Here's Something New: A Bike Ride Interview
What better way to start the day aroundLA than a bike ride of inspiration and wisdom?!
In conversation with me for this ride along the Santa Monica beach bike path is a civic leader invested in her community, a CEO with seasoned business acumen, a super-mommy whose adult son is still her precious baby, and a woman who’s not afraid to reinvent herself, making trying new things a lifestyle.
A Ride with Shonda Scott and Her 12 New Things® Challenge
Shonda Scott’s birthday in 2019 was the birth of her newest baby, 12 New Things®, an initiative challenging those that had become followers of her work over the years to try 12 new things in the course of a year. Initially unplanned, sparked by the outing suggestion of a friend, a karaoke session at Blind Dragon on Sunset in Los Angeles kicked off Shonda Scott’s 12 New Things. Originally, she’d thought it would be a challenge for that year of life, doing one new activity each month for the next 12 months: 12 New Things. Little did she know, years later, she’d not only be still living the 12 New Things lifestyle, she’d also be spreading it through social media content and a budding online club.
Heading out from a bike rental shop in Santa Monica, right off Ocean Ave. with the Pacific visible from its front door, I turn to Ms. Shonda Scott, “you must’ve hit the ground running right from college!” She grins with a giggle, “okay!!* busy,” she emphatically agrees, “I was busy in high school too.” She continues, “I laugh because I always tell people, ‘my first business was selling Girl Scouts' cookies.’” Modestly, Ms. Shonda credits her head start in the length of business experience she holds to her family, as she goes on to tell me how they had businesses of which she was involved since adolescence.
“I’m Aquarian, I like staying busy; I don’t get a lot of sleep,” Shonda Scott tells me as she explains her takeoff into the the business world during the takeoff of our bike ride in Santa Monica.
We hear about the idea of “burnout” — especially if you find yourself on the self-care-centric side of social media, avoiding burnout — “an ongoing state of feeling overwhelmed, fatigued, and emotionally drained,” as defined by WebMD. How is it that Shonda Scott could go from little girl to grown-grown woman all-gas-no-breaks without burning out?
“You’ve never experienced burnout,” I say to Ms. Shonda Scott without intonation at the end, but she knows it’s a question. “Oh no, absolutely, I have,” she responds with no hesitation.
Enjoying a breezy bike ride on an overcast morning in Santa Monica with Shonda Scott, the founder of 12 New Things®.
“That’s why I have 12 New Things,” Shonda Scott tells me. The 12 New Things birthday-challenge-turned-lifestyle “helps you get excited about adventures and [gives you something to think about] other than work,” according to the founder and creator.
“Part of of the 12 New Things is about wellness.. taking time for yourself, taking time to do something new and different and exciting that you wouldn’t normally do,” Shonda Scott encourages.
“It’s all about embracing change in fun, exciting ways,” Shonda Scott continues about 12 New Things. A long-time believer in speaking regularly with someone on Earth and in a higher realm, going to counseling to work on oneself, meditating and starting the day with a 6a.m. prayer call, Ms. Shonda Scott has achieved a life of connection and balance to be desired despite her busy schedule.
Girl, you’re doing what?
If you haven’t been questioned about your leisure activities or decisions (to do something new) that don’t necessarily align with what society ties to a chronological number of what you should or should not being doing, would you like to trade family and friends?? ‘Cause ugh, don’t nothing (yes, double negative ‘cause that’s how sickening folks are…) don’t nothing** make me roll my eyes harder than folks relegating an activity to an age. Whether it’s Teedie’nem† thinking they have to wait another 10-15 years until retirement to get their tails a passport and travel out of the country for the first time, or the cousins barely legal thinking they’re too grown to play new fun games at the family function.
“Not thinking, oh, I have to wait ‘til this point in life to do this exciting thing I always wanted to do,” Ms. Shonda Scott lets us know to not let what you or the next person believes is the appropriate time to try something new stop you from trying something new. “Once you’ve decided you want to do 12 New Things, you start thinking about those twelve new things,” she says, which motivates the person that has taken on this challenge to start putting what was always ideas of what he or she wanted to do into action of what he or she is doing. “There’s people that are 80 [years of age] that follow the whole 12 New Things lifestyle,” Shonda Scott says proudly, giving a specific example of a lady that hash-tagged #12NewThings upon taking her first golf leçon⌃ after living on a golf course her whole elder adult life!
We continue the conversation on this too common limiting belief of chronological age being thee Idea Slasher, thee Action Stopper, coming through with a sword and shield.. [sound effects] SWOOSH! SLING! BOP! OP!
“We have ageless birthdays in our family,” Shonda Scott tells me, as her mother “refuses to let age limit her.” She lets out a playful laugh, “do we even remember how old we are?” Shonda Scott goes on to share her wisdom, “as I got older, I understood her philosophy,” saying how not thinking of everything based on age and numbers allows for more freedom in one’s life. “There’s so much more you can do to grow,” she tells before referencing her grandmother that passed away at the well-lived age of 104. “Her kids were still her kids, so they were still young to her,” Ms. Shonda Scott says. “Depending on what group you’re in, you can be the oldest, or you can be the youngest, no matter what age you are, so..,” and she shrugs with a subtle head shake, as to say whatever to that foolish talk, “it’s not as significant as people make it.”
“Holding on to that number, that’s what makes life really stressful,” Shonda Scott applicably adds.
Chronological age is a man-made concept, what’s more important is one’s mindset. Are you going to let yours limit you?
12 New Things helps break away from limiting beliefs of what one shouldn’t be doing and alleviates the pressure of what one should be doing.
Girl, I’m trying these 12 new things this year, one new thing per month, it’s a fun lil’ challenge I heard about from this politician-esque lady named Shonda Scott. Girl, yeah, she’s pictured with President Obama and all, ion know what she was doing, but it was something. Girl, yeah, big businesswoman, mm hm. If she can loosen up and have some fun, umm [with sass, as to say “hello”], come on!
Shonda Scott explains that it was evolutionary for her, following her mother’s belief system that rejects silly limitations, but she understands, “it’s not easy to do.” If you need a way to make it make sense, I say, blame it on Ms. Shonda Scott.
Sometimes we feel the need to justify our actions that don’t necessarily fit societal expectations. Ms. Shonda Scott says that almost anything can be done at any time, other than a biological time-clock for women that wish to bear children, “why do you have to do it at a certain age,” she rhetorically questions. Whether it’s taking ballet, playing piano, starting a blog, crocheting, riding a bike, you can pick up (and put down) an activity at any time. It’s only when “someone has put that stigma” that you feel you can’t, she says. Try something new. If you still feel a bit of hesitation, I told you, blame it on Ms. Shonda Scott. That’s what I’m going to do.
I’m doing my 12 New Things challenge.
Why is it good to try new things?
The lifestyle it becomes, of doing new things regularly, adapts participants of the challenge to change in a fun and exciting way. “The only thing constant is change,” Shonda Scott quotes the old adage. The woman with a wealth of business acumen advises how adaptability is crucial in various aspects of life, both work and personal.
Sharing laughter and wisdom during a ride along the Santa Monica bike path.
“Trying something new forces you to grow,” according to an article from the world's largest mental health and behavioral science destination online, Psychology Today. “A spirit of constant self-challenge keeps you humble and open to new ideas,” medical doctor Alex Lickerman reports from his studies, and this is a truth Shonda Scott has lived and is now sharing via 12 New Things. Hm, is that the secret sauce to Shonda Scott’s success?
Constantly trying new things, just for fun, just for kicks and giggles, that you have no intention of keeping up, alleviates some of the anxiety around the act of trying something new. Before you know it, you’re thinking, “what else can I do?!”
Rest assured there’s no need to go off the deep end either. This idea of trying new things from Shonda Scott is just for fun! You don’t have to pick up gymnastiques today, then over the next few years, set your eyes on competing in the 2028 Olympics that Los Angeles is set to host. You can do the new thing to never do it again.
In the years of living this lifestyle of constantly trying new things, when I asked Ms. Shonda Scott what activities she has enjoyed so much that she kept doing, she paused for longer than she had our whole conversation.
⚡ Lifestyle Quick Tip: Embrace change in fun, exciting ways to alleviate one of life's most common stressors: change. It isn't going away!
I was very entertained by her retelling of an open swim as one of her 12 new things one year. Having been a lifeguard before and having swam her whole life, she thought nothing of it when she threw her hand up volunteering to do an open swim benefiting a fundraiser. She couldn’t have imagined the vast difference in preparation that it would take to be able to swim for a set distance out in the middle of the ocean. She prepared for months, had to learn new techniques, as well as get over a touch of anxiety, and she felt a sense of great accomplishment when she achieved the feat. It was fantastique! …She’d never do it again.
12 New Things is about trying something new, simply, to try something new. It’s not rigid. It’s not exact. It’s not a set schedule of this must be done on this day of each month and nothing else. It’s about building a habit of trying new things. It serves as a reminder of “have I tried something new lately?” as opposed to “oh em gee, nooo, what’s going to be my new thing next month?!”
The sentiment reminds me of riding bikes for fun or as a form of transportation that almost unknowingly transforms one’s health and fitness without ever thinking about “working out.” The “workout” is integrated into the rider’s lifestyle. Shonda Scott’s habit-turned-brand of 12 New Things integrates reinvention and self-care into her lifestyle.
Related: Health and Fitness Comes with the Bike Life | aroundLA
Though we mentioned how “the only thing constant is change” is applicable, not all old adages need to be held onto. While Ms. Shonda Scott and I were talking, I began to get the feeling that she’d shake something up even if it seems alright, even if there’s nothing necessarily “wrong” with it. “I take it, you don’t hold fast to the idea of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” I ask her. “Throw it out of the window,” she responds swiftly, lifting one hand from the handlebar with a flicking motion. She goes on to make my eyes bulge when she says that if a person has had a business for 5 years and everything is going well, “change it!” But Ms. Shonda, we’re doing alright as-is…
Do you want to do better?
We were out on the bikes in Santa Monica for an hour, talking the whole time and all of it was good. I could go on and on, child, Lord knows I could. However, upon returning our beach cruisers to the bike shop off of Ocean Ave, we got on the topic of me and my productivity (or the lack thereof). She’d asked me if I always take my guests aroundLAwithTK to this same spot. I’ve had a few folks accompany me here along Santa Monica’s beach bike path, I told her, before continuing about how my last guest that I had mic’d up for an interview on bikes was my buddy Troy Hill, an NFL player currently in his 10th football season. I explained how him owning a home near the Los Angeles Rams’ practice facility inspired the Thousand Oaks bike riding interview location on that episode of aroundLAwithTK (an episode that has yet to be published).
I playfully told Ms. Shonda Scott how I hope some of her work ethic jumps off of her and onto me… before my boys, Troy Hill and his manager Blake Stanton, want off with my head for wasting their time. Ms. Shonda shared some words of practical encouragement from her years of hosting a radio segment in the Bay Area about how to manage my time by batch producing content. Though I’ve heard/read it all before, I’m newly inspired with it coming from her. It can be done.
Shonda Scott heads a consulting business, dutifully involves herself in her community, devotes time to being a mother, daughter, and a friend, to others and herself, by being intentional about living freshly, doing new things: 12 New Things® — her new thing this month, an interview riding atop two wheels aroundLA.
Shonda Scott and writer, TK, pose for a photo before the outset of a bike ride in Santa Monica.
aroundLAwithTK is a Los Angeles-based lifestyle blog by a girly girl that likes playing outside and running her mouth. She’s a little looney about living an active lifestyle and hopes to use the way people peak her interest (and motivate sharing) to progress her plot of world domination.
Follow @aroundLAwithTK on Instagram for close-to-real-time randomness around L.A. Subscribe to the mailing list by scrolling to the bottom of this page and entering your name and e-mail address for when there’s something it’d be a shame for you to miss, such as a new, inspiring interview.
Thank you for riding, riders. ❤︎
* Okay is able to serve as much more than a word in cultural dialect. Across the diaspora, it’s understood for being strongly in accordance, the acceptance of compliment (or the giving of a compliment), or expressing amazement. At the start of the bike ride, and this write up, it sets the mood: light, comfortable, warm, familial. (As opposed to the stiff “no, actually” tone that could’ve been perceived by only the correction).
⌃ leçon is French for lesson. I was wondering why it was underlined, backspacing, retyping, not being able to think for the life of me how to spell leçon, copied+pasted it into Google and realized. Ohhhhhhh, English, TK, lesson. Decided to leave it; leçon is cuter!
** Double negatives often add emphasis to frustration or express one has had enough. Example: Walking through a grocery store, I giggled at the words of an old-school-sounding tune coming through the speakers — did she just say, “Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ On But The Rent,” I thought to myself. Let me found out the girls were asking Where Da Bag At? long before Miami’s breakout rap duo, City Girls. Baby, the ladies are saying, I ain’t no [girl] to play with. Grammatically incorrect, of course, however, these intentional structures allow the listener to feel the force.
† Teedie is a term typically used in New Orleans for the female siblings of one’s parents. Example: My mother’s sister, Terri, is Teedie Terri. Nem is a Southern vernacular shortening of “and them”.
