This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:06] Bret Shuford: Hey, I'm Bret.

[0:07] Stephen Hanna: And I'm Stephen.

[0:07] Bret Shuford: And we are the Broadway Husbands.

[0:10] Stephen Hanna: We're just your all-American married couple making their living in the arts and pursuing a growing family.

[0:15] Bret Shuford: On the Broadway Husbands podcast, we offer advice from our ordinary lives under extraordinary circumstances.

[0:20] Stephen Hanna: We are living proof that you can love who you love and love what you do.

[0:24] Bret Shuford: Make sure you subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss our weekly episodes.

[0:27] Stephen Hanna: And if you really love us, make sure you leave a review on whatever podcast platform you listen to us on.

[0:32] Bret Shuford: Take a screenshot and tag us on Instagram at Broadway Husbands.

[0:37] Stephen Hanna: Members of our Patreon get exclusive access to behind-the-scenes videos, blogs, and other perks, including free apparel and so much more.

[0:45] Bret Shuford: To become part of our Patreon family, go to Patreon.com forward slash Broadway Husbands.

[0:51] Stephen Hanna: Okay, I'm, we're, we're like freaking out.

[0:54] Bret Shuford: We either had too much coffee.

[0:56] Stephen Hanna: We're gonna have a lot of coffee, but our guests today are kind of like the most inspirational people in our lives lately.

[1:04] Bret Shuford: Like they don't even know us, but we see them constantly, probably at least five times a day.

[1:10] Stephen Hanna: I'll like check out like what have they done and what are they doing today?

[1:15] Bret Shuford: And I think I've probably even said like, Stephen, can't you be more like Kelly's husband and learn how to edit? Like I need you to edit this stuff.

[1:24] Stephen Hanna: Um please welcome to the podcast, Kelli Erdmann, also known as Happy Kelli, and her husband Freeman Butler.

[1:31] Kelli Erdmann: Hi guys, welcome.

[1:32] Freeman Butler: Hi, thanks.

[1:33] Kelli Erdmann: We're excited to be here.

[1:34] Freeman Butler: Thanks for having us.

[1:35] Bret Shuford: I'm serious. I think I literally have said to Stephen a few times maybe you need to have a session with Freeman and like learn how to edit a lot of.

[1:43] Stephen Hanna: And but honestly, you guys, thank you so much for being here today.

[1:47] Bret Shuford: Um we've had, you know, we've had like some a lot of guests on our show throughout what has it been like a year and over a year and it's been over a year, and we've had a lot of guests.

[1:56] Stephen Hanna: Um, but honestly, you guys, when we finally got this in the calendar, I've been most excited about this.

[2:04] Bret Shuford: Um because in case you guys have been sleeping under a rock or you don't look at social media or as much as we do, and maybe just I don't know how you could look at social media and not know who they are, but this is Kelladactyl and her husband who create the most amazing content.

[2:23] Stephen Hanna: Um and they just bring joy, creativity, and light to the world on a daily basis.

[2:29] Kelli Erdmann: True.

[2:29] Freeman Butler: Yeah, it's really true.

[2:31] Kelli Erdmann: So nice.

[2:32] Bret Shuford: Keep going.

[2:32] Stephen Hanna: This is nice.

[2:36] Bret Shuford: Wait, okay, so I think a lot of people know Kelli kind of as the face of like what you guys do, but um I think that most people, because Freeman's like behind the camera and doing so much of the editing, and I think the way you edit, Freeman, shows how much you love your wife.

[2:57] Stephen Hanna: I'm just gonna say that. It just really shows that you have such affection for her.

[3:02] Bret Shuford: Um tell us a little bit about who you are individually, like um before we talk about how you met, and like and sometimes it's more fun if you guys introduce each other.

[3:13] Kelli Erdmann: Okay.

[3:14] Freeman Butler: Oh, okay.

[3:15] Kelli Erdmann: Do you want to go first?

[3:17] Freeman Butler: Sure.

[3:17] Freeman Butler: I don't know if Kelli needs an introduction, but um Kelli.

[3:22] Freeman Butler: Sweet Kelli.

[3:23] Freeman Butler: Um she is from Marysville, Washington.

[3:27] Freeman Butler: It's like a small town outside of Seattle.

[3:30] Freeman Butler: Um, she has three siblings.

[3:32] Kelli Erdmann: Oh, you're like really going into the teacher.

[3:34] Freeman Butler: Yeah, I mean, these are the things people want to know.

[3:37] Freeman Butler: Um Kelli's just like the nicest person.

[3:39] Freeman Butler: What you see online is like exactly who she is.

[3:43] Freeman Butler: We try to keep everything as genuine to who she actually is so that she doesn't have to like put on a face.

[3:51] Freeman Butler: Um I mean she's not always happy.

[3:53] Kelli Erdmann: She's not always happy, but um Kelli's just great.

[3:57] Freeman Butler: She we met, or I guess sorry, we're not getting to there yet.

[4:00] Freeman Butler: Kelli has a prolific background in dance.

[4:03] Freeman Butler: She has been dancing professionally for like 11 years, maybe 10 years.

[4:08] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, around there, somewhere around there.

[4:10] Freeman Butler: And she has appeared in Wicked on Broadway and on the national tour.

[4:16] Freeman Butler: Um she has been in TV shows, movies, et cetera, commercials.

[4:24] Freeman Butler: And when the pandemic hit, she started posting stuff on TikTok.

[4:28] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, that's pretty much it.

[4:32] Freeman Butler: This is the best person.

[4:33] Kelli Erdmann: Oh, you're nice.

[4:39] Stephen Hanna: Okay, so Kelli, tell us about Freeman, yeah.

[4:42] Kelli Erdmann: This is Freeman.

[4:43] Kelli Erdmann: Um he is from Palmdale, California.

[4:47] Kelli Erdmann: Uh so we're kind of back toward we live near where he grew up, which is kind of fun.

[4:52] Kelli Erdmann: Um he currently is in law school at UCLA.

[4:57] Kelli Erdmann: So during all of this madness, he's also been juggling online law school.

[5:02] Kelli Erdmann: Um he's about to graduate at the end of the month, so that's super exciting.

[5:06] Kelli Erdmann: Um, he studied finance in his undergrad.

[5:09] Kelli Erdmann: There's no arts background at all.

[5:12] Kelli Erdmann: Um he did a little bit of videography for the sports teams, like at his undergrad.

[5:17] Kelli Erdmann: Um, so that's how he has like basic knowledge of um editing and whatnot.

[5:21] Kelli Erdmann: Um, but yeah, since we've been um in the pandemic, he took up video editing, learning on his own and um has been doing that while doing law school and he is the best too I love it.

[5:34] Freeman Butler: I like that word so cheesy.

[5:37] Kelli Erdmann: We love each other.

[5:39] Freeman Butler: That's okay.

[5:40] Kelli Erdmann: We love each other too.

[5:41] Kelli Erdmann: We've been married 10 years.

[5:42] Kelli Erdmann: And we always say that I'm like I can't believe we still really love each other.

[5:45] Kelli Erdmann: It feels like so it's good.

[5:48] Stephen Hanna: How did you guys meet?

[5:50] Stephen Hanna: When was the first time you met or saw each other?

[5:52] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah do you want to go or yeah I can tell the story.

[5:57] Kelli Erdmann: Or the first part of the story.

[5:58] Kelli Erdmann: You can fill in any details obviously um so we matched on a dating app which is getting more normal but we're still a little embarrassed by it.

[6:08] Freeman Butler: I was living in Salt Lake City, Utah she was living in New York City she was in Wicked at the time um and we had just had our settings on like unlimited I guess.

[6:18] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah and we matched and then a couple months later we had we didn't really talk that much but then we like chatted a little bit but not really a couple months later I was going to visit my best friend that was working in New York um and it was like oh yeah there's that Kelli girl in New York maybe we should meet up and we mean well I'm like hoping that we're gonna meet up I'm like I'm like hoping like I'm like text him like hey like you're in town right and like and he's just like not responding because he's like with his friends and I'm like uh like hopefully we can meet up after my show in whatever anyways yeah and and then like also I like even so this is all this is kind of a side note but what the day we actually met up we were meeting up after my show, and he hadn't texted back.

[7:02] Kelli Erdmann: And so, and it's like you know, like 11 p.m. on a Friday night, and I'm just kind of wandering Times Square, just trying to like waste time just hoping he texted me back.

[7:12] Kelli Erdmann: I like went into some stores, like hoping he would text me, and he did, but anyways, continue.

[7:16] Freeman Butler: I eventually texted back.

[7:18] Freeman Butler: But um, so we actually met in person for the first time.

[7:21] Freeman Butler: It happened to be my birthday.

[7:22] Kelli Erdmann: I was on a birthday weekend trip with friends, yeah.

[7:25] Freeman Butler: Yeah, with friends, and we met in Times Square on my birthday, and it was so romantic.

[7:33] Kelli Erdmann: We were friends.

[7:33] Stephen Hanna: What time of year?

[7:35] Stephen Hanna: Was it hot or cold?

[7:36] Stephen Hanna: Like what was the weather?

[7:37] Freeman Butler: It was end of it was February, so it was cold.

[7:39] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, it was pretty good.

[7:41] Freeman Butler: But not too.

[7:41] Kelli Erdmann: But it wasn't like like a blizzarding night or anything like that.

[7:45] Freeman Butler: Yeah.

[7:45] Kelli Erdmann: Um, but we still like we've been back to New York a few times, and we go back to like the little tile in Times Square that we met.

[7:53] Freeman Butler: Right by the statue by the stairs, you know.

[7:55] Kelli Erdmann: I don't know, I don't know what's going on.

[7:58] Freeman Butler: Yes, yes.

[7:59] Kelli Erdmann: Yes.

[8:00] Kelli Erdmann: But um but you gotta tell you that's on the next part.

[8:03] Freeman Butler: Oh, sorry.

[8:03] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, go ahead.

[8:04] Kelli Erdmann: Oh, we're going we're well, just I mean, just tell about like a little bit more.

[8:08] Freeman Butler: Okay, what was your conversation like?

[8:10] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, I want to hear it.

[8:11] Kelli Erdmann: What yeah, what was the first couple things you talked about?

[8:14] Freeman Butler: What was the first couple things we talked about?

[8:16] Freeman Butler: I don't really know.

[8:17] Freeman Butler: That night we didn't really, I mean, like we just all chatted and hung out, but then it's just like joking with friends, yeah.

[8:22] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, but then after the after we like went our separate ways, we like texted and he's like, Oh, we should get breakfast tomorrow, and so I was like, because he was only in town for like two days, so I was like, Yeah.

[8:34] Kelli Erdmann: Um, and so our first like official date was like the next morning at brunch.

[8:38] Freeman Butler: Yeah, but I was I was like an hour and a half late to brunch, which was terrible.

[8:43] Kelli Erdmann: But Kelly waited and she was kind.

[8:45] Freeman Butler: It sounds like I was like really desperate.

[8:46] Kelli Erdmann: Did you have the matinee?

[8:48] Freeman Butler: It did.

[8:49] Freeman Butler: But it sounds like I was really desperate, but like I it wasn't that like normally, it was weird because normally I would just be like, Oh, this guy's not responding and blow him off, whatever, like move on.

[8:58] Freeman Butler: But there was like something inside of me that was like, man, like you really need to like meet this guy and like spend some time with him.

[9:03] Kelli Erdmann: So like it wasn't like desperation, it was like, no, something feels different.

[9:08] Kelli Erdmann: And so I like so yeah, so I had a matinee that day, and well, two shows.

[9:13] Kelli Erdmann: Um, and so I had like woken up early, gotten ready for brunch, and I had a two show day.

[9:18] Kelli Erdmann: So I was like, so when he was late, because he slept in, I was like, I'm gonna wait because I'm ready.

[9:25] Kelli Erdmann: I'm gonna get at least some breakfast out of this.

[9:27] Kelli Erdmann: Like, what else am I gonna do?

[9:29] Freeman Butler: So I ended up waiting for him.

[9:30] Kelli Erdmann: And wait, where did you eat breakfast?

[9:32] Kelli Erdmann: I'm just picturing the stage door at the grocery one.

[9:34] Kelli Erdmann: Like, where did you go?

[9:35] Freeman Butler: We went to Jacob's Pickle.

[9:37] Kelli Erdmann: Uh-huh.

[9:38] Kelli Erdmann: Oh, uptown up for one second.

[9:41] Freeman Butler: Yeah, but he was in my defense.

[9:42] Freeman Butler: Yeah, in his defense.

[9:43] Freeman Butler: It was my first time in New York.

[9:45] Freeman Butler: We had flown the red-eye the night before, and we had drama.

[9:48] Kelli Erdmann: It was your birthday weekend.

[9:50] Freeman Butler: Yeah, I was exhausted.

[9:52] Freeman Butler: So my alarm went off, but I just didn't wake up for it.

[9:55] Freeman Butler: And I didn't know that Manhattan was hard to travel in.

[9:59] Freeman Butler: Like, you can't go from like I was staying in like the financial district, and I had to go back to the house.

[10:05] Freeman Butler: On the weekends, yeah, forget it.

[10:07] Freeman Butler: And like the subway station was down as they always are.

[10:10] Kelli Erdmann: Anyway, yeah, like yeah, construction.

[10:12] Freeman Butler: So I woke up and ran in like my sweats that I had slept in.

[10:17] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, he didn't shower.

[10:18] Freeman Butler: Kelly still fell in love.

[10:20] Kelli Erdmann: Okay.

[10:22] Kelli Erdmann: She's very forgiving.

[10:24] Freeman Butler: It worked out.

[10:25] Kelli Erdmann: What did you think, Freeman?

[10:27] Kelli Erdmann: Like meeting a girl who's dancing on Broadway.

[10:31] Kelli Erdmann: Was there like a bit of a glamour to it for you?

[10:35] Freeman Butler: Or like how did you what was from an outsider's Salt Lake City California boy point of view?

[10:40] Freeman Butler: What did it look like?

[10:41] Freeman Butler: Yeah.

[10:42] Freeman Butler: Um, I thought it was really, really cool.

[10:44] Freeman Butler: So I had never been to a Broadway show, or never like I didn't grow up going to theater at all.

[10:50] Freeman Butler: If you met my parents, you'd think it was funny if they ever went to theater.

[10:54] Freeman Butler: Like they're just not really into like music theater and that sort of thing.

[10:59] Freeman Butler: So I didn't really like know how impressive it was.

[11:02] Freeman Butler: I had some idea, like, yeah, she's dancing on Broadway.

[11:05] Freeman Butler: That's amazing.

[11:06] Freeman Butler: Um, but I think I didn't really like internalize how impressive and how cool that was until I mean one of our first dates, she took me like backstage at the Gershwin, and that was really cool.

[11:18] Freeman Butler: And I was like, oh wow, this is like amazing.

[11:20] Freeman Butler: Um like you're actually like really really telling.

[11:22] Kelli Erdmann: And then I saw Wicked, and then I saw it like five more times and was starstruck.

[11:27] Freeman Butler: And did you see it that first that first weekend that you were visiting, or did you no?

[11:32] Freeman Butler: He saw Phantom.

[11:33] Freeman Butler: I went to see Phantom.

[11:34] Freeman Butler: Phantom was a lot cheaper, and I didn't know that like Kelly had to start dating or anything.

[11:40] Kelli Erdmann: So my gosh.

[11:46] Freeman Butler: And and so then, you know, you connected in real life, and then from then on, was it just kind of like you just kept the conversation going and you guys kind of knew that you were in love right away?

[11:57] Kelli Erdmann: Is that what happened?

[11:57] Freeman Butler: Or yeah, kind of.

[11:59] Kelli Erdmann: It was I mean, pretty much, yeah, from then on, we were FaceTiming like two hours every day.

[12:04] Kelli Erdmann: Um, and then like he planned a trip back to New York to visit a law school that he was maybe gonna go to.

[12:13] Kelli Erdmann: Um, and so he had planned that like in a month or something, but then I was like, no, like I want to see him sooner.

[12:19] Kelli Erdmann: And so I ended up buying like a last minute flight on um for like a Sunday.

[12:24] Kelli Erdmann: I had I only had a Sunday matinee, so I flew out for a red or I flew out right after my matinee on a Sunday to Utah, got there at like midnight, was there Monday, flew back Tuesday morning to do the show.

[12:37] Kelli Erdmann: Um I've done I've actually done that.

[12:40] Kelli Erdmann: Flown to Salt Lake City after a matinee on Sunday from Wicked.

[12:45] Freeman Butler: You remember to see my friend you got so sick too.

[12:48] Kelli Erdmann: He was so sick afterwards.

[12:50] Kelli Erdmann: I was like, oh my god.

[12:51] Freeman Butler: You need more sleep.

[12:53] Kelli Erdmann: It's rough.

[12:54] Kelli Erdmann: But we ended up doing that.

[12:55] Kelli Erdmann: I ended up doing that quite a few times because he came and visited a lot, and we did long distance pretty wicked, how long were you on Broadway?

[13:05] Freeman Butler: Yeah, I did it for just a year.

[13:07] Freeman Butler: I was covering a maternity leave, so like I just came out, did it for the year, and then that was it.

[13:12] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah.

[13:13] Kelli Erdmann: And then you went back to the tour, or did you how long did the tour?

[13:16] Freeman Butler: No, so I did the tour um for like 16 months.

[13:20] Freeman Butler: Like I had done it, I can't even remember what year it was.

[13:23] Freeman Butler: I did it and then came back to LA, was in LA for a year, and then they called me to come out to New York for the maternity leave.

[13:31] Freeman Butler: Um, and then after that was over, um, we got married and came back to LA.

[13:38] Kelli Erdmann: Wow, so how long were you dating?

[13:41] Kelli Erdmann: How long are you dating virtually before you got married?

[13:44] Freeman Butler: Yeah, um this is the question we were hoping you wouldn't ask.

[13:48] Kelli Erdmann: No, we were kind of wild, we were crazy.

[13:50] Kelli Erdmann: We I mean, we met February 23rd.

[13:53] Kelli Erdmann: February 23rd and got married August 8th.

[13:57] Freeman Butler: Of the same year.

[13:57] Kelli Erdmann: August 4th, August 4th.

[13:59] Freeman Butler: Oh my gosh.

[14:01] Kelli Erdmann: Of the same year, though, right?

[14:02] Freeman Butler: Of the same year, yeah.

[14:03] Kelli Erdmann: Of the same year.

[14:04] Kelli Erdmann: It was so you knew.

[14:06] Freeman Butler: So you knew.

[14:07] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, you knew.

[14:08] Kelli Erdmann: It was pretty.

[14:08] Freeman Butler: But that's awesome.

[14:09] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, very early on.

[14:10] Kelli Erdmann: We like it was it was different and just was so felt so right, and yeah, we knew.

[14:16] Stephen Hanna: I love that.

[14:17] Stephen Hanna: That is so cool.

[14:19] Stephen Hanna: That's cool.

[14:19] Stephen Hanna: Like, did you?

[14:21] Stephen Hanna: I mean, I'm sure it helped knowing that like you're you're based out of LA, like he's from California.

[14:28] Stephen Hanna: So you could kind of envision yourselves making that work, right?

[14:32] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, totally.

[14:33] Kelli Erdmann: Like, and I, yeah, because I moved to LA in 2010.

[14:35] Kelli Erdmann: So I'd been here for a long time.

[14:37] Kelli Erdmann: So it was like home to me.

[14:39] Kelli Erdmann: Um, and yeah, and he had offers at different law schools, like, and because we were dating, he was like, Okay, I'm either gonna go to New York or LA.

[14:47] Kelli Erdmann: And LA ended up working out, and so yeah, we ended up back here.

[14:51] Stephen Hanna: And now, how long have you been married?

[14:53] Stephen Hanna: What what what year are you coming up in?

[14:55] Freeman Butler: Um, we're coming up on three years.

[14:57] Stephen Hanna: Yeah, congratulations.

[15:01] Stephen Hanna: It's awesome.

[15:04] Bret Shuford: So, Kelly, I want to talk to you about what growing up in the state of Washington, did you just always dance?

[15:12] Bret Shuford: Like, did you start dancing from a young age and that's like all you did, and that was your passion?

[15:16] Bret Shuford: And just talk a little bit about your upbringing and your dance training.

[15:19] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, for sure.

[15:20] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, that's basically what I did.

[15:21] Kelli Erdmann: I started dancing, like taking classes when I was five at like the local studio.

[15:26] Kelli Erdmann: Um, and then as I started to get older, we learned about competitions when I was like around eight.

[15:31] Kelli Erdmann: So I started competing, and then my mom when we went to the competition, she kind of realized, oh, there's like so much more.

[15:38] Kelli Erdmann: Um, because we know it was a smallish town, and um, so she realized and we realized that you know I want I needed more technical background, so we ended up going to a ballet studio for a little bit.

[15:49] Kelli Erdmann: That was a little bit of a commute.

[15:52] Kelli Erdmann: Um, so it's a little more of a sacrifice, but my mom was amazing and willing to, you know, make the drive, make it happen.

[15:58] Kelli Erdmann: Um, luckily I was the youngest and most of my siblings were much older so we had the flexibility there.

[16:05] Kelli Erdmann: My mom was an angel and so we end I ended up going to like this local studio as well as ballet school for a little bit you know did the nutcracker a couple times which was fun and then and then the ballet school wanted me there you know seven six six days a week and I loved like jazz and contemporary and lyrical and stuff like that so I didn't want to make that jump so then we ended up going commuting to a studio in Seattle called Westlake Dance Center.

[16:33] Kelli Erdmann: And so I did kind of the ballet or I I guess at that point I switched I mostly just trained at Westlake until eventually joining their like performing group kind of competition company.

[16:45] Bret Shuford: And at this point you're a teenager is that right at this point I'm a teen teenager yeah training at Westlake and the you know the teachers there it was kind of more of a studio that was based like a drop-in studio so you could take any class and then there was like a performing group based out of it.

[17:01] Kelli Erdmann: So the focus was more on training rather than like getting your dance competition dances perfect and you know because that's kind of what all I did was just practice the dances before and now I was working on training and um my teacher Kirsten Cooper she lived in LA so she had a lot of connections so she would bring in people from LA like Mandy Moore would come teach us and um Mary Ann Lamb I don't know if you know her she like you know just worked with like the Fosse stuff.

[17:28] Kelli Erdmann: She's from she's from Washington so she would come and teach us a lot.

[17:32] Kelli Erdmann: And um yeah, so we had lots of great opportunities there.

[17:35] Kelli Erdmann: And then my teacher actually took me to LA for the first time when I was probably like 15.

[17:42] Kelli Erdmann: And I and I got to go take a class at Edge and see what it was all about.

[17:45] Kelli Erdmann: And that's when I really like was like, oh, like maybe I could do this for a living.

[17:49] Kelli Erdmann: And I learned about the Edge scholarship program.

[17:52] Kelli Erdmann: And um, and yeah, that's I kind of that when I was like a teenager at this new studio, that's when I realized, like, oh, I could actually maybe make this a career.

[18:00] Bret Shuford: What um what talk about your early career aspirations were well, like was Broadway like something that you aspired to do?

[18:07] Bret Shuford: Was that kind of like on your radar or was it TV film commercial dance?

[18:12] Bret Shuford: And how did you navigate that decision to make those things happen?

[18:17] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, totally.

[18:18] Kelli Erdmann: So Broadway was never actually on my radar because I had never been to New York.

[18:22] Kelli Erdmann: I had seen like, you know, a few shows that came through Seattle here and there.

[18:26] Kelli Erdmann: Um I had seen Wicked in Seattle, which was fun, but um in like 2009, but it wasn't on my radar just because I didn't really think it was possible to be honest.

[18:35] Kelli Erdmann: Like I was like, I didn't I didn't imagine that I could do something like that, which I mean maybe selling myself short, but it just I had never thought of it.

[18:42] Kelli Erdmann: So I was more focused on like commercial dance, um TV and film stuff.

[18:46] Kelli Erdmann: So when I started auditioning, that was kind of my focus um doing commercials and things like that.

[18:53] Kelli Erdmann: And then and then they auditioned for Wicked in LA.

[18:58] Kelli Erdmann: And also I sing, but I'm not like the most amazing.

[19:02] Bret Shuford: That was gonna be one of my talk about your multiple guy.

[19:06] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[19:06] Kelli Erdmann: So Wicked came to audition in LA.

[19:10] Kelli Erdmann: Um, and I think I had auditioned a few times um over the years, and you know, like got put on like a list of like, oh, like potential we could maybe hire you if there's ever an opening.

[19:22] Kelli Erdmann: But um, but um but yeah, eventually there was an opening, and so they had like a call back with like a few of us to come in for the tour and um you know I came in did all the dance with the partnering and sang and nice song yeah talk about so what were your 16 bars what were your sixteen bars were um part of your world from The Little Mermaid nice and you know it was yeah that was all I had um semi-prepared and so we made it work and I always just say it was good enough um because then like a few hours later I got a call that they were offering me the contract for the tour um and it was like mind blowing like what is happening like this is crazy um yeah and so that's and then I did that it was great I think Steven's first Broadway show he booked by singing happy birthday happy birthday so yeah yeah okay that's amazing but wait wait I have I have an even funnier one I have a friend who auditioned for Phantom who is a great dancer also but she sang Santa baby in July and she booked it oh my goodness that's incredible wow so that's so yeah part of your world that's a good one I love that I like that yeah yeah yeah so okay so so we're kinda to this and you've of course you now you've done a lot of musicals like hairspray live and just really those two oh is it just those two really yeah I mean I did I did like um small pantos small small like pantos you know what pantos are oh yeah yeah you did the Lithgo family yes yes on that in here that's the only those are the only musicals I've done a crazy I mean, yeah, you it's it's interesting to me.

[21:08] Stephen Hanna: Um, because I just see your content now, and so we're kind of like at this stage now.

[21:13] Stephen Hanna: Like, well, talk about this last year.

[21:16] Stephen Hanna: So were you on TikTok before the pandemic?

[21:20] Kelli Erdmann: No, we weren't.

[21:21] Kelli Erdmann: No, so you we kind of looked at it like TikTok lame, or I don't know, but we're still wrong, obviously.

[21:32] Kelli Erdmann: But talk about like the because I feel like I first off, when when we come to LA, hopefully we can do some dances together because I really want to do something.

[21:42] Kelli Erdmann: Because I just you've done a a reel or a TikTok with every single person on this planet who dances on any reel or TikTok.

[21:51] Stephen Hanna: And talk about how the I can't imagine the demand you're getting and probably requests you're getting to to make content, but what was the evolution of that?

[22:01] Kelli Erdmann: Like, what was the first thing that went viral?

[22:04] Kelli Erdmann: And you were like, Holy crap.

[22:06] Freeman Butler: Yeah, yeah.

[22:07] Freeman Butler: Do you want to talk for a minute?

[22:08] Kelli Erdmann: I've been talking a lot.

[22:08] Freeman Butler: You you start no you start, you start.

[22:11] Kelli Erdmann: All right.

[22:12] Kelli Erdmann: Um, I think the first thing that went viral.

[22:14] Kelli Erdmann: I I guess.

[22:15] Kelli Erdmann: Well, so maybe talk about why we joined, or I guess I'm not before that.

[22:19] Kelli Erdmann: Talk about the the first step.

[22:20] Kelli Erdmann: Like, you were like, uh, we're in the pandemic, we're shut down.

[22:24] Kelli Erdmann: Um, let's make some stuff.

[22:25] Freeman Butler: Did you always do it together?

[22:26] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah.

[22:27] Freeman Butler: Yeah.

[22:28] Kelli Erdmann: I guess I had I had nothing to do because the dance the Hollywood shutdown.

[22:31] Kelli Erdmann: So I had a lot of free time.

[22:32] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, and school went virtual like before the pandemic, like started, like a couple weeks.

[22:38] Kelli Erdmann: Um, and then they switched everything to Past Phil, so all of a sudden I didn't have to study as much.

[22:43] Kelli Erdmann: So we kind of just like sat around.

[22:44] Kelli Erdmann: We watched Tiger King like everyone did the first couple weeks.

[22:48] Kelli Erdmann: We totally had a lot of time.

[22:50] Kelli Erdmann: We just watched a lot of Netflix and we're like, we feel terrible.

[22:52] Kelli Erdmann: We can only do YouTube workouts for so long.

[22:54] Kelli Erdmann: Let's find something to like fill our time.

[22:57] Kelli Erdmann: So we got a free trial of an editing software and just started like or we saw a video that we really liked that was like stickers of heads and like attaches to our faces, and it was this really funny kid.

[23:12] Stephen Hanna: Yeah, you need to teach Steven how to do that.

[23:15] Kelli Erdmann: Anyway, go ahead.

[23:15] Freeman Butler: Go ahead.

[23:16] Kelli Erdmann: Stop, Brad.

[23:17] Kelli Erdmann: Stop interrupting them.

[23:19] Freeman Butler: We can have a little little powwow session.

[23:21] Kelli Erdmann: Um so we saw that video and we're like, wait, this is cool.

[23:24] Kelli Erdmann: And I was like, I had a little bit of video editing background, and I was like, I think I could figure out how to do it.

[23:29] Kelli Erdmann: So I looked up a tutorial, like, let's just make this video, let's kill an afternoon so we don't have to just be watching TV all day.

[23:36] Freeman Butler: Yeah.

[23:37] Kelli Erdmann: So we did it and then we posted it, and then the next morning, like we had 12 followers.

[23:42] Kelli Erdmann: We like made a TikTok that day.

[23:44] Freeman Butler: On my TikTok, it was like free free man butt was my handle. So that's like the original Happy Kelli handle.

[23:51] Kelli Erdmann: This free man butt. And um the next morning it had like what, like 200,000 views?

[23:58] Freeman Butler: Yeah, wait. They're like, whoa. Like just my close like 10 followers were gonna see it, and we had like thousands of followers.

[24:05] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, we didn't know how TikTok works. Like, wait, what? And everyone's just talking about Kelly's butt, and I'm just like, this is so weird.

[24:11] Freeman Butler: Like, what is it? Because it was a very wholesome video, but I start facing the back, and there was all these comments. I was like, what the this is weird.

[24:18] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, some creep creeps on there. Yeah, but yeah, then it like just kept growing and like hit two million views.

[24:24] Freeman Butler: Yeah, and so right away we were like, Whoa, we gotta make another video because this is fun.

[24:30] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, and so how fat did you do it the next day, or like how fast was your next day that you mentioned like I think it took so I was like really just learning how to do video effects.

[24:41] Freeman Butler: So and we had we were doing it on my super old laptop that was very slow so it took forever to edit anything. Editing took like twelve hours at least.

[24:50] Kelli Erdmann: So I think our next video came out a couple days later because I was like or maybe like maybe the next week.

[24:50] Freeman Butler: Maybe the next week, yeah. Um but it was it wasn't too long after that, and then the next video, I thought it was a better video, and I think everyone goes to this on TikTok, like wow, that works. So I'm gonna do it for like even more, and then it doesn't do as well.

[25:09] Kelli Erdmann: And I was like, like it still killed it, like it got like a hundred thousand views or something like that. But I was like so disappointed.

[25:15] Freeman Butler: I was like, oh, it's not gonna get two million views every single time. Like a realization.

[25:20] Kelli Erdmann: Um yeah, so that was like our first big hit. Was our first video. Our initial goal was to be able to just pay for the editing software, the editing software and to cover our costs on that.

[25:34] Freeman Butler: Yeah. Because then we're like, oh well then if we can afford to like keep the editing software by making TikToks like for our big worry that we weren't gonna be able to get like fifteen dollars a month.

[25:45] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah. Um and I didn't want to. We were like, we can't be paying for an editing software.

[25:50] Freeman Butler: Poor law student.

[25:51] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah. The industry shut it just shut down. What am I gonna do?

[25:55] Freeman Butler: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh, what that that's kind of you know, we made a we made in we're because we were quarantined in the East Village for the first two weeks, and of course, similarly it was like I was like, Steven, let's just like go to get out of the apartment. Let's go dance in Tompkins Square Park, and we did like a a dance to La Vie Bohème from Rent, because we were in the East Village, right?

[26:17] Kelli Erdmann: And so that did that like got so much like I don't think it hit two million views, but like no, it didn't have two. But we were like, well, this is interesting. Like it's similarly, it was like, oh, TikTok is interesting. Like so, so I totally get that.

[26:31] Freeman Butler: But then when did you well wait? I have another question. So because I was just thinking, so even early on when we would make dances together, we tend to not always get along. I'll just say that, right?

[26:44] Kelli Erdmann: So how do you navigate your relationship while um collaborating as artists? How is that?

[26:55] Freeman Butler: We can talk about this one. That's a great question. So it's funny because you know, for some reason, like you would think I wouldn't get stage fright because I'm a dancer, I perform or whatever, like whatever. But it's been really interesting creating content with Freeman, look who's my husband.

[27:15] Kelli Erdmann: It like weirdly, I get stage fright, and sometimes I have to make him like go to the other room when I'm filming, even because I'm like for some reason so shy. It's weird.

[27:27] Freeman Butler: Um, and so yeah, so so we have that aspect, but it's getting better, we're working on it. Um, but no, I think I think a lot of times too, as a dancer, you're told a lot, like especially like on commercial sets or things like that, you'll they tell you what to do when you do it, and so it's been very interesting to like be the one creating it because then I have to make decisions, and I'm not that used to that as a dancer because normally you just do what you're told.

[27:55] Kelli Erdmann: Um totally, and so it's been a very new kind of thing for me to like be creating because I'm like, just tell me what to do, Freeman, and I'll do it type of thing.

[28:04] Freeman Butler: Right. But it is collaborative, yeah. There's also there's also like the aspect of like compartmentalizing our like romantic relationship and then our work relationship. Because we're working all the time.

[28:15] Kelli Erdmann: And it it sometimes can be easy to like treat each other like coworkers. So yeah, sometimes I'm like, we're just like in business mode. We haven't like cuddled in a while. This is weird.

[28:24] Freeman Butler: It's really strange. It's very new. So that's that's another struggle. But as far as like create creatively, we have such different strengths.

[28:32] Kelli Erdmann: Like I don't dance. Um, I'll sometimes help choreograph.

[28:35] Freeman Butler: Yeah, he actually has moves.

[28:38] Kelli Erdmann: That's any like everyone can dance. Well, so wait, so I would well that that was my next question. So, Freeman, are there days when you're like, you know what? I think we should do. I think it should like go this, this, and you're like that, you know, you're like kind of doing the shape, and she's like, Okay, like this. Is it that kind of thing?

[28:55] Freeman Butler: Like, where you're kind of like, I picture this, and then she does it, and then is is that kind of a way? I want to hear about your strategy, just because I you're like, what are you trying to like your goal is what to get two out a day?

[29:10] Kelli Erdmann: I mean, or one a day, like what's your strategy?

[29:14] Freeman Butler: Um, we just kind of work hard. Yeah, we don't have like a yeah, yeah.

[29:20] Kelli Erdmann: So, especially at the beginning, we were like, we would just make we Freeman would have like an idea for like an editing concept, and so then we'd be like, Okay, I have this idea, like how can we make it work? And then we would just he would be so excited about it that we'd have to like make it immediately, and then we would make it, and then he would post it, like, and that was it.

[29:35] Freeman Butler: And so then it was like, Okay, now we have to do it again. Like, and he just gets so excited because he like Freeman is really good at this and like has really great ideas, and it's so exciting, and then he just gets so excited that he just like he has to do it, he can't do anything else until we've done it, and it's really cute.

[29:51] Kelli Erdmann: I become a mad. That's how you're obsessed with an idea. Like yesterday, I was editing for six hours because I was like, I have to get this done.

[29:57] Freeman Butler: Yeah, and it was like, no, it wasn't a deadline. There was no deadline, but like in his mind, he's like, I love this idea. We have I have to do it now.

[30:03] Kelli Erdmann: And uh, but so now nowadays, nowadays, uh, we we just kind of what would you say? I mean, I guess we don't really have a strategy.

[30:14] Freeman Butler: It's kind of similar. Well, our process is kind of like I'll think of a a fun edit or I'll see a fun edit and think of a way to incorporate it into either a trend or a song that we really like, yeah, and then we make a new dance to the song.

[30:29] Kelli Erdmann: No, no, you guys don't make a new dance, you make you guys make the trend.

[30:33] Freeman Butler: That's um, but sometimes, so a couple times, like I don't know if you've seen our our video where it's like there's like people walking, they're like walking to the beat of Be My Lover by LaBouche, and then they like step back, forward, back, forward, back, forward, and then back.

[30:51] Kelli Erdmann: So that was actually my choreography, which I'm very proud of.

[30:54] Freeman Butler: That's what I'm talking about. He had the vision, he had the vision.

[30:56] Kelli Erdmann: Thank you. I mean, it's not really choreography, there's it's walking forward and backwards.

[30:59] Freeman Butler: But it's choreograph, it's quirk.

[31:01] Kelli Erdmann: I like woke up one morning and just had that song in my mind, and I stood up at the like at the foot of our bed while Kelly was like waking up and just started doing that dance because I thought it was funny.

[31:12] Freeman Butler: Like, wait, let's make this like a thing. So that's kind of like one of our go-to's, and like just random inspiration here and there is kind of yeah, getting inspired from other people's videos or other trends and how we can make them our own, or add something different to them, or honestly, Freeman just like has these ideas, and I'm like, what? Like, I'm like going to sleep, and he's like, Okay, I just had a really good idea, and I'm like, asleep, like, oh, can you tell me in the morning? And he just like has to tell me right then.

[31:37] Kelli Erdmann: Oh and I'm gonna watch this Instagram husband, honestly. People are like, and people will comment like, oh man, I feel so bad for you. You have to be always filming your wife, and he's like the one that's obsessed with it.

[31:50] Freeman Butler: But I feel like something like really hit with your the dance that you and is it Kasha? That you you did done. I mean, that was the one that like to me was like, Oh, who's this who's this person? And and um, and I was like catching up on all the stuff that you guys had made.

[32:13] Kelli Erdmann: Um was that the video that you felt like all of a sudden you were like, holy crap, I'm getting bombarded by requests and things. Talk about that.

[32:21] Freeman Butler: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that that dance, I mean the video blew up, and then all these other site or like Instagram accounts were reposting it, so everyone was seeing it.

[32:30] Kelli Erdmann: I don't know, everyone, but like people were seeing it in a lot of different places, and so it was really blowing up.

[32:35] Freeman Butler: Um, but yeah, that I mean that and that one was a dance that I had seen on TikTok, and um uh these two guys they're in this K pop group called Izus or Easy Uzy. I guess that's I we always call it easy, but I think it's easy easy.

[32:49] Kelli Erdmann: Um, and we gave them credit, you know, all the dance, but everyone because our my our video is the one that blew up, everyone's like, Oh, you created this dance, you create it's your dance, and I was like, it's not though, like and I felt bad because I'm like, I want theirs to blow up because but that's just not how it originated.

[33:05] Freeman Butler: Yeah, but that's just not how TikTok's yeah, but also was the editing where you Yeah, that was different.

[33:10] Kelli Erdmann: That was the super zoom, right?

[33:12] Freeman Butler: I did that edit myself.

[33:14] Kelli Erdmann: Um yeah, so it's just like a face tracking edit. Um, um, we did like in an editing program outside of the app.

[33:22] Freeman Butler: Um, but yes, that really added to the video um for sure. Uh and that's kind of where we started using that.

[33:28] Kelli Erdmann: Or did we use that before that editing style?

[33:30] Freeman Butler: We used it a little bit, but yeah, I edited that one myself.

[33:33] Kelli Erdmann: So that was really exciting. Bravo.

[33:36] Freeman Butler: Well, job well done.

[33:37] Kelli Erdmann: Because I I think after I saw that I obsessively was trying to figure out how to do editing, face tracking thing.

[33:44] Freeman Butler: And then I just got frustrated because I would have to like leave my computer to do other things, and then I was just like, I can't do this right now.

[33:50] Kelli Erdmann: So I just never figured it out. But yeah, so is this would you say this is like your full-time job now?

[33:55] Freeman Butler: Yes, it's crazy.

[33:57] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, definitely. It takes up so much time, and yeah, the demand. I mean, it's crazy, like having to keep up with posting videos constantly, which it like it's a lot of work.

[34:01] Freeman Butler: It's a lot of work, it really is.

[34:10] Kelli Erdmann: But it's fun, but it's a lot of work.

[34:12] Freeman Butler: Yeah.

[34:12] Kelli Erdmann: How do you stay motivated?

[34:14] Freeman Butler: I mean, because honestly, you don't have to if you don't want to, but it feels like you do because it is your it is become a business, right?

[34:23] Kelli Erdmann: So how do you stay motivated when you're you you're not like showing up at the stage door and signing in?

[34:29] Freeman Butler: That’s a really good question.

[34:31] Kelli Erdmann: How do we stay motivated?

[34:33] Freeman Butler: Kelly, let me just say one cool thing about Kelly. Kelly's like the most like hard working person I know.

[34:38] Kelli Erdmann: She like, if she's not being productive, like the pandemic was rough.

[34:42] Freeman Butler: Really rough.

[34:43] Kelli Erdmann: That's why we started making videos, because it's like Kelly needs something to do in order to like feel fulfilled.

[34:53] Freeman Butler: Like making other people's lives better and constantly needs to be like involved in like a good cause, I guess.

[35:00] Kelli Erdmann: Um so I think it it kind of comes from within for Kelly.

[35:04] Freeman Butler: She's like a very motivated, productive person, and when she's not, she is not happy.

[35:09] Kelli Erdmann: She's not happy, Kelly.

[35:10] Freeman Butler: She's unhappy.

[35:11] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah.

[35:11] Freeman Butler: And and Freeman, I think for the motivation for Freeman is he just loves genuinely enjoys it so much.

[35:19] Kelli Erdmann: He gets so much joy out of like learning a new editing skill or creating something.

[35:24] Freeman Butler: Um that that's that's his motivation.

[35:26] Kelli Erdmann: It's nice to be creative when you're in law school.

[35:28] Freeman Butler: Yeah.

[35:30] Kelli Erdmann: I was gonna say, yeah, you're reading a lot of stuff. So like to not have to learn and like create, it sounds and what are your do you have like boundaries at all on like days that you work or the times that you work?

[35:43] Stephen Hanna: Do you guys have like a deal in your relationship where you're like, you know what, it's 10 p.m., we're done? Or it's Sunday, we're not doing this today? Like, what's that conversation?

[35:54] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah. And how do you—when we first started, it was tricky because it was more just kind of for fun. And I would not be in the mood and Freeman would be like, okay, can we make a video? And I was like not expecting it, like, you know, just kind of like, wait, what? And so we kind of gotten better at just planning out our week until I know what to expect, like we know what to expect. Like, okay, we're gonna make—we're gonna film this content on this day type of thing. So I think planning, like having a schedule and like talking about it like the Sunday before is really helpful. And then we also try to our best to take Sundays off. But other than deadlines get in the way. But sometimes deadlines get in the way for like other content, content for sponsored stuff, yeah, stuff like that.

But yeah, I think—and I've gotten better because I'm a people pleaser, so you know, Freeman would be like, oh, let's do this, and I'd be like, I don't want to, but I would do it. And I've gotten better at being like, okay, actually, like, can we wait till tomorrow? Um, things like that. Just working on our communication skills.

[36:57] Freeman Butler: Yeah, it's been great for our relationship. Seriously.

[37:01] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah. We've learned a lot and grown a lot in that aspect of like being like, actually, I'm not into it right now. And the other person has to be, you know, being understanding and stuff like that.

[37:10] Stephen Hanna: What are your hopes? Um, are you hopeful that you move like away from social media and then like have your own, like not platform but like own channel or own show, or is that like your next step?

[37:27] Freeman Butler: Um, what do you think, Kelli?

[37:30] Kelli Erdmann: I don't know. That's a really good question. Cause we've talked about like what's—what does this look like in the future?

[37:36] Freeman Butler: Yeah. How does this—I think at this point it's just like working on growing our audience is important. Um, and just like making stuff that makes people happy. It's like always—always our main goal is the main goal.

[37:50] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, it's doing stuff to like spread joy, spread light. Cause you know, there—it's wonderful getting comments and messages from people that say, you know, like I look forward to your videos every day, like they've really helped me through the pandemic. Like, seriously, like it just means so much. And so seeing that—that's the main goal. Um, but yeah, I mean, in the future, who knows? Kind of open to whatever happens.

[38:13] Freeman Butler: I think that Kelli would be amazing in like a Blue's Clues type show.

[38:20] Kelli Erdmann: Children's show.

[38:21] Freeman Butler: Right, yeah. So your faces are telling me that you can do it.

[38:24] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah.

[38:24] Freeman Butler: Um, she would be amazing in like a children's show, like maybe a dance-themed children's show on Nickelodeon or something like that. I think Kelli'd be awesome at that. But that's not—that's just like a pipe dream. Who knows?

[38:34] Kelli Erdmann: Well, yeah, there's such a bubble. There's such a bubble, there's such a joy about what you do.

[38:39] Stephen Hanna: Yeah, there really is. And it's clear that when you dance, dancing makes you happy.

[38:44] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah.

[38:45] Stephen Hanna: And you like make everyone happy that sees your videos, I'm sure. So thank you for doing it.

[38:53] Kelli Erdmann: Thanks for watching. When we do our dance videos, um, though, I—you know, there's days where we like you were saying, like, we don't want to do it, like physically don't want to do it. Um, so but when you do do it, when it's better to save it so that when you do want to do it, that joy is like so evident. And I feel like I see that in your content as well.

[39:15] Freeman Butler: Definitely.

[39:16] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah.

[39:18] Stephen Hanna: So how many videos are you gonna make today?

[39:21] Freeman Butler: So just get it.

[39:22] Kelli Erdmann: That's a good question. I mean, it's morning, so we've got the whole day ahead of us.

[39:26] Freeman Butler: You got the whole day.

[39:27] Kelli Erdmann: We've got the whole day. We'll probably make one, maybe two.

[39:28] Freeman Butler: Maybe two.

[39:34] Stephen Hanna: All right. I can't—well, I can't wait to see them. And please, um, please feel free to um—we will recreate your dances. We do them all the time.

[39:44] Kelli Erdmann: Yes, looking forward.

[39:46] Stephen Hanna: Awesome. We're gonna move on to a segment that we call Spotlight on Love.

[39:51] Kelli Erdmann: Ooh.

[39:52] Stephen Hanna: All right. For now, you guys are first-time guests on our podcast. We do this segment we call Spotlight on Love, where one of our listeners writes in and asks a question of us and our guests where they want relationship, family, dating advice, and then we and our guests give our unqualified advice. So um today we have—it's an anonymous person. They want to remain anonymous, and they said after a year of being in quarantine together, working from home, pivoting all of the time, I find myself shutting down with my partner. It's like I think he should be able to read my mind now after all this time. And if he doesn't do things exactly how I want, I lose my patience. How do I keep myself expressing my emotions to my partner without shutting down?

[40:43] Kelli Erdmann: Ooh.

[40:45] Freeman Butler: That's tricky.

[40:46] Kelli Erdmann: That's a good question.

[40:48] Freeman Butler: That is a good question. Guys, you want us to answer first?

[40:53] Kelli Erdmann: Oh shoot.

[40:54] Freeman Butler: Yeah.

[40:57] Kelli Erdmann: No, you go.

[40:58] Freeman Butler: If you have an idea. I mean, I don't know. Kelli is definitely the better communicator in our relationship. But I would say that for me, whenever I'm feeling something like there's a problem in general, I think talking about the general problem instead of trying to fix like the—like if I had the same issue, I would tell Kelli, like, look, sometimes I shut down when you can't read my mind and it's really tough. And just like saying that and like getting it out helps me. I don't know whether that's based in science or good, but um instead of like worrying about communicating in the instant that you're getting annoyed, I think having a preliminary conversation about the issue in general is always beneficial so the other person understands where you're coming from.

[41:46] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, yeah. Good advice.

[41:48] Freeman Butler: Yeah, I think that's really good advice. Um, I think for me, I don't have—I'm not very good at not sharing how I'm feeling. Would you say I usually create it? I usually share how I'm feeling like I can't hold it in. Um, so that this question's a little tricky for me, but I think, yeah, I think especially a time when you're not feeling impatient um to bring it up, because then you're not already worked up about this silly thing. Um, yeah, so bringing it up when things are good, just to like have a con—start a conversation and to explain where you're coming from and let them know where you're coming from so that then they can be aware and you know, I think asking for what you need is really important.

[42:36] Freeman Butler: Great advice.

[42:38] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, that's very good advice. I think—I think I need to take that advice. I personally—I'm like the person that has—I have a hard time um not confronting, but bringing things up that may be uncomfortable or maybe asking for things for myself. I think that I still have a hard time doing that. So I think probably what you guys have already said is being in a good positive mindset to actually start the conversation. And then also since I'm usually on the receiving end of things being brought up because I don't like to speak my mind a lot of the time. Um, I'm just—I'm like Kelli, I speak my sort of like out. I think it's important to remember that when your partner is bringing something up, it's not always an attack. Um, it's like an open discussion and it's—it's not to be—you don't have to take everything so defensively and so personally. I mean, I'm saying this right now, but I don't—Stephen.

[43:41] Stephen Hanna: So having a lot of people.

[43:42] Kelli Erdmann: I don't know that I believe what I'm saying, but—but yes, you should not take things so personally, and I shouldn't take things so personally. I don't know if it's like the dance—the years of dance or something, but it's like any conversation is a critique. Yeah. Like, so I have to constantly be like, I'm not criticizing you. I'm just trying to have a conversation.

[44:04] Freeman Butler: Yes, totally.

[44:06] Kelli Erdmann: But I think that the thing about the quarantine that's really hard, as you guys are kind of speaking about, is like we're all wearing different hats that we didn't have to wear before the quarantine in our relationships. Like, because you're just together all the time. You're like, you're now their therapist, best friend, co-worker, um, you know, like housekeeper, chef. Um, and I think it—I think that's the challenge, right? Is like which hat are you wearing when you're communicating? Which hat? How do you distinctly set those boundaries so that it's clear? I don't know if that helps the person who asked this question, but what you were saying is like you have to be really clear. Sometimes it means leaving the house and coming back as a different person or putting on a different hat.

[44:52] Freeman Butler: Is that something you do? Leave the house and come back as a different person?

[44:56] Kelli Erdmann: Is that why you went on a walk while I was teaching? He was like, I'm going for a walk. And I'm like, what? Like anyway, sorry.

[45:03] Stephen Hanna: Anyway, I thought those were some really, really lovely advice. Um, if you, as a listener, want to get advice from us and our guests or unqualified advice, please feel free to shoot us a DM on Instagram at Broadway Husbands, or check out broadwayhusbands.com where you can shoot us an email, and we will gladly read your question aloud on our next episode.

[45:25] Stephen Hanna: Okay, so this has been an awesome episode. I want to thank you guys so much for taking the time out of, I'm sure your extremely busy schedule to talk with us today. We really appreciate it. We're huge fans, and just keep doing what you're doing. And yes, Freeman, that means you too. We know you're there.

[45:40] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, you're like killing it.

[45:41] Stephen Hanna: You guys are killing it, killing it. We love it. Super inspired by the work you two do. And where can people follow you and get more information so they can get to know more about you?

[45:55] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, they can follow on TikTok at Happy Kelli.

[45:59] Freeman Butler: Um, Kelli with an I.

[46:01] Kelli Erdmann: Kelly with an I, happy with a Y.

[46:04] Freeman Butler: Um, or at Kelodactyl on Instagram.

[46:07] Kelli Erdmann: Um, Freeman's also on those platforms.

[46:13] Freeman Butler: People might need legal advice.

[46:14] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah, people are gonna need legal advice.

[46:17] Freeman Butler: If you need a lawyer or someone to look over your influencer contracts.

[46:21] Kelli Erdmann: Yeah. Um, yeah, thank you so much for having us. This has been so, so fun. You guys are the best.

[46:28] Stephen Hanna: Well, oh, we're so happy to get to know you, and we're gonna come see you in LA. We're coming in July.

[46:33] Kelli Erdmann: Okay, great. So maybe—well, let's see if we can put something on the books where we can hang out and have lunch or something.

[46:37] Freeman Butler: Please, that would be so amazing.

[46:40] Stephen Hanna: Yay! Thanks for listening to the Broadway Husbands podcast. Don't forget to subscribe, and while you're at it, leave a review on whatever podcast platform you listen to us on. Don't forget to check out Broadway Life Apparel and our new designs that are released every month. Thanks to our Patreon patrons. Don't forget to join our family by going to patreon.com forward slash Broadway Husbands. And a big shout out to the Broadway Podcast Network. Go to BPN.fm forward slash husbands to check out the wide array of Broadway-themed podcasts for your listening pleasure. And on this podcast, we encourage you to love who you love and love what you do.