Arnaud: We're currently halfway through the road trip.

Catherine: I love how far we have gotten.

I've learned so much good stuff.

I still don't know what I want to do yet.

Blair: What you are passionate about and what you are driven to do and what your purpose is, doesn't always fit a blueprint, and you have to make that blueprint yourself.

And it's important to do that out loud so that other people can find themselves within you too.

Joana: I feel like my entireperspective has changed, and if this is only halfway through, then I don't know how it'll be when we come out.

announcer: How do I know which path is best for me?

Is it possible to take on these challenges and obstacles?

Where do I even start?

What should I do with my life?

Sometimes the only way to find out is to go see what's possible.

Since 2001, we've been sharing the stories of people who ventured out and explored different career paths and different possibilities for their futures.

This is one of those stories.

This is Roadtrip Nation.

♪♪♪ [phone alarm ringing] ♪♪♪ Arnaud: Time to wake up.

Joana: [Laughs] Arnaud: So we're currently halfway through the road trip.

Seeing how people have been able to overlap their careers with their passion is really inspiring.

Joana: Speaking with everybody has been very encouraging, but my future right now definitely still looks cloudy and I'm a little bit afraid of it, but I'm also just kind of tired of what I've seen before because, you know, I'm just a housekeeper but you know, one of my interests is interviewing and like journalism and like learning about people's stories and so I've been exploring my interests in that way and it's been really great.

Catherine: Bonding time with Joana and Arnaud has been just a blessing really.

They're really cool people and they're around like the same I guess, you know, we don't really know what to do with our lives.

But I definitely do know that there is a possibility with combining an interest to help people.

On this trip, I feel like it will definitely help me like get a new perspective on not only careers and interests but also just how I live my life.

♪♪♪ Joana: So here we are at the Tumalu Creek kayak and canoe and tubing place.

Catherine: How are you feeling?

Arnaud: I'm a little scared.

Joana: Why are you scared?

Arnaud: We just got a bunch of instructions.

I don't remember any of it.

Joana: I got a whistle, don't worry.

[whistle sound] Let's go.

Arnaud: Y'all ready to get into the water?

Joana: Yeah, let's get in.

♪♪♪ Joana: With the road trippers there's just this bond there that I've never had with anybody else, you know?

I feel like they're literally my family and I definitely can't live without them.

Joana: Woo, we did it.

Arnaud: Welcome to California.

Joana: Yay!

Arnaud: Cali-forn-i-a.

♪♪♪ Catherine: You know, everybody has their strengths and weaknesses like I'm a okay driver, but I'm a great navigator and so we all have a place here, and yeah, just go out of your comfort zone because I know for me this is a going out of my comfort zone experience and that's what it's supposed to be.

My name is Catherine.

I am from Orlando, Florida, and I'm 20 years old.

Catherine: Well, I'm really just I guess lost.

I always had like ideas of what I wanted to do like I really am interested in foreign service.

I really wanted to work with USAID, but you know that's not a thing anymore and so I'm back on the square one.

Something I know I really wanna do is just help others and so now I just really wanna take this time to explore what's really out there.

So my older brother is going the engineering route.

My twin sister is a finance person, and then my little sister is going the physical therapy route.

So having like your family going conventional routes, it does make me feel more intimidated when finding my own path because I think at the end of the day a lot of us want to make our families happy and then we want them to be proud of us, but it can sometimes kind of block us from like maybe what we really wanna do.

There has been a pressure of pick a career, go to college, get a good degree, be successful, and I don't think they really let us have room to really explore different career paths like obviously you have doctor, lawyer, journalist, like things like that, more conventional, but what about, you know, things that really aren't conventional?

Like, I can't sit in an office for the rest of my life and just crunch numbers or code or do any of those things.

Like, that's not me.

Trying to really trust myself and really be more confident in what I know I want and what I know I need.

I'm interested in entrepreneurship.

I've always felt like maybe a good thing to do is start my own business.

What business?

I'm not sure yet.

I'll figure that out.

Also modeling is something I always wanted to do but never had the confidence to do it.

The thing I'm most excited about about this trip is really meeting people who are in the shoes maybe we wanna step in or really seeing how they got there despite of like all their life challenges.

I really would love to hear like how they got through it and are they done like exploring or is it just, you know, one step in the road to a whole highway, you know?

Catherine: In San Francisco, we'll be visiting Jessica Rae, who is the founder of Rae Model and Talent Agency.

Jessica Rae: I started when I was 19 years old.

I opened my business, pretty early, and so two businesses that are under my belt, one is the Model and Talent Agency.

On the other end, I own a dance studio which you're in.

The roster of our teachers is around 50 instructors.

We're currently at this brick and mortar, and then I also service for parks.

So we're signed by the city of San Francisco where we're able to host free classes for all people of different economic backgrounds, not just people that can afford a class, but people also that can't afford a class.

So anyone can come in, all levels, all styles.

Catherine: Wow, I'm just like so impressed because you did that all at like 19, 20, 21 and just like, dang, I guess I'm behind.

Jessica: You're not behind.

There's a timeline for everyone.

You guys ready to dance?

all: Yeah.

Catherine: Excited.

Jessica: Six, seven, and single, single.

Catherine: I thought we were just gonna go in there and maybe do a little TikTok and then you'll be done with it, but she's like, "No, we're gonna do a choreographed dance."

I'm like, "I'm sorry, what?

A dance?"

I was like, Oh gosh, I just treat it like it was just dance.

But it was really fun and then she was like, "Let's do runways."

I was like, "Oh my gosh, okay."

So I was like definitely nervous, and then she was like, "Just do it," and I was like just go and I was like, you know, but actually going out there and doing it was actually really fun.

Kind of just gave me a little confidence to do it and be like, "Okay, let me try."

This is new, this is exciting.

This is so much fun.

Like my heart was racing.

It was just, I was up and dancing and moving.

I had such a great time.

Catherine: So what kinda pushed you to create your own business?

Jessica: Yeah, you know I've always been a dancer ever since I was a little girl.

I also-- I had a mom that she immigrated here and so she didn't have a lot of tools to keep me busy, but she always found free classes and so at a very young age I knew that music and dance and movement were in my blood and my mom really allowed me to do that.

She would just take me on the street and I would just dance with the street performers like for hours long and then she's like, "I really gotta put my daughter in some classes."

So she found a lot of these free communities hence why I do free community classes now.

I think it's extremely important to really support people of all economic backgrounds.

I decided to just continue at that.

By the time I was in college, I thought, you know what?

I really need to stick to this thing that I love which is called dance and so, you know, it's not like I woke up one day and I knew I was gonna have a model agency and a dance studio.

I just knew I was gonna be involved with the arts.

That's all I knew.

And if you're really in tune and aligned with the passions that speak inside you, then you can move swiftly through that and explore through rejections and through success.

[Applauding] Jessica: Hey look at that!

Catherine: Talking to her was incredible.

I knew like we were gonna have a fun time and we did.

You can just put yourself out there.

Like, look where she is now.

She's got studios.

She's helping the community out.

Like, she helped us out.

It's like you could start now too, like you know, build that confidence now.

And I'm like wow, you really can.

♪♪♪ Joana: Yeah, this is called... All: [Laughing] ♪♪♪ Arnaud: So after San Francisco, we made a stop in San Jose to meet with Mr.

Yosimar Reyes, who is the poet laureate of the county.

Joana: So, hi, my name is Joana.

I'm DACA recipient and I'm just trying to figure out what it is I like to do with my life.

I'm just here hoping to find and speak to people like you who have experience in that.

Yosimar Reyes: Yeah, so my name is Yosimar Reyes.

I am very blessed that I get to work in my passion, and I tell people and people are like, "Oh, what do you do for a living?"

I'm like, "I'm a poet."

They're like, "Oh, that's cute, but what do you do for work?"

I'm like, "I'm a poet.

I'm a poet.

I write poems.

I get paid to read and to write poems."

Joana: So how did you get into poetry?

Yosimar: I started writing poetry when I was 16 years old.

I am originally from the state of Guerrero, Mexico, and migrated to the United States when I was 3 years old, and I grew up in East Side San Jose, and most of my neighbors were undocumented immigrants, and so I would go to school and I would have started slowly unraveling, understanding that not a lot of people have the similar experience, that there was a difference.

And so I think at 16 I started journaling.

I would journal a lot of the frustrations that I had with my predicament.

I would journal a lot of things, and I think in that quest to kind of find the meaning of things is when I started to kind of write poetry, and it's always the English teacher.

I had an English teacher, Miss Topete, who was like, "Listen, you should like sign up to this poetry competition."

Somehow my poem ended up winning, like, second place or something, and I won like $75 or $50.

And I was like, "Bro, people pay for this.

Yes, I need to-- I can make money off of this."

And then slowly and slowly I started to develop my voice.

Now I'm a poet and I can say I make a living out of poetry, yeah.

Yosimar: Some days you just want to breathe.

And baby, I am here to remind you to sit in those moments, to sit in that whirlpool, but just know, there are people like me picking up the load when you can't.

There are people like me pushing, so the weight of this country does not crush you.

And there are people like you who will fight when I can't.

Arnaud: What role do you think poetry plays in a time where there's a lot of like very real issues and like things fit against us, like, what role can poetry play and is it a weapon?

How do you view poetry?

Yosimar: I think poetry, it is-- it's a weapon and a medicine, right?

It's a weapon in the sense that you can activate a community, you can activate this passion, you can-- and you hear a poem and you feel like, "You said everything that I needed to do."

And also it could be a medicine in the sense that now that I'm older I'm understanding that my community needs softer poems.

We need love poems.

We need poems that remind them of like, hey, stay still.

Maybe you need to rest and then I'll take on the battle right now.

But I think the biggest thing is voice.

I think now you're teetering into why you're doing it, what is your purpose in the artwork?

I may not be the best poet.

I may not be the most eloquent writer.

I may not be that, but I do have voice, and I think that is the distinction.

I am representing a voice that showcase undocumented people with dignity, with values, that we are not bending backwards for anybody, and so that is a distinction in my voice and that people gravitate to.

Joana: I've struggled a long time.

I went through a period where I was like pretending to deny my heritage because I just wanted to be a part of, you know, be here, you know, because I don't know anywhere else.

I came when I was 8 months old.

It's so hard because I feel like my entire life has been just me trying to prove my existence to people, and I think I'm at a point where I'm like I'm tired and I don't wanna have to keep suffering for the things I love like when that's not what I have to do, you know.

When your entire lineage, when your entire culture has suffered and all they've known is suffering, it's like, I don't want that to be continuing, you know?

I want it to stop with me.

So thank you for saying that because it made me cry.

Yosimar: I think that's also the other thing, the guilt.

We come from communities and communities of color, sadly, that we see work as labor intensive.

Like you need to do physical work to in order to be valued in our-- I'm speaking for me as an immigrant, as an undocumented immigrant.

I was taught that my work was heavy.

I need to do construction.

I need to do all these other things, right, industries that have labor.

But then I was like, "Oh, I wanna do work that exercises my mind, and the labor happens in my head."

I think that for you this quest on this trip is something really huge and I'm grateful that you're able to do it and I-- my dream for you to come out of this is to know that by you just simply existing and living and being an example of someone who has never given up, you have already fulfilled the purpose.

So many of our communities would not dare to be on this trip.

So many of our communities would not dare to take that risk and by you activating that, I think you are showing as an example.

There is a certain thing and then it needs to be said that the things that undocumented people have is because we worked for it.

I'm here out of my own labor and my own sweat.

Nothing was really given to me and so I think through breaking the ceiling we were not supposed to be storytellers.

We're not supposed to be publishing books.

We're supposed to be day laborers.

We're supposed to be farm workers and yes we're workers, but we're artists, we're poets, we're philosophers, we're thinkers, we're musicians.

We're all of that.

We can be all of that and all of that is valid and respectable work.

Joana: It took a stake to my heart and just like, you know, but I felt like I was just meant to listen and just let him speak to me.

He just looked at me in my eyes and was like, I see you, I hear you, I understand, and that's not all you are.

And I think after that, that's when I was like.

I need to take myself more seriously because if I don't I will be stuck where I've always been stuck because I'm more comfortable in being a laborer because that's all I've been conditioned to be.

So now it's about pushing myself through the uncomfortable and being happy with trying to be more than that.

Yosimar: Be the master of your own story.

Arnaud: I love that.

Catherine: Thank you so much.

Yosimar: Perfect, gracias for stopping by.

Appreciate y'all.

Chula, doll, let's go.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Catherine: In LA we're gonna visit Blair Imani, who is a content creator, activist, and the creator of Smarter in Seconds.

Blair: So my name is Blair Imani Ali.

People know me online as the Smarter in Seconds lady, and it's so fun because I have ADHD, so I get to hyper focus every day and pick a different specialization and work with people from all over the world and cover different topics, whether it has to do with disability, or gender, or race, or human rights, and it's really fun.

I get to be myself every single day.

Blair: Hey, smarties, today I'm on set filming Smarter in Seconds.

My assistant Cat is here.

We're going to be filming some behind-the- scenes looks, and I can't wait to show you.

Catherine: How did you like get into it?

Like how'd you say social media is like my place?

Like how did you, especially with like, you know, your interests, your passions, et cetera.

Blair: The year was 2020 so, All: Oh [Laugh] Blair: I was just kind of frustrated because I felt like there was so much happening in the world and there was a lot of conversation that was being missed and one thing that I was really sad about was the lack of understanding and so I was like, "Okay, well what if I just assume that the reason why we have all of this horrible oppression and everything is that people are just gravely misunderstanding each other," and so I kind of went from that very generous approach and it wasn't until reels came out on Instagram and that I was like, "Oh, I'm good at talking fast.

I'll just do that in video form."

But it was also a moment where my friends were talking about what they were gonna do on their videos, and they were like, I'm gonna do like dance videos, I'm gonna do get ready with me videos, I'm gonna do makeup videos, and I was like, "I'm not good at any of that.

How am I gonna fit into this?"

And so it was like matching the tool that you have with your passion and your purpose and making those two things the same thing, but it felt very difficult at the time because it didn't exist before.

So I was like making a new thing.

And hoping it was going to go well and trying to trust the process at the same time, and I just started with simple stuff like, is it more respectful to say Black or is it more respectful to say African-American, or like, what are pronouns in the first place and different conversations like that.

And then it evolved to me doing sketches, and it evolved into me, you know, bringing people on and hiring different creators and working with folks from all across the world, and now it's my full-time job.

Arnaud: That's beautiful.

Catherine: That's awesome.

Arnaud: When you started out, did you ever imagine you would be in this position now where it's a full-time job and like did you imagine that?

Blair: So, okay, when I was a little girl, so let me be really honest, when I was a little girl, I used to wish on every birthday cake to be famous, and I tell people that and they're like "red flag," and I'm like, I understand people might think that, but I think, you know, in hindsight and through therapy, I figured out that it was because I was often the only kid who looked like me growing up, but what did I want in real life?

You know, like, what did I actually want?

I didn't just want fame, right?

Because that doesn't really mean anything.

I wanted people to know who I was when they looked at me, because I was tired of getting stared at.

I wanted people to recognize me for my work, and I wanted to make a impact.

I wanted to be memorable.

And now people call me the smarter in seconds lady out in the world.

And so you really have to figure out what's beneath that tool and get to that purpose.

Joana: So you have done a lot with your life and clearly the main piece is your passion, following your passion constantly.

So what advice would you give to people who are unfamiliar with that who want to pursue following their passions but aren't quite sure like how to do it, where to go or what it looks like.

And also just people like us who don't really know what we're doing next.

Blair: Well, I feel like y'all are doing a great job of not knowing what you're doing next, so you're doing a lot in a good direction.

I think that something that can be barriers to knowing what you wanna do is things like financial stability, security, safety, but letting go of this idea that it has to look one way like, if anybody ever tells you that you have to go to college to be successful, don't believe them, please, 'cause there are so many people who have not gone to college and been successful, or who have gone to college and done something completely different.

There are a lot of people who told me that I shouldn't write books because I don't have a master's degree.

I still don't have a master's degree, but I wrote three books, and then I became a content creator, and now I have my own show, so it definitely wasn't linear.

I definitely followed my passions and I followed side quests, but in a weird way it was all leading up to me doing what I do now.

But one thing that's really important to emphasize is that this job didn't exist before.

And so maybe figure out what you're passionate about and then figure out the format you wanna do, right?

'Cause I'm not an Instagrammer, I'm an educator.

And so I can educate in a classroom, I can educate online, I can educate anywhere.

And so, sometimes, when young people tell me they wanna be a streamer, I ask them what that means.

A lot of times it means they wanna be seen, they wanna be popular, they wanna be well known, they wanna have their own name.

They don't wanna have to work for somebody else.

And they want freedom.

But I think sometimes it freaks parents out 'cause they're like, "No, not a streamer!"

You know?

Heavens no, pearl clutch.

But you have to think about what's behind that, and what your passion is.

So what I ask always, as a follow-up question is, "Okay, well, what will you influence?

What will you stream?

What will you YouTube about?

What will you vlog?"

And then you get to learn, "Oh, I wanna travel!

And I wanna show the world all these places because I love travel, I love meeting other people," "Oh, well, I love video games, and I really love the art of video games," and then it turns out that they're actually an artist and they wanna design video games.

And so that's how you get to the deeper understanding.

And so my advice is to figure out those things that are underneath it, and that way you can really hone that skill.

For me, it was communicating with art and words, and that's what I do all day every day.

And so it's just a reminder that sometimes what you are passionate about and what you are driven to do and what your purpose is, doesn't always fit a blueprint, and you have to make that blueprint yourself.

And it's important to do that out loud so that other people can find themselves within you too.

I hope these books help you figure out a little bit of your trajectory, just give you a little encouragement, but never expect to come to an educator's house without getting homework.

So I will expect a book report.

Catherine: Sure, bet, yes, give me a deadline.

I work best with those.

Joana: Yeah, thank you so much.

Joana: It's the last day of the road trip.

I have been sad and I cried a little bit about it, but seriously, I couldn't have picked anyone better and more perfect to have this part of my life shared with.

I can't see another moment of my life without you guys being involved in it somehow, so I came looking for answers, but then I was like, oh, I'm not looking for answers anymore.

I think it's about being in the moment and like actually being here and observing where I'm at and appreciating who I'm there with and the feelings I'm sharing and it's been so nice to have people who like are in the same boat as me.

Arnaud: Yeah, it feels really special what we've done and like the conversations we've had, the people we've met, the places we've seen.

Catherine: It's also what we can do and what we can like give back as well, like with our communities even through like any other road trips that go on here it's like are people just watching, you know, we give encouragement because I know like some people watching also could be like us and like so many people showed us that too.

Like we literally can do anything.

Lisa Jackson: Over the years I have kind of removed the idea of a purpose and more of focusing on my passion.

What's fun?

What do I enjoy doing?

I really enjoy teaching people because I wanna take what I've experienced, what I've learned, and hope that it becomes a light bulb moment for them the way other people have been light bulb moments for me.

Erin Andrews: I started a chocolate company without chocolate.

Nobody does that, but I tell entrepreneurs that sometimes you zig to zag.

Don't let perfect get in the way of good.

Sometimes you just have to start.

Arnaud: I feel like before the trip it was less clear to me what I can do.

Whereas now, I have no excuse.

I just need to put the work in, put the time in and just remember what I am doing things for.

Through my different gifts I can use them to help others and to help my community.

It makes it clear to me that I just gotta trust the process, pursue my passion, hone in on my art and believe that ways will be made.

Joana: These past 3 weeks I feel like I have gotten more confident.

I feel like I've gotten more comfortable with being who I fully am and like the whole circle of who I am, not just one part or feeling like I have to hide a part of me or anything, but really just living in my authenticity.

I don't think I can live any other way now.

Catherine: I want the young people watching to know that you can do what you wanna do, whether you wanna be a Twitch streamer, whether it be a artist, just know that you can do anything.

It's possible.

I got support for trying my new things and you can too.

Like, just get out there, put yourself out there, just try.

Joana: Really, just believe in yourself and trusting the fact that there is more for you than what you know and I think that's what I want people to really just ask themselves: are your dreams really worth nothing?

I wanna leave people with that question: How much do you value your dreams and your happiness, you know?

And how much are you willing to do to get there?

announcer: Wondering what to do with your life?

Well, we've been there and we're here to help.

Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path, and you can check out all our documentaries, interviews, and more.

Start exploring our ROADTRIPNATION.COM.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪