SPFPP 333: Help Me Help us
You asked about how you can help SPFPP expand well here it is! I believe we've found ourselves the best way to minimize stigma by directly going to the educators and STD/STI prevention workers. They're the ones with the credibility and just need to understand where we're coming from with our experiences with stigma. Perhaps equipping them with our resources will create the shift we need.
Here my ask is just to tap into your networks and let me know how I can offer these organizations the ongoing support resources to help them best serve patients and clients utilizing our community's collective shared experiences, data, podcasts, and I'll lad the trainings and workshops. So aside from the membership for individuals, SPFPP now is offering organizations access to our library of workshops to learn to discuss HSV with patients in the way they express wishing they were talked to when they got their diagnosis.
We're talking about stigma minimizing communication, education, and more. Check us out for best practices for delivering a diagnosis, teaching patients to discuss sexual health, best options for managing emotional health to minimize symptoms and more by joining.
So let your health care providers know about me and let me know who I need to connect with to offer these herpes resources too!
Episode 333 Transcript
The Upcoming Herpes Stigma Conference
00:00:00 Courtney Brame: Hello, welcome back to Something Positive for Positive People. I'm Courtney Brame. Something positive for Positive People is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides herpes support resources to people navigating stigma. Um, I do a lot of things and I'm narrowing it down to the things that are most impactful. I'm teaching yoga. I'm hosting this podcast. I'm conducting research. I'm putting events together, running support groups, uh trying to host workshops and educational things as well as training healthcare providers, y'all. But, uh, as I mentioned before, you know, stepping away from this podcast was probably the biggest mistake that I could have made because I think that this is in fact what, you know, people are finding to be the most impactful thing to them. So, I plan to remain consistent in producing podcast episodes. I have a list of podcast guests. Fortunately, I started to put out an intake form for people who are interested in being interviewed. So, I have that to follow up on and I'll be bringing guests back uh after the May 23rd herpes stigma conference, which is virtual.
00:01:51 Courtney Brame: Uh you can visit www.spfpp.org/conferences org/conferences in order to register for that today or it's just on the homepage when you scroll down you'll see the conference I put it everywhere important so that you'll be able to very easily find it access it purchase tickets and register for the conference uh at this conference we have four presenters and also as an added bonus this is a new addition we'll have the no shame in this game film documentary screening uh it's a 22minute documentary afterwards the producer of it, Jolene Hernandez. Uh, I'm in this documentary, too. So, you get to get uh see me on camera, you know what I'm saying? In my element. But this was back in 22, y'all. I was looking rough. I ain't have my bar. I was cutting my own hair. But it was great. Uh, it was just an artistic expression of what people who have herpes are experiencing, right? And yeah, it's beautiful.
00:02:48 Courtney Brame: I don't want to give too much of it away, but that's a bonus for the conference. That part will not be recorded because this is something that uh the way that she shows it is through experiences. So, it would be like stealing her work and making it my own if I were to record that. But Dr. Evelin Dacker, who's going to be speaking to health care providers on what's necessary to take a stigma-free sexual history, Nikita Fernandez is the sex therapist who's going to be speaking to mental health components of herpes stigma. We've got Dakota Rampen who's going to be talking about uh stigmafree education and uh I'm myself am going to be delivering the data analysis. So uh you've got four great workshops as well as a documentary as a bonus. I want to shout out Wisp the American and Sexual Health Association and Affirm in Arizona uh sexual and reproductive wellness for all uh for being our sponsors of the conference. And yeah, thank y'all for making it possible to make this thing happen, y'all.
00:03:51 Courtney Brame: Like, my first conference is happening May 23rd from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Central time. Uh, get your tickets today. All right. So, as I mentioned, I'm doing a lot of different things and narrowing it down to uh like how I want to run Something Positive for Positive People has been a journey. It's been a journey to say the least. And I thank everyone who has been here for as long as you have. Um I thank you to anybody who might just be listening to this. And today actually um I reviewed the analytics for the website because the web traffic has been going crazy. Roughly 200 people are seeing Something Positive for Positive People's website uh per day. Uh and they're all going to the same web page with frequently asked questions. So people are looking for answers to herpes related questions because I guess they just aren't getting them and that's how people are finding Something Positive for Positive People.
Pivoting to Healthcare Professionals
00:04:51 Courtney Brame: Um and with that what I'm starting to learn between that and then looking at who's purchasing tickets to the conference I'm seeing a lot more health care professionals. Uh, I'm learning that it's not through people with herpes that stigma is going to end because it's a self-perpetuating cycle of stigma keeping people from doing the things that I'm doing. For instance, I'm happy to talk to people about herpes stigma. I'm happy to talk about, you know, the falsehoods and the misinformation, but not everyone is willing to do that because of stigma and fear of what people will say about them because of fear of people thinking or finding out that they have herpes themselves. So, my angle adjustment after speaking to my homeboy who's uh we work together, he's one of my closest friends. um we were talking today and he was like, "Hey, you know, I might be thinking 20 steps ahead, but why aren't you, you know, providing this information to health care providers?" And I think it's because I had a very negative experience when I first
00:06:02 Courtney Brame: started the podcast, uh reaching out to health care professionals and just hearing no and like, oh, we only can provide information from credible resources. Now, you know, look at Something Positive for Positive People here 7 years later, an established nonprofit organization that's up to the IRS and secretary of state standards and all of the states that we have operated in so far. Uh, I think that the credibility might be there. Uh, having IRB approval for the most recent survey gives us some credibility there as well. So I'm able to offer, you know, these survey data statistics to healthcare organizations for them to share. And in fact, I'm already hearing from people who work in uh organizations that they are sharing these resources. So what I'm putting together now is and you know, y'all can approach me now. If you're a nurse, nurse practitioner, if you're someone who does STI testing or you do the treatment diagnosing, please reach out to me because I am actively right now putting together uh subscription uh options for healthcare organizations to have them be able to empower people who are living with herpes with the resources and education and information that they need to go on and make whatever decisions they want to make.
00:07:28 Courtney Brame: Uh, oftentimes I talk to people with herpes for the first time and they're like, I wish that my healthcare provider would have given me these resources. So they go on to find me after however much searching they do or however they search for me. And if they happen to find me now, they can ask these questions and get the answers that they need. uh all of the workshops that I create, all of the events that I've tried to put on and like granted it's on social media. So social media and me don't really get along as of lately because of the sex education, sexual health, um the the barriers that are there and the restrictions that social media is appearing to put on sex related content that isn't, you know, entertaining, right? So, um, that's been a challenge of mine and my target audience being health care professionals who serve people with herpes, I think makes a lot more sense than me trying to run this organization exclusively off of individuals' donations, trying to look for funding.
00:08:33 Courtney Brame: Um I think that what we have to offer is something that is unique and uniquely useful to nurses, nurse practitioners, public health professionals and organizations who you know wish to have more accurate uh sexual health related information in regards to herpes and minimizing the impacts of stigma. uh these are the people who I believe care more who have more credibility as well and can benefit from a lot of these workshops that I host that I invite people to where I try and talk about you know herpes disclosure uh the intersection of sexual health and mental health and how we can go about um minimizing stigma not just within ourselves but within the education system within STD prevention within youth education Um, these are all things that alongside training and simulated experiences for healthcare providers to practice hands-on taking a sexual history, communication skills with patients. I believe that these are the initial touch points where stigma can be minimized. It can be addressed. It can be uh alleviated. And we see that there will be people who come away from their doctor's appointment a lot more empowered to navigate stigma than they have been historically when working with healthcare providers.
00:10:06 Courtney Brame: So, I'm saying this because if you are someone who works in an education facility, if you are in STD prevention, uh I I please send me the contact information of the person who I would need to speak with about creating this subscription to Something Positive for Positive People so that we can have access to and you know have ongoing access to these herpes related resources because I'm finding that a lot of healthcare providers really need that added support and individuals really need to hear uh you know what it is that I'm saying from a healthcare provider and I can't do it all myself like the health care field uh I think looks down on me or has looked down on me historically because I don't have letters behind my name. No, I didn't go to medical school. I'm just a person with a passion, a sense of purpose and I give a damn. And because I give a damn, I'm willing to put my experiences out there and call in people, you know, who are struggling with stigma and give them what I know to give them and offer as means of support, which is what my yoga practice has been over the last several years uh in offering this presence, offering this healing and extending, you know, what's been useful to me to the people who are navigating this themselves.
Authenticity and Standing Your Ground
00:11:26 Courtney Brame: And I'm understanding that that's not for everybody. And I get it. Um, I had someone reach out to me overnight. Uh, filled out the one-on-one donation-based support call form, gave me their email, phone number, name, why they were reaching out, and I got that information and I emailed them, and the email came back, you know, hey, wrong email address. So, I sent them the text. I was like, hey, I saw you filled out the form. I got a different email address. Uh, just reaching out to let you know if you want to schedule that call, once your donation comes through, we can set up the time and day to have the call. and they responded, "Oh, I'm sorry. You must have the wrong person. Uh, I didn't do that. Don't contact me again." And, you know, I was sitting there and I was just like, "Okay." And all day it bothered me that I said, "Okay." Because initially,
00:12:14 Courtney Brame: like, I had a response. I wanted to be like, "Hey, don't insult my intelligence." like I you don't get that far and that thorough of and through a process of something and then tell me I got the wrong person and you know I had to sit with that for a while and like ask myself like why was it so important for me to respond or say that and it was actually you know my girlfriend she was like no just say okay leave it alone so I just was like all right and then time passed and of course I felt like I needed to say something but I was sitting in one of my yoga therapy Um it was a webinar on the chakras of business and the second and third chakra uh they were speaking to really like brought back up my thoughts about this and it was very much out of alignment as me who I am to have just said okay or to have not addressed you know the elephant in the room at all.
00:13:10 Courtney Brame: So, I responded. I actually responded and I said, "Hey, you know, it really doesn't feel good to me to have responded in the way that I did because that's really not who I am. And I don't know, you know, what you might have expected from me, but I have to respond." And here's what I have to say. Like, I've been disconnected from where you are at this point. I didn't want to go and trigger them about herpes or anything like that. So, I was just vague enough to where they knew what I was talking about. I've been disconnected from where you are. You know, when you're newly diagnosed and you know, you do a brave thing and I just apologize for or I didn't apologize. I said I acknowledge that. That was a very brave thing for them and I thank them for reaching out and being willing to have a conversation with me even if you know they might have gotten a little bit of cold feet at the end.
00:13:59 Courtney Brame: So I just acknowledged that and I was able to say when you're ready I'm here. that felt more in line with who I am, which is what this workshop that I was attending was speaking to and the importance of consistency. And I realized like for seven years now, I've been consistent up until a few months ago when I decided to put the podcast on pause while I tried to do everything else but the thing that really sparked my creativity and I was excited about it. Like I love… I do enjoy yoga. I enjoy teaching the classes. Um, but I had about 11 people show up and I'm gonna be real with y'all. For the letting go classes, I had probably three people show up. Um, I invited a couple of other people privately and these were the people who showed up. So, I mean, I might have had attendance at four or five of the classes out of what's up right now is 16 or 17. Yeah, 17 classes are up right now.
00:14:55 Courtney Brame: Um, I've got three more to do before the week is out. Yeah, I got three more and that's it. And it was really discouraging for me, right? Like that was one of those things where it felt like it was a great idea. It's a direct service to the community. We're offering opportunities for people to engage with one another. It's something that's useful. I was able to justify it as being supportive to sleep as well as emotional health, which have been shown to us in the survey to be main triggers for people having outbreaks. So, I'm thinking I'm doing this bomb thing, right? And it's really hard to get people to show up. And I have to remind myself, right? Like to me now, it's about building community because that to me is the cure. We're not going to get a cure for herpes, but what we can do ourselves is cure stigma.
Letting Go of What Doesn't Work
00:15:46 Courtney Brame: And when we cure stigma, what happens is we make herpes irrelevant because it's really only relevant when we have to tell a person or when we have to deal with the symptoms. And if we're taking care of ourselves in a way where we don't have to deal with the symptoms, then when we tell a person like we're confident and we know what we want and we know the quality of the person that we're telling, it's not going to really be a concern of the anxiety that comes with having to disclose our status to a new person, right? Because once we're in a relationship, when do we really have to talk about it at all? Like if we're in our ideal situation, herpes is not an issue. And if our body is in its ideal situation, herpes is not an issue, right? So, I just let this person know like, I'm here, you know, reach out when you're ready. Uh whenever that may be, and if not, if you're not ready, then that's okay, too.
00:16:39 Courtney Brame: But that felt so much more like me. And I recognize that I've been doing a lot of s*** that's not me, y'all. Like these the grant applying applications. I keep saying that, but like that's how much I've been holding in because it's not it it's burning it's burned me out. And when I recognize that I'm going in five different directions and all of them are not the direction of, you know, really doing the things that I want to be doing. I want to host my podcast. I want to do my yoga, you know, or teach my yoga. Um, and the education, I love talking, right? I enjoy, you know, the educational component and the person-to-toperson engagement um and the training for the health care professionals, right? And I'm figuring out a way to really bring that together and bring that into the mix so that people don't like I don't have to ask people for donations and if people want to donate then they can.
00:17:33 Courtney Brame: So looking at organizations who have funding who have funding that is to be allocated towards these educational workshops and things like that that I'm offering through Something Positive for Positive People. Um I think that that's the route that I'm going to go and commit to. The money’s out there, the people at the organizations who find value in the work that I'm doing and the information that we have. Um I think that this is for y'all, right? Like when I talk about how to disclose, when I talk about these statistics and the communication components, like there are trainings and workshops, there's like dozens of trainings and workshops that can be hosted off of the survey that we did for people with herpes alone. And there aren't any herpes resources out there. There's not herpes organizations that are out there. There's a lot of social media influencers. There was an organization uh a nonprofit that was out the um Project Except uh was for people with herpes and unfortunately uh they are no longer running.
00:18:39 Courtney Brame: They're I don't know if it's public information or not, but I talked to the uh executive director founder about it and she said that they're they're not doing that anymore. They're just not. Let me just leave it there. Uh so, as far as I know, I'm the only nonprofit organization that exists in relation to herpes stigma. Um that, you know, there are others out there that are advocating for cures, but herpes stigma, herpes education, right? Like the more accurate and real information we get, I think that the less relevant stigma is. And at the very minimum, we can get to a place where there's more accurate testing. And with that accurate testing, more people know yes, they have herpes. No, they don't have herpes. And with that, we have more understanding of, you know, the likelihood of getting it. We have more people who are willing and able to talk about it, who are more accepting and understanding of what the potential outcomes are.
00:19:46 Courtney Brame: You know, if you do have herpes or if you don't know if you have herpes, right? And understanding that condoms actually don't protect you from every single STI that exists. That's another really key component to this whole thing, y'all. And a lot of people don't understand that for whatever reason. I don't know. Um but as a one-man army, I think tapping into my network of health care professionals, public health professionals and offering this subscription format is like becoming a member of Something Positive for Positive People and being able to offer what incentives that includes. Um, I think that the expansion of that will allow for Something Positive for Positive People to grow and expand to where there can be more of these community functions uh that draw in people to come be part of a community and not do this thing on their own or not navigate stigma on their own, but to find community and make herpes stigma just completely irrelevant. I believe I can do that and I believe that like I'm I feel very strongly about this.
Upcoming Events and Securing a Future
00:20:56 Courtney Brame: I had conversations with two of my board members so far about this particular idea. Um and now I'm putting it out there because here we are podcast episodes and need to put this out and now having this podcast episode out there's uh accountability. All right, accountability is now in the works uh as a result of me saying it. So now this is what I got to be doing. So um I have the conference coming up on May 23rd. Uh I also have oh I also released the September 29th conference that's going to or expo that's going to be in NYC. This is just called the safe sex expo. Uh and it's on September 29th. More details will follow. If you go to the offerings tab of Something Positive for Positive People's website spf.org you'll see there that the early bird tickets are on sale. We've got uh workshop play shops that are going to be presenting on the spectrum of safety and pleasure.
00:21:54 Courtney Brame: Like people think that uh when you try and incorporate safety into pleasure that it takes away from pleasure or the more enjoyable or pleasurable something is like the less safe it is. So we're combating that. We're integrating safety and pleasure into some interactive, engaging and communicative workshops that we have as well as uh vendors. So, if you're someone who is connected to somebody who'd be a great fit for something like that as a sponsor, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Um, I'm doing this in collaboration with Jolene Hernandez, who is the producer of the No Shame in This Game documentary film. Um, and we're combining resources, our connections to make just a day of play shops, of vendors, of community, of celebration, and if we get enough money, food, and refreshments. So, um, yeah, y'all, I was worried for a while about Something Positive for Positive People. Um, I'm losing members, you know, which is sort of expected to happen, but like, you know, I don't know that I'm really giving members anything because I make everything available and accessible to everyone.
00:23:08 Courtney Brame: Um, and the only thing that people don't pay for are things that they hear me talk about if they listen to the podcast on a regular basis, right? So, I don't have a solid business model as far as getting donations, as far as, you know, retaining memberships. So that's just that's just what it is. Um I don't know what else to say about that. Like I am reaching out about having things organized, but then randomly a person every few weeks might show up to a support group and be like, "Damn, where is everybody at? It's just me and you." and they'd be disappointed because they expect, you know, more people like me or like them who are part of Something Positive for Positive People because they want to see more people that are like them and at a place where they want to move through stigma, right? Um or just just some sense of community, right? Like, I'm really advocating for this sense of community and we have that, you know, as people one-on-one listen to the podcast episodes for themselves or as people engage with Courtney one-on- one, right?
00:24:17 Courtney Brame: But what happens when Courtney's removed from the equation? Like, is there just no more community? Is there no more person for you to reach out to and share and open up to and be able to express, you know, hey, this messed up thing's happening. I had this situation happen. Uh I have this disclosure coming up. How do I go about moving forward with that? So I think I need to, you know, sort of clone myself among health care providers by producing workshops, offering a library of resources, um handouts that can be distributed directly from health care professionals, providers. Uh and um yeah, that's that's the plan. Um, I'm gonna take some time to work on that. I have a very busy upcoming week and a half, y'all. I'm moving to New Jersey. I saw my place. It's real. Um, I'm going to be moving to Payic, Northern New Jersey. Um, I'll be more easily accessible to get to New York City.
00:25:16 Courtney Brame: Uh, I saw them tolls are like $17 or something each way. So, I will be taking a bus. I'll be busing back and forth to New York City and commuting that way. I still don't plan on having a car. Um, but who knows? I mean, yeah, the way that things are shifting with Something Positive for Positive People, uh, I might even be able to get a physical location. Like, I'm very much manifesting that. No, I don't necessarily need it at this point, but I'm in yoga therapy school. I would like to be able to have a space for people to come into for yoga therapy, even yin yoga classes, right? Ain't nobody coming to the virtual class. And here I am talking about hosting real real classes. Ain't that crazy? No. But uh people ask me how they can support me and I always say like there is nothing we can do without money.
The Call to Action: Help Me Help Us
00:26:09 Courtney Brame: So make donations. Yeah. But I think what's more important to me right now is that the health care organizations that you're connected to, that you like, that you think need work or that you think can get behind uh being someone who can contribute on a monthly basis to mind you y'all, we're nonprofit. Like Something Positive for Positive People is a nonprofit. This isn't a for-profit thing. So this is taxdeductible. All the money that comes into Something Positive for Positive People is tax deductible. And so the organizations that I'm advocating to be able to provide resources, workshops, and training for those who are on the new subscription plan that is rolling out as we speak. Um, these are taxdeductible. You can write this off on y'all's business taxes. So if you're an independent, you know, uh, private office, uh, if you are even a Planned Parenthood, uh, I've got connections. So, I'm reaching out to my people who I'm connected to already uh to see about, you know, what I can and what kind of value I can add to these because when I'm hosting these workshops, I want to be able to pay guest speakers to present on their area of expertise.
00:27:24 Courtney Brame: I'm connected to very reputable um health care professionals who can speak to the science of herpes, transmission rates, and things like that. Uh but I think what's most important is the experiences of people living with herpes and being able to translate that to uh health care providers so that when they go on to take histories, deliver diagnosis that they do their part in minimizing stigma as well. So uh I've been doing a lot of things like presentations, workshops for other people, but I think it's time to just have that be in house, y'all. And if you want to help grow Something Positive for Positive People, I really think that it's important that you know if you don't want to share among the public, like I said, the people who are looking for the information will find it. Um, I think that the health care organizations need to be on the Something Positive for Positive People membership. Um, these are going to be different tiers than our normal everyday members, uh, different offerings. So if you are already a member, there's no need for you to have these resources that I'm talking about for health care professionals.
00:28:37 Courtney Brame: If you are an organization, please reach out to me. If you're part of an organization, like ask me because it's coming together as I'm going along. Um I have some very important things that I need to iron out over the course of the next few days. But believe me, by the time the conference is here, I will be saying, "Here's what this membership looks like. Here's what is on there now. Here's what you can expect moving forward. These are my goals. Like I said, I spoke it. This is what I'm choosing. And we are here, y'all. We are here." So, that Letting Go series, if you are currently a member, you should be able to log into the um the letting go tab. you'll be able to access all of the yoga classes there and watch them one by one move through the process of letting go. I'm in the process of also writing a book.
00:29:28 Courtney Brame: So, the outline for the book is complete. I'm waiting on my publisher to get back with me with feedback so that I can write it up differently and we'll have an ebook out, the Something Positive for Positive People letting go of herpes book or it'll just be by Courtney, right? So, uh, we're going to be letting go of herpes stigma, y'all. So, if you want a membership, remember events are free. You get this kind of stuff for free. Um, as just a thank you for being here, for rocking with me, because I don't know what I'm doing. I'm figuring it out as I go. And y'all been here. Y'all know, y'all know I went from trying to I've been paying for people to get therapy. I've been hosting these support groups to teach yoga to the podcast, right? and you're watching this organization refine itself in real time. And I think that's a very beautiful thing.
00:30:19 Courtney Brame: It's very beautiful to see y'all be part of this. I've been looking at the analytics and we have a little over 10,000 subscribers. Um, and it's interesting because with Apple and Google Play, like it you see the subscriber count, people don't actually press the subscribe button. What happens is people come back and listen to the new episodes and that's what it sees. So my RSS feed shows me that 10,000 people regularly come back and listen to podcast episodes again and again but don't press the subscribe button. Don't leave reviews. Right? And these are the things that grow nonprofits. So, like I said, um yeah, y'all, as you I understand where you're at. I understand how difficult it is to get involved, how difficult it is to make it real by taking an action that puts you out there to the world as being connected with this nonprofit organization, right? Like, yeah, you might send me a message and then delete the thread.
00:31:30 Courtney Brame: You might accidentally follow me, hurry up, and unfollow me. You might make a new account, say something to me, follow me, and then go away, right? But those things, you know, I guess they're like energetically doing something, right? But realistically, if you want to get involved, you want to do something, the smallest thing you can do is just tell me who I need to talk to. Tell me who is a decision maker at this healthcare organization near you or that you know somebody at or that you're aware of so that I can just pitch them. Let me give it a shot. Just give me a shot to be able to pitch these organizations with this money that comes in. I'll be able to put these workshops on for the health care professionals so that they can treat y'all better. And when they treat y'all better, they also are talking to the people who don't have herpes and giving them the information and education that they need to go on.
00:32:24 Courtney Brame: And when they have someone disclose to them, they know how to respond, right? Like these are the kinds of things that I'm doing that I struggle to get people to show up to. So podcast weekly um support groups I need to know that people are invested and coming. So the members of the Something Positive for Positive People uh membership like I can hear from them but it's mostly women and a couple of guys. And if y'all are wanting a support group that meets, I can do it every other week, one for a men's group and one for a general population group. And then I can teach the yoga classes as well. Um, but if there's no interest, I'm not going to do it. And I'm only doing this for members. I'm not going to do this like pop up every now and then. Whatever I do is going to be consistent. I am very much honoring consistency after this conference because I've been all over the place sporadically for way too long and I'm getting my life in order.
00:33:32 Courtney Brame: I'm getting things together. I have to be more structured and streamlined, especially coming at these organizations and expecting them to, you know, essentially fund my purpose and allow for me to be able to continue to do all of these free things for the community, such as reach out to interview podcast guests and bring these additional values and offerings directly to the general population of people who might find this podcast and be able to offer these support calls and everything else. it is that y'all are finding to be useful and valuable. Um, yeah, I thought I was going to come here and talk about something else, but I guess it was really heavy on my spirit to ask y'all for help, right? Like this is my ask... My ask is that if you are connected to health care facilities, organizations, like tell them about Something Positive for Positive People. tell me who I can email there or call there and talk to, who might be willing to hear me out and make a case for why they uh what they would get out of and why they should be members of Something Positive for Positive People and what kind of resources we have to make accessible to them to be able to serve their patients who are navigating herpes stigma.
00:34:51 Courtney Brame: Like, holla at me. All right, that's my ask y'all. Um I appreciate y'all. Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode. If you like this, please rate, review, subscribe, and I again, I understand where you might be. So, I ask that you just follow through on my ass for me, y'all. Follow through on my ask ASK, not ask, ass, right? I think that's what it sounded like. I said, um, September 29th in person, New York City, it's going to be an expo, Safe Sex Expo. Go to the site, buy your tickets now. This is early early bird pricing. We got speakers, vendors. We're looking out for those. We're looking for people who want to volunteer. It's going to be at HitMeUp Space in New York City. Uh the virtual conference, the herpes stigma conference is May 23rd. Please buy your tickets as soon as possible because this thing is going to be great.
00:35:44 Courtney Brame: It's going to be great. I'm looking forward to it. Um, I'm actually in the process of working on my presentation and condensing the information down to what I believe is going to be the most valuable to the attendees so far. We got the St. Louis County Department of Health. I've been trying to get in these people's like radar for so long and I don't know what it has been. I think that it partially has to do with herpes just not being a priority. I don't know. But uh I think things are about to change after today. Mark my words, y'all. It's April 24th, 2024. And I had these ideas today. Let's see how soon we can get it. You know, who's to say we can't get 5-10 organizations on board with the Something Positive for Positive People membership. And before long, you see that our survey data is being handed out to people uh right upon diagnosis.
00:36:38 Courtney Brame: our yoga classes and our podcast is being handed to people on a card or something like that. I don't know. I don't know. So, I'm working on it. Thank y'all for supporting me. Here's how y'all can continue to do so, even if behind the scenes in a way that I believe is as incognito as possible. Um, I thank y'all. I love y'all. Appreciate y'all. Uh stay tuned for more episodes of Something Positive for Positive People, especially where I'm not, you know, just talking about my experience and running this business. Um also I have like a column I guess I'm a columnist on p****** Sexual Wellness Center now. So I have like seven, no eight. I'll have eight articles in May, early May is when the most recent one comes out, but I have various articles about herpes and like aspects of herpes stigma on there. I looked up and was like, "Yo, I'm actually a writer. I'm over here as a herpes stigma writer,
00:37:38 Courtney Brame: y'all." So, if you look me up on the p****** Sexual Wellness Center, except Texas, cuz I think they banned p******. And I'm sorry, y'all. I'm sorry y'all. I can't get there. But I'm on that thing, y'all. I'm on it. So, bear with me over the next um month. Literally month. Oh my god. It's a month from now, y'all. The conference is a month from now, and I'm going to be in the process of moving across the country. I have my last few days of my other job in Portland. Um, these are going to be really long days. They're 10-hour days, which for me is more like 15 hours cuz I got to get up like 3 hours earlier. I got to go to the gym, shower, and get to work. Uh, get these genital exams. I get an hour break and then go back to it. And then I got to say bye to people after the work day ended, go to sleep, get up, do it again. I got three days in a row that look like that. And then I'm off to New Jersey, y'all. I'm off to New Jersey. I got training to continue to work part-time teaching the genital exams. Um I want to be able to continue to stay connected to the uh medical world, so working uh part-time at NYU as a um male urological teaching associate still. Um and I started yoga therapy training. So, lots going on over here.
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