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I'm Karen Glasser here and welcome to
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life on Cork and today we are doing a
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segment called Aging like a fine wine
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and I am sitting here with my good good
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good friend actor singer producer Joan
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Ryan welcome to the show hello there hi
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Karen I'm so happy to be here I am
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thrilled thrilled thrilled thrilled that
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you're here um you know you you have
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said to me many many times that there is
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never an end date to our dreams right
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that fear and doubt are always part of
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the equation when you dream and feel the
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fear do it anyways I have Goosebumps I
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only have Goosebumps when things are
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right so I just got goosebumps right
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right and this is how you've you've LED
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your life so let's talk just briefly
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about the Journey of getting from Little
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Joe and Ryan to where you are today tell
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us a little bit about that well let's
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see I've always always known that I
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wanted to a performer always from the
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time I was four years old as anyone who
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came to our family home would testify
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when I made them sit down and you know
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danced on the furniture um which took me
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to theater school which brought me to La
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um always thought that I would end up in
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New York and I worked here in Los
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Angeles all the time off Broadway Los
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Angeles recording around the country um
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and um and then I met someone and fell
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in love and we raised a family lo and
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behold here in La in La um and so I
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would leave for periods of time to go
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work but what can I say I love being
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with my kids and my husband so I would
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not take a Broadway show um because it
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would take me away for too long so um
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was that hard was that hard to say
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no um no because I always knew that that
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would come got I always had a really
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strong faith that when the time was
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right it would come and when our
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youngest left um for college my husband
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said okay let's go and we went to New
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York and it was pretty incredible within
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um Not only was it so much fun but I
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sang uh and produce a show at Carnegie
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Hall and I sang Center stop for a second
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you just kind of said that you oh yeah I
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did what was that like I mean that's
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pretty incredible to say that singing at
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Carnegie Hall was everything you would
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think it would be it was amazing um and
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it was very exciting because I got to
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produced the evening for um an
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organization very close to my heart um
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Shane's inspiration now called inclusion
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Matters by Shane's inspiration um so it
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wasn't only about me and it's
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interesting how that works right because
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I was having an amazing time living out
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my New York dream and my husband was
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there with me and right um and then this
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came about and it was the culmination of
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everything but it came about through
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something that was not about me so it
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was an incredible experience we had
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major Broadway people and amazing
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amazing I mean first of all a as your
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friend I'm so proud of you I just I just
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so so so amazing what's driving you
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right now at this stage in life and you
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know because things are changing right
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so what is driving you to keep on
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going well I think first and foremost I
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love it so much um about a year ago I
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did I was able to play um it was very
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exciting in a a carrian and louder milk
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Premiere uh Broadway musical I was able
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to play Ruth Bader Ginsburg just as
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everything was getting kind of crazy or
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continuing to be crazy um and I took
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that because I was so excited about
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about what it was and I do turn things
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down at this stage of my life that
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aren't exciting to me so I think what
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what motivates me is if it feels like it
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will be an incredible experience like if
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it feels like it will satisfy you know I
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always talk about that pilot light that
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doesn't go out right from the time we're
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little and I also think that you're
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never too late to go after that pilot
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light because you're God willing you're
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going to turn 90 80 100 anyway what else
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are you going to do you might as well go
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after what you want to do and it just
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might work I love that I love that and
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and I love you so obviously you're
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already being inspirational just in the
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words that you're saying but is there is
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there something that you know if
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somebody were to come to you and say
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Joanie you know how do you keep going
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like this can you give me something to
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motivate me to maybe do something
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different in this next stage what would
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you be telling people well it's not like
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it's easy and I also think it's really
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really really important to surround
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yourself with people that help you get
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there coaches inspirational people Rel
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whatever ever it takes you know I
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personally work with a coach um and I
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don't always stay with the same coach I
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might work with one coach and then I
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might move to another coach but it it's
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who is going to help me get to the next
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place at the time and also for me
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personally this is not necessarily
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correct for everyone I'm really grateful
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I have a family that I've work really
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hard to um for and um and there are
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times when my career didn't always come
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first and my family knows that there are
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times when my career comes first right
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and so they kind of drive me because
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they're like okay what's next time for
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you to do something because they know
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what that is for me so would you say
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you're Bic Coastal at this point you're
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you're spending part of your time of the
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year in New York and part of the time
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here in Los Angeles absolutely um go
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ahead sorry I said to my husband last
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night you know It's tricky because in
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New York what I love it's go go go and I
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can go sing and then go out for dinner
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with people and visit with all my
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friends and it's nonstop and then I come
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home and it used to be I would say
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re-entry is really hard um but then I
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was able to embrace it because that
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would be my downtime where I could
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recharge be with my family be with my
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friends that are here and then go back
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and do that non-stop pace and I used to
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feel guilty about not being at either
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place and then I said you know what it's
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really okay it works for me it works the
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family would would you say that this is
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the best time of your
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wow well aside from losses because
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there's lots of right losses at this age
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thise dying parents dying which sort of
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colors things no kidding um it's one of
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the best times in my life I don't uh I
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don't think I I can quantify that
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because going for Carnegie Hall was the
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best time in my life raising my kids was
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the best time in my life having babies
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um when the kids were small like so
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important really good question Joan what
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you're saying is that every moment can
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be the best moment of your life it's all
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how you how you decide to show up and
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you are always showing up very very big
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I mean because you first of all you for
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anyone who has never heard Joan sing
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shame shame shame you are known for your
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big voice you have a very big Broadway
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voice you did ruthless you were you know
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that was your your show here you you've
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been on television Young and the
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Restless you do voice you do everything
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and you do it in a very big way but very
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humble way you're very humble about your
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talent because you are extremely Talent
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so I guess the next question really
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leads us into what's next for Joan Ryan
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what do you what do you have on your
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well you know I I am Hy Louie and I do
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visualize all the things that I want and
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they seem to come to come true um I want
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another musical whether it's in LA or
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New York I'm ready but I'm going to be
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very specific because I did get one that
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I didn't choose to do but it was um but
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I did get it um I want a really fun
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fabulous part in a new
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musical and it could be La it could be
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New York that is what I want that's
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what's next in my and you want to have
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fun and you want to enjoy because when
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we get to this this age whatever age
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you're at I mean we're talking to people
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that are 50 60 70 80 whatever age you're
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at enjoy the stage that you're in that's
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right Joan I know that people are going
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to want to follow you if they aren't
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already again I'm GNA say shame um they
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need to go check out your website it's
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all new I know that you've totally
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redone it and it's joanes website at
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Joan Ryan .c you're also on Facebook
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atth officialj Ryan and also on
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Instagram at the official Joan Ryan any
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last thoughts you want to share with
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everyone who's listening to your amazing
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story I think the thing that I've had to
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against um and that I think so many of
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us have to be quite honest is self-doubt
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and if all the work in your life or a
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lot of the work goes there then
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everything else seems to materialize
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because maybe it takes getting to this
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age where you get to see the truth that
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everybody has self-doubt everybody has
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confidence it just depends on where you
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are at the time um I think I could have
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shortcut a lot of things or or had more
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fun when I was doing them because now
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it's kind of gravy now that's in my
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bones it's amazing how even my
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performances are different cuz there's
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not that Push Pull so I think that's
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where the desperation you're you're now
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you're now in it yeah I'm now in the
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good stage and then everything else is
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Right blessings well we've been talking
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to Joan Ryan who is aging like a fine
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wine and we are all here
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on on live onc uh go out give somebody
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an awesome day and we'll see you next
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time thank you so much Karen thanks bye