The Quiet Part of AI: What Big Tech Won’t Say Out Loud + Designing a Life Abroad: Culture, Creativity, and the UX of Living in a New Country

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Link Through Social Podcast. My name is Paul Wright, and welcome to episode number twenty-five. That's right, episode number twenty-five today, people. Industry data shows. Steep drop-off rates with about 44% of shows failing to publish past their third episode, and 90% quitting before hitting episode 20. Reaching 25 episodes puts us in the top 1 to 5% of all podcasts ever created in terms of longevity. 25 episodes, countless ideas, endless conversations. If you're an entrepreneur, marketer, creator, business owner, business professional looking to stay ahead of AI and social media, now is the perfect time to subscribe to the Link Through Social Podcast on YouTube, and also follow us on the audio platforms where you get your podcasts. And here's to the next 25 episodes. We couldn't have done this without the loyal following support. Simply liking, sharing, subscribing, and downloading really goes a long way. This has led to thousands of views on YouTube and thousands of downloads on popular audio platforms like Spotify and Apple. Thank you to everyone who is helping build our link through social community altogether. And I also want to thank SmartPost App for coming on board as one of our sponsors right from near, like almost near the beginning. And to Ticketport X, who has also recently become a sponsor of the show. And we appreciate both those companies and encourage our viewers and listeners to support them and check out the services that they offer Smart Post App and Ticketport X. Now we have exciting things in store for our viewers and listeners in the next 25 episodes. So stay connected. Your continued support will be really appreciated. Now, as we celebrate episode 25, we have two wonderful guests for us today. First, we will have Anne Kintera, who is a leading woman in AI, that's leading woman into AI, cutting through the hype and saying the quiet parts of big tech out loud. And then we will welcome Mark Alcobe, who is Barcelona-born eight years living abroad across Europe. He's a UX UI designer, improv actor, futsal goalkeeper, and a podcast host. So two great guests today. So the Link Through Social Podcast will start right after this brief message. You've worked hard to build your audience. So why send your customers somewhere else? Introducing white label digital storefronts from Ticketport X. Now you can process tickets, registrations, donations, merchandise sales, and collect valuable customer data directly on your website or custom landing page. Increase brand visibility, create a stronger connection with your customers, deliver a seamless user experience, and monetize your brand with high-converting pages powered by Ticketport X's secure hosting, payment processing, and event technology. Perfect for festivals, conventions, classes, retail storefronts, charity events, boarding events, and even free events. Manage entire event series from a single storefront and spend less money marketing multiple links and event pages. One platform, one link, endless possibilities. Ticketport X, powering your brand, your events, and your growth. And welcome back to the Link Through Social Podcast. Well, we have a special guest today, Anne Katerra, and she's from elementalintelligence.ai. Anne is an AI and voice technology expert, conversation designer, and founder of Elemental Intelligence. She works at the intersection of ethical AI, conversational design, agentic technology, and woman in tech with a point of view that is sharp, funny, human, and impossible to mistake for corporate-approved talking points. I love it. Welcome to the show, Anne. Hi, thank you for having me. I think this we're gonna have a nice time today. Oh, we are. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Um, before we get into it though, uh, why don't you just give us a little bit uh of information about your background and how you arrived here today? Okay, I'll give you the the the the short version, the AI version. Um I I've been in out of tech since 2001, um, but the last five years have been really concentrated around AI. Um, I got into doing chatbots uh the old the old way, NLU, NLP was where I got my feet wet with AI. Um, and then over the last four years, I've been working in the conversation design space. And I mean, I was on Chat GPT on the first day. So the generative stuff was I just took to it like a fish to water from the from the very beginning and have done chat and um I specialize in voice now um because it's such high demand. Um, but I I have been doing uh agentic since the I I always looked at conversation. Designers were doing agents before agents were cool, but actual agentic AI, like uh multi-agent systems, things like that, I've been doing for a last two years or so. Um, and when I started getting really good at building those systems that I felt companies would be able to use as an excuse to fire people by the thousands, um I left my high-paying corporate job and started elemental intelligence intelligence. And um my version of ethical AI, although there are people who say there's no version of ethical AI, I beg to differ, is helping underserved businesses figure out their AI strategy. Um, my tagline for them is don't DIY your AI. Um, because I I just want to use AI. The only way I can use it and sleep well at night is to use it as an equalizer for underserved businesses, female owned, minority-owned, veteran-owned, whatever it is, just small, getting, you know, whatever that's my version of ethical AI. I understand um people have their, you know, I understand about the environment. I do I do a podcast on AI for good. So I'm I'm very well versed with you know the environmental impact, the IP issues, um, you know, but it's not, you know, the the the purists are like just don't use it, and I just don't think that's feel for the future. So is it don't use it, try and use it ethically, or you know, be Darth Vader. That's that's kind of I I I chose I chose the path of using it as ethically as I possibly can. Yes, that's that's absolutely amazing. And you know what? I I'm hoping as time goes by, because we're in this rapid pace of AI moment, that there will be more people like you, because this is this is um this is where you have to make the decision, and and to ethical AI is really where it should be at. And uh, you know, there's the the extreme to the left and the right of that, but you gotta go straight down the middle. So um I what what are people getting wrong about AI right now? And like there's there's so much out there, there's so much information coming out to people. What are people what is the most yeah people are getting wrong about AI right now? I I think there's two two two answers to that. So um on our socials, all the tech people were in this massive AI echo chamber. When you leave, leave LinkedIn or X or wherever you are, yes, and go out and speak to people, which I do three. I I try to do three in-person networking events a week. Oh people don't even know what Claude is. Like, yeah, 85% of people have never even touched AI. So understand you're in an echo chamber. It's important if especially if you're a consultant and you're trying to find clients that aren't giant enterprise clients. The for me, it's like, oh, they don't even know they need me yet. So being early is a little of a double-edged sword that way. But the other thing is you see so many so many slot posts about slot posts, right? Like it's it's become it's become a thing. And I I I I believe there are good AI operators who know how to use AI as extractive tools, like instead of having it generate an article for you, have it interview you on a subject that you're fluent in and return your answers into an article, right? So I think there's a huge difference between sloping and thought innovating. Yes, and I think people really miss that, right? So um it's you know, it's gonna steal your voice only if you let it, right? So I think and what I really think that I might have to teach um a course on being a good AI operator because there's so many misconceptions and misuse um of how people are, you know, make me a LinkedIn post is not a prompt, you know. And that's we're seeing a lot. Yeah. So so it's those two things, the echo chamber and the level of operator are the two things that I keep seeing that I think people are very disconnected from. Yeah, like uh what you just said, make me uh a LinkedIn post. It's not about that. And and people that are just getting into it think, oh, okay, we'll just it will do all the work for me, and I don't have to worry about anything. And it if it's used properly, it can be a wonderful thing, and it's it's so exciting. Um the sky's the limit, you know. So it's it's just about how you're using it, I think, is is really uh really important. Yeah, I I teach seniors at my local libraries um how to protect themselves, and I also teach them how to use it to help themselves. Like, so one of the exercises I did with them is a screenshot of the back of I don't know, I don't remember if it was health insurance or like the you know, the the really fine print on the back of the credit card statement. I think that's what it was. Right. And said, look, look, if you get mail and you're not sure and you're scared and you're worried, you know, you you can take a picture of this. I taught them how to upload the image and you can ask questions. Like, I I got a weird letter yesterday um that I I took a picture of and I'm like, what does this even mean? And it wasn't anything important, but it was a very scary looking letter. And I and I did not understand the verbiage and it did not understand where it was going. And I and they were so grateful to have a tool that can help them navigate life when they're not very techie. Yes. Um, and then I teach them things like you can you can upload a picture of yourself and see what you look like with blonde hair. And I did that for myself and make it funny. I was like, oh my god, you look like Tatumonio. Like it's yeah, so what you know it's it was it's I love making it accessible, um, but I really love um bringing it to people who aren't technical and teaching them how to make their lives better because in the end, for me, everything that I'm kind of inching towards is making it a technology that can de stress your life, right? No more. I I talk about the thing I call the dread in the in you uh in the US, the healthcare system is there isn't a word for what it is, disaster it is, right? So if you have a problem with your doctor or your health insurance, it's days on the phone. Days. Yep. Now, if I can build you an agent, right? Especially you have cancer, you just gave birth. If I can build you an agent that is gonna go do that battle for you, I did a talk a couple years ago on autonomous as advocates, right? That to me is ethical AI. That to me is doing good for the little people against the big corporations that infiltrate and hurt our lives. Um so that's kind of where I'm hoping to take it. Yeah. No, that's that's that's amazing. That yeah, we we we do have a a good healthcare system here up here in Canada, however, uh for specific and and um uh specialized type of uh treatments, and that there's long waiting lists and there's a lot of uh things that you have to go through similar to what you're experiencing down in the US. And yet to to use ethical AI in this um perspective is is really helpful and and can because you're going through a stressful time. You're you're having health issues potentially, or or maybe not like serious uh endangering health issues, but health issues uh none nonetheless. And and um if you can take away some of that stress of you know spending days on the phone or corresponding and that, why not? That's that's that's amazing so and and it's very telling that oh sorry, go ahead. No, no, you go ahead. It's just the I the it's this thing I call the dread, right? The dread of calling your insurance company, calling the phone company, calling your internet provider, calling, you know. And those are all technology companies to a degree. And they've used the technology to weaponize your exhaustion to get you to just let them run rampant. And and so I'm really hoping, and in the end, I think there's gonna be a lot of AI versus AI, like who's gonna who's gonna win, like like um bot to bot, right? It's gonna be like a battle between between transformers, and I'm I'm sure these big companies will definitely be the ones that have a AI that can um beat up your AI, but I'm really hoping that maybe not. And that, you know, because it like uh as far you know, the the anthropic release and the um the ability of that model to be able to uh hack, you know, any system. Well, that exists in the world now. Now it's gonna have to be another AI that's stronger than that, and it's just gonna be like um remember that game we use rock'em sockam robots? Yes, I do remember it's gonna be rock'em sockam robots, right? That's that's you know AI security of the future. Yes, yes, that's hilarious. I love it. Cut you off, you had a question. Well, I I wanted to touch on this, and um, because in the intro I uh I mentioned this about women with as in regards to AI. So, why do you think women are still being left out of the AI conversation? I think it's worse than that. I think there the media is playing us as victims of it, we're afraid of it, and we if we use it, we get treated poorly, where men get elevated. I I I I think in the end, the reason why I'm doing I don't need 20 podcast at uh appearances this week is to speak out against that. Because my theory is we're being purposefully portrayed like that and purposefully suppressed in the media and represented by celebrities instead of women who actually work in the space because we are not move fast and break things, we are move thoughtfully and build things, and that flies in the face of the the CEOs that that of the AI companies, they don't, you know, they they're still in that mentality of and we're seeing them move fast and break things. I mean, the this AI rollout has been a massive disaster, and so many products being released that are just awful, so many security problems. And in my mind, my my theory is if women were leading the charge, it would be very different because we care about ethics, we care about the planet, we care about kids, we you know, we're just not laser focused on power and the bottom line. And I think that is exactly why we get left out of the conversation and why I personally am everything I can to be out there and and making a stink about it. No, that's wonderful. That's one of the things that stood out when uh we got connected. Uh, we both use uh PodMatch, which is a a great tool to uh to uh connect uh podcasters with guests, and it stood out to me. And it it's so sad that we're playing catch up now as as far as women and and and ethical AI. Uh but people like you are are have to continue the the the the conversation and and the education, more importantly, the education to get the word out. And so you know they can they can catch back up because uh it it's sad the way it is started. It it can be focused and like moving forward, uh, but uh education and and getting the word out is is extremely important at this point here in you know July of 2026 for sure. Now I'm a social media guy and uh I do uh you know a lot of social media management and that, but I noticed that you're only active on LinkedIn, not all the major social platforms. Um, why don't you explain why uh you've decided to do that? Yeah, I I got myself in trouble with this yesterday. I was at a women's networking event and I and I started teaching them a little bit about how Zuckerberg treats teenage girls. Um, and you know, you threaten people's Facebook and they get very, ooh, like I don't think I made any friends in that room, but I don't care. No, um, it's it's because I'm an advocate first. Um before I'm a technologist, I'm an advocate. Um I I just you know, there are but then you know things happened and some stuff came out about leadership at LinkedIn too. So I mean, is it it's a personal choice? Um I I just choose not to do business with uh is any anybody who who who who is preys on children and teenagers, I just don't think anybody should do business. It it shouldn't be, especially after Epstein. I mean, like the the things that people are willing to tolerate because only grandma's on Facebook, grandma's only on Facebook. Grandma has a phone, call her. You don't need Facebook, right? Like you know, it's I I may I don't know why it's it's really hard for some people to put ethics first, principles first, um, and then other people will kind of excuse themselves around it, and that's fine, everybody's on their own journey. But for me, um, I wouldn't be on any of them if I didn't have to, but also it also keeps my voice quiet, um, in the sense of not being on Instagram. Uh, to go on one of Zuck's platforms to campaign against him does have like a poetic kind of ring to it for me, but I just um I'm I I I almost wish I could have a proxy do it for me. Um but I just don't want to do business with with with with them. Um I'm I I'm contemplating YouTube um just because of video content, but really I I I I tore myself, honestly. I really do. Um so I right now this is where I'm at, only on LinkedIn, but I do have my website. So I have one website that teaches AI for free, voice of AI.io. Um, so that's that's something I built that's out in the world that you know it's not social, but um yeah, that's that's a long answer, but uh I'm still growing and I'm still figuring out, but right now my conscience just won't let me do anything other than LinkedIn. I I totally get where you're coming from. And you know, I've talked about this on the show for for several months now, and I I do uh a radio um uh appearance. Once a week, and we've been talking a lot about the ban on social media for children under the age of 16. It started in Australia, it's gone across to Europe, it's starting to spread across Europe. Here in Canada, there's been a bill proposed to the parliament, but we all know how politics works. It doesn't matter what country you're in, and that will take at least a long as the technology keep giving money to the government, they'll keep being able to do whatever they want. Which is how it works. Exactly. And and the keeps coming up the battle. And there are there are advocates out there that are saying, oh, you know, um the under 16 children, they have rights to to uh you know see what they want or do what they want. No, no, like we we should be being responsible. No, we should be being responsible and and educate again. We're talking about educate, educating the kids. Um one of the one of the um arguments against it was well, you know, how are they gonna be set up for life because everything is online, you know, their phones and this and that. But that's okay. Yeah. So it's uh it's it's it's a it's a it's a COVID. Yeah. Um and they grew up, they're six years apart, so they grew up with very different technology from each other. And the youngest has really suffered and been impacted by too much tech. And I did, I just it's I'm not a person with regrets generally, but one of my regrets is not limiting it more for him. Um, he's awesome now, but I could see um, you know, but it I think it's very common, especially for boys, like they stay home, they play video games, they're they don't go out, they don't, you know, like that that whole thing. Um when I when I speak to school districts what about their AI policies, I I have a pretty wild uh suggestion, and it's that two and a half either one week completely unplugged, pen, pencils, papers, books, one week with tech, or two and a half days, you know, balance. I think every school district, if they can afford to, should have a garden, right? Like get the kids out, get their feet in the dirt, get them, get them growing things and eating the things they grow, but then also teach them how to be a good AI operator, right? Teach them, you know, they they they they they need both. It's balance, and everything is so unbalanced. Um, and that that's one of the things I write, all balance and all things, balance and all things, right? Yeah, yes, grow those vegetables, eat those vegetables, but also let the ice cream truck come, right? And let them have some fun. Like balance and and and who's keeping track of the balance that it falls on the parents, and parents are working harder more hours, more exhausted uh than ever, because and I these talks always come back down to if it wasn't so hard to keep everybody fed and housed, we would all make very different decisions in everything, in everything we do. Yeah, yeah. If we were all just give like if we lived in this amaz a perfect scenario of food and housing doesn't cost you anything, imagine how wildly different the world would be. Everything would be completely different. It would be so special. So many people use technology. Yeah, I mean, people use technology, and I think I think certain people are wild, why like I don't know if it's trauma or what, they're wired for criminal behavior, but some people do criminal behavior be out of desperation, right? We see so much of that people getting arrested for for stealing formula, you know, people people um in countries where you know they they they scam people by phone that you know that they're and that and that comes down to the question of the technology. The technology is not inherently good or bad, it's the people. Yes, if we set the people up to to be able to do good, I think they will. But because of the world we live in and the lack of balance and and how hard it is just to make basics happen, you know, you have two working parents and they can barely make ends meet, even with one kid, let alone five, right? Right. So, you know, I I just think all the questions about the tech really should circle back to the people and the government and the way things just work and don't work. Totally agree, totally agree. And I want to, before we wrap things up, I'd like to invite you on the show again because we are uh running out of time, but I want to continue this conversation because it's so important to educate and get the word out to people about ethical AI and and so many other things that we touched on today. So um we definitely will uh connect uh after the show and and set up another time to bring you back on. I would love that. I would love that. Um your website is elementalintelligence.ai, and I encourage everyone to move. Yes, that's e-l-e-m-e-n-t-y. Whoa, that was a mobile. Elemental intelligence. I know this is you know, the marketing people said don't do it, Ann, but I did it anyway. So I love it. You you go against the grade, man, and and you're your own person. That's what I'm saying. Yes, yes. I'm the only I'm the only Anne Cantera on LinkedIn, so that that's the easiest place. That's an easy place. And can Cantera, that's C-A-N-T-E-R-A. I really appreciate you joining us, and we'll um we'll speak again soon for sure. Thank you again. The Link Through Social Podcast will be back right after this short break. Tired of stressing over what to post on social media? Meet Smart Post App, your all-in-one solution to create, schedule, and grow your content effortlessly. In just a few taps, you can generate engaging posts, stay consistent, and keep your audience coming back for more. No more guessing, no more burnout, just smarter content faster. Whether you're a business owner, creator, or entrepreneur, SmartPost offers both premium and pro plans. In addition, we have new features that have been recently added that include instantly viewing public links to your posts on any network, weekly view allowing you to plan hour by hour, account groups, group your accounts to save time and simplify your workflow, and a desktop version which offers a simpler way to stay consistent. Start posting smarter today at smartpostap.com. Smartpostapp because your content should work for you. And welcome back to the Link Through Social Podcast. Well, we have a really special guest today, Mark Alcobe, and he's from almost localstories.com. Mark is a Barcelona-born UX UI designer who has spent the last eight years living abroad across Germany, Greece, and now Italy. He's also a professional futsal goalkeeper and an improv theater actor. On top of that, he hosts the Almost Local Podcast, where he explores what it really takes to build a life and feel at home in a new place, sharing insights on adapting to new cultures, finding belonging, and navigating life beyond your own home country. Mark, welcome to the Link Through Social Podcast. Thanks. Thanks a lot for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. Yes, I appreciate you uh coming on the show. So you're a little different, guest than we're normally used to. And I'm I'm very intrigued by um your your story and almost local stories.com. Um, why don't you just tell me a little bit more about your background? Uh I touched on it in the intro, and uh how you got here today. Sure. So yeah, as you said, I'm originally from Barcelona, not directly Barcelona, like 20 kilometers away from it, but I grew up um in a town called like a city called Sabadell, and then I moved to Barcelona for studies. So my last year's home, let's say home still, uh are in Barcelona, where I studied engineering and product design. So basically I started my design path uh a little bit more related to furniture design and like a little bit more physical things, but I quickly switched to the digital environment and digital design, uh becoming a UX UI designer, and that's exactly what brought me uh to Germany on the first uh the first move uh of these three that you mentioned. So basically, uh they called me from Frankfurt and mine and they said, Hey, we have an option here for you to come and do UX UI design with us. And I moved to Germany. I met my partner who's German, uh, she's an archaeologist, therefore, the next logical step was moving to Greece, I suppose. Uh she got the job there. Luckily, I was already working remotely, fully remote. I work from home, so um, that made a little bit easier the relationship uh uh with with my girlfriend. Um, so I followed her to Greece. So I was like four years in Germany, four years in Greece, and now the last move to Italy was a little bit more a free movement, let's say like this. We both work work from home now, and uh we said, okay, do we want to stay forever in Greece? Because we knew we like it a lot, like we really, really like uh the life in Athens. Yes, and um, we were in this moment we were saying, Okay, if we stay here a little bit longer, we stay here forever. Do we want to take one last move just to try out something else before taking bigger decisions in terms of buying apartments instead of renting, uh having a family, and so on and so forth. Um, and yeah, like I'm here today basically because I started the podcast, as you said, like six years ago, a little bit more than six years ago. Um being completely transparent, it started like a COVID child, like a little bit of like uh I didn't know what to do with my time, as you mentioned. You I have quite a lot of hobbies, but all of them involve like being in contact with other people. Yes, so suddenly I was alone at home, I had the microphones, I had the equipment, and I was like, What do I do with this? So I started the podcast and I started interviewing people uh who were at the beginning my friends living in Germany. It obviously grew up, and then I started entering the whole rabbit hole of like doing video production instead of only podcasts, transforming that into social media reels, cups, and so on, and so forth. So it grew up a lot, and now it's like uh an unstoppable monster, as I call it sometimes when I'm frustrated. Uh but yeah, it's continue interviewing people who's living abroad, uh from a real perspective, not from the shiny and rainbowy some uh perspective that sometimes social media gives to us that it's everything move abroad and everything will be perfect, and it's not like that. So that's the perspective that I'm trying to bring right now. I absolutely love the concept. And and you're you're the the hero to a lot of us because uh a lot of our listeners and viewers uh they now work at home for whatever reason. Uh uh, you know, technology is is such that it allows us to do that. And in in the past four or five years since you know the pandemic, uh so many companies have uh switched to this model. And what a what a what a wonderful adventure it can be by still working and and doing your job from wherever you are. So, you know, you've been to Greece and Germany and now Italy. It's it's absolutely fascinating. Now, how has your work as a UX UI designer influenced the way you understand cultures uh uh in the different uh countries that you visited so far? I mean, it's clear that from my profession, and my profession forces me to be in contact with users who might have different perspectives on a single software in a single product, and they normally have a clear idea of what they want to achieve or they or what they would like to do with that software, they don't have a clear idea on how to do that. I normally relate these two cultures also, like you arrive to a new culture and you know what you need to do, you have no idea how to do it. So sometimes I'm using myself as a user. No, I'm instead of being the one, the designer who talks with the user, I'm the user myself. And and that happens with a lot of things, like bureaucracies, the first times that you need to go to a hospital, the first time that you try to get in contact with the language or going to the supermarket and trying to uh I don't know, buy things uh that at home you know how they are called, and suddenly you don't know that, no. So um these first interactions and these first levels of like communication are clearly similar to what uh one has with a digital product. Digital products emulate life, no, at the end. No, absolutely, and and you're right. When uh going to uh a new country and and living and being immersed in the culture, it's it's very exciting and very uh uh you just want to uh experience things and learn about the culture, but it can also be very scary and very uh uh intimidating, uh, you know, with language and cultural barrier barriers. Um let's just focus for a minute on the social media side of things. Link through social podcasts were all about the social media. You mentioned for your podcasts, you've you know develop reels and and and different posters and posts that you are very avid on social media. Country to country. Um do you do you find yourself when you're making your posts? Uh are you doing broad posts for everyone, or are you targeting in on the specific countries that you might be in at the time? What uh what do you do about that? Yeah, it's um it changed through years, I would say. Uh the focus of the podcast at the very beginning was even called differently. It was called the Ausländer, which mainly in German means the immigrant. Back in the day, the podcast was focused on people who were living in Germany, like foreigners living in Germany. Therefore, at that point of time, yes, the podcast was a little bit more focused, and what I was doing in social media was also more focused on two. Okay, let's grab the foreigners inside of Germany. Once I moved to Greece and I expanded the the podcast to be a little bit more global and a little bit more everyone, no, like um yes, it doesn't matter where you are living, as I uh what it matters is that you're living abroad or you lived abroad, then I switched the whole uh social media strategy. Uh it's also true that progressively I started doing more and more, but because I started also using software and tools that allowed me to uh uh do these kind of reels without investing too much time into it or like uh creating posts without uh um investing uh an amount of time that would not be sustainable with my job. I work for eight hours per day, besides having this. As you said, I play football, I play I do improv theater. I have a lot of things in my life, so it depends. If I need to be on top of the whole content that I produce on social media 100%, I would not be doing it. That's the reality. So uh when it switched to be much more global and much more extended, I start researching and uh investing in tools that allow me to cut a little bit corners in there, let's say like this. Yeah, well, no, it uh you you need you need that help because it's I know firsthand I run this podcast, but I also have a social media management business. And uh AI has definitely helped with some of the uh scheduling and and and different types of things. And of course I use Smart Post app uh to schedule a lot of my posts on different social media platforms. You need these tools to to keep up, especially if uh you have a small group behind you, or sometimes it's just yourself, right? So uh there's no uh shame in having these kind of tools, uh, but you want to also keep the human side of, especially when you're portraying your your story on social media. So uh on social media, speaking of the which, uh, we can find you on most of the platforms at almost local stories. Now, you're an improv theater actor as well. How has that helped you adapt to new cultures in unpredictable situations and living life abroad? Well, it's the base of improv at the end, no, like you jump into on top of a stage and then you don't know where it's coming. There is no script, there is no anything. So a lot of the dynamics that we use in improv theater, of course, help me navigate certain situations in life. Um, most recently, of course, even a little bit more, because I'm doing improv theater in Italian, which is uh something that I that it helped develop the language to another level and having the flexibility of I don't know, switching uh words, uh the syntaxes of the sentences, and navigate through around things. Um and also win confidence. It's also true. Like uh Diane, uh, when you're capable of doing a show on top of uh on front of 200 people uh in a language that it's not yours, fully improvised uh with things jumping on top of you without knowing where the direction exactly of where they're going things when you find similar situations on real uh on the street, no, and out of the stage, you're also capable of understanding if I was there in front of 200 people uh doing something that everyone is looking at you here. I can also navigate this, no? So it definitely, definitely help. Yeah, yeah. No, uh, we don't have much time left, but I'm I'm curious. On your almost local podcast, you you must have some very powerful stories of people that are building lives in new countries. Uh what's one that maybe stands out uh time that you've had the podcast? That's a difficult question. I interviewed nearly a hundred people, so um I think one of the ones that shocked me the most, especially because of how he uh navigated it and how he explained his own story in a very nice and and happy way, although outside of the crudity of of what happened to him, um was uh the story um from a guy uh who moved in Athens. And um he was one of the first refugees who uh enter uh Greece in general. He was actually in the first refugee camp that they mounted in in Greece. This guy came from Pakistan, Asian, and basically he crossed through cult extreme situations. There was people he lost friends into the way, he knows people who loved uh extremities, uh, fingers, stuff like that. They crossed to Turkey, he was nearly arrested in Turkey by the police, he managed to get out of that, so he was kind of like refugee trafficked uh until Greece, and then when he arrived to Greece, he adapted, he's a photographer there. Uh, he works in the in the docks of uh of Pireus, he speaks perfectly, he's married to a Greek woman, he has two wonderful kids. But it's the story of adaptation of someone who didn't have it easy in his life, and although all of that capable of like redoing his life, and and that like that shocked me really in the direction of like wow, no matter what happens in life and how hard you can be, you can you can become a nice and uh happy and and a successful person in somewhere else, even though you had difficult moments. Yeah, that's incredible. Yeah, absolutely inspiring. That that is just wonderful. Well, Mark Alcobe, I really appreciate you joining the Link Through Social Podcast today, and I encourage everyone to go to almost localstories.com. Of course, uh Mark is on social media at Almost LocalStories. Uh Mark, pleasure having you on the show. We'd love to have you on again in the future. And uh I wish you the best in Italy, and maybe uh the next country uh is somewhere down the road for you. I'm not sure, but I'll I'll I'll be following your story as well. We'll see. Thanks. Thanks a lot for having me. It was a real pleasure. Very good. Okay, well, the link through social podcasts will be back right after this. You've worked hard to build your audience. So why send your customers somewhere else? Introducing white-label digital storefronts from Ticketport X. Now you can process tickets, registrations, donations, merchandise sales, and collect valuable customer data directly on your website or custom landing page. 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