004: w/ Berlin-based photographer Claire P. 🧡🌸🌿 from meeting on YouTube to hanging in NYC, Dallas, and Dublin + asking: can I see myself as an engineer for the rest of my life?

Co-Host: Claire Petersen @byclairep | Host: Xinyi Xan @xinyixan Claire photography portfolio: @shotbyclairep / www.clairepetersen.com Hellooo, it's so good to catch up again. Today I'm sharing episode 4 of Don't Be Strangers, a podcast and social experiment for learning to create meaningful connections together via collaborative conversations! My name's XinYi, and the way this works is that anyone of any background can apply to come on and chat with me about anything under the sun. The goal is to simply narrow the gap between all of us as fellow humans. Today we're chatting with my Berlin-based Irish friend Claire, whom is I met in New York City thanks to the power of YouTube. Highlights of our conversation includes (1) The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin — a personality analysis of how you deal with internal and external expectations which is very useful for understanding why there can be disagreements or tension, (2) Claire's secret to not burning out as she attempts to turn her photography hobby into a business (3) Is the 40 hour work week actually effective, productive, and sustainable? (4) What living in Berlin is actually like and why does Claire adore it so much?, and (5) success defined as "doing what you said you'd do, with ease..." As usual, I'll include all the timestamps and more in the show notes, so let's jump to it! CLICK HERE FOR FULL HIGHLIGHTS & TIMESTAMPED INDEX I swear that Claire is my secret twin sister because sometimes we still read each other's minds... even when we haven't spoken in over two years! Do you have any friends like this? Please feel free to shoot a dm or leave a public comment and start a community thread @dontbestrangers on instagram to share your your thoughts about the conversation or any feedback you'd like to give! Speaking of which, since starting to introduce each of the co-hosts, as per feedback from episode 1 with my husband, I'd love to know if it's been too extra that I both introduce the guest and ask them to introduce themselves? Or how do you feel? And thank you for the overwhelming support I've gotten thus far because my initial goal was to produce 5 episodes, so I could get a feel of whether this was a project I wanted to keep longterm. And I think as of right now, I have scheduled enough conversations that I can produce 10 episodes. So truly, thank you from the bottom of my heart, and this is your reminder that you, too, can apply to co-host an episode! And if you know anyone who would appreciate these conversations or loves making friends and building community, it would be amazing if you could share the podcast and help make a few introductions! Speaking of introductions, you can also say hi to Claire via @byclairep / @shotbyclairep on instagram where you can find her gorgeous portrait photography works & remember, don't be a stranger. :- ) I can't wait to chat again soon~