Emily to Gremily

Shedding Snakes, Riding Horses, And Speaking Success Into Existence

• Emily Hogan

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The days between Christmas and New Year’s turn hazy, so we leaned into the coziness, poured some sparkling cider, and told the truth about a wild, formative year. We start with circle backs—fixing a TV rec after a focused rewatch of Welcome to Derry, celebrating a listener’s holiday engagement, and unpacking a rideshare scare that raised real questions about safety, intuition, and how women navigate cities. It’s candid, grounded, and a reminder that paying attention changes everything.

Then we zoom out. 2025 felt like a Year of the Snake: shedding old habits, setting boundaries, and choosing the people who add light instead of taking it. That lens made tough calls easier and the creative path clearer. Looking forward, we’re claiming the Year of the Horse, momentum, passion, and action, to push this show into new territory. That means intentional content on TikTok and Instagram, documenting real life instead of just studio moments, and reaching out for the partnerships and support that can help us serve more listeners without losing our voice.

We also break down personal year numbers. A personal year 1 matched the messy magic of launching, false starts, clunky edits, and finally finding flow. Moving into personal year 2, the focus shifts to relationships and foundations: collaborating with brands and helpers, building systems, and staying open to feedback as the audience grows. Along the way, we share peaks (global listeners from Singapore to Germany) and pits (the heavy social climate in the U.S.).

To end, we return to our roots with two chaotic, hilarious Gremlin stories: a curtain-rod stench mystery courtesy of a scorned ex, and a New Year’s countdown missed in a bathroom stall. They’re messy, human, and exactly why this community works. If you’re ready to shed what dragged you down and ride into 2026 with intention, hit play, share this with a friend who needs the nudge, and leave a five-star review so more people can find us. Your stories, your ears, and your support keep this going; what are you claiming for 2026?

To submit your own Gremlin Story and Gremlin Gossip or if you need Gremlin Guidance email the podcast at EMILYTOGREMLIYPOD@GMAIL.COM

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, cheers guys. Emily, Emily to Grimley here with our last solo episode of 2025. It is crazy. The year went by so friggin' fast. I want to welcome all new listeners and welcome back, all returning listeners. Thanks for tuning in. Episode drink for this week. It's Martinelli's sparkling cider. I am drinking that today instead of champagne because I am supposed to go do a workout later and I didn't think it would be responsible to show up and work out and be tipsy. I mean, I I could. I just didn't think I should. Um, and if you're watching on YouTube, you can see I am in my Christmas jammies because we're in that really weird in-between time between Christmas and New Year's where the days all blend together and we just like to, you know, be sloths and hang out and be cozy. And that's what I'm doing, and I didn't feel like getting a full-on outfit ready, and I thought my Christmas pajamas were cute enough to be shown on the podcast. So I'm in my jammies. This is going to be the last episode of 2025. Um, I can't believe the time went by so fast. We're gonna do kind of like a 2025 wrap-up, if you will. Um, so yeah, let me do, I have I have my notes like I always do because I will always forget something. We're gonna do a couple circle backs from I believe everything's from last episode. It is. Okay, a few circle backs from last episode. Number one, I was asked about TV recommendations for a listener who is on bed rest until she has her baby, and I recommended the it prequel, Welcome to Dairy, and I said I needed to re-watch it because I wasn't paying attention. I went back and re-watched it. Guys, if you just pay attention, it's not that hard to understand. Um, I made it sound like it was really complicated when really I just was not paying attention. If you just watch it like a normal person, you'll get it. There are a lot of like past references to other Stephen King novels and movies, which in knowing that now I'm like, oh, okay. So if you're a fan of the Stephen King universe and you know, you know, the It movies, The Shining, Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, all of those are referenced in this series. If you know that, then everything makes a little bit more sense. So, guys, if you just pay attention to it, it's really not that hard to understand. I'm just a dodo bird and wasn't paying attention. Oh well. Okay, the next one is from my gremlin guidance question from one of my anonymous listeners. She had asked me my thoughts on giving her boyfriend an ultimatum if he didn't propose to her around the holidays. Like she was wondering, should she give him an ultimatum, a time limit, what should she do? I had said I don't think she should give an ultimatum. She did email me back though. She said, Thank you so much for replying to my gremlin guidance question. As it turns out, I didn't need to give my boyfriend an ultimatum because he became my fiancee on Christmas Eve. But I agree that giving the ultimatum wouldn't have been fair, so thank you for your guidance. Signed Anonymous. So you didn't need my guidance anyway. Luckily, he proposed and you're happy, and I wish you all the happiness in the world. But I do understand the thought process of you wondering, like, well, if they don't do this, should I do this? I do that all the time. So I get it. The next one was in response to someone had asked if it was scary living in such a big city like Los Angeles. I had said no, but that um one of my fears, I guess, is Waymo's because I don't trust them. I think they're a little sketch. Um, there's a lot of news reports of crazy things happening in Waymo's and because of Waymo's. So I when I see them on the street, I'm like, ooh, it's a Waymo. And I got a message. This person said, My city doesn't have Waymo's yet, but I'm interested to know if you've had any bad experiences in Uber or Lyft being a young woman in a large city. Yes. Unfortunately, I think if you are a woman, you're gonna run into a creep at some point in your life. And I'm not the only person who's had a bad experience in an Uber. I used to Uber a lot um back and forth to work here and there, depending that I was having like car issues, whatever. So I would Uber to work. It was close by, it really wasn't that expensive for me to go back and forth. But I did have one instance where I ordered my Uber, got into it, and the guy was chill. He seemed nice. I mean, I talked, I don't really like to talk to Uber drivers too much, especially if I'm like kind of like getting ready to like go into a shift of work or go somewhere where I'm like, you know, on my phone usually. And he was asking me, like, oh, where are you headed to? I was like, Oh, I'm just going to work, blah, blah, blah. Just like very regular chit chat. He dropped me off. It was when I was working at this club as a waitress. And he was like, Oh, cool. Like, I've never been here before. I was like, Oh, yeah, it's fun, you know, thanks. Bye. That was that. And then a few hours later, I was told that there was someone asking for me. And I was kind of weirded out because, you know, that's odd to be asked for. And I, you know, make my way through the club and it's my Uber driver. And he was like, Oh, I thought I'd come check this place out. I gave him your name at the door, and it just left me feeling like really uncomfortable. Like, he picked me up from my home. He knows where I live. Now he knows where I work. He knew my name because it was right there on the Uber app. Um, it it freaked me out. I didn't like it. So then I stopped taking Ubers for a little bit. I was like, forget this. Um, unfortunately, that I'm not the only person that this has happened to. I've talked to so many different like co-workers or friends, and almost everyone has had a bad experience in an Uber or a Lyft. Do I think they're safer than Waymo's? I I don't know. Like, would you rather have a creepy person in the car with you, possibly picking you up, or would you rather have no one in the car with you, but you might be driven into danger? Like, it's kind of like that question, the man or the bear, which is like which do you choose? Um, I don't know. I think I'm still gonna keep ordering Ubers though, and I'm not gonna download the Waymo app. I actually don't even know if they're cheaper or more expensive. Now I might download the app just to see what's what, like with pricing. But it they scare me. I don't know. I'm I'm paranoid as it is, and I feel like with Ubers and Lyfts, like I'm very aware of my surroundings, even though I might not look like I am if I'm on my phone or you know, fiddling with something, I'm still aware of where I'm going. I usually always tell someone, okay, I'm leaving my house now. People have my location. So I I I don't know. I guess it's a personal preference if you prefer, you know, a person driving the car or not. I personally I think I'm gonna stick with Ubers, but don't quote me on that. I don't know. Maybe the next time I record, I will have taken a Waymo and I'll have a different experience. But yeah, that's where that's where I'm landing right now to be continued. Okay, and the next topic, I'm kind of doing topics like how I would if I had a guest here. Usually I have like my talking points. Um, whereas if I'm doing just solo episodes, I usually just have like the stories, the guidance, the gossips written down. But for this, I've kind of like I said, I want to do an end of 2025 wrap-up. So I am very into, I think you guys should kind of know this about me. Super into like astrology, um, you know, the Chinese New Year. Like I love all that stuff. I think it's super interesting. And I always get my education on TikTok, as you guys know. So I was getting fed all these videos of like end of the year, like rituals and traditions. Um, and they were saying that 2025 was the year of the snake. So I was like, ooh, what's that about? So I looked into it and it said that 2025, the year of the snake, it was all about shedding old habits, partnerships and relationships that no longer serve you, introspection, adaptability, and making bold, precise moves towards personal growth. And I don't know, I've kind of really related to this. Um, shedding old habits, partnerships, and relationships. There are some relationships that I had at the beginning of 2025 that I am not taking with me into 2026. Um, I've been kind of trying hard to set boundaries with people for my own mental health and sanity and well-being. And there's just certain people who I don't want it to sound selfish, but they don't serve me in a positive way, meaning that they're not adding anything positive to my life, they're bringing negativity in. So I just decided that there were certain people I didn't want to be around anymore. It sounds a little harsh, and maybe it is, but I think boundaries are extremely important for your own sake and sanity. So I slowly but surely throughout the year just kind of realized who I did and didn't want to be around, quite frankly. And this podcast kind of helped illuminate the relationships that were no longer in my best interest. Um, introspection, adaptability. I've had to do a lot of that in just starting this podcast and just trying to figure out what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. And I'm even still now, I'm on episode, this is episode 32. I still kind of don't know what's going on. I'm sure you guys know that. I mean, I'm I don't think I'm fooling anyone here. Um, making bold, precise moves towards personal growth. I'm just trying to become a better person and do positive things in the world, the community, positive things for myself, for the people I love. And yeah, I don't know. I just thought it really held true. So, in thinking that the year of the snake was accurate, I looked to see what year 2026 was going to be, and it is the year of the horse. It technically doesn't start until February 17th, but I don't know. I don't like that number. I wanted to start January 1st. My OCD doesn't like that. So in my head, January 1st hits and it's year of the horse. I know it's not, don't come for me, but you know what I mean. So year of the horse, 2026. It is about intense energy, passion, freedom, ambition, and action pushing you forward towards your goals. I like that. I like that energy for 2026. In my regards, in my case, I think for me, I'm gonna take that as I have a lot of ideas on ways I can propel this podcast forward, reach more people, um, grow my audience, um, have it become more successful because at the end of the day, that's really what I'm going for. I want this to be a success. I want people, I want everyone to hear it. I want more people to hear it, I want them to love it. I know if more people listen to it, I'm opening myself up to criticism and all that, but we'll deal with that when it comes. Um, but yeah, I am just really trying to push forward and make this podcast successful. So I'm gonna go in with the energy of a horse and just keep on trudging through and hopefully I'll make it happen. No, not hopefully. I'm going to make it happen. I need to stop saying hopefully and I need to say I'm just gonna do it. You know, it's like words are spells. We have to speak it into existence. Another thing I thought was cool, I actually learned about this a few years ago, but there is a way you can calculate your personal year number. The way you calculate it is you take your birthday and add it to the year that we're going to enter. So for myself, this upcoming year, you would take my birthday, which is August 2nd, so eight plus two, and then you add uh 2026. So plus two plus zero plus two plus six. And then you add all the numbers up, and then you just keep adding it, adding up those digits until it reaches just one number. For my personal year for 2025, the one we're ending right now, I had a personal year number one. So when I saw that in 2024, I was like, oh, it's new beginnings, and it was. So for my personal year of one, which I'm leaving now, it said it was a time for new beginnings and fresh starts, learning your individuality and finding your unique voice, making courageous decisions and clearing out old patterns to make room for your new paths. I don't know. In my head, I might be crazy, but in my head, I think it tracks. Um, a time for new beginnings and fresh starts. It was extremely scary to start this podcast, but I did it, and I had to find my unique voice. It was so hard in the beginning. Um, anyone who hasn't heard or listened or seen the first few episodes, um, they were rough and it had nothing to do with my guests. I had um, I think my first guest, it was uh Spice was my first guest on the first two episodes, and then I had Jackie on my third. They were amazing guests. They made me more comfortable, but it was just clunky. You know, I was trying to find my way and find my voice. And I think episode four was my first solo episode. Oh my god, I had to restart that thing like I don't know, five times at the very least. And actually, no, I recorded it on one day, listened to it, watched it, hated it, and then the next day I had to go back and redo it, and even still, it was like clunky and shaky and just terrible. Um, so yeah, you could go back and listen to those, just you know, realize that it's not gonna be all that great. Um, but yeah, I had to figure out how to do this, and I knew nothing of making a podcast, putting it out there, you know, between the setup, the furniture, the lighting, all these lights that I got up here, um, all the software and the editing tools and this and that. And I knew nothing. And I really had to figure it out and push forward. And there were a lot of tears along the way when I thought I don't know what I'm doing, and I don't know why I think I can do it, but I did do it, and I'm very proud of that. So I thought personal year number one for me was accurate as well. But now I'm gonna be entering personal year two. So again, you just take your birthday plus the year we're entering. So for my personal year two, it says a focus on relationships and partnerships, finding equilibrium, trusting intuition, and working collaboratively to build foundations for future success. I like that. That's really what I'm gonna be focusing on this year. I had already had that planned before I looked up what year two meant. I really want to focus on growing the podcast, finding brands that maybe want to work with me, finding advertisers that would like to advertise their product on this podcast. I know right now I'm ad-free, but I'm hoping soon I won't be. I know commercials are kind of a drag, but you know, I'm just trying to be successful, guys, and finding um a team that I can help me with the podcast, promote the podcast, support the podcast. That is really my goal for myself and the podcast in the new year. I was asked, I threw it out on Instagram, yeah, Instagram, that I was like, I'm gonna do an end-of-the-year wrap-up if you guys have any questions for me. I was asked, what are your new year's resolutions? Like I've just said before, building the podcast and growing my listener base. Um, I want to be more intentional with content creation. I am really bad at that. And I was looking in my camera role and I didn't really take much content or any videos or pictures of like my life. It was just filled with podcast clips and episodes, and just it was really podcast related, which is great, but I am not really documenting anything I'm doing in my private or personal life. So that's really what I want to focus on for the new year. I really want to be intentional about taking photos, taking videos of what I'm doing throughout the day, maybe do some like day in my life content. I just really want to grow TikTok and Instagram and put more of that out there just so you guys can kind of see who I am outside of this podcast. I feel like I put myself out here a lot, but you guys don't really get to see like the day-to-day. So I think if I do that, maybe it'll be a little more relatable. And that's what I want to be. I want to be relatable. So I'm gonna be really intentional about documenting things. I am that person who I feel very weird taking a picture or taking a video in public because I don't know, I think people are watching me. Like it's it sounds very conceited to say that, but it's just like I get self-conscious about it. So I need to just kind of drop that and take the damn picture. So that's what I'm gonna do. Um, I'm probably gonna annoy people with how much I will post. That's the goal, at least. Um, so yeah, so stay tuned for TikTok and Instagram. And my other New Year's resolution was say yes to new adventures and allow myself to have new experiences. I am a creature of habit and I love being in my PJs and hanging out at home. And while that's great and fun, I need to get out there more, I need to do more stuff. But you know, I just really want to give myself some new experiences. That way I do have something cool to possibly document and post. Um, I could post myself, you know, sitting in my house, but I don't know how exciting that would be. So those are my resolutions for 2026. I was also asked what my peak of 2025 was and my pit. Um, my peak was this starting the podcast, gaining listeners, gaining followers. Um, I am such a weirdo. I really love to look at my analytics and see how like the days that it spikes. And I've realized that there's a lot of people listening who are from out of the country. I have a very large spike in Singapore and Germany. I think that's like so damn cool. I have listeners in Brazil, Australia, um, Canada, Mexico, um, Italy, which I thought was super cool because I'm, you know, Italian and I don't know, I feel like I have a connection to that, maybe. I don't know. Um, I just have a lot of listeners all over the world, and that made me like really excited. It made my heart sing because I'm like, okay, people are listening. It's out there. So now it's just my job. I need to push, push, push. It need to make it happen. As far as the pit goes, um, I'm not really loving the social and political climate that we are in here in the United States. Um, I think that contributed a lot to maybe the anxiousness and the uneasiness is the shit that's going on around us. It's insane. And like I said before, this is not a political podcast, but some things do need to be talked about. And that's why I had my friend Jessica on the podcast to discuss what had been happening um as far as ICE and immigration. Um, and there will be another episode like that. I that's one of the things I'm working on is having a guest on who can talk, I can talk more in depth about that with. Um, not to bump people out. I know podcasts and you know, this is a recreational activity. It's something to get away from the scaries of life, but sometimes we do need to address certain situations and stay tuned for next year. But I am hopeful that the next year is going to be much better because I hope it can't get any worse. So those were my peaks, those were my pits. Um, I'm just really grateful for this podcast for giving me an outlet. It's really given me something to look forward to. I love planning out the episodes and getting them ready. And when I have a guest getting them ready and talking about it and collaborating, I really love doing that. Even the editing, I can't stand it, but I do love it. Um, I'm hopeful that I can find someone to take it over for me because, you know, it's just not my favorite thing to do, but I think when I do hand it over, I will miss it. So yeah, I'm just grateful for the podcast and for all of you for listening in and supporting me and all that. And yeah, it's gonna be exciting. I do want to end with I received two gremlin stories, and I thought we should just end with some good old Gremlin stories. It's what started the podcast, and let's end the podcast with these stories. The first one is from Cindy. Cindy says, In my hoe days, I went to a man's house the first night I met him, and while we were making out on the bed, I smelled the worst smell. I confronted him about it, and he said, It's been there for a couple of weeks. I said, ew, and we need to find the source. I sniffed around the apartment like a dog looking for drugs. Finally, I found it. The curtain. Specifically the curtain rod. I asked him if there was anyone who had access to his apartment who hated him. He said he did cheat on his ex-girlfriend a couple of months ago and they broke up. So I left. Didn't tell him where the smell was and just left telling him he was gross. I'm a girl's girl. Fuck that cheating man, and bravo to the scorned ex. Cindy. Okay, if she put it in there a couple of months ago, how did he just start smelling it a couple of weeks ago? Like, I'm telling you, man, men are gross. It's so it's so disheartening. Like, come on, dude. And like, why did it take a like he could have figured out it was his curtain rod, and instead he's just like bringing girls over and subjecting them to stench? Wait, like, what's happening? Men, you need to do better. And Cindy, bravo to you, and bravo to that scorned ex. Yeah, fuck him. Would I have told the guy? I don't know. It would have been funny for him to like I wonder what she put in the curtain. If it was a like a bad smell, maybe it was like it had to have been food, right? Ugh. But that you know what? Um, I'm not trying to give anyone ideas, but should you need them, that's a good one. I've never I've never done that to I could have. I should have. You know, back in the day I really could have used some of these suggestions, but oh well. Probably kept me out of trouble that I didn't have access to them. But yeah, bravo to Cindy, bravo to the Scorn Decks. And the last Gremlin story of 2025 is a repeat writer. This is from Macy. I don't remember which episode it was, but I do remember her. She was the one who she was at a party with her friend in high school. They saw her friend's ex and he was with another girl, so they went and egged his car, and the next day they realized that the egg had baked into the car paint and they ruined the guy's car. And I guess it was like his prized possession or something. Um, so she did say she was gonna write in some more Gremlin stories. Macy, you did you sent in like three or four. I picked this one because it was on theme with New Year's. So Macy says it was 2002, and my friends and I were out at our local favorite college bar about to ring in the new year and welcome in 2003. We pre-gamed at our apartment before going out and were pretty drunk when we got there. I don't really remember much except for when I was woken up by a girl in a bathroom stall. It was 12 09 and I must have gone to the bathroom to pee and just passed out on the toilet. My friends had assumed I was in the corner with a cute guy having a fun makeout sesh. I missed the ball drop, didn't get my new year's kiss, and rang in 2003 with my butt on the toilet and my head leaning on a bathroom stall wall. Signed Macy. Hey girl, you know, sometimes when you drink too much, you just need to pass out. I'm sure she took that cat nap and she felt good as new at 1209. Um, haven't done this either, but you know, the night is young. Who knows what will happen? Um, that was a good one. And Macy, you did have like three others, two or three other stories listed on your email. I will sprinkle those in to future episodes. And that's it, guys. That's the end of the podcast. Um, if you want to follow myself and the podcast on social media, it's Emily to Gremlin Pod on Instagram and TikTok. You can also watch this episode and almost all the past episodes on YouTube, Emily Tagremlypod on YouTube. If you have your own Gremlin story, you need Gremlin guidance, or you have a juicy piece of Gremlin gossip, you can email myself and the podcast, Emily Tegremlypod at gmail.com. Also, if you have any suggestions for future guests, people you want to see, people you want to hear from in 2026, email me the suggestions, or you can message or DM me on social media if you have ideas. There is an idea that has already been floated out there from Sarah. She said that she loved the true crime episode. So if you have any true crime stories you want to send in to be read, also if you have ghost or spooky stories, send those in, and that will be a future episode coming up, let's say month or so. Um, just waiting to get enough entries to make it a full-on episode. And yeah, make sure to like, follow, share, subscribe, rate five stars, do all the things. That's it, guys. All right, let's cheers out. Cheers to you, cheers to me, cheers to 2025 being over and 2026 being so much better, and we're looking forward to it. Cheers, guys, love you, bye.

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Emily Hogan

Host