E321 – Kiki Connects – How to bring the authentic you in the grooviest ways possible

Junaid Ahmed 0:12
Thank you for tuning in to hacks and hobbies with your host Junaid were visited by our amazing guests coming from all walks of life to learn their story, their struggles and their journey on how they got to where they are today. So stick around.

In this episode we get to speak with Kiki connects. She's a transformational guide. She facilitates supportive spaces in order to step into the true and authentic you in the grooviest ways possible through guidance, we can explore realms you never imagined existed. Without further ado, let's be kwid. Kiki connects How did she get her name? To be Kiki Connect? Well find out more in this episode. And I'm trying something different this time around. Usually what I would do is I would do a little intro for you while we're on the phone, but then I'm listening to other apps, other podcasts and they're like, you don't do that when you have somebody important on the line. You do that after the fact. So just jump into the conversation and you know, not to them not wasting your time. Oh, yeah, go there.

Kiki Connects 1:48
Yeah, just jump right into it. And it'll show itself. Yeah. The introduction will come out.

Junaid Ahmed 1:55
Exactly. Well. Welcome to university Sort of hacks and hobbies today. I've got my good friend Kiki connects. Window saw you. It is that's what my name is your last name is connects.

Unknown Speaker 2:13
Absolutely. I'm changing it. I'm, I'm originally, of course,

Unknown Speaker 2:20
my parents didn't. I didn't come out of the womb and they go oh Kiki connects perfect.

Unknown Speaker 2:26
But I am originally Kelsey Beth rittenberg.

Kris Macc 2:32
And I have been Kiki since I was a little kid. And I've been many other nicknames before. Yeah. And connects came to me a number of years ago, because I was changing my email address, actually. And I originally changed my email address to Kelsey listens@gmail.com. Okay. And during that week, I just so happened to be in Manhattan and oh, that week, I don't think I had received more in my lifetime of people coming up to me and just vomiting their problems. It was because I put my email as Kelsey listens. And also at that time, I wasn't even going by Kelsey. I was going by Kiki. Yeah. And, and I started to realize, Holy moly, I do not want to be someone that is just here to listen, I'm here to connect people. And thus I got rid of that email and I became Kiki connects@gmail.com. And then it has just stuck because I realized that the name that I give myself the name that I want to become, and the alias. The different superhero capes that I want to put on is the person who is connecting myself to me in a deeper way so that I can help others and support others do the same

Unknown Speaker 3:58
and

Kris Macc 4:00
My, my mission in this world is to face the disconnection of this world by being even more deeply connected to myself so that we can all rise in this feeling like we are all one and we are all a part of the same Earth. We are all part of the same ripple effect. And ever since I started calling myself Kiki connects, it's my name on my Instagram. It's my name on my Facebook. I it's my sign off on my emails and people know me more as Kiki connects now, which is really cool.

Junaid Ahmed 4:36
That's your brand. That's your brand right there.

Unknown Speaker 4:39
It's It's my brand.

Unknown Speaker 4:41
Yeah, awesome.

Junaid Ahmed 4:44
So Kiki Connect is who's on the line. got we got a little, you know, peek into how she got her name. And you know a little bit of journey behind all about Kiki. So Kiki, tell us a little bit about you. Self What? Where do you heal from what's so awesome, you know, that brought you to this point in time today, you know, in 2020, who is Kiki versus who you were? And what's your journey? You know, sim look like?

Kris Macc 5:19
Good question. I am. What's so interesting about me is that I feel as if I have had so many different lives up until this now moment, and I am about to turn 30. And if I were to think about the last five to 10 years of my life, I've lived in five different countries, more cities than I can even count I've had, I've delved into and experimented with so many different areas of professionalism and what that means for me, and I've spent a lot of my time really asking the question of what the heck am I here to do? And what is it that I want to? What is it? That is my passion? And for so many years, I was in the experimentation phase of my life, figuring out, okay, cool. I like that. Let's see what that does. And what happens in this sort of trajectory. And Oh, nope, don't like that. And so it's just been this constant trial and error experience to understand that all those little puzzle pieces I didn't know at the time, but they were coming together. And they were allowing me to now I see it as this bird's eye view. And it's as if all the knowledge I've received over however many years All of the wisdom that I carry, it was way up in my headspace for so long. And now it's just dropped into my body. And I feel so deeply in alignment with what I am doing and the person that I show up in and show up as. So I don't know if that totally answers your question, but I have no so it's like, you know, what are the most interesting things about it is like, How much time do you have now?

Junaid Ahmed 7:32
No, absolutely. That's, that was that was pretty, pretty accurate, short and sweet. So the different, you know, countries that you get to live in, because I've been I've lived in three countries in total and many different states, I think, three different states all together. But it's been a journey as well. Right. So and that's, that's been over the past 43 years that I've been around. And like you said, you know, you you try different things and you like some things you don't like the other things and then you know, you move towards the things that you like. And a lot of the times we're told what to do, we're taught we're told, or we're supposed to be learning, and not really experimenting, we're, you know, early on and in school, we're taught to avoid failure, which is, I mean, failure is the taboo, which is really stupid because that is how you learn and how you grow. So tell, you know, tell me, what different cities Did you hail from or go to?

Kris Macc 8:42
I have lived in five different countries. Like I said before, I was born here in the United States in Nashville, Tennessee, and I've lived in Arizona and New Mexico, different parts of southern California. Then I moved to Australia at the age of 15. And I live there for 10 years, and during that time I lived in Brisbane or lived in Sydney, I lived in the Gold Coast. And I, people a lot of the time, they asked, Where are you from? And that question for me, we used to be super difficult to answer, because I genuinely did not feel as if I were from one specific place. And I spent half my life in the US half of my life in Australia, and I have two passports, dual citizenship. So I felt deeply, half half, I felt half Australian half American for many, many years of my life. And then I also speak Spanish, and that's a huge part of me too. And so I lived in Spain for a while, came back to Australia, and decided that I wanted to live in Colombia. So I lived in Colombia for a year and a half. in Bogota

Unknown Speaker 10:03
during that time I was.

Kris Macc 10:09
It was beautiful. It really was. Colombia is such a beautiful country. And now that I look back in hindsight, I really think that it was the impetus to get me back into the United States. And I hadn't been back in the US for 12 years. I trout traveled and visited here and visited family and friends, but hadn't lived here in 12 years. And I got this message from God one day when I was in Colombia, asking me, okay, where do you want to go next? Because you I wasn't having a very, I wasn't having a good amount of luck with living in Colombia and being able to survive and able to earn the money that I needed in order to thrive in ways that I wanted to, and I also didn't want to continue being an English teacher. Teacher. So I gave it to God, where do you want me to go? Do you want to go to the US? Do you want to go to Australia? And in that moment, no joke. I had a friend of mine that I knew from elementary school in San Diego, messaged me out of the blue. And he had just so happened to be living in Santa Cruz and had a room open up and the exact moment that I needed it. Yeah. And so I moved to Santa Cruz, California. I lived there for a little bit of time. And that was, quite honestly one of the hardest transitions I've ever done. Because I didn't like the US for a long period of time. outside of the US it's not seen as it's not highlighted as the as the as the most expensive place to go to in the world. And I really went on that train and didn't like to call myself American. I called myself strong. I had a thicker Australian accent back then. So I came to the US had a hard time, struggled with lots and lots of different identity crises and trying to really figure out who I was. And so I decided, after eight months that I was going to leave us leave the US and I decided to go to India, because my mom was living there. I lived there for a good few months, working at the job that she was at and making my lunch in the morning. It was, it was really fun. It was really, really fun. I was actually helping to teach Spanish to a bunch of students who were at an international school in India. And that was hilarious and amazing. And then I received guidance from someone in my dreams and that someone was Tony Robbins of all people. He came to me in my dreams and told me to come to the US. not even kidding. So I decided that in there that I was going to move back to the United States. I booked a ticket back to the US booked. booked his unleash the power within seminar in Newark, New Jersey. And since that moment, that was in July of 2017. I have been back in the US. And since I've been back here, I've lived in Chicago for a year and a half. I lived in Nashville for a couple of months. And now I'm here in Los Angeles. And I've been here for about six months.

Junaid Ahmed 13:37
When I

Unknown Speaker 13:38
I believe that I feel it in my heart that I'm really gonna stay in LA for a while.

Junaid Ahmed 13:44
La is a great place to be I mean, I grew up near la when I was in California, and it's a crazy place. Absolutely. I was never near la but the People are really, really chill and relax and you build an immediate connection with people around you there.

Kris Macc 14:13
Yeah, for me specifically, I find that it's almost like the creative Disneyland for adults. Whatever you want to do, the more eccentric you are, the better you're going to be received.

Junaid Ahmed 14:31
Yeah.

Kris Macc 14:32
And I am an incredibly eccentric being. And I love to express myself in all the different forms. And I know that I'm here to shake some stuff up for people by just me being myself and stepping into myself wholeheartedly and completely. And I find that over the last six months, not even I don't even think I've been here for six months, but in the short amount of time that I've been here in LA, things have just happened. flow so easily and effortlessly into me and into what it is that I want to do in my life and my career choice. And it's just, I'm so incredibly grateful that I chose this path that I did. And yeah, I had to go through the last 30 years of my head, my hands going What? Ah, you know. And now I finally feel got the weight has been lifted, the veil has been lifted, the rose colored glasses are turned off whatever analogy you want to use. And it's go time and I find that that's a collective feeling for a lot of people too. Yeah. 2020 is about it's about us initiating ourselves into this new Earth paradigm, understanding that we are all creative beings, and whatever way you want to express that creativity. We're going to be supported.

Junaid Ahmed 16:02
No, you're absolutely right. The year 2020 you know, it's, it almost was like a dream for all of us. And it's like, yeah, we are in 2020 what are you going to do 30 years ago, you know, used to the 1970s. Now 30 years ago is 1990. And with the, with the communication and social media that's available to us today, and now enables the world, the world to be so much closer together. And with the advent of technology, the advent of you know, people being more open about who they are. And, you know, mental health is getting a lot of attention from so many different places because a lot of important people have, you know, face that kind of thing and it's been around for a while. It's it's caused A lot of trouble. So I think we are entering an era where being open is what? You know, it is going to get you closer to who your audience are, who your vibe is, you know?

Kris Macc 17:19
Yeah, closer to yourself, understanding that, the more we continue to open ourselves and be vulnerable in the spaces that feel a little uncomfortable being okay to step into the discomfort we're going to be received. Maybe not the way that we're expecting, but it's going to surpass what we were expecting. And we're going to receive exactly what we needed in that moment for us to be in our mission being our purpose. And that's what I really love about what's going on. Like you just said, We are in this together. It really does feel As in 2020, we all have done this collective

Unknown Speaker 18:04
sigh

Unknown Speaker 18:05
Yeah. Yeah. Who, what a decade

Unknown Speaker 18:09
that was just passed. And now it's time to, to really step into ourselves and really step

Junaid Ahmed 18:19
up. Exactly. Got to step it up.

Unknown Speaker 18:23
Step it up

Junaid Ahmed 18:24
again. And what's amazing. The other day I was watching Neil deGrasse Tyson, Neil deGrasse Tyson talking with Stephen Colbert. And what's amazing is that he was he was mentioning the world, the EPA, the World Health Organization, the the climate and the world. The Earth Day is coming in April, I believe. And and they're like, and he's like, let me tell you the history of You know, cuz Earth Day is gonna turn 50 years old this year. It's because it all came together is when people went on to the moon. And this determined back into look that Earth and they had never seen earth like that before. It changed the perspective of everybody because you can no longer see the borders. You can no longer see the names of the countries. All you saw was water, land and clouds. This is where we live. And we're all in this together. So yes, and with with Coronavirus going around like right now, it doesn't care which part of the world you're from, no, it's gonna affect every single person. So yes, we are in this together and what we can do is to be compassionate towards each other and build a better world. You know, like Michael Jackson's saying, saying, you know, make this

Unknown Speaker 20:04
make it

Unknown Speaker 20:09
for me, I'm being human right?

Junaid Ahmed 20:15
Yo, yeah.

Unknown Speaker 20:17
I love Michael Jackson. Oh my god.

Junaid Ahmed 20:19
No, I love him too when he passed away. I was so devastated. So it was it was insane.

Unknown Speaker 20:28
August 2006. I remember where I was. Yeah.

Kris Macc 20:33
Yeah. And it's thank you for mentioning Coronavirus because, for me, it feels as if it is a huge initiation for every single one of us. And every single one of us is being asked, How do you want to step into this and how do you want to show up for yourself and the greater collective? And there is a lot of fear mongering, of course, there's a lot of fear paradigms going on. A lot of lack of scarcity and It's asking each and every single one of the individuals. Okay, there is this fear there is this mass hysteria? Are you prepared to put on your Rainbow Warrior suit? and step into that grounded space for everybody else who's in a space of chaos? Yeah. Or do you want to step into that fear? And that's okay, too, because everyone's on their own timeline. Everyone's in their own process of things.

Unknown Speaker 21:29
And when this stuff arises, we are being asked, How do you want to show up?

Junaid Ahmed 21:37
Absolutely.

Unknown Speaker 21:40
to step up into love or fear, that's really what it boils down to. It is Yeah.

Junaid Ahmed 21:45
What are you going to do? And it's just, this is mind boggling. What's happening? And everybody's asking the question, why is why are people hoarding toilet

Unknown Speaker 22:01
Right

Junaid Ahmed 22:03
I don't get it I haven't read the the article cnn road like why is why are people hoarding?

Unknown Speaker 22:13
It makes

Kris Macc 22:16
its wackadoodle do man that's honestly that's my, my scientific answer to that is it is all wackadoodle do hoo ha hibbity it is just so funny that that is where we're at. You go to the grocery store, there's an abundance of food out there. There's no, there's no toilet paper, no paper towels, no tissues.

Junaid Ahmed 22:43
I mean, what's gonna be next? You know? What is gonna be next? Is it gonna be you know, towel towels? No, they're running out. But again, you know, you gotta get you kind of look at what's sustainable when white people People getting the things that are sustainable rather than think that artists, it's amazing. I guess one of the things that they are also mentioning that you want to use tissues, you know, it's, you know, whatever and then you throw it away because it includes it has to germs. Sure, I guess that makes sense. But if you're isolating yourself, I don't know. I don't know if I want to get into that. But that's the stare of the world. So tell us, you know, what motivates you for the things that you do and what are you doing on a daily basis? Is it that you do?

Kris Macc 23:47
Yeah, what's a day in the life

Junaid Ahmed 23:48
Yo, snail left Kiki Connect?

Kris Macc 23:50
Yeah, Kiki connects. Day in the Life I wake up in the morning and I do my ritual. Of course. Normally, what that entails hills is I meditate, and I meditate for between 33 to 60 minutes just depending on what my day looks like. And then I like to prime myself afterwards. Every single time after I meditate. I set an alarm for seven minutes. And I this is an activity that I received from a workshop with Kyle Cece, I don't know if you know him or are aware of him, but he's a he's a really cool motivational speaker dude, who used to be on SNL and was being big comedian, type and changed the trajectory of his life and became a motivational speaker. And he, he does this activity where you put on alarm for seven minutes. And in that seven minutes, you choose a time in the future and you anchor yourself into that time. You act as if you are there. And you talk about all the things and all the things, all the things that you have accomplished from that moment. So you're putting everything, all your goals and aspirations and your dreams into the future as if it's already happened. And I find that when I slip into that space, and when I do that every Sunday, I have physically felt and noticed mentally, and emotionally that worry and stress and anxiety just melts off me. Because no longer Am I worried about what's going on in the future. There's, I really believe that there are a lot of people who like to talk about the past a lot more or they go more so into the future. I'm much more of a future thinker, and sometimes that can create a lot of anxiety. And so I use this activity every single morning to dissolve that. So anyways, that's that's me in a nutshell in the morning. And what I do every single day is I support men who are lost and struggling, and I help them find their power again. I call myself a men's birthing coach because I, I am Yes, of course the coach transformational mentor, all the regular jargon and everything but I wanted to set myself up a little bit outside of the spectrum that people would normally think of those words. And I do that I also, I also am writing a book right now called mindfuck, to mind starvation. And it's all about ways in which our mind can be worked with instead of demonized and it talks about all my crazy stories and going into the experience of ascending to a higher level of consciousness and what that really means and what we can do and how we can not feel alone anymore because We're never truly alone. We're always surrounded around people, of course, but also we can tap into other frameworks, different levels of God and different levels of angels and ascended masters. And they're here to help us. They're here to help us move forward with our direct mission. And so my book that I'm currently writing, and it's yet to be published in August, nice. And the book that I'm currently writing is to support people through their process. And also talk about mine and be vulnerable and honest about where I've been and how I got to where I am right now.

Junaid Ahmed 27:45
That's really powerful. I love it.

Kris Macc 27:47
Yeah. So it's cool. I have, I have an entire a big whiteboard in my office, and that's what I'm missing. Oh my god.

Junaid Ahmed 28:00
Where my office,

Kris Macc 28:01
oh my gosh, I have a huge whiteboard in my office and I've got a bunch of colors. And I see this every single day when I wake up. And I come here in the morning, it's caught my goals for the month of March. And every single day I look at the title of my book, and it says it's a New York Times bestseller and I slip back into that space. There's any if there's ever any time, where and then it tells you I support men who are lost and struggling. I help them find their power again, boom, done. So I know what I'm here for. I know what I'm what I'm currently working on. And every single day, when I slip into a space of self doubt, or anxiety or stress about who I am, you do know. I have daily check ins with myself. Okay. What could I do right now? All right, let's let's close our eyes. And let's imagine myself sitting on the couch couch with Oprah. And she's holding Not my book. And we're laughing and we're giggling. And then I opened my eyes and it's go time baby, because that's where I want to go and every single day, I think there's a misconception of the amount of self work that it really does take because in the collective sphere in the general population, there's so much fear and so much scarcity. And we have got to continue remembering and reminding ourselves of what we're here to do who we are. And that is something that doesn't just happen overnight. It's like going to the gym exercising that muscle every single day and continuously throughout the day. And it never

Junaid Ahmed 29:45
ends for me. That is so that is so correct, because you've got to put in the time, you got to put in the work and what's what's crazy what we've been raised as you know, sure, we have that mindset, okay, I already went to school, I already got my degree, why do I need to work anymore? I want to work on myself anymore because I want to have this degree. And people you know, you know, fly those degrees around like, Hey, I have a bachelor's, I have a Master's, I have a PhD, blah, blah, blah. I don't need to do I don't need to do anything else because people just need to pay me because I did this thing in the past. Right? Instead of growing their mindset and growing and having a goal sheet and growing on a daily basis and you're absolutely absolutely right people do not think about the the time that it takes to actually build your self up. And what happens is, when you're going to school, you're constantly learning you're growing your mind. And you're you're basically building that muscle in your brain but then after you Done, and you're not learning anymore is when you start getting depressed is when you start getting, you know disarrayed Oh, and then that's where the rat race and the routine comes into play where Okay, oh, Friday nights, we're going to go out partying, you know, for what reason? No reason we're just too tired of working like while why working? We need to, you know, spend all this money and waste all your money and your mind and muscle and brain cells and partying because you just want to disconnect from who you are to be somebody who you want to be. So why don't you just meld the two people together?

Kris Macc 31:40
And you know what I think it is. I think the lack of fulfillment occurs when there's no purpose and when there's no growth, just and and those are the most pivotal experiences that we have to help us tap into our creativity because Every single person is here to be creative, whatever way that means for you go for it. And there And therein lies the purpose. And therein lies the growth. Because when you're constantly stepping in that space of creativity, with curiosity, there's always going to be some sort of challenge or obstacle that you need to overcome. And therein lies that growth. When you step into that, and then you feel so fulfilled because Holy shit, I just I didn't know how to do that. Now. I do and I had no idea what the solution to that was. And then here it is. And Wow, that's amazing. Yeah. And I think that the system that we have now and what you were talking about that nine to five system going to work and then having to just hang in there and try to wait it out until Friday and then OSHA it's Monday again, and Oh, goodness gracious, what do I do because There's no growth and there's no purpose. And among, amongst many, many other things, of course, exactly, yeah. But I really do believe that it boils down to those two things.

Junaid Ahmed 33:12
No, it does. And, and what's really amazing about living in this time and space that we have access to all sorts of technology, all sorts of learning, you know, tools, and you just have to have an open mind to be able to go out and reach search for that thing. And this is crazy. Like, I can't I can't I can't even put my finger on it. But recently, I watched Tony's documentary. I hadn't seen it. You know, I'm not your guru and seen it before. I heard about it. And I love telling I just told him about 17 years ago, I was traveling for work, and it was like, to him, to him and to him at night. Tonight, you know, after night over, I don't know how to say it. But um, I was watching TV and there's informational infomercial came up. And it was Tony Robbins, of course talking about his personal power. And I watched him and I watch and I'm like, Holy smokes, who is this man? Must order his CDs. So I ordered his CDs and it's never been the same. So why not?

Kris Macc 34:42
10 years ago, 17 years ago.

Junaid Ahmed 34:44
Wow. And so I you know, I've been following his journey. And just earlier today, one of one of my connections on LinkedIn just posted a video about how unleash the power within Antonio coming to Australia in September. And he's out and he's, you know, basically encouraging everybody to go and check it out. So messaged on there and he was like, Wow, that's really cool. And then I'm thinking, like the journey that Tony Robbins took himself is mind boggling, like he started at the age of 15. Or, you know, a much younger age to get put, like, good, putting good putting good stuff in his bed, you know, his in his mind. And so I've been I've been and I've been also watching his videos on, you know, knowledge builder blueprint. And it's so powerful because those same things keep coming up and you're right, you know, you've gotta have a whiteboard, you gotta have someplace that you see every day that has, what goals do you have for today? What do you want to do today with that? Your life. Yeah, that's gonna get you to that next level. Absolutely. And so I'm thinking I'm looking around my office. I'm like, okay, I can put a whiteboard somewhere here for sure, huh? Yeah. whiteboard

Kris Macc 36:14
whiteboard alarms on your phone, reminding yourself, okay, sit down for a second, be present with yourself. Remind yourself what you came here for. And or a lot of people think, oh, you just got to know you can't just sit on the frickin couch. No, you, you have to step up and take a stand for yourself. Yeah. And there are so many people that are going to go on that hamster wheel over and over and over and over again, talk about the story that they're in, tell themselves that they want to change but not actually get off that hamster wheel. They're going to try and look at the same thing that got them on the hamster wheel, the same strategy. It's like that Einstein quote, you know, you can't solve a, solve a problem with the same solution that got you into or whatever. You know what I'm going to say?

Junaid Ahmed 37:01
Yes. But my situation suggest solving the problem that you have,

Kris Macc 37:06
in your mind. Perfect. Yeah, exactly. And it is so true. You have to take a stand for yourself and say, Okay, I'm changing this right now. And having a community, having some tangible tools, tangible and tactical tool, capital, tactical tools, and then also holding yourself accountable for this. Because this is a job, essentially, but it's the best job in the world is figuring out who you are and what you want to do in order to serve.

Unknown Speaker 37:41
It's amazing, right? Because

Junaid Ahmed 37:44
you get to you get to work, you get to play with the operating system that you already have access to. You don't need to go buy anything else, no new stuff in it.

Kris Macc 37:54
Yeah, you got to look within knowing that everything that you have is actually accessible to you in this now moment. And there's so much of the looking at the external and everything and I get that we, I totally understand that we do need support from mentors and everything because also there just are mirrors reflecting back to us what we have inside.

Unknown Speaker 38:19
Yes. So

Kris Macc 38:21
it's it's all whatever it is that makes you feel comfortable and figuring out who you are. Go and do it. Right for the people that are going to be listening to this podcast. If you're looking for a sign,

Unknown Speaker 38:34
this is it.

Junaid Ahmed 38:37
This is a fine.

Kris Macc 38:39
Yes, this is a sign go figure yourself out. Sit with yourself for a second whenever the first idea or thought comes up, go and do that. Find a community reach out to someone if there's some sort of course that you've been wanting to do but it's $200 even and you can no put it on a credit Boom done. Your body wants to do that. There's just a space of fear that's in your way. And all of these boundaries are telling you no but you know, deeply in your heart that this is a yes. We've just been packaged with so many programs that are overshadowing what's truly is and what is us is perfect

Unknown Speaker 39:24
service.

Junaid Ahmed 39:28
Absolutely. what's what's beautiful is I watched his 2019 commencement speech for Cal Poly Pomona the other day, and it's given by this gentleman. And he's like, you know, I don't even remember who gave the commencement speech when I was graduating, and I want you to remember who I am. Hmm. So he took off his black gown and he's wearing this bright jacket that's got LED lights all around. It and on the back it says his name Ashraf and he gave one of the most amazing speeches, the commencement speeches that I've ever you know heard and it was so inspiring, so powerful. It just blew my mind and he's like, do you want to know the reason why we are on this earth? There's two main reasons both tell you the second one. And the second one is we are here to help other people.

Unknown Speaker 40:37
That's it. And when you help other people Guess what? You grow as a human being you grow as a person that

Junaid Ahmed 40:50
you are meant to be. And his name is Christophe Habibullah. And he himself is a structural engineer. It's like do you know structural engineers are these are the people that designed the structures that go inside buildings, you know, buildings to make sure that they can withstand winds and earthquakes and whatnot. You know, these are the people that are invisible, but then you don't need to be invisible, to share what who you are. So it's really powerful. And the one thing that he said the number one thing, the reason that we are on this earth is to worship is to pray. And absolutely, meditation is a form of prayer because you are praying, you are centering yourself, you're, you know, appreciating the human body that we have, which is a miracle. It's a miracle how our body even you know, works like the mechanics around It's just amazing.

Kris Macc 42:02
Yeah, prayer. I love that you said that because, and I really truly feel that I have a grandmother who is one of the most devoted people to God that I have ever met in my entire life. And I have seen this woman, through prayer and through worship,

Unknown Speaker 42:28
go through three

Kris Macc 42:30
different types of cancer. One was breast one was through the body. And I think the other one was, I can't remember exactly this time. And then she spent 10 years taking care of my grandfather who had very heavy Alzheimer's. And she is now 90 years old, and she's still living on the farm that she grew up in and she raised her kids in by herself. And I see her totally committed To showing up every single day, even though she doesn't have much, you know, she's 90 years old. What does she have to do, right? But she's still taking care of that barn and figuring it out for herself and waking up every single morning and doing her exercises. She just broke her leg two years ago, and she's driving again, her right leg. And it's just, it's incredible. And I'm so grateful that I've had that experience to watch her in her devotion, because it really it's worship prayer. It's being devoted to that. And understanding that it's so powerful. And I also had that come full circle for me. Last year, I started getting into the more of the indigenous communities in South Dakota, more specifically the Lakota Sioux Community up there. And I learned during That time, I spent a very large amount of time, going to sweat lodges and praying and praying to all different types of gods, and all different types of spirits and Earth Spirits and the star spirits and everything in between. and I started to really see myself in a different light and see myself shift. So not only do I have the beautiful grandmother that is also gifted me, my father who has the devotion as well that he's received from his mom. And I've seen all of that combined to such a love and compassion for being. And I've also seen it in a different space that I wasn't truly expecting, and really seeing the power that prayer can do. And just like meditation, meditation can also be a prayer. It's setting the intention For that, which also brings it all down into intention. Yeah, we can we can be praying and we can be devoted to everything that we are doing. It just depends on what intention we want to create with that with everything that we do.

Unknown Speaker 45:19
And it was, yeah, it was. And it's, it's exactly like, like, for example right before I got on this call, and

Kris Macc 45:29
I think to you and I thank God for giving me the wisdom and courage to step into one exactly this conversation needs in order for the people who are listening to, to live their purpose to be enjoy and to receive the clarity that they're seeking.

Unknown Speaker 45:49
Yeah.

Kris Macc 45:50
And then I just sent it out to God. Thank you.

Junaid Ahmed 45:55
Hello, love it. That's awesome. Well We did a lot of conversation we had we went from your journey to where you've lived to the journey to God and to journey to our mind and space. And, you know, it's it's been, it's been an awesome conversation. Thank you so much.

Kris Macc 46:18
Yeah, you're so welcome. Thank you so much for showing up in the way that you do. And having that wisdom and having that courage to be in this space holding this container for people to awaken in whatever way shape and form they need to.

Unknown Speaker 46:37
Yeah. And I really admire that. Absolutely. I do have a couple of questions. quick questions, of course, towards the end. All right, what is one hobby that you wish you got into?

Kris Macc 46:49
Oh, music? Yep. Hundred percent without a doubt in my mind music because that is cool. Yeah, and That's not something that I'm totally 100% out of. I still, I sing a lot and I do that, but I, but this year, I want to do more of that. Not necessarily for professional purposes, but just to to keep my creativity going.

Junaid Ahmed 47:16
Yeah, music as music has some very different effects on the mind music and dancing actually has helped a lot of people with Alzheimer's. It's pretty amazing. Like it wakes me up, or triggers those memories in their mind that come back and tell them who they are.

Kris Macc 47:37
Yeah, I have to dance all the time. I dance, I would say at least two times a week. Nice.

Junaid Ahmed 47:44
Our next question, what is your favorite movie or TV show?

Unknown Speaker 47:48
Oh, that's a hard one. You know what I actually did one or you can

Junaid Ahmed 47:53
pick a book even.

Kris Macc 47:55
Oh my one of my favorite books that helped me on that. The trajectory that I'm on right now is I have it's called the gene keys by Richard read. And that is one of the most pivotal. I wouldn't even call it a book. It's more like it's more like a textbook. Nice, but it talks about all of the different shadow sides that each one of us carry, and how to ascend through that. And Richard Rudd is a very well renowned poet throughout the entire world. And the way in which he takes you ticularly himself and articulates what's going on for each one of us. It is like, Oh, just reading him is activating.

Unknown Speaker 48:41
Nice. I love it. Absolutely amazing.

Junaid Ahmed 48:47
All right. So you Albert, you already told the book that you like didn't have a movie or TV show, which is fine. So modify the next question. What if you were to pick a book What book would choose if you get to play a character in it?

Unknown Speaker 49:06
Oh, that's a really good question.

Unknown Speaker 49:09
Uh, you know what? I don't know about a book, but I would love.

Unknown Speaker 49:15
So what? My movie? Yeah,

Kris Macc 49:18
yeah. Yeah, let's go to the movie. Let's just switch it up like that. What I would love to have is I would love to have my own series to be completely honest. I don't know if you've you ever watched or you heard at the series girls by Lena Dunham, which was an HBO series a couple years ago. Yeah. I would love to have something similar to that, but just in my own trajectory of my life.

Junaid Ahmed 49:46
Nice. That's pretty cool. Yeah. All right. Who is your favorite superhero?

Unknown Speaker 49:54
Oh, my favorite superhero. Huh

Unknown Speaker 49:59
say my

Kris Macc 50:04
She's, she's, she is my twin soul. I am so deeply, deeply appreciative of the person she is, and the way in which she shows up every single day. And she's not only my mom, but she's my best friend. She's my therapist, and I feel so grateful to even say those things because I know a lot of people don't have that

Unknown Speaker 50:29
sort of

Kris Macc 50:30
experience with their mom. My mom knows everything about me, and I'm everything. And that is that's pretty terrifying if I were to even shed a very small percentage to my father or to anyone else, right. And I am incredibly grateful for her.

Junaid Ahmed 50:51
Yeah, beautiful. I love it. Right next up if you were a board game What would it be?

Kris Macc 51:03
It would be my own rendition of the game of life, but in a way that in a way that it was taken off, it's like almost as if Dr. Seuss created his own game of life. And each of the each of the different parts helped you to challenge yourself through a rhyming Limerick, of some sort of question that you had to answer for yourself, but it was like doing your own experience of self work. But told through a way that was so amusing that you were just

Unknown Speaker 51:39
pulled into this game.

Kris Macc 51:41
Yeah. And you didn't want to leave it and maybe it goes for a couple of days. Who knows? Nice and people can come in and out. There's no rules, essentially about you've got to stay here and go here and do this. It was it's, it's the game of life.

Junaid Ahmed 51:55
Nice.

Kris Macc 51:56
That's really there's no no one path. So there's a bunch of things. Pass

Junaid Ahmed 52:02
well, you know there are multiple or new board games coming out every month. Maybe could be something that you could work on after your book is done

Kris Macc 52:14
was actually I've never been asked that question before but I think it would be a really good board game Yeah,

Junaid Ahmed 52:19
yeah. Hmm Amen. All right last question. Where can my audience find you?

Kris Macc 52:25
Hmm great question. It's all Kiki connects. So Kiki connects dot one is o n e is my website and then Instagram is Kiki connects my YouTube is Kiki connects it's all Kiki the next Facebook I'm Kiki connects. And I love having new friends and new connections making new connections all the time. This is why my name is connects right? So please, please reach out to me. I would love to talk to all the humans that are listening to this and see what is in store for us because I think that if we open the container of Okay, cool What? What can we collaborate with? Or what how can I support you? How can you support me? We're continuing the ripple effect of all of us coming together in this time.

Junaid Ahmed 53:20
I love it. Thank you so much. That was awesome. Just like you've built your brand around Kiki connects. I created mine as Super Janae long time Yeah. That's right. That's that's, you know, that's what I call myself everywhere. But I like I like the way you've, you've you know, taking that and be like, that's my official name. I am Kiki connects. Next.

Unknown Speaker 53:51
Yeah, it's, it's happening.

Junaid Ahmed 53:53
It's happening. Thank you so much for your time. I really love talking to you. Next one.

Unknown Speaker 54:02
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Junaid Ahmed 54:05
Have a good one.

Thank you for listening to hacks and hobbies. You can find additional information on the guest today on their website hacks and hobbies calm. Please feel free to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss out on upcoming interviews with amazing guests.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai