Opening Up With Margie B, Ep. 2 — "Do You Feel Heard 👂"

Host: Margie B (@MargieAponte2) with co-host Ryan (@RyanJ8812) · Thu 16 Jul 2026 · 1:16:22 · ~5 active speakers

TL;DR

• The second installment of Margie's "Opening Up" series turned "Do you feel heard?" into a warm, wandering conversation about active listening, respect, and mourning at your own pace.
• Lyss (@Lysss302) noted that, by coincidence, her subscriber post for that evening was about active listening — the room and her post had "aligned" on the same theme [13:32].
• Recurring gripe of the night: people who steal space titles, topics, and even guest speakers without a shout-out. Margie promised she'll always call it out; Lyss said she's made peace with people picking up her "crumbs" [50:31], [52:18].
• Walt (@WaltDisneyIF) closed with the standout line of the night: if someone pops into your head, call them — there's probably a reason [1:12:00].
• Running weather bit: Margie insisted it would be "172" tomorrow (air quality index, not temperature), which Wealthy — DoorDashing in Texas — refused to be impressed by [3:22], [35:28].
• Lyss DJ'd the outro with Sonny Fodera's "Mind Still," picked by Walt [1:11:17].

Highlights

[4:39] The room takes shape. Ryan runs attendance — Margie, Ryan, Blockchain (a listener Margie cheerfully voices as "Cheney"/"Jamie" throughout), and Lyss — and Margie sets the theme.

[7:38] "Do you feel heard?" Ryan says he's "starting to" — he didn't always, but he does now [7:47]. When Margie teases him about his "flavor of the month," he gently corrects her: "you're not a flavor of the month, like that's weird" [8:28], a moment Margie and Lyss both melted over.

[9:18] Lyss on being respected. She says she feels heard now both at work and in her personal life, and that after not always being in that place, it's "refreshing… someone actually cares about what you have to say outside of work, not because they have to."

[11:36] The five elements. Margie lays out her framework for feeling heard — voice, active attention, empathy, respect, common ground — and makes the case for saying so up front when you're not in a place to fully listen, rather than fake-nodding.

[13:32] Active listening, live. Lyss reveals her evening subscriber post is literally about active listening, and names her pet peeve: people responding before you've finished your thought. Her fix in real life: "let me table this… it's not gonna get anywhere in an efficient manner today" [13:32].

[28:28] Wealthy weighs in. Between DoorDash runs, Wealthy gives the night's most grounded take: he's felt both heard and dismissed, but these days he doesn't chase feeling valued from others — "I just feel that within myself," and assumes a distracted person is just having a bad day rather than taking it personally [31:34].

[48:03] "Get over it." Margie shares a hard memory: two weeks after her father died, wearing black to mourn, a friend's father told her to "get over it, people die every single day." She left immediately — her point being that everyone grieves differently and no one gets to set your clock.

[50:31] The topic-thief conversation. Margie calls out people who copy Lyss's space titles and poach her guests without credit. Lyss explains how much work goes into her spaces — 260+ daily titles saved, talking points vetted for freshness — but says building something organic ("we never bought a space") means she now lets copycats have the crumbs while she's "on to the next thing" [52:18].

[59:07] Walt's flooded amusement park. Arriving late with his best story, Walt recounts taking his daughter to Greenfield Village in Michigan, boarding the train just as "the gates of heaven opened up" — the park flooded in seven minutes and they ran for shelter. His daughter's favorite part of the whole trip? "Running from the train to the building" [1:00:33].

[1:02:36] Walt on boundaries. Asked if he feels heard, Walt credits a year spent "sticking to my guns" and setting boundaries — saying no, shedding relationships, keeping the people who reciprocate. He adds that he checks on friends weeks after the dust settles, "because there is a specific set of loneliness that may settle in" [1:02:36].

Topic timeline

Notable quotes

• "You do, yes. But you're not a flavor of the month. Like that's weird." — Ryan, to Margie [8:28]
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  0:38
• "If you're listening, you want to hear my entire thought, and then you're free to respond." — Lyss [13:32]
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• "I don't have time to be wasting on somebody… I just feel that within myself." — Wealthy [31:34]
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• "If people are picking up our crumbs, then hey, have the crumbs, because we're already on to the next thing." — Lyss [52:18]
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• "My daughter… what was your favorite part? She's like, running from the train to the building. I'm like, okay, that's perfect." — Walt [59:07]
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• "If somebody just kind of pops in your mind for a brief second, probably give them a call… there's probably a reason that they came across your mind." — Walt [1:12:00]
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  0:38

Who said what

• Margie B (@MargieAponte2), host — ran the "Do you feel heard?" theme, supplied the five-elements framework and quiz-style questions, and voiced the absent listener "Blockchain." Kept the mood affectionate and slightly chaotic (X glitches, the "172" weather gag, and a fierce stance on topic-thieves).
• Ryan (@RyanJ8812), co-host — attendance-keeper and steady presence; consistently noted that whether you feel heard "depends on who you're talking to," and credited maturity for how he handles disagreements now [37:57].
• Lyss (@Lysss302), speaker — the substance anchor: active-listening insight, the behind-the-scenes look at her daily spaces, and reflections on hospitality and being remembered. Also DJ'd the outro.
• Wealthy (@WealthySupreme), speaker — dropped in between DoorDash deliveries from Texas for a grounded, self-sufficient take on validation, then dropped back to work [33:28].
• Walt (@WaltDisneyIF), speaker — late but memorable, with the flooded-park story, a thoughtful boundaries reflection, and the closing "call the person on your mind" note. Credits Lyss for bringing him into the community [1:02:36].

Worth a full listen

• [50:31]–[54:27] — The stolen-titles exchange between Margie and Lyss is the most candid stretch of the night, and Lyss's description of her space-prep process shows exactly why it stung. The affection between the two carries it.
• [59:07]–[1:03:00] — Walt's Michigan segment is pure warmth: the seven-minute flood, the Arabic-Polish-Greek food tour, and a genuinely useful riff on setting boundaries and checking on people long after the crisis passes.
• [47:38]–[49:03] — Lyss gently validating Margie's hurt, followed by Margie's "get over it" mourning story, is the emotional core of an episode about actually being heard.