. I don’t think it should be just something pressured on our leaders or CEOs or managers at our company to allow that space because I think it can be cultivated by the assistant, per se. It can be cultivated by anybody in any role. You can open up that space and let others into. I know there’s a lot of people, and even me, myself, find it hard to know where the boundaries are when it comes to, okay, should I be besties with my coworkers? Or should this be strictly a work relationship? At the end of the day, even if they’re not your buddy buddy, you’re both human. You both have fears. You both have desires. You both have dreams. You both can connect together to get that peace of mind, at points in your workday or in your happy hour or whenever you can find the time to, again, let those walls down and find that peace of mind and get lost for a second.

John: Yeah. That’s so great. Yeah, because it’s not getting creepy. Some people, you’re going to be besties with, and you’re going to hang out a lot, and you’re going to know more of. With other people, it’s just a little bit, just a touch below surface level. That’s all. It’s amazing how, when I worked corporate, I’d ask people, so what do you do? They’re like, well, I take this spreadsheet in the night. No, no, I know what your job is, and I also kind of don’t care. What do you do? Who are you as a person?

Christie: Yes.

John: When we leave here, what do you do?

Christie: What do you like?

John: What’s so sad is so many people struggle with that, and I hope people listening, well, either have an answer, or you start thinking of an answer because you have to have something.

Christie: Right. I know people who are so scared to post or to share even pictures online or on their social media, of them having fun, of them doing something other than their work or their job. I’m like, no. I can say —

John: It’s so funny but true.

Christie: Right. In my professional life, personally, and this might not be every field, but being an interior designer, I have clients who follow me on social media. I have people that I’m working with, DM me or comment on my pictures. I think it only is more authentic and more relatable if you post your cat or your dog or your goals outside of your job. I think it’s something that they, at first, was a little bit intimidating to think about. Oh, shoot, these people who pay me to provide this service actually see that I am a goofy person. I can get really silly or go off on rants or whatever.

John: Right, but they’re goofy and silly too, so they can connect.

Christie: Exactly. Simplify and embrace the imperfection and the awkward. I think the more you give, you’ll be surprised at how much you receive in return. It’s awesome.

John: That’s so great, and it’s so true. It just makes me think. If you’re not going to post social things on social media, post pictures of you in your cube, just post pictures of you at your desk.

Christie: On the phone.

John: This is me on the phone talking to a client, doing a billion-dollar deal. No, it’s not. Shut up.

Christie: It’s just a weird mentality that’s toxic, honestly.

John: This is a video of me running to the Xerox machine. What?

Christie: Water break.

John: That would be a hilarious social media account. Maybe I’ll just do that. That takes away from the richness, and I love — I mean, the theme here is just embrace the weird, embrace the awkward, embrace that and get through it because on the other side is a richer, deeper relationship.

Christie: Yeah.

John: Which is great.

Christie: For sure, and I think it’ll start to translate into your career and into your work. The things that most fulfill us are, is the work that doesn’t only impact us, that only doesn’t reward us with a paycheck or whatever that looks like. It’s when you can see the direct benefit that goes to another human, I think, is when we’re most fulfilled, and we’re most rewarded, and we feel most encouraged to keep on going. I think if you practice it, it starts in your personal life, if you practice it with the few people you know, your neighbor, your family or just the person that you’ve talked to a couple times, it’s going to translate into your job and into your work, and make it richer.

John: That’s awesome. I love it. I love it. That’s so great. Before I wrap this up, I feel like it’s only fair, since I so rudely peppered you with questions at the beginning, that we turn the tables, the first episode of the Christie Boriack podcast. Thanks for having me on as your guest. You can ask me whatever you want.

Christie: I’m so excited. I love, love questions. Okay, what is something about yourself that you hope never changes?

John: Oh, that’s a good question. I guess just having a sense of humor.

Christie: That’s a good one. Yeah.

John: Sometimes I’m the only one that sees the irony in things though. That’s the double-edged sword of it. Definitely just laughing at things, especially in the last year and a half of, well, why not? Sure. After you’ve been run over ten times, what’s an 11th? Really? It doesn’t even hurt anymore. It doesn’t even hurt.

Christie: No, that’s a good one. Something so necessary and a gift to those who need it at times who can’t find humor in things, for sure.

John: Yeah, yeah.

Christie: Okay, dancing or singing.

John: Oh, dancing all day. I can’t sing for anything. Even when I’m at church, old ladies turn around. They’re like, you know what, God still loves you if you lip sync. You’re totally fine.

Christie: Oh, my God.

John: I can play instruments great.

Christie: Nice.

John: I can hear music, all that, but singing, for some reason, when it comes out of my mouth, is not good at all.

Christie: Missed.

John: Yeah.

Christie: That’s funny. Okay, what is your go-to pick me up for a bad day?

John: Go-to pick me up for a bad day. Wow, that’s a good one. I don’t know. Probably music, probably listening to some fun songs, Blink-182, Killers, kind of upbeat, alternative. I’m going to have to throw TobyMac in the mix now, but things like that.

Christie: TobyMac.

John: Upbeat alternative music, that’s kind of fun.

Christie: Yeah.

John: That always changes the mood.

Christie: It’s amazing how powerful music really can influence your mood, real fast.

John: Definitely. Definitely.

Christie: Okay, I have one more. What is changing in your life right now?

John: Oh, what is changing? Wow, that’s a good one. My hairline is definitely changing, and my waistband.

Christie: That can count. That can count.

John: Also, I’m playing the piano again, which is really fun.

Christie: Oh, nice.

John: It’s getting back, learning that again. I grew up playing and then stopped for a long time. When my father passed away, got the piano that I grew up playing that he grew up playing.

Christie: Oh, that’s awesome.

John: It’s been really fun. It’s also cool because now that there’s the internet, you can just Google a song, and there’s the piano music for it. When you’re a kid, you have to play all these classical songs.

Christie: Right. You have to learn how to read music and all that. Yeah. Now you can just copy.

John: Right. Now it’s pop songs and songs you hear on the radio and cool stuff. Yeah, it’s really fun.

Christie: You can even draw the key letters on your keyboard and not get in trouble for it.

John: Yeah, exactly. Little stickers or whatever. That’s been fun. That’s been really fun. I guess that’s what’s changing, is getting back into the piano again and more.

Christie: That’s awesome. I love that. Very cool.

John: Well, thank you so much, Christie, for being a part of What’s Your “And”? This has been so much fun.

Christie: Absolutely. Oh, this is a blast. Yeah. I could talk about this all day.

John: Well, in movie night, we’ll pick it up then.

Christie: Exactly.

John: Everybody listening, if you want to see some pictures of Christie in action with some of her social connecting or just outside of work, or maybe connect with her on social media, be sure to go to whatsyourand.com. All the links are there. While you’re on the page, please click that big button, do the anonymous research survey about corporate culture, and don’t forget to read the book.

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