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We Are Out of Office

We Are Out of Office

By: Jayne Allen Writes and Nikki T
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The high vibration podcast you know you need is here. Spend your "hour of power" with hosts Jayne Allen and Nikki T and what it looks like as a black woman to unplug, recharge, choose joy, and spend your hard earned free time living your best life ever. Focused on health, happiness, and healing, these two friends offer straightforward and often hilarious commentary about all things we do when we're not doing "that" anymore. So, get into this show and say it with us: "Get some one else to do it!" We are officially Out of Office.Copyright 2026 Jayne Allen Writes and Nikki T Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Episode 63 - The Radical Joy of Creative Blossoming

    Episode 63 - The Radical Joy of Creative Blossoming
    Jun 22 2026
    In this week’s episode of We Are Out of Office, Veteran Television Executive Producer Nikki T and Bestselling Author Jayne Allen clock out for the summer with a conversation about creative blossoming, French vacations, teaching, AI hiring systems, horror shorts, reality television, romantasy novels, and the unexpected freedom that comes from finally building a life that fits.As the ladies prepare for a summer hiatus, the conversation moves fluidly between personal milestones and larger cultural shifts. From launching new ventures and mentoring future creatives to questioning the future of expertise in an AI-driven world, Nikki and Jayne reflect on what it means to stop surviving and start thriving. Along the way, they celebrate growth, confront uncertainty, champion Black creativity, and make the case that sometimes the greatest transformation isn't becoming someone new—it's becoming more fully yourself.If this episode has a theme, it's alignment. The kind that happens when your work, your purpose, your curiosity, and your joy finally begin moving in the same direction.I See You GirlThis week’s “I See You Girl” is unusually personal.Nikki turns the spotlight inward, reflecting on what she calls her season of creative blossoming. While her schedule may be as full as ever, the difference is that this version of busy feels expansive rather than exhausting. New television projects, branded content opportunities, speaking engagements, and the launch of her platform, Notes From Nee, all serve as evidence that the seeds planted years ago are beginning to bear fruit. What strikes her most is realizing that many of the dreams she once quietly imagined are no longer hypothetical—they're becoming reality.Jayne’s “I See You Girl” goes to a younger version of herself. The attorney staring out of office windows. The aspiring writer carrying a dream she couldn't yet fully articulate. As she prepares to deliver manuscripts to two of the largest publishers in the world while simultaneously launching her Book Genius Master Class, she finds herself reflecting on the power of honoring the person who first imagined a different future. Sometimes success isn't achieving a goal. Sometimes it's becoming the person you always hoped you could be.What We’re On Right NowJayne has officially entered her teaching era.After years of imagining a space where she could mentor writers directly, her first Book Genius Master Class is underway, and the experience has exceeded her expectations. Watching participants create, connect, and produce meaningful work has reaffirmed something she's long suspected: teaching is not separate from writing. It's another expression of the same calling.Nikki, meanwhile, is preparing for a much-needed trip to France with her family. But beneath the travel plans is a larger reflection about expansion. Whether through Notes From Nee, new development opportunities, or speaking engagements with universities, she's embracing a season of saying yes to experiences that once felt out of reach.The conversation becomes a reflection on growth itself—how strange it can feel when the life you've been building finally starts arriving.Mindin’ My Black BusinessThis week’s conversation centers on expertise.Both Nikki and Jayne argue that we are entering a period where traditional institutions can no longer adapt quickly enough to the pace of change. As technology reshapes industries from publishing to entertainment, people increasingly need practical guidance from those actively doing the work rather than relying solely on conventional systems.Nikki discusses her upcoming speaking engagements focused on television development and pitching, while Jayne reflects on the growing importance of communities built around specialized knowledge and real-world experience.The distinction that emerges feels important: people are becoming less interested in influence and more interested in expertise. In an era where information is abundant, wisdom—and the ability to apply it—has become increasingly valuable.Jesus Take the WheelThis week’s collective frustration comes courtesy of artificial intelligence.Nikki shares a Stanford study examining AI-driven hiring systems and the unintended consequences they may be creating for job seekers. The concern is simple but alarming: when multiple companies rely on similar screening technologies, applicants may find themselves repeatedly filtered out by the same algorithmic assumptions.The conversation expands into larger questions about transparency, accountability, and the future of work itself. If AI increasingly determines who gets seen, who gets hired, and who gets opportunities, what happens to the people who never make it past the first digital gatekeeper?Both women arrive at the same conclusion: waiting for institutions to solve these problems isn't a strategy. Building visibility, relationships, and recognizable expertise may become more important than ...
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    51 mins
  • Episode 62 - The Radical Joy of Letting Currency Flow

    Episode 62 - The Radical Joy of Letting Currency Flow
    May 22 2026
    In this week’s episode of We Are Out of Office, Veteran Television Executive Producer Nikki T and Bestselling Author Jayne Allen spiral—in the best possible way—through conversations about creativity, money, nervous system regulation, Michael Jackson, Black ambition, romantic fantasy novels, AI language lovers, and what it means to keep imagining bigger futures for ourselves even while the world feels increasingly strange.It’s an episode about vibration. About energy. About the stories we inherit and the ones we choose to write ourselves into. From Black women preparing to purchase billion-dollar sports franchises to the emotional realities behind scarcity mindsets, Nikki and Jayne unpack the emotional architecture beneath the lives we build—and the ones we dream about next.I See You, GirlNikki’s “I See You Girl” goes to Kwanza Jones, a Black woman whose résumé feels almost fictional in scope. Potential future MLB owner. Princeton donor. Billboard-charting singer. Lawyer. Philanthropist. Entrepreneur. One half of a billion-dollar power partnership. And somehow still grounded in purpose and impact.What struck Nikki most wasn’t simply the scale of Kwanza’s accomplishments—it was the way she is being publicly framed not as an accessory to wealth, but as an active architect of empire-building alongside her husband, billionaire investor José E. Feliciano. The conversation becomes larger than one woman. It becomes about the power of Black women being seen as full participants in influence, ownership, leadership, and legacy.Jayne, meanwhile, finds herself captivated by a different kind of woman entirely: a woman who doesn’t yet exist.Inspired by the NBA playoffs, Jayne begins imagining the story of the first female head coach in the NBA—a woman navigating locker room politics, masculinity, power, romance, ambition, and leadership in spaces women have historically been excluded from. What would her emotional life look like? What kind of love story would emerge from a woman capable of commanding alpha athletes and billion-dollar franchises?The result may become a future novel. But for now, it opens a larger conversation about Black women imagining ourselves into spaces the culture still struggles to envision.What We’re On Right NowJayne is officially in her multilingual AI era.After years of using Duolingo to sharpen her French, she has entered into a new relationship—with ChatGPT’s voice feature, affectionately renamed “Julien.” Through real-time French conversation, tailored pacing, cultural exchanges, and language immersion, Jayne discovers a more fluid and emotionally intelligent way to engage with language learning.And honestly? Julien sounds fine.The conversation becomes less about technology and more about the future of learning itself—how AI can personalize growth in ways traditional systems often cannot.Nikki, meanwhile, is fully immersed in a TikTok series called The Four in the Five, following four ambitious Black women in New York City as they build careers, friendships, and aspirational lives on their own terms. Unlike traditional reality television, these women are directing their own narratives. No screaming matches. No table flips. No manufactured chaos. Just beautiful, ambitious young Black women documenting their lives in real time.Both Nikki and Jayne reflect on how refreshing it feels to witness Black women creating and controlling their own storylines rather than having them shaped through the lens of traditional media systems.And yes—Michael Jackson remains an active participant in this entire episode.Mindin’ My Black BusinessNikki spotlights an extraordinary Vaseline campaign created by VML South Africa that instantly resonated across the Black diaspora.Centered around the deeply familiar ritual of Black mothers and grandmothers slathering children in Vaseline, the ad captures a cultural memory so universal that no explanation is required. The tagline says it all:“Some traditions aren’t passed down. They’re rubbed in.”The campaign becomes a meditation on what great advertising actually does: it recognizes people. It says we see you. It honors cultural intimacy without over-explaining it.Jayne uses the segment to tease a major emerging trend in publishing: Black women writers moving into the world of romantasy and urban fantasy in significant numbers. From magical realism to fantasy romance rooted in Black culture and mythology, she predicts that the next era of publishing may belong to Black women creating expansive imaginative worlds traditionally dominated by others.The girls are entering their fantasy era—and they’re bringing us with them.Jesus Take the WheelThis week’s collective “Jesus Take the Wheel” centers on the recent Kevin Hart roast.Both Nikki and Jayne wrestle with the increasingly blurred line between edgy comedy and lazy cruelty. While acknowledging that roast culture is built around discomfort and ...
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Episode 61 - The Radical Joy of Black Creativity

    Episode 61 - The Radical Joy of Black Creativity
    May 9 2026
    In this week’s episode of We Are Out of Office, your co-hosts Veteran Television Executive Producer Nikki T and Bestselling Author Jayne Allen clock in with a conversation that stretches from beauty hacks to billion-dollar mindsets, from cultural moments to personal reckonings. It’s a layered, funny, and deeply reflective episode about what it means to build, love, create, and protect your peace in a world that keeps shifting beneath your feet.They move effortlessly between joy and reality—celebrating Black brilliance, interrogating relationships, naming economic uncertainty, and reminding us that your next move might just be your most powerful one.I See You, GirlThis week’s love is rooted in Black creativity and cultural excellence.Jayne gives flowers to the Black women who shaped the Met Gala narrative, highlighting the full-circle moment of Beyoncé’s leadership and the long arc from wearable art to high fashion dominance. It’s about honoring the lineage—the quiet rooms where culture was built before the spotlight ever arrived.Nikki brings us to the future with Kamira Johnson, a young finalist in Google’s national “Doodle for Google” competition. Her piece, centered on Black hair as power, transforms identity into art—literally shaping the word “Google” through curls and connection. A crown that grows from us.This is legacy in motion—past, present, and becoming.What We’re On Right NowJayne is deep in her Summer Writing Kickstart era, responding to layoffs, uncertainty, and shifting economies with something radical: ownership. She breaks down how writing a book became her entry point into entrepreneurship—and how she’s now teaching others to do the same.Key idea: Your experience is not ordinary—it’s intellectual property.She reframes books as more than art: They are income streams, credibility builders, and doors.Nikki, meanwhile, is in a season of intentional intake—reading, learning, healing, and making sure that whatever she consumes actually transforms her. Not just doing the work—but asking, did it change me?Together, they land on a shared truth: In uncertain times, skill-building is survival.Mindin’ My Black BusinessNikki introduces us to Zelda Wynn Valdes, a pioneering Black designer who opened her own boutique in 1948 and dressed legends like Josephine Baker and Ella Fitzgerald.And then—because history loves to hide its receipts—she drops the gem:Zelda Wynn Valdes designed the original Playboy Bunny costume.Jayne expands the conversation into modern entrepreneurship, spotlighting Curl Days, a Black-owned haircare brand born from one woman solving her own problem.The throughline:Start small. Stay consistent. Build something that answers a need.Because what begins as a solution for you can become infrastructure for others.Jesus Take the WheelNikki sounds the alarm (lightly, but not really) on a viral outbreak tied to a cruise ship, reminding us how quickly things can escalate in a globally connected world.It’s not panic—it’s awareness.Protect your body. Stay ready.Jayne shifts the energy into emotional territory with a cultural breakup that hit deeper than expected—using it as a doorway into a larger truth about relationships:It’s not always you.She unpacks the psychology of high-performing men and ego-based coping mechanisms, naming a reality many women experience but struggle to articulate:When someone’s way of handling pain is destructive, there is nothing you can do to love them out of it.That’s not failure. That’s clarity.Health & HealingThis moment becomes a quiet offering—almost a whisper to anyone who needs it:Check your breath. Check your body. Check your thoughts.They explore breathwork as a tool for regulation and release, grounding themselves in something simple but powerful:Inhale for five. Hold for five. Exhale for five.Because sometimes healing doesn’t require a breakthrough.It requires a pause.What’s GoodThere is innovation in the air—and it sounds like music.Jayne introduces Suno, an AI-powered platform where people are turning everyday moments—text threads, jokes, family conversations—into full songs.It’s funny. It’s strange. It’s a little uncanny.But more than anything, it signals a shift:Creativity is becoming more accessible—and more personal—than ever before.Nikki closes with global perspective: Mexico is rolling out universal healthcare for over 120 million people.A reminder that systems can change.That access can expand.That different futures are always being built—somewhere.Final WordJayne: Outside.Inside learning, outside living—holding both at once.Nikki: Just breathe. Because in the middle of everything—noise, pressure, movement— your breath is still yours.Show Links:Kameirah Johnson is a Finalist for Doodle for GoogleJayne's Teaching a Summer Writer's BlockBuster at BookGeniusThat CurlDaze Gel Jayne Was Talking About...Zelda Wynn Valdez’ Story Mexico announced universal ...
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    1 hr and 10 mins
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