Rosa Linda Román: 00:00 Hey everyone, before we get started, a quick note. This is one of the early episodes recorded back in 2015 before we left New Mexico and moved onto the sailing catamaran Dawn Treader and before we became a fulltime traveling family. As you can imagine a lot has happened since this was recorded but I do hope you enjoy hearing this backstory. If you want to stick around until the end I will share how to find out what we are doing now. But first, a step back in time before we went from New Mexicast to New Mexi-Castaways. Enjoy! Rosa Linda Román: 01:16 Hello and welcome back to New Mexi-cast audio edition. I'm Rosa Linda Roman and I'm glad you're here. I'm on my way once again to some rock climbing with a friend and it's always a good chance for me to chat. It's been a busy, busy time for my family and business-wise. Um, and so I thought I would update you guys here on the podcast, not sure if anybody will be listening to these episodes, but I figured it's a chance for me to talk it through and uh, really move forward as I decide what the next step will be with New Mexicast. And to that end, I thought I would really talk about some of the projects that I've been spending all of my time focusing on and why you guys have not seen any new episodes on the actual video podcast or TV show. Rosa Linda Román: 02:13 For those of you that watch NewMexicast, you know that I finished up season two back in December, a few now, almost five, six months ago. And I have been very busy as I've mentioned on this podcast with some projects that are heart-centered, if you will, things that I've enjoyed very much and I wanted to focus on. That is making a film with the club I created at my daughter's school called Roadrunner Reels. And we are in the home stretch. I should be finishing editing that film called Sophia and The Mysterious School, by tomorrow afternoon and then a week from Friday, which is just, a week and three days from now we are having our big screening of that movie, a public screening and a big performing arts center auditorium that we have out here in the community that we live in. Rosa Linda Román: 03:14 And it's just exciting. I mean, it's been such an amazing experience. I think the last time I recorded an audio episode, I probably was in the middle of just getting started with shooting the movie. And um, now everything's shot. Everything is being edited. It's a 10 scene movie. Um, which should be about half an hour in length when all is said and done. And that, 10 scene movie is all done except for one scene. So I'll have that finished by tomorrow night. It's funny because so many people say when they ask me, Oh, are you done editing the film knowing that it's, um, gonna be shown publicly in a week and a, um, and I say, no, I'm, you know, I'm working on it but I'll get it done. They're like nothing like waiting till the last minute. And I just chuckle because this is not last minute, last minute would be the night before I am, I feel well ahead of the curve, but that just is how it works for me because obviously when I've done the weekly TV show, I had to turn around a half-hour show every week. Rosa Linda Román: 04:24 Um, and so this, you know, editing one half-hour over the course of the past month or so, um, since we finished primary shooting, uh, actually it hasn't even been a month, maybe three weeks. And, um, anyway, I, I just feel like I have plenty of time. I'm good. I'm golden. In fact, I'm taking Friday off and the weekend to be with my kids because that's part of my recent personal evolution, if you will. I've tried really hard to focus on creating a schedule that works for me and then I can get the things done that I want to get done work-wise, but not to the detriment of my family. And that in the past has been a problem when you become an independent reporter, um, or independent person of any kind, trying to find that work-life balance is so challenging. Um, there were many, many times where we would be going on a vacation, say we were down in Mexico and the whole drive there. Rosa Linda Román: 05:24 And then while my family was down at the beach, I was just working on editing, uh, New Mexicast. So, you know, they'd be playing at the beach and I'd be upstairs in the apartment, um, editing. And then I'd be editing until the wee hours of the night, and then I'd be up again in the morning editing and trying to get things uploaded. And it just took so much time. And you know, I, I'm very grateful that I did that show. Um, I did the show that way because it really taught me to get faster and be able to meet those deadlines as an independent person. Um, it's very different when you have a boss and a deadline and, um, you know, a time slot on a TV show. It's very different than trying to do it yourself and basically having an arbitrary deadline if you will, um, that you make up yourself. Rosa Linda Román: 06:16 So keeping on task and really getting things done and learning the process of really motivating yourself when you don't have some external force motivating you. Um, that was the benefit for me of New Mexicast. It taught me how to hone my skills, get quick and um, really get clear on what I want to be doing and what I enjoy doing the most. Um, so how that applies to this film, uh, you know, I feel like I can get a lot more done than people think is possible and I'm doing it without sacrificing the time with my family. So this week is a perfect example. I guess I'll just kind of walk you through how the week is going. My goal is to finish the film by tomorrow before I pick my children up from school. And I said to myself before I started the week knowing I had, you know, several scenes still to edit. Rosa Linda Román: 07:11 My goal was to do that while still maintaining and participating in the things that support me as a person and my family. So for example, I made sure to squeeze in the time to run with my friends. Um, Andrea and Alicia two days this week, so Monday and I just finished a quick run with them just, uh, just before I'm heading to rock climbing. Um, and then I also had time yesterday to have a meeting where I am starting a new, um, learning experience, um, which I'll tell you about probably on a future podcast. Um, but anyway, I, I want, I've been wanting to start learning this new thing and I met with the instructor yesterday and you know, part of me thought, there's no way I can fit all of this in. But then the other part of me said, no, these are the things I have to do to support myself so that I enjoy the work. Rosa Linda Román: 08:15 And then I'm, I'm very careful now that when the kids are home, I stopped working. I put away the phone, I put away the electronics. I don't try to accomplish anything when they're home, uh, because they're only home between when they get home from school or their activities and when they go to bed for, you know, it's really no more than three hours when all is said and done. They get off of school at 3:30 by the time I pick them up and get, you know, wherever we need to go. Um, my daughter has competitive gymnastics three days a week. You know, she, she practices three days a week. Um, and so that takes up a chunk of time. My other daughter has piano and my other two daughters have piano. Both daughters. I only have two daughters. Both daughters have piano one day a week. Rosa Linda Román: 09:00 Um, and then film club is another thing that has taken up, uh, one afternoon a week. Uh, and so, and then, and Samuel just started tee ball and Ziva started softball, although that doesn't seem to be jelling and I don't think we're going to stick with that. But anyway, all of this to say that I made a point to focus on maintaining the things that matter to me. And part of that is letting go of the things that don't, and that's the hardest part actually is saying no. And you know, people want you to step up and do things that you just can't do. So knowing when to say when is pretty important in this, but it makes me feel so much better to know that I, I get my time for me, but I also have time for work after I put the kids to bed. Rosa Linda Román: 10:45 Like last night I put them to bed and they were asleep by 8:30. And so I had another couple of hours to edit because my husband's out of town. Um, and so I use the time in between things to get my editing done or whatever work I'm working on. Uh, so that's kind of, oh, and then the one more, one more thing that's really critical for me to maintain my sense of well-being and, and be able to function and enjoy my family is that I wake up every morning at 5:00 AM everybody has to be up by six for school and getting ready. But I wake up at five and I have this little nook. It's actually in my closet. Literally in my closet. I have this little, um, chaise lounge chair or whatever. And I go in there, I like candles all around me and I sit for an hour in silence and do my writing and don't ever, don't turn on any electronics and I just have this hour to myself of quiet time to be, you know, it's, it's almost like my meditation. Rosa Linda Román: 11:45 I don't actually meditate like some people do, but I write in my journals, I read inspirational things that I, that I enjoy. Um, right now I'm reading a book called The Secret, which is just awesome. It's all about manifesting what you want in your life and it's just very cool. Um, but anyways, so that is a big part of my self-care and I think it's really hard for parents to prioritize that self-care, um, in the busy schedules that we have with our kids. I mean, it seems like everybody's kids have, you know, so many activities and so much going on that it feels like you can't take the time for yourself. But I find I am so much more productive when I do take that little bit of time here and there and I'm such a better parent. And you can ask my kids, I'm, I, if I get my exercise in and I've, I'm doing the things that support me, then I'm able to support them. Rosa Linda Román: 12:43 And I think my husband would probably tell you the same thing. Um, so that's my big focus, obviously has been on getting this film done and we're gonna have the big screening next Friday and I'm very excited about that. Um, but there's another project that I'm working on and I want to kind of talk about that here now because this is really the next evolution of what I'm doing and part of why I wanted to start this audio podcast and staying connected with all of you in the process of, um, moving forward to the next thing. So let me just tell you about that. I have been, as I've mentioned to you, I run with a friend, Andrea Vincent and um, I run with other friends too, but in particular she's the one that pushes me and has encouraged me to do all of this, uh, running, which I love. Rosa Linda Román: 13:35 Um, and something fascinating about her that I learned. She just moved here from Virginia at the beginning of the school year. She has three kids, same age as around the same age as my kids. Um, her youngest is a little younger than Samuel, but, um, anyway, she created, many years ago, a website called SeeMommyRun.com. And it is an outlet that brings people together, women, mommies, uh, to connect in real life for to create like walking, running, whatever groups. Um, it's, I, I like to say that it, it's, it was Meetup before Meetup existed. Um, and it's combining kind of Meetup with MapMyRun, which is, uh, the idea that, you know, you have a way to track your fitness and things like that. So Andrea and her husband, they work together, um, actively on this website that has been a great success. Rosa Linda Román: 14:36 I mean, by all accounts it's been tremendously successful. Um, as a community, they have 64,000 members at the time of this recording, which is just a phenomenal number. These are, many of them are active and people are connecting and it's, it goes from the Internet to connecting in real life and it's just, uh, an astounding thing. Um, but over the years it has not brought in the revenue that it should, um, as a business venture and especially for the amazing things that they've created. Well enter New Mexicast and in particular enter, uh, Nathan, my husband who really has an eye for business. He, he's a doctor, but before he was a doctor, he was an engineer and, um, a business owner and he is very smart about how to, um, I like to call him "a fixer" because he fixes things that need a little extra help. Rosa Linda Román: 15:37 And I think we've talked about this, but this goes back to, um, the idea Roger James Hamilton has of the 4 geniuses and how people each have their own brand of genius. And um, one of them is the Blaze genius and all of that. I think I've talked about that on this podcast. I'm a Blaze genius, which is more about the people and um, there's Tempo and Dynamo geniuses, which Nathan and Andrea are. And then there's the Steel genius, which is the ones that, um, are more about the numbers and, and logistics. So anyway, this team that we've built is working to revamp, SeeMommyRun and we're launching a new website. And where, um, we are creating a podcast. She and I are now doing a podcast, um, which we've recorded several already, to have them in the can by the time we actually launched the, the website and we're going to create a membership because SeeMommyRun has always been free and that will remain the case. Rosa Linda Román: 16:43 But we are going to create a really cool membership version of SeeMommyRun basically where people, it's going to be, SeeMommyRun Elite and this elite membership will allow people to get really cool perks and benefits and basically join another community, another layer of the SeeMommyRun community. So, um, I've been working really hard on that in the time that I'm not working on the film, which actually this week it's all been about the film. And in case you're wondering what I've been busy doing, I've been making a film with 26 kids and about half a dozen volunteer professionals and I have been working on revamping and renovating, SeeMommyRun. So that's my new business venture. New Mexicast is actually, um, buying see mommy run so that, that comes under the umbrella of New Mexicast. So there'll still be some connection there. And um, I don't know what that means for New Mexicast itself for the future. Rosa Linda Román: 17:45 Um, the brand certainly lends itself to the kind of stories that I've done and I'm creating, um, more of a New Mexico-centric, um, positive family-friendly story, um, location. But for now the kind of work I've done in the past to, um, create the stories and all those different episodes, I am not working on that right now. Um, I, I found that as much as I loved much of it, it was starting to really weigh on me as an obligation and, um, it was taking so much time away from my family that I don't want to do that kind of thing again. I want to do something that offers me a better balance and also supports it. It allows me to use the skills that are more within my natural flow and natural, um, abilities. You know, I have certain talents and certain natural abilities. Rosa Linda Román: 18:40 Um, and you know, among the things that I'm good at is I'm a certified pro in Final Cut X, which is a Final Cut 10. I actually went and got my certification because I edited all those episodes of New Mexicast by myself and I taught myself how to, uh, use the program and I became pretty good I guess. And so I really enjoy the editing side and I'm, I'm working on that obviously on the film. Um, and I enjoy the on-camera and I enjoy the interviews, um, but sometimes when you pull things together, they don't necessarily work as well as, um, working on those skills individually. So, um, and, and a big part of it was knowing that as a business venture, it was a lot like, SeeMommyRun basically. You know, I put a lot of good stuff out. Um, but I didn't have a support team to bring anything in. Rosa Linda Román: 19:34 Um, I had the opportunity to sell ads on New Mexicast, um, when it became a TV show, or even when it was a video podcast. But that's not my skillset. And I tried several times to get like salespeople on board. I had meetings to try to get, um, people and I tried to sell ads, but it just wasn't what I was good at. And it always made me feel like as much as I, you know, I knew I was doing good work. I always had this sense that I kind of, it failed as a business venture. I had a few great sponsors. Dr. Reachi, the Albuquerque dentist here in town and um, Dr. Mark Arcuri when he had a Boot camp And Beyond. Um, he sponsored it and even the New Mexico Bed and Breakfast Association sponsored, uh, an epic episode, uh, way back. Rosa Linda Román: 20:29 But none of that was enough to cover the cost of New Mexicast even, um, because it wasn't consistent. And I again didn't have a team to support that. Plus I was, um, pretending to be webmaster and, um, social media coordinator. And I did every, I literally did everything. There is a, there's maybe I had about three episodes, maybe a total of five episodes that actually were shot by someone else. Um, I had Brandon Dent shoot, um, the rainforest exotics episode way back in the beginning. Um, I had Brian Katy, uh, did a natural sound story about fly fishing, um, when I was living on the boat. And then Jonathan Cracroft shot three of the stories, um, from the series about home building in Rocky Point in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. So I did have those out of like 60 stories that I did. So I mostly shot everything other than those few thank you to those three awesome guys, by the way. Rosa Linda Román: 21:38 Um, and social media, I tried to get, like my sister Rebecca, uh, tried to help a bit and my friend Don Marshall tried to help a bit. Um, but that's about it. The rest of it was me and, um, I really needed to have a team in place and I didn't know how to build that. I wasn't in a place where I could do that. It was all I could do to get the show together and still, you know, be a mom and be there for my kids. So now that I've had a minute to breathe and I'm able to kind of regroup, I see that there's a lot of things I loved about New Mexicast and um, I'm not willing to give all of that up, but I definitely realize it needed to evolve. And so that's what I'm working on. I'm not making any promises either way cause you know, the future is always uh, lots of possibilities. Rosa Linda Román: 22:32 But I just, I just wanted to kind of fill you guys in here because if anyone is really listening now, that means you're one of the awesome ones, the loyal listeners and viewers and you're probably wondering what in the world is Rosa Linda doing? So that's what I'm doing. I'm making a film, I'm revamping, SeeMommyRun and uh, we'll see where that leads in the future. I have a lot of really exciting ideas. Um, and so, for now, I guess New Mexicast is now an audio podcast until I announced otherwise. Um, if you guys have some feedback and you want to suggest some ideas, I am absolutely open to anything at this point. Um, you can always reach me on my email. That's rlr@NewMexicast.com, and, uh, just give me a call, uh, an email and just give me an email and let me know your thoughts about this venture and, um, any other things you'd like to see in the future. Um, that's it. Thank you for listening. I'm pulling up to the rock climbing gym, so I'm going to go get my rock climbing on and uh, I will talk to you again in the near future. Thanks for listening. Bye. Rosa Linda Román: 23:43 Once again, I marvel at how much has happened since this was recorded back in 2015. I’m happy to report that I continued these recordings throughout the process of buying, prepping for and moving onto the Dawn Treader sailing catamaran, so you will have that to look forward to in future episodes. For now, you can find us as New Mexicast on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, or just go to New Mexicast.com for all the content that I have there. And if you want to support this show please consider joining the New Mexi-Castaways Crew. You can do that at Patreon.com/NewMexicast. Which is where we will share a lot more content, including photos and videos from each of these podcast episodes, plus updates on where this crazy crew is now. Thanks again for listening and supporting our Enchanting Adventures. I’m Rosa Linda Román and who you just heard was, “Samuel!” Yep. And this is New Mexi-Castaways.