SPFPP 330: Support Calls, Yoga, Conferences, Workshops, Podcasts, Newsletter, Research, & More OH MY
Welcome to a special edition of the Something Positive for Positive People Podcast. In this enlightening episode, we dive into the comprehensive range of support and educational programs offered by SPFPP, designed to empower and support individuals navigating the complexities of herpes and other STIs. Discover the depth and breadth of our services, starting with personalized Herpes Support Calls, where individuals can share, seek advice, and find solace in a confidential setting. Learn how our unique Yoga Therapy, rooted in Restorative Yin, offer a sanctuary for healing and mindfulness, addressing the emotional impacts of stigma. We'll also cover the enriching experiences provided by our Conferences and Workshops, which serve as platforms for education, connection, and empowerment. These events are tailored to shed light on sexual health and wellness, encouraging open and stigma-free conversations. Dive into the world of our Podcast, where we share stories, insights, and interviews that resonate with our community's experiences and challenges. The episode will highlight the value of staying informed and engaged through our Herpes Newsletter, which brings the latest updates, stories, and opportunities right to your inbox. Additionally, we touch upon our involvement in Research, aiming to contribute valuable data and insights to the broader conversation around sexual health and stigma. This episode is an invitation to explore the full spectrum of resources and support offered by Something Positive for Positive People. Whether you're seeking personal guidance, looking to expand your knowledge, or eager to connect with a community that understands, SPFPP is here to support your journey toward healing and empowerment. Join us as we outline how each program can serve as a step toward a more informed, supported, and positive life. If you're looking to dive deeper into any of these areas or want to support our cause, visit www.spfpp.org for more information on how to get involved or utilize our services. Thank you for tuning in and becoming part of our continuing journey to destigmatize herpes and enhance sexual health education and herpes support worldwide.
Episode 330 Transcript
00:00:00
Courtney Brame: Hello, welcome to Something Positive for Positive People. I'm Courtney Brame. Something Positive for Positive People is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides various support resources for people navigating herpes stigma. Uh these are yoga, meditation, restorative yin classes specifically designed to um help people manage the emotions of their diagnosis. Um we have this podcast that essentially serves as a research tool for uplifting the experiences of people navigating herpes stigma for the sake of integrating them into sex education and STI prevention resources. This intervention program we call stigma minimization. Uh we train and offer workshops for health care organizations to learn stigma-free language and communication skills when working with patients in relation to STI. All right, it has been quite a while since I've recorded a podcast and let me tell y'all, man, this episode I'm not really going to talk about herpes. This is more of an update uh for everybody who's listening. There is a conference that I'm putting on May 23rd from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
00:02:09
Courtney Brame: Central time. It's virtual. Everyone should be there. Uh right now only health care professionals are registering which is a great sign. But this isn't just for them. And I'm very much concerned that the people who this conference was for uh aren't going to really be able to get the benefits of what's required for you to be there. Like us, we need representation. We need ourselves to show up. And as I'm looking at the email addresses of people who are registering, it's different departments of health. It's uh people who work in clinics, Planned Parenthood emails, um sexual health associations, even the CDC. Somebody put a CDC email in there. So, uh it's great that the organizations are showing up for what's going to be presented at this conference. I have Dr. Evelin Molina Dacker who serves on the board of Something Positive for Positive People. She is a family physician and also created the stars talk uh that I use to um tell everyone how to go about disclosing their STI status to a partner which is really a discussion.
00:03:24
Courtney Brame: So she's going to be presenting on the topic of stigma in healthcare. So her presentation very much is aligned with the health care professionals and giving them tools and resources that they need in order to support patients uh through a diagnosis. Um giving them understanding of how to take a history and they'll people will be able to ask questions as well about this process. So it's nice that we have this medical professional representation there. We also have Nikita Fernandez who is a sex therapist and psychotherapist. uh she will be speaking to stigma from a mental health perspective. I told you all I started this podcast 7 years ago because people with herpes wanted to end their lives because of their diagnosis. And so as I've been uh working over the years learning about the intersection of sexual health and mental health, I finally found someone who is comfortable not only sharing like from a professional perspective, but uh she's open about having herpes herself. So, you'll be able to ask someone who's in that professional setting questions as well about, you know, navigating the work life balance of talking about herpes and uh also living with it, especially with clients because we got to understand like this is a very sort of triggering atmosphere.
00:04:44
Courtney Brame: Um, to be in stigma and then also to have to speak about it to somebody else who's in stigma because we can kind of trigger each other, right? And then um unfortunately our keynote um is unable to deliver the keynote. So I will be now presenting the keynote and we've also reached out to uh the No Shame in this game film Jolene Jolene Hernandez. Uh she's gonna show the documentary at the conference. So I have to restructure the schedule a little bit and also make space for the American Sexual Health Association to have a window of time so that they can make an announcement as well. So I am uh going through the process of learning what a data analysis is and putting that together in the presentation. This will be the most data driven uh information that I'll ever have gotten. Um unfortunately Dr. Lex Brown stepped down from the board of directors. Um, but fortunately she's on to really huge things and she's now the president of the American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists ASAP.
00:05:53
Courtney Brame: And uh, so big shout out to her. Like, I'm so proud of her. Uh, we're both from St. Louis or lived in St. Louis. I don't know if she's from there, but uh, we met like pre-pandemic. Uh, did a podcast episode, stayed in touch, and she was so supportive uh, being on the board. So, I'm happy to see her move forward into other endeavors. So, right now, as far as the data analysis goes, um I have a new potential board member lined up who's got her masters in public health. Um and we have to just vote on it. We're going to look at her CV and uh make sure that all of the board members find her to be a fit. And this is who along with some uh community members, right? I put a call out that I needed help. And so I heard from some of the Something Positive for Positive People community members uh who are in data research and they're going to help me with uh formulating and structuring the data in a way that I can present it.
00:06:50
Courtney Brame: So I don't just go up there and talk like I do on the podcast. So this ain't a podcast episode y'all. This is a conference like a whole six hours of the day conference. and this ain't the only one given the success that I'm seeing for it now as uh we go into the public health setting and the STI prevention space to invite these healthcare professionals, nurses, nurse practitioners, public health people, uh those who do any STI testing, that's who's coming to this conference. So, I'm really excited to see that. Um, but I made this announcement here in this episode because I really want people who have herpes to attend and these are opportunities for people to ask questions and get information. And while uh we're not talking about a cure, we're talking about stigma, right? And I think that when we reduce stigma, just let me give y'all an overview of my thought process real quick. Okay? When we are able to reduce and minimize the impacts that stigma has on our psychology, on our emotional health, we are able to change the stigmatizing behavior out there.
00:08:02
Courtney Brame: That stigmatizing behavior might be as soon as you're diagnosed, you start taking antivirals on a daily basis, right? So, who's to say that when you're stressed, your behaviors change because of your views about yourself now that you have herpes or changed? Who's to say that that won't change your uh need for utilizing the medication? If you don't need the medication that exists and I mean let's be honest the medication isn't all that great either then pharmaceutical company sales have to go down or what needs or well that will happen but what has to happen in response to that is that we get better treatment that we get something that more effectively reduces the risk of transmitting the virus or passing it on to someone else. um we might get a vaccine for people who don't have herpes who might enter a relationship with someone who does. They can look at, you know, what the uh data is on it and then move forward, you know. So, there's a possibility of that.
00:09:08
Courtney Brame: There's even the most base level uh the likelihood that we just get better education in that we have a consistent test that just says yes, you have herpes or no, you don't have herpes. Simple as that. So, that's where the advocacy efforts are right now. And I bring up the conference because this is eating up a tremendous amount of my time and I am seeing that this is where my time is most needed. Um I didn't expect to have to learn how to perform a data analysis or to present the keynote myself. So that kind of suddenly occurred and that added a little bit more to my plate on top of teaching the yoga classes, running the podcast, the one-on-one support group calls, applying for grants, and I'm also in the process of moving. I will be moving out to the East Coast, um, New York City or somewhere close to New York City, like in the New Jersey area. Uh, really just depending on the availability of a space that's within my budget.
00:10:11
Courtney Brame: and I am going to exclusively run Something Positive for Positive People and then periodically uh do the genital exam. So for those who don't know, I used to work as a standardized patient. Um I still do technically through April. There's a couple of things coming up that I signed up for, but I put my notice in for my job at Oregon Health and Sciences University. Um I was expecting to have to go home to St. Louis for a few months um to house it, but something happened with that and I will no longer be doing that and I'm currently waiting to hear back from yoga therapy school uh which this will be an 800 hour program uh if I get a scholarship or not. So I was accepted into the program. Now it's a matter of do I need to pay for it or not because that's the deciding factor. It's a very expensive program and I do believe it's worth the investment. But for running everything as I am now and then transitioning into this move and only running Something Positive for Positive People that I need a little bit more stability before I could make any sort of financial commitments beyond just paying rent and the bills and groceries and things like that.
00:11:29
Courtney Brame: So, um I am nervous. I am excited. Uh but I'm constantly being validated that this is the move. This is the move. Um I hosted a disclosure workshop in person in New York City and we had 10ish people who showed up in person virtually. uh we had 26 people online and then there were a total of 60 people who registered. So that's really good. Um for perspective, I put together an event in Portland using the same like format and one person showed up and then another event that I promoted hosted uh one person registered and the cost of the venue and everything just wasn't covered. I was losing way more money than what would have been made as a result of carrying through that particular event. So, um I'm very much seeing that that East Coast move is the move to be making. And I remember last year, it was last August 2023 when uh I was traveling.
00:12:42
Courtney Brame: I went to a herpes support group in San Diego in August and I was still living in Portland. So I went to that and then I went to New York for I believe it was the No Shame in this game documentary showing and when I was there there was also a festival going on in Brooklyn and I was there and I just felt something. I couldn't really describe it but I was smiling a lot. I like talking to people. I was saying what's up. There's just like this unspoken undercurrent of understanding and peace and unity. And after that trip, I moved. Well, I didn't move. I got back to Portland. And when I got back to Portland, that feeling was gone. I was like, man, what was that? And as I walked outside and went through my routine, um I noticed I realized what it was. And it was uh that feeling of connectedness through culture.
00:13:39
Courtney Brame: I'm a Black man- And I don't know if y'all realize that if y'all only listen to the podcast, but uh I was in Brooklyn. I saw a lot of people of color. Like there weren't a lot of uh white people. Not to say that, you know, there's any issue that I have with, you know, seeing white people, but I just didn't realize how affected it um I was where I am and being in predominantly white spaces or environments where there aren't people who share similar undercurrents. And I think that that's what it was. Like on the surface, I am what I say well spoken, right? Uh, I would be allowed at the uh I'd be allowed at what's the equivalent of a family barbecue for white people. I can come into the business setting. That was wrong. I should have said that. But um, no, that feeling hit me and it stuck with me and I couldn't unsee it once I saw it.
00:14:38
Courtney Brame: And now I realize just how important culture is. And I think that I've known that I've been very lonely in Portland over the last two and a half years. And I even made an attempt to move back home to St. Louis to alleviate that loneliness. But a friend of mine, AJ, said this. He said, you know, you ain't going to never feel at home if you don't feel at home in your own skin. And that hit me, you know, and my environment can be conducive to that. Now, don't get me wrong, Portland, I've been very successful here. I've been able to save a lot of money. I've been able to take care of my health, which I didn't even know I had health issues until I was able to get here, get health insurance, and learn about diabetes and learn about blood pressure and change my diet up to the point where I've actually lost like 30 lbs. I didn't even know I had 30 pounds to lose, y'all.
00:15:33
Courtney Brame: Um, but just as a result of taking care of myself and reading food labels and cooking more of my own food and minimizing my portions significantly. Like I realized I was eating up for like five people and I ain't need to. So I'm feeling good. Uh, the last two and a half almost three years. I think I've been in Portland. Yeah. Since 2021 it will be a little bit under three years before I head out. So, I'm leaving in May, uh, May 2nd. Like I said, I put my notice in at work. My last work day is May 1st, and I'll be doing the genital exams at NYU. If all goes well, I have to go out there to observe and see where I'm at with my training in terms of the way that I've been taught to do it versus the way that they do it. And then I'll be able to start. So, I'm really looking forward to that.
00:16:30
Courtney Brame: But, um, more importantly, like I said, this is what I'm doing. I'm running Something Positive for Positive People fulltime. And this means all those things that I complained about and I've been frustrated about like with the grant application process. Um, I'm really leaning into those. I'm leaning heavily. There are no grants that exist at this point in time for herpes organizations. There are resources that exist that can help me with putting this out there and being seen by people who can support us monetarily, who can support the programs. right now. Um, if you listen to the previous episode, I talked about the six programs that we're running, the one-on-one support calls, the yoga classes, the workshops, the in-person community events, the research survey data, the podcast, and then the training for health care professionals. So, as I say it out loud, I realize I do it a lot and I try to downplay it. try and save face and make things, you know, look a lot easier than they are, but they're not, y'all.
00:17:41
Courtney Brame: This is not easy. Um, it is aligned for me, so I have energy to do it. I don't feel myself burning out in any way, shape, or form. But I recognized that I took a little bit of time away from the podcast because the podcast itself um when interviewing people is easily a five-hour process between vet finding a guest, vetting the guest, talking to the guest, making sure they're comfortable with being on the podcast. Um and I minimize that process by creating an intake form on the podcast tab of the website. So if you are someone who wants to be a guest, you can fill that in and I'll reach out to you as we get closer to that next season. But um or two interviewing people again once I'm settled in. But as of right now, this is what I got. I got to like from five hours to one hour cuz I press record, I know what I want to say, I'll say it. I know that I don't need to edit anything that I say.
00:18:39
Courtney Brame: So, this is one hour for me to do this. And consistency has been so important to me throughout this process. And for the last 3 weeks to a month, uh, I chose to not produce any more podcast episodes because it didn't feel like that was the most revenue generating thing. And right now I need to generate revenue. So the conference is doing that significantly for us. This is very helpful. And uh while this virtual conference is seeming to attract more health care professionals, uh I'm in the process of cooking up an in-person conference for the fall. It'll be toward the end of September. Um the theme of it is something about the spectrum of pleasure and safety. Feeling that once we're no longer quote safe, right? Like, we can't have safety and pleasure, right? Like when we are about to have sex and someone goes, "Oh, wait. You got to put a condom on." And someone's like,
00:19:39
Courtney Brame: "Condoms are no fun." But I don't like condoms. Right? But we want to explore being able to experience pleasure and do so in a way that is safe so that we can really amplify the experience for ourselves and our partners. So, uh, that's what I'm cooking up. It's like not on the surface right now, but you as podcast listeners deserve to know that. And I think that this particular audience is, you know, the most engaged, most likely to show up uh to things. And I really would like to extend an invitation to you all to explore these free events, explore these low cost events, explore things live. I am uh recording some of these workshops. I'm recording uh the conference and I'll make that available on the website but it's going to be something that you have to pay for and so as you see on social media as you hear in these podcast episodes as you see on the website and in the newsletter please if you have not please subscribe to the Something Positive for Positive People monthly newsletter.
00:20:46
Courtney Brame: Um that's where you'll get the updates you'll see the upcoming events. You'll see the turnout from previous events and you'll see what's happening right now. You get to see where these donations are going. You get to see what programs uh are being funded. Um, and I'm using this moment really to just kind of like share with y'all and be real. Like, yo, this has so much potential. Like, I get excited and I get passionate like, I'm feeling myself creating tears of excitement, right? The conference is going to be phenomenal. The yoga classes um I'm on today. I'll be teaching the fourth class in the cohort of the letting go series. Um and these class sessions I want to call them sessions. Well, no, they're classes because they're groups. So, classes are for groups, sessions are for individuals. So, if you would like to book an individual private yoga session with myself, um you can go to the offerings tab of Something Positive for Positive People and you can purchase sessions that way.
00:21:53
Courtney Brame: Uh there's a discounted rate for if you buy them in bulk. Uh if you need me to travel to you, I'll do virtual, but I also do in person. So, for those who don't know, just like a lot of people don't know, Something Positive for Positive People is a nonprofit. So, I have to reiterate that a lot. I get asked, "Oh, is this a nonprofit?" Like, where does it not say that this is a nonprofit? Right? So, as far as the yoga classes go, so in 2021, I got my yoga teacher certification. I started yoga uh teacher training class in 2020. Um I was able to complete the uh requirements for that. And then I went into a 300 hour training and I was able to get that for myself. So, I am 500 hours certified to teach yoga. I've been incorporating yoga into the podcast, into the nonprofit, into the support offerings that I have for people, but I've never just broadcast that and taught classes until very recently.
00:22:51
Courtney Brame: So, uh I do get continuing education credits. Uh my own insecurity about teaching yoga classes is uh a fear of dishonoring or uh being disrespectful, dismissive or avoiding the Sanskrit the uh history and what yoga is at its core. And that was my own thing. And I realize as I do these continuing education hours that this is my yoga. It doesn't look like Pilates. It doesn't look like, you know, perfect form and poses and wearing Lululemon. It looks like this. It looks like intentionality and action. It looks like detachment and commitment. It looks like honoring the highest truth. And yoga has been super supportive to me since my diagnosis. And 11 years ago, wow, it's been 11 years since my diagnosis 11 years ago. And I live in such a way that um I think that if I can put it into um customize it, customize doesn't feel like the right word, but I guess that is it.
00:24:12
Courtney Brame: Tailoring it to the experiences of somebody navigating herpes stigma. I think that this can be the most healing thing that we can have right now. Um, the yoga classes that I teach are yin, meditative, restorative, and I do utilize the David R. Hawkins mechanism of surrender, letting go. Uh, I talk about some of those techniques throughout the yoga classes, so that we can alleviate ourselves from the most harmful impact of having herpes, which is the stigma and the emotions that we fuel the stigma with. Right? So, as we begin the process of letting go, what begins to happen is, excuse me, uh what begins to happen is that those emotions don't have that power over us anymore. And we can use that energy that we have to keep the emotions at bay to be creative and do other things and be more attractive and have the kinds of relationships that we want and the careers that we want. So, um, I have a yoga tab on the website spf.org/y org/yoga talking about the benefits of it.
00:25:23
Courtney Brame: And there's u on there there's I don't want to call it an article but eight ways that yoga can help with herpes. And I need to provide some statistics because there are studies about yin yoga uh and yoga in general on stress management, the neurology, the behavior change uh and I think incorporating some of that onto the website will be a major selling point as well. Shout out to Jordan, one of my board members as well for bringing that to my attention. But yeah, it helps with stress and anxiety reduction, mind body connection, community building if we're taking classes. It's holistic health. Uh there's a lot of education and awareness even through it and these uh yoga therapy sessions. Again, I'm really hoping for this uh I'm really hoping for this scholarship, y'all, so that I can begin to offer yoga therapy, which the difference for that is it's a specialized yoga therapy session and provide personalized personalized is the word that I was looking for, support to address a specific physical or emotional challenge related to herpes.
00:26:28
Courtney Brame: And so, uh we've got we're going to be creating more online yoga resources. So I have three classes that are up now. So if you are a member of Something Positive for Positive People, you will have access to those classes. You will be able to take them as often as you need. Um you can uh reach out about private sessions as well for discounted rates if you are a member of Something Positive for Positive People. So um and I'll be putting classes up online once I'm settled in. I'll be in New York or New Jersey. I still don't know exactly which one of those yet, but uh once I'm settled in, I'll be able to have a consistent schedule. But right now, I just need to get through this conference, y'all. And so, uh yeah, another thing that yoga does, integration with counseling and support services. So, whatever you're doing on your own, yoga is not taking anything away from that, but it more so can help integrate a lot of what you might already be doing for yourself.
00:27:26
Courtney Brame: So, if you visit the yoga tab, you'll see my credentials. You'll see my uh Yoga Alliance certification. I have like a little number there to let you know I'm legit. So, if there were any concerns about this dude with a podcast now all of a sudden teaching yoga, you ain't got to worry about that. Um but yeah, um I'm still asking for donations. I'm still uh needing that. I am able to pay myself and I really got to work on this, y'all. It's really hard for me to pay myself because a lot of what I do with the donations that come in revolves around getting in front of health care professionals. Um, that's the best use of my time. So or the most effective use of my time. So since, you know, 2019, I've gone to health conferences on a regular basis, networking, communicating with people in that field and built connections that have turned into speaking engagements for $2,000, $3,000, $5,000.
00:28:27
Courtney Brame: But the thing is, I'm spending that money on getting to the conferences. And so that's how we were able to raise uh last year uh $60,000. Now granted, one of those was a massive donation from one of our board members, Dr. Evelin Dacker. So, thank you to her. Shout out to her. Um, but the donations that come in are typically like I… Everything that I do is donation-based. And with donation based, I think that I've done a lot of things for free. So, I'm not able to do that anymore. Um there will be uh offerings and opportunities for people to attend things at no cost. But as far as the support calls go, like people I've recently gotten a $10,000 a month grant for Google Adwords. So, we're able to run a digital marketing campaign for when people search herpes or something like that and they find Something Positive for Positive People and they find information and they have questions, they want to reach out, they do reach out and I have a call with everybody and I this list is running.
00:29:36
Courtney Brame: I have a process for intake forms. When people say they're available, I schedule it. I call them, we talk, you know, 30 minutes, an hour, two hours, whatever is needed. And, you know, I used to say used to because I stopped doing this yesterday. say, "Well, if you found value in this call, please just make a donation. Consider making a donation to continue to support our efforts." And more often than not, I'll say seven out of nine times people don't donate. And I also have people who miss calls. You know, I schedule it. I block it off. I'll not go to the gym. I'll not eat yet. I'll not do something for myself because I expect, oh, you know, this person said scheduled a call, so let me have the call with them. And then they just don't show up. And I get it. You know, we're frantic sometimes in that place.
00:30:29
Courtney Brame: But it's very important that I do respect my time, my energy, and the way for me to do that is to unfortunately put a price barrier there, a cost per barrier there. like you have to make a donation before I schedule the call. That's it. That's it. Um, and you know, this doesn't change anything for people who, you know, regularly make donations and like to reach out with questions and stuff like y'all keep doing what y'all doing because y'all keep the lights on, right? So, our operating expenses, um, and I say this with transparency, like right now there's no public record of this kind of stuff because there's just not enough money that comes in for, uh, us to have to track it and then be, um, present that to the IRS or anything like that. So, um, right now, I think the annual operating expenses are $3,000. So, if I were to step away from Something Positive for Positive People, everything that exists right now in order for it to remain existent is $3,000.
00:31:32
Courtney Brame: I am setting a fundraising goal to be able to pay myself a sustainable salary to be able to continue to expand on his services. between the yoga classes, the training of health care professionals, the speaking engagements, the support calls, which the support calls, there are a lot of support calls, questions and conversations, um the workshops, the conference, the community events, like between all of those things, those things take manpower, they take time, they take people, they take a person, you know, right now it's just me. I teach the classes. I host the podcasts. I facilitate the workshops. I reach out to the people. I try to organize events. I do marketing. I do fundraising. I host the calls. That's me and I'm built for it. I'm not complaining about it by any means. I'm just this is a heads up of what's to come as I make this shift into only running Something Positive for Positive People and then teaching genital exams probably like 10 days out of the year.
00:32:36
Courtney Brame: And that's just that's just to have that additional money coming in because I ain't gonna lie y'all. Like I said, I might be excited, but I'm scared. I don't fear, you know, being out on the streets or anything like that. Like I do I have people to take care of me, but there is a fear that what if I can't what if I what if I fail, right? There's a healthy fear of failure. What if I'm investing in this fully as my purpose and you know after doing that I find out it's not my purpose. You know what if my purpose is whatever is on the other side of this after it fails and I have to live with the consequences of that. And that's a real fear. That's a real fear that I have. And I hear every day how great my work is. And you know, even one of the things that brought me back here was I always get this message from somebody.
00:33:39
Courtney Brame: They always say, "Courtney just saved my life or somebody's life that I know. Please don't ever stop doing what you're doing." And I'm like, "Man, I can't ignore that. I'd be spinning in God's face if I were to ignore that because it always happens right after I start having those doubts. And while uh I I wrestled with this before the last time, I was like, damn, if this wasn't a nonprofit and I didn't have all these tedious things to do and I only ran this as a business, I would make so much more money. And the reality is that that doesn't align with my values. I really don't believe that there should be a cost to healing. Um I believe that and I'm struggling with this. I'm as I'm going through more of the yoga stuff like even yoga like should be free which yoga is free right but what costs are this is what uh sad guru says he said uh the electricity that runs the yoga studio or facility where yoga is being taught the food that the yoga teacher provider practitioner has to have uh the the shelter the clothing the um the things that come with being able to offer yoga as an exchange.
00:35:00
Courtney Brame: And so when he said that, you know, it made me realize that regardless of how I want to… I want to help everybody, but I have to do things that, you know, cover those things. And here I am right now with a thing, Something Positive for Positive People that can in fact cover those things. like this platform itself is a space where a lot of the things that I ask for donations for and money for people are able to find on their own for free if they're willing to look at the website and look through it. So, um I do have to put price barriers on some things, but there are things that will always remain free. This podcast is going to always remain free. Um the information that exists on the website, that will always remain free. But when it comes to the things that require me to give my time outside of where I'm putting it, uh those things can't be free. So the scheduling of calls, the private yoga sessions, um if you need that support, if you need help with disclosing, I am going to ask you for a donation first.
00:36:10
Courtney Brame: I'm setting that expectation now. Uh there are options on the website if for any reason you are just completely unable to pay uh or make any contribution a tax-deductible contribution to Something Positive for Positive People to get what people are describing as lifesaving, life changing enlightening um help support resources then I think you should come back when you are in a place where you can and I don't like that there wasn't an ickiness to me saying that. I don't like it because it does feel like I'm becoming more of a businessman. And there's somebody I talked to about this regularly. If you're listening, I bet you just had a little chuckle right there and said, "Yeah, you are a businessman." Um, but yeah, I do have to take this. I do take this seriously, but I have to also be mindful that I have to take care of myself as well. And so taking care of me looks like putting these boundaries in place, right? like donating first.
00:37:14
Courtney Brame: There will be plenty of opportunities. Y'all got to keep up. And the best way to keep up is going to be to subscribe to the monthly newsletter on the website. If you don't know how to do that, send me your email and your name and I'll get you added myself. I will put that time in myself. If you're unable to go to the website and see that popup that says subscribe to our monthly newsletter or at the bottom of the page on each tab where it says subscribe to our monthly newsletter. All right? because that's where you'll be able to find out about the free events that are occurring or the low cost events because everything that I do that you have to check out afterwards is going to have a high cost associated with it and that's just that's just what it is. All right, so um I think that that was enough of an update really. Um I want to see y'all at the workshops.
00:38:04
Courtney Brame: I want to see y'all at the conference. I want to see y'all at the events, the social stuff. I want to see y'all um at the live podcast recordings where we have those. And yeah, uh the yoga classes. I want to see y'all everywhere. I want to see y'all at everything because this is a community. This is a community that is actively prioritizing its healing. That's what's happening right now. And the more involved we are, the more involved and more engaged and the more expansive we can be. Right? So, I'm looking forward to this shift and I feel good about it. Like, as I teach the yoga classes, as I do this one-on-one podcast or this solo podcast episode, um, everything's really coming together. It really is. And for a minute, it felt like it was all over the place, but it's so much more manageable now. Now that I have a streamlined process and I feel confident that there are price barriers that are going to, you know, unfortunately there might be some people who really need it who genuinely don't have it and in those one off special cases like reach out to me.
00:39:09
Courtney Brame: But generally like the people who pass through come get one time like energy take without making any contribution like I have to protect myself from that because I have to protect my community from me burning out and not being able to continue the expansion of what is the go-to sexual health resource for people navigating herpes stigma. People need this and I feel very confident in my ability to deliver it. So, I thank y'all for listening. I thank you for watching if you're watching this as well. Um, thank you for your membership. Uh, you continue to keep the lights on. These monthly memberships are like they are a blessing. Y'all are taking a huge burden off of me. Uh because like these were costs that I had to cover and like I said like so much of what I do is networking. It's traveling and being around these healthcare providers and letting them know what herpes stigma is doing to people. And sometimes I'm heard, sometimes I'm not, you know. So, but thank y'all. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Um and till next time, uh I'll see y'all on the other side. Just register for events. The offerings tab and the events tab are going to be where you can see things, but it's most important that you get on the newsletter. Please subscribe to the newsletter. It's a monthly newsletter where I just send out updates. That's all. All right. All right. Till next time.
