Picture Perfect Lies and Redefining Success with Kerrie Lee Brown

Shawna and LaLa: Life Beyond The Mic

Shawna and LaLa discuss the illusion of perfection on social media, using a viral story about a couple discovering infidelity via Google Earth as a springboard to examine

Key takeaways

• Social media often showcases curated perfection rather than real life experiences.
• Frequent pivoting between business ideas without deep commitment rarely leads to long-term success.

Main topics

• The illusion of perfection on social media
• Performative success vs. real achievement

Notable quotes

"People do that with success. They act like they're so successful... You know, when you know them and you know their life, you're like, okay, come on."

Conclusion

True success comes from authenticity, consistency, and emotional inves

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) What's up? You're listening to Shauna and Lala. Check us out at shaunainlala.com on all social media platforms at shaunainlala. You could follow me on Instagram at therealshaunamay. And Speaker 3 (0:13) check me out at bella underscore lala one two five. Speaker 2 (0:18) So, Jelena started preschool last week, and how did it go? Did she enjoy it? Speaker 3 (0:25) Yeah, she loved it. She absolutely loved it. She didn't care that I left. You know, she said she was fine. She found friends to play with right away, and everything was great. And then this week was her... So, last week was only one day, and then this week started, you know, Monday, and then Tuesday, and Wednesday. So she was fine the first day, and then today she was just, it just happened. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to be there. She wouldn't let go of me. It was heartbreaking. I don't think she's feeling well, but I think on top of it, she didn't see a lot of her friends that she made in the class today, so that also made it worse, and it was heartbreaking. I had to sit there for a half hour. She was stuck to me like glue. I couldn't get her off of me. She was crying. And the teachers tried to get her. They brought friends over, like little girls that come over and say, hey, let's go play. And she's like, I want to go with mommy. I want to stay with mommy. So it was really hard for me. I was crying a lot. And then. The teacher was able to distract her and get her to go over to a different section. They come off my lap and I just booked it out of there. But I stopped and talked to the person who runs the program and said, can you please text me? Because I'm going to be a wreck all day if I don't know what's going on. So they text me just a little while ago and said she's doing great. So I feel a lot better. Speaker 2 (1:45) Well, at least she's enjoying it and she made friends. That was her biggest thing was she wanted friends. Yeah, Speaker 3 (1:52) that's why I'm happy for her that she's getting to socialize and meet people and it'll be great. And hopefully today she made some new friends in this class because Tuesdays are different than her Monday and Wednesday classes. It's the you're learning with different people and not everyone from her classes are in there. So I'm hoping she made some good friends today that she'll be excited. To go next week too. Because tomorrow. I feel. If she didn't have a good day today. Tomorrow is going to be hard. And then. Yeah. But fingers crossed it all goes good. Speaker 2 (2:26) And I am getting ready for my trip. I leave this week. My anxiety is like absolutely through the roof. Speaker 3 (2:35) But. It's crazy to me because flying. I Speaker 2 (2:37) get more anxiety. Because it's just such a. Speaker 3 (2:40) you know you're not on your own schedule with with airplanes like if you had a flight book tomorrow like i get i get it girl you know what i mean see Speaker 2 (2:47) and i'm fine with flying but Speaker 3 (2:49) you're on a schedule though it's like i feel trapped with that where let's say tomorrow morning you're you guys want to oh let's leave an hour later or two hours later or you know what this or that you can do that without stressing about oh my god we paid for a flight you know what i mean yeah Speaker 1 (3:03) and getting Speaker 3 (3:04) there on time and then the whole getting the luggage and this is I don't know there's just so much more I prefer flying better but I just did that road trip and it was definitely less stressful planning for the road trip versus getting to an airport parking all that you know see Speaker 2 (3:21) I don't know I just I feel like flying is easier Speaker 3 (3:27) Oh, it's easier once you're in the air. Yeah. But I'm talking about the anxiety of being on that time schedule and being trapped and, you know, you can't, there's no refunds. So like right now you were kind of contemplating maybe not going. You can't do that with a flight unless you want to lose $300 or, you know what I mean? That's all. That to me is very, I get very anxious with that. Speaker 2 (3:49) That is true. Speaker 3 (3:50) So what are you anxious about? Speaker 2 (3:53) Being stuck in a car for like 15 hours. Speaker 3 (3:57) Yeah. Speaker 2 (3:58) Because I did the trip to Florida once before and I swore that I would never do it again. We are going to Myrtle Beach first and then we're going to see my aunt in Florida. So at least it's a little bit broken up. But like I just want to fly there, you know. Yeah, Speaker 3 (4:21) I get that part. I just drove down to Florida a few months ago. And yeah, I don't ever want to do it again. But if it was my only option, just that's why we did it. Because Mike said, it's either A, we're doing the road trip or we're not going. Because flights are really expensive right now. And I don't want to rent a car. So that's what was my options. I said, okay, I'll suffer for the road trip and I'll have a vacation, you know. But yeah, I get it. At least you're going to take breaks. You know your mom's going to stop. multiple times for her own self because her legs, you know, so it's, Speaker 2 (4:55) it's, I'm not saying it's going Speaker 3 (4:56) to be amazing, but at least the destination will be cool once you get to a pool or a beach, you know? Speaker 2 (5:03) Yeah. That's what I'm really looking forward to is the beach. Speaker 3 (5:07) Yeah. As Speaker 2 (5:07) we all know, I love the beach. Speaker 3 (5:09) Yeah. So get there. Make sure you get there this time. And then when you get there, if you're still miserable, just post pictures like you're not, you know, at the beach. Oh, my life is amazing. You know, that's what people like to do on Facebook. They just pretend they want they want to look a certain way or people go, oh, wow, look at them. They're over here. They're over there. Meanwhile, they're freaking miserable on the trip or they're miserable in real life. And they're just putting on a facade. So people see them a certain way, you know? Speaker 2 (5:38) Yeah. True. And Speaker 3 (5:40) people do that with success. They act like they're so successful. They're so rich. They're, oh, wow, we're going to have, I'm going to be a millionaire one day type thing. It's just, and you know, when you know them and you know their life, you're like, okay, come on. Let's, honey, let's take it down a few notches. You know what I mean? You're not quite there. Speaker 2 (6:02) Yeah, exactly. And like, I just, I love the people that are like, oh. I'm going to be a millionaire. And then you ask them like how their business is going. And they're like, oh, I moved on to something else. Speaker 3 (6:15) Yeah. I'm, I am one of those people who always have a business idea in my head. I've been like that since I was young. And I always said if I could, someone can hire me to come up with business ideas, if they had the money and they can do it, I would be rich too. But you got to kind of like feel where you're good at and stick with it and not just jump around. Things are always going to fail in the beginning, even my business. It took a long time in the beginning. I was doing pasta and it was it was nice here and there. People booked me here. People booked me. And I realized, you know, this is not getting me anywhere. And it's not that I totally canceled it out. I kind of just pivoted a little bit. And I grew something that I saw was needed and people liked more. So it's like. If I was like a lot of these people, I would just quit and shut down that business and go, well, I'm not doing pasta anymore. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to detail cars, something totally different. And then when that didn't, oh, you know, I'm not doing detailing cars anymore. That's not working out. I'm going to go groom dogs. I don't know. But they jump around so much that it's kind of hard. How can you be successful in life when your heart's not in something? You're just picking and choosing what you think. Is the spur of the moment thing. Like oh this might be good. This might be good. You know. Speaker 2 (7:27) Yeah. Or just randomly coming up with an idea. And going with it. You know. And then two months later going on to something else. Yeah. Speaker 3 (7:37) It's never going to work. Maybe. Maybe the roll of dice will work out for these people once in a while. But it's just. It also doesn't look good from the outside. Because I have a few friends that have done that. And I don't really, it's not that I don't respect them. I just don't want to try their business. I'm like, eh, this person's hopping from this idea to that idea, to this business, to that business. Their businesses are not lasting more than a year, sometimes not even more than a couple months. So I don't want someone who's just... like pulling an old name out of a hat basically of what should we start today because then that means that they're not really in it their heart's not in it it's not something that they're good at it's just that they're picking some random thing that they think is going to make them money and I don't want to support a business like that no Speaker 2 (8:25) me neither I've definitely learned not to believe everything that people post on Facebook because they just they want this facade You know, that they're so successful and, you know, that they're the best. And it's just like, come on. Speaker 3 (8:44) I know it gets old. I can never do that. I mean, you know, maybe that's a problem with me. But if you ever look at my post or my business post, like I've never raved that I'm the best at anything I do because I want people to rave about me. I want people to tell me that I don't want to tell people that, you know what I mean? I want them to. come to me and be like, wow, this is this and that. Or as a person. So when people constantly are doing that, yeah, I get it. That's, it's annoying. It's like, oh my God, please shut up. Speaker 2 (9:12) Exactly. Speaker 3 (9:13) Humble yourself a little bit. We really, most people know the real story behind it and, or they find out the real story, the real things going on in people's lives. Speaker 2 (9:24) Yeah. It's crazy that, you know, and we know a few people like that. They just, they keep jumping from one thing to the next and then it's like, oh, I'm going to be a millionaire with this and I'm going to be a millionaire with that. Well, you haven't been successful at one thing in your entire career. Yeah. Yeah, Speaker 3 (9:44) I agree. I know two business owners like that and they just keep, I mean, I give them credit. They don't give up. But I think that if they just focused on one thing and stuck with it. all the way through, even through the lows, because there's going to be highs and lows in a business. And they stuck through it. I think that they could do something, but people don't have patience for that. They want get rich quick. You know, I want to be rich now. And they don't realize how much money they wasted in the process of rushing and jumping from thing to thing to thing to thing to try to be a millionaire when they could have already made a lot of money by sticking with one thing and Speaker 2 (10:22) seeing it through. Yeah, exactly. So speaking of success, and I wonder if like this person did this, but they posted like how great their marriage was. And really, like, thanks to Google Earth, the guy found out that the wife was cheating. Speaker 3 (10:45) Oh, my God. That's hilarious. What are the odds of that? So what are you saying that? Were they like making out in the front yard and Google Earth passed by? Or what was what's the story behind that? I Speaker 2 (10:56) don't know the story really behind it, but I just I was cracking up. Obviously, it showed, you know, something going on. And it wasn't the husband. Oh, Speaker 3 (11:07) boy. Speaker 2 (11:08) Going into the house, I guess, or maybe like their car or something. Yeah, Speaker 3 (11:12) yeah. And he maybe maybe the husband had an inkling that something was going on with this person because I'm like, oh, could you say, oh, it was a Jehovah Witness or something, you know, but the husband must have recognized the person or knew or had some feelings or had a time. But how crazy is that that at that exact moment that you are doing something wrong? Google Earth passes by. Hello. Say cheese. Speaker 3 (11:39) Oh, God, that's priceless. Oh, hey, they deserve it then. People that are doing bad stuff like that, they deserve everything they get. Speaker 2 (11:46) I just, I thought it was hilarious. Speaker 3 (11:48) That is funny. And that picture will stay on there probably for, I don't know how often Google Earth changes their images, but that's probably going to be on there for a few years, I would think. Speaker 2 (12:00) I don't know. You know, I'll have to ask my cousin's husband because he does stuff like that. So like he's like a I guess like an independent contractor. So I'll have to ask him. Speaker 3 (12:13) Okay. Yeah, let me know because that'd be crazy. It's just like he would never I feel bad for the husband because it would just not that he's going to look at Google Earth all the time. But if anyone ever