Senior Ale Hurtado sits at her desk. Hurtado said she shares her life experiences on her podcast, “She Talks,” to inspire others to embrace their true selves. Photos by Lucian Himes
While beauty and wellness play a different role in everyone’s lives, senior Ale Hurtado said she uses her podcast to inspire people to be the most authentic version of themselves.
“She Talks” is a podcast where Hurtado reflects on her life experiences and emotions while emphasizing the importance of mental well-being. Hurtado, a Public Relations major, said she lives a life of authenticity and encourages others to embrace whatever comes their way.
“The biggest thing that I want people to take away from my podcast is that they are loved, they are valued, their emotions and their feelings and who they are as an individual is so valid,” Hurtado said. “They need to just embrace their authentic selves because that truly is the most beautiful thing about them.”
Inspiration behind ‘She Talks’
Before she transferred to Pepperdine, a podcast assignment for an audio production class in her first year at Point Loma Nazarene University inspired Hurtado to begin this “passion project” of hers. Hurtado said the name, “She Talks,” came from coworkers at her old retail job that would say she talked too much.
“I take these themes essentially that I always talk about, but I’ll tie them into things I’m going through at my current point in time because I also want people to know that I’m not perfect, no one’s perfect,” Hurtado said. “What we want to do in life is embrace our individuality and embrace those imperfections because that is what makes us beautiful human beings.”
Some of Hurtado’s biggest inspirations in the world of beauty and wellness include Glossier and Emma Chamberlain. Hurtado said she loves how Glossier creates makeup to enhance one’s natural beauty, and Chamberlain’s motto of being “unapologetically herself” motivated Hurtado to do the same.
“They both just allowed me to realize my inner beauty and my confidence and just embrace my authenticity,” Hurtado said. “Because that’s what I will always say ‘She Talks’ is about — authenticity and being genuine.”
Hurtado said she struggled with confidence in high school, but the podcast has allowed her to grow and be more honest in the way she lives her life. If she ever needs extra motivation, she will often listen to her past podcasts, journal or spend time with her friends and family.
Motivation of love and support
From the moment sophomore Eden Mittelsdorf — Hurtado’s “little” in the Delta Gamma — met her, she said Hurtado showed so much love, and her optimism is contagious.
“For her to share her wisdom, a podcast is definitely the best thing for her, just because she is so personable, and she can reach so many people and audiences,” Mittelsdorf said.
Mittelsdorf said one of her favorite messages from a podcast episode is about not basing happiness on others.
“Everyone who knows her loves her and knows that ‘She Talks’ podcast is a perfect representation of how she cares so much about other people and wants to share her knowledge of what she has experienced to the world,” Mittelsdorf said.
Embracing authenticity
The podcast process, Hurtado said, can take anywhere from two hours to two weeks. She said she never knows when inspiration will strike her — sometimes it will happen in class and she will write down ideas and topics in the margin of a history notebook.
Hurtado’s editing process looks a little different compared to other podcasts — she doesn’t edit the episodes at all.
Hurtado said she will put a disclaimer in an episode in the rare case she edits it to explain why. She hopes her transparency allows her listeners to relate to her in some way and embrace their individuality.
“I’m just sitting there having a conversation with them [listeners] too, and so that’s the true beauty and reason why I don’t edit them, so people know that they’re getting the complete unfiltered version of me,” Hurtado said.
___________________
Follow Currents Magazine on Twitter: @PeppCurrents and Instagram: @currentsmagazine
Contact Tanya Yarian via Twitter: @tanya_yarian or by email: tanya.yarian@pepperdine.edu
