Never in a million years would I ever thought I would have to make an episode about this, but in today's episode, I talk about the time a gym bro tried to recruit me into his MLM/pyramid scheme. I'm gonna tell you all how our conversation went down, what MLM's and pyramid schemes are & how they work, and figuring out what the red flags are and what to do if someone tries to recruit you into their shady business.

Shoutout to my friend Madeleine (Maddy) Petti for helping me with some of the notes I've written for this episode!

VICE News Lularoe documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6eujSJ0-RU

Refinery29 Lularoe documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwhPqG9qB3g

Amazon Prime documentary: 'LuLaRich'

Follow the podcast:

http://bio.fm/connectxiiipodcast

Follow Micah:

http://jemi.so/micahxiii

Hello! It's been a while since I last shared an episode and I do apologize for my lack of posting.

I want to share a conversation I had with my little sister a few months ago. We were discussing a controversial topic related to race via text message, and she pointed out something I had said that didn't sit right with her. I'm grateful she brought it up because I realized my comment was prejudiced towards a marginalized group I don't identify with nor was born into. Instead of wallowing in disappointment, I decided to take accountability, record an episode, and talk about an important issue that's not frequently discussed.

In this episode, I will be discussing what I learned from my conversation with my sister and how we need to work on ourselves to combat not just internalized racism but also internalized prejudice towards marginalized groups. It's concerning how we're conditioned to normalize harmful stereotypes towards marginalized groups based on race, religion, sexual orientation, and more. Even as a queer Asian person, I didn't realize how ignorant and uneducated I was about American history and the stereotypes that were made against people like me and many others outside of my identity. It makes me cringe every time I think of how many people in the past told me, "Oh, it's just a joke! It's not that serious. Don't take it too personally."

I hope this episode can start a conversation about how we can better hold ourselves and others accountable for our words and actions related to these important topics. Let's continue discussing the prevalent issues revolving around marginalized groups and work towards creating a more inclusive and just society.

Follow the podcast:

http://bio.fm/connectxiiipodcast

Follow Micah:

http://jemi.so/micahxiii

The following episode contains sensitive topics including mental health, depression, and sexual assault. Listeners' discretion is advised.

One morning, Micah was scrolling through TikTok when all of a sudden, he bumps into a content creator where they discussed the concept of "no one owes anyone anything" and how whenever people ask for their love to be reciprocated, they end up being demonized and accused of it by being called 'narcissistic' and 'manipulative'. And in this episode, he opens up about his personal experiences about the hardships of building and maintaining relationships while also questioning the idea of whether or not holding someone accountable when a relationship becomes one-sided is a bad thing. He also goes more in-depth on how he navigates relationships through mental illness and how it plays a huge role in how he sees people as well as the world around him.

Huge shout out to @thisisnefertiti and @actually___alex on TikTok for inspiring us to make this episode!

Follow the podcast:

http://bio.fm/connectxiiipodcast

Follow Micah!:

http://jemi.so/micahxiii