Welcome to fit to be real and a little extra
Today we're talking nurses dads busy life and juggling it all. That's fine. Let's do it
I'm Victoria. Hey guys, I'm Carly
We have an extra laugh in the office today
We want to welcome and introduce our most
Beloved I feel like that's the appropriate word fitness instructor at CPitt and a hard-working nurse
Who's gonna fill us in on the inside scoop and our longtime high school friend? Yes
His name is Justin scarica Chotley SCA or ICAC IO TDO. I stop it very impressed
You know how to spell his name
I don't know why I learned that in high school
But like I was dead set on learning that and it stuck. Oh my gosh
I don't remember anything else 10,000% right. Yes. I write your checks and I just put C
SCAR and I've said you fill in the rest. No way. Yes. Yes
At least you get paid Justin scar. That's true. At least you can't be
Hey, everyone, I know you to say hey everyone. I'm Justin. Nope not gonna do that
Well happy to be here yes for those of you who are not longtime C fitters and have no idea what we're doing today
Justin was my friend first
I'm gonna go there. I'm gonna go there. I figured we would Justin went to high school with us or we went to high school
Justin, I'm the youngest. I'm the oldest Justin's the middle. Yep, and then Victor. What how old are you? Oh?
Yes, you're 36. I'm 37 years 36. You're 34. Yes. Yeah
Do you remember when you guys first met because I remember meeting you yes
No, the first time we like became friends
Okay, I mean yeah, I remember it too. It's a cherished memory. I
Throw our memory throw a water bottle at your head at lunch first time we met
No, that's the first time I remembered you a water bottle. Yeah, I was trying to get his attention. Why?
Let's just be clear. I had no interest in him ever ever in life. Let's also be clear the water bottle wasn't empty
I was just trying to get his attention at lunch and I was like yo you
Because that's something normal people do
And head trauma look at us now. Yeah, we'll get into head trauma trust. It's trauma is the word trust big tier little table figure it out
But trauma is the word. Yeah, regardless. We've been friends for a long time. Yeah, yeah, and then longer than we have
longer than we have it
And then it went into
Working at the studio. Yeah the dance studio our mom's dance studio
He was a teacher at our mom's dance. You took class. Yeah
And then taught and then you know life and college and real jobs
But continued to teach and then got to teaching for see fit and that's where we are today
He's still we want him to prioritize he fit and he has a real person job
That's really why we brought you on today. We need some blood in a contract saying you're never leaving
Trying to figure out how to get out of it for years. Yeah, here we are. So what is your?
real-life job
So I am a pediatric brain surgeon
Just kidding. I'm a nurse for some reason years ago
Carly told multiple people that I was going to school to be a brain surgeon for children
If you haven't figured out I only listened to half of what people say that's generous and
And when he said he was going to school he said like med school and I assumed oh brain surgery now
You didn't say med school. Oh, I heard brain surgeon when you said nurse
Clearly that is the natural progression. I told a few people and he's never let me live it down. No, but but yeah
So I'm a nurse
To set the record straight
And how long have you been doing that out of colleague professionally?
That's a good question
Eight eight years eight years and you're not on the floor anymore. No, I am
I'm managing right now, so I'm a nurse manager. I've been on a couple different units
Over my nursing career. So I started on a pulmonary floor, which is lungs
Yes, if you please if you please my friend break it down break it down now. So lungs respiratory issues
Wait a second. I told some people on ecology
No
Apparently I talk about Justin often. Yeah, not oncology. Okay, not a never
Never in your life crops to all those people that do
Not one of them. Yeah, okay. Well, I know now. Yeah, you know what oncology is Carly. Yes, I do
Tell us please tell us is the cancer floor
Correct for children. Well, I mean for anyone. Yes
Ancology isn't great, but you work. You've always worked with children. No, no
This is going so well
So I did start in the children's hospital, yes, and I did pulmonary I also moved to observation medicine
So observation is just short stay you come in we watch you for 24 hours
Hopefully you get better and go home
If you get worse or need more things then you'll become inpatient and go upstairs to the inpatient units
since then I have transitioned to managing and I now manage an observation unit in an adult
So you work with adults now I do. Oh
Wow, look at you growing up
Literally when he was in med school, but nursing school, right? I
Was having melody and I specifically remember you saying
Um, can I like sitting in the delivery? No, I literally never said yes, you love say I lose why
Why would I want to do that?
Nursing school and you needed to watch it delivery. I didn't
Like for homework like sort of nope
This is amazing welcome to my world everyone. That was literally my least favorite rotation. I
I
Think that you asked me that okay. Well your track record so far is not great
Those just let's just be clear. He wasn't in the delivery room. Yeah, nope
You started that rumor
On top of that you're you're a manager
Yes, right you're in the managerial position now
So you're not on the floor with patients and stuff as much as you used to be no
So I'm not directly bedside my entire shift. I do try to you know jump in and help my nurses like whenever they
Need it. It's a busy shift or if we're short staffed or things like that
So I do try to help them when I can at the bedside
So he's a higher up position. I feel like you should you should treat him as such. Yeah, right
No in his dreams never so for those of you who do not attend
She fit in person or know what's going on or us
Or no us at all
Carly and Justin have this ongoing feud
It started with a water bottle
Honestly if I'm gonna let's be real let's be real
Carly does not like how popular Justin is at see fit
Everybody loves Justin's Tuesday night class. It is the
Most packed class of the week even more than ours
Look at her. She's upset. No, I'm not. I'm not. I love it. Listen. That's why you have your job still honest to God
Thank you, that's why
Oh, yeah, no talent has nothing to do with skill level. No, we need people in your class. I love that however
That's not I just want to hear. He's like my little brother. Yeah. Yeah, so he's not my little brother or not related. I
People people think I am one of the mayor. I know she's so mean
It's hard to not understand that you're like, oh, they must be related. Yeah, I mean to be fair
He's just as mean back. Yes, but his voice is lower. So nobody can hear it
So I say all of this
I say all this for you all to understand that
Justin gets fired
Every single week. Yeah, daily basis. Yeah, he gets fired for just being good
It's a fake firing it's a fake firing and you're gonna hear a lot of that in the next however many minutes
I don't think I've asked Carly to chill it out for the purpose of this podcast
It's gone on real strong from the start. So I can't help it. We all need to know the basics presents
Brings it out of me. It's a gift. It's a gift
All right, we're at we're actually we are friends I've called Justin many times crying
Speaking of crying is this a segue sure you have a full family
Yes, so how's your sleep?
Well, I've been up since 3 a.m. So there's that so don't hold anything I say against me Justin is in his scrubs actually right now
And he just came from work all of our teachers
Not us but all of our teachers have full-time jobs and they teach for us on the side
That's their side hustle and we expect him to be as lively and bubbly as ever
After a long ship, how do you how does that work? How do you do that? I don't so I we were talking about this recently
I used to work 3 a.m. To 3 p.m. So I would be up. I would be up at like 1 30
Work 3 a.m. To 3 p.m. And then come and teach and I wouldn't only teach see fit
I would teach at the studio. Oh, you would teach dance. Yeah for like three or four hours
And then I was a zombie after that, but so how do you juggle it off? Like what's the what's the dad's secret?
I definitely have someone who is supportive of
The extra that I do so you said extra
I did
Good you pointed it out
So like she knows that you know dance and see fit and that type of stuff is something that's important to me that I
Enjoy doing and so she helps me to make it a priority to make sure I continue to do that
So I definitely couldn't juggle it all the way it is without her
and something that we do to make sure
You know it's a lot because she has a full-time job. I have a full-time job. We have three maniacs at home
So over the years we've learned to just do better with communication and just giving each other a heads up
You know, we have a shared calendar that we put things on as soon as they come up
So we're aware of like what's going on in each of our lives
We try to plan ahead with dinners because you know not only do we have our stuff
But Kaden's in basketball
That's the worst right? I mean it's the best there. It's fun, but it's the worst
It's a lot and you want to take them things like last night
Abby took the girls to pajama story time at the library. I used to do that. Yeah, so you know you want to do all those things so
Just getting a routine and trying to plan ahead as much as possible
Is the only way we're able to do any of that
Yeah, so when you call out of teaching class because you have an appendicitis
Like are you just trying to take a mini vacay or did you really have your appendix out?
Definitely, so I really did lose my appendix
Like recently like six months ago
Did you find it? What happened to it? That's so concerning
I lost my appendix
Yeah, well, I don't know if having an appendix helps or hurts this question
But you are primarily a nurse and a dance dance fitness
Right, you're in both of those worlds is what I'm trying to say. They're primarily female worlds
How do you thrive there? Like how does that feel? What is it like? Does it matter?
Yeah, any of those. No, that's a great question. And I think I kind of
So there's two things when I think about being a male in a female dominated area
So one is I tend to not think a lot about it. Other people do think about it and will bring it up to me
So like us like we just did. Yeah
So I've had multiple nurses that I've worked with in my experience have said to me
Oh, I don't know how you deal with so many women and the drama that comes with them
And that's very stereotypical because I've worked with some men who tend to be more dramatic than women
And I've worked with women who tend to be more stoic as a stereotypical man
And not have overreactions and things like that
So I feel like when you work with a large group of people, you're going to have that mix of personalities
And it doesn't necessarily matter if it's one gender or the other
Which one is cart? I was gonna say where do I fall in line?
You're your own special stereotype
Boom, I'll take it
Yeah, okay. We can pretend that's a positive
Which is professional diagnosis
Yeah, yeah
So yeah, so to you it really doesn't matter
No, no, I don't think so
And before so I've always been involved in things obviously that
Yeah, we were in the shows where we were dancing together
Exactly, I was a bartender, a server and a bartender
Like all of those things have a majority of females in them
So to me it was kind of no big deal when I transitioned into teaching or nursing because it was kind of the norm
The other aspect that comes up with it and this isn't only being a male in a female dominated area
But being working with the sex that you're attracted to I would say
So it can be like working if you are attracted to the same sex and you work in the field that's predominantly that
This issue could come up too
With your partner there can be tension that comes from
I was just gonna bring this up
Oh, thanks
I was gonna say how does Abby feel about you always being with women
I didn't even think about that
Yeah, so this is obviously something that can come up
When we first started dating someone that knew both of us said to Abby be careful he's a ladies man
And you know me
My god
You knew me back then
Yeah, at all
I was not a ladies man
I was the one your mom would want you to bring home
That's exactly right
How about that fellow justice?
He seems like a good egg
Like that was me
Wait and you worked at Arapastel?
American Eagle
He worked at American Eagle
That's right
That is wild
Yeah, so
I was not like
I had one girlfriend before
Abby
I don't think I would ever characterize you as a ladies man
So what is it just you're friendly
Yeah, I mean and I was
I was friends with a lot of people
With a lot of girls
Yeah, because I did things where there were girls
And my core group of friends we were pretty even with like male and female
But when I was doing activities or work like that
It was the female dominated area
With us
So I knew a bunch of girls
So that can be conceived as being a ladies man
I guess
If you have a lot of friends who are girls
So that's something we still joke about because
You can only joke about that
Like you can only laugh about that
So we joke all the time and
I tell her I'm too exhausted to even think about having anyone else on the side
It's too much
Speaking to the guy he does not sleep
He doesn't know how to rest
He doesn't know how to sit still
You're the go-to guy
Like, oh Justin will do it because Justin doesn't sleep
He's constantly going
And I'm trying to get better at that
That's not a good thing necessarily
Listen to our podcast
But it's not that you don't sleep
It's that you're always doing stuff or you have insomnia
What are you talking about?
No, no, I don't
I could sleep if I wanted to
But
And it's just I just have to be doing stuff
Like I can't
Abby yells at me all the time
She's like just sit down and enjoy the moment
Yeah, be present
Yeah, and I struggle with that
Because I think about like, oh I could be doing this
Or I could be working on that
Or I could be fixing this
Or I could be doing whatever
Like rest is not productive
Yeah, right
And that's always in the back of my head
Like I'm an overachiever
And I need to be doing things
So for me it's really hard to just sit
And enjoy the moment
She'll be like just like watch the kids play
Like sit down on the couch
Be in the moment
I know that's so hard
We were just talking about that
It's the hardest thing to do
I wonder if that's the nature of nursing too
Like you're always on your feet
You're always in service to somebody else
Or multiple people
And so you bring that home with you
And then after how many years
It's become this, you know
Have to catch up feeling of
Consciously being on the go
Yeah, how do you vacate?
How do you do vacation?
I was just gonna say that
What do you do when you come home?
Like what would you do?
So like what's my typical day?
No, like what do you do to decompress?
What's your go-to?
He's never done it
He's still searching for that
What do you like to do for fun
When you're not teaching fitness
And you're not being a nurse
Like what's your go-to?
So obviously after saying that
Self-care is something that I realize
I need to work on
I recently went to a nursing summit
And there was something that stuck with me
That someone said
And it's the idea
And this is a legitimate thing
It's the idea of pies
So P-I-E-S
And it talks about things to do for
Self-care daily or weekly
And so each letter stands for something else
Physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual
So physical, obviously the go-to is like
Diet and exercise
But it could even be just going for a walk
If you have a desk job, getting up, walking around
Just doing something physical for yourself
That is out of the norm
Something for me, like obviously
I exercise and I teach
But something for me is I always try to take the stairs
Because to me
I'm afraid of getting to the point
Where I can't take the stairs
At home I run up the stairs
Because I'm always afraid that one day
I won't be able to do that
So that's like something I always try to do
It's an opportunity
When I worked in the city
I used to park on the fifth floor
For the parking garage
And I would walk up five flights of stairs
Because to me that is something I don't want to lose
That ability
Brilliant
And then intellectual
Listening to podcasts
Which one? Which one's your favorite?
Or reading books
Or reading articles
Or doing something that kind of enhances your knowledge
And it doesn't have to be like a thesis
Or some like metaphysical thing
But just something that gets your mind working
And thinking
Could even be like a crossword puzzle
Yeah, yeah
Like just something to get your neurons fired
Oh, look at listening to you
Yeah, right? I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about
And then emotional would be
You know, either journaling or
On the ride home from work
Or from wherever you are
Just thinking about your reactions for the day
And the emotions that came with your interactions with people
I love that
And how you handled that
So if you're someone like me
I dwell on all of my awkward
Or negative interactions
And replay them over in my head
But it's a chance to kind of
Identify the emotions that you had in those interactions
And give them a name
So I was feeling this way during that interaction
Or I felt like that when this happened
Are you learning something? Are you listening?
I'm listening to him like I've never listened to him before
I'm in awe of what you're saying
Take this in
I'm listening
Alright, what's S?
S is spiritual
So this can be different things to different people
For me, I just recently started going back to church
As Carly and Victoria said in the first episode I think
I am from St. Madeline's Parry
How's your cursive? How's your penmanship?
Oh yeah, it could be better
And so that's, it's not even that I am
Super religious, but it gives me a chance to kind of
Take that time out, stop my day
Which I am clearly not good at doing
And kind of meditate during that and listen
And just take some time out for myself
But being spiritual doesn't necessarily mean being religious
Some people get spirituality from meditation
Or yoga, or being in nature
Even dance, something that connects you to something
Bigger than yourself and gives you that feeling
Can fit that category
100% I fully support everything you just said
And I'm gonna pies, P-I-E-S
Yeah, pies
That is wonderful, I'm gonna put that in the show notes
Show notes and break it all down
Just so you can all absorb this as much as Carly is
Look at her face, she's in shock
I like can't, I've never talked to you like this before
Gee, I wonder whose fault that is
I mean I have a degree in leadership
And I've taken glasses on emotional intelligence
And all of these things
How do you deal with Carly?
Because I took all those glasses
And I have emotional intelligence
He has the tools to deal with me
Amazing
Alright, we have one more question for you
Before we have some fun
In being in the hospital nursing industry for so many years
What advice do you have for maybe new nurses
Or inexperienced nurses that are just getting
Really into the swing of things now and in these times
To get through the days and the shifts
Long shifts
Yeah, it's definitely hard now
Harder than I think it's ever been
So really focusing on self-care is gonna be huge
You need to learn to disconnect from the work
And not take a film with you
And you will worry about it
Yeah, that's gotta be hard
When you see what you see all day
And then you have to go home and be happy
And pretend that it didn't happen
I wouldn't be able to do that
Yeah, it's hard
There's definitely been days I've gone home
And Abby has said what is wrong
She can just feel it and tell
Yeah, thankfully those days are fewer
But they definitely happen
So I think less people are going into nursing
More people since COVID
I think there's more people leaving the profession
Because they're getting burnout
And that is a problem because then the new people
That are coming in, it's harder
Because there's a staffing shortage
So then they're getting burned out more quickly
Than they would in the past, I think
But I think nurses really try to find
An area that speaks to you
Because, you know, people say
A nurse is a nurse is a nurse
I don't believe that because, you know
A Peds nurse is very different than an adult nurse
Is very different than a behavioral health nurse
There's definitely different personalities
That it takes to do the different areas
I really enjoyed being a Peds nurse
I could view it differently than some other people
Because they would always say
I just can't take, I don't know how you take care of kids
That's what I say to you all the time
Yeah, but I was able to view it as
Helping these kids in the moment of need
And sick kids are a lot easier to take care of
Than sick adults because they're still kids
They still want to be kids
So even when they're sick
Even when they have a terminal illness
They aren't focusing on the illness
Like they still want to play
They still want to do things that a kid wants to do
There's a little more joy in those rooms
So that's how I was able to do the Peds nurse
For all the years that I was in Peds
And you did self care back then too?
Yeah, I tried
That was the best I could
I definitely learned more now than I knew back then
I feel like I had more time on my hands back then
I don't know why
It didn't feel like it
But looking back I was like why?
Time is a weird thing
On that note, do you want to play a game?
Oh, I'm nervous, okay
Alright Justin, now that I have all this respect for you
We're gonna play a little game
I probably will lose it all
Oh god
It's called Justin Under Fire
Alright, the point of the game is
I'm gonna give you two things
You pick one or the other
I'm either gonna say that's fire
Does I agree with you or you're fired?
Because I disagree with you
Okay, great
So it's a spitfire game
The point of the game is fire
Alright, so let's start
Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry
Kelly Clarkson
You're fired
Tequila or bourbon
Oh, tequila all the way, you're fired
Chipotle or Cadova
Chipotle, Chipotle hands down
Only because I know you like Chipotle, Cadova, you're fired
Mountains or beach?
Beach
I just went to the mountains the other weekend, you're fired
In-sync, Backstreet Boys
Do not utter those names out of your mouth
That's my band, you're fired
Pats or genos
I don't like either
And I've actually been to them, so
You're fired
Friends or modern family
Friends
We are not friends, you're fired
You're doing this on purpose
Doesn't matter what I say
Fiction or non-fiction
You're fired
I don't have time to read books
Movie theater or Netflix or
Movie theater or Netflix and chill
Thank God you didn't pick Netflix and chill
Because I would have vomited, but you're fired
Carly or Victoria
Victoria
You're fired
You are fired
Thanks for playing, Justin
That was fun
Gotta love a little Carly bullying in your life
Always
You're doing this on purpose
Yeah, clearly
Welcome to high school, everyone
Yeah, oh God
Welcome back to high school
That was fun
Justin, I honestly have so much respect for you right now
Why do you sound so surprised?
I just have never talked to you like this before
Like professionally?
Yeah
Yeah, crazy
I think it's time for the real tip of the week
It's called
Get a Gurt
Try complimenting
Somebody else
Every day
One person a day could be somebody that's related to you
In your household
Somebody that you're walking into
Or out of Wawa, near
And giving them a compliment
It's the easiest
And obviously
Freest thing you can do
As a human being to
Give a really small
Small effort of support to someone
It could be, oh my gosh your nails look so good
I do that one a lot at Wawa when somebody's
Giving money at the counter
Because it's easy to notice that
Or complimenting someone's hat
Or something that they have shared out loud
Like in the workspace
So if there's a project you're working on
Give them a compliment after you run
Hey, you did a really good job at doing that
Something very small, you have no idea what other people go through
It's that whole adage of walking in someone else's shoes
So
That little moment of
Niceness
Could change someone's entire day
One person a day
Just for a week and see how it
Fairs because it's a two way street
You're gonna see how good you feel
As well, right?
Kindness begets kindness
Can I try it? Can I try your real tip of the week?
Yes
This is my one for the day
Justin, I appreciate
You
That's not a compliment
Oh
Hahaha
The sad part is
That looked like that hurt you
Coming out
Like that looked painful
To say
Okay
Here are you ready
For the real
Extra tip of the week
It's called
That's hot
Look in the mirror and say
I am obsessed with my outfit
That's hot
I prepared and studied for this test
And I'm about to rock it
That is hot
And you're gonna see how awesome
Your mood is boosted before you even leave the house
I really like these tips today
And I think they're doable
And I think they are super, super important
Because we are
Our own best friends
We are the closest relationship we will ever have
For the rest of our lives and we have to be nicer to ourselves
And a good way to do it is
To be nice to other people as well
So, well Justin, I think we all learned a lot today
More than
I think we thought we were gonna learn
And thanks for coming, thanks for being our first guest
Thanks for having me
This was actually fun and not as scary as I thought it would be
And I didn't want to kill Carly
So it was good
It's a win all around
All around
Remember, you are always fit
To be real
And always allowed to be a little
Extra
For legal reasons
We have to tell you that this podcast is meant for
Entertainment and educational purposes
Only we are not healthcare professionals
For all of your health, wellness, fitness
And self care needs, please refer to the medical professional
In your life
Your primary care physician, your therapist
A certified coach, whoever in your life
Is a professional
And you're always allowed to be a little extra
For legal reasons, we have to tell you that this podcast is meant for
A therapist, a certified coach, whoever it may be
And then let us know what they say
Because I guarantee we need to know what do
Okay
Okay, bye