Gabby says children ran away from her because they thought they could “catch some disease.”
1. Get Real with Caroline Hobby centers on Gabby Spencer’s story, her music, and the way a facial birthmark shaped her identity.
2. Caroline Hobby hosts the conversation, and Gabby Spencer appears as Caroline’s intern content creator, a singer, and a student at Belmont.
3. The episode asks what it means to turn a visible difference into a source of purpose, songwriting, and confidence.
4. The opening stretches include the group’s reaction to meeting “Mr. Fantasy” in an iHeart elevator lobby.
5. Caroline and Gabby explain that Mr. Fantasy is a persona tied to Riverdale actor KJ Apa.
6. Gabby says the persona is releasing music and that the character keeps people guessing because KJ Apa will not confirm or deny the connection.
7. The conversation turns to Gabby’s trio, the 223 Music, named after a freshman-year dorm room number.
8. Gabby says the group uses TikTok and Instagram to post singing covers, including a K-pop song by the group Rise.
9. She describes flying to New York to see Rise and being noticed by the group through comments and story interactions.
10. Gabby says TikTok captions, hashtags, and short-form video can help artists get in front of the right fandom.
11. She explains that she used to think people noticed her only because of her birthmark.
12. A Sephora makeup moment in seventh or eighth grade made her realize she did not recognize herself without the mark.
13. She says that moment led her to stop thinking of makeup as a way to satisfy other people.
14. Gabby identifies her facial difference as a port wine stain, a vascular birthmark caused by larger, open blood vessels.
15. She says childhood was hard because other kids were frightened, made assumptions, and sometimes treated her like she had a disease.
16. Gabby says she began writing music partly because she felt responsible for other people’s discomfort.
17. She talks about learning to trust friends, saying she once believed adults had selected the “nice kids” for her.
18. During COVID, she searched online for a community and found the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation.
19. She describes monthly Zoom calls, supportive group chats, and a song called “Topic of Conversation” as part of that community experience.
20. The episode mixes warm, conversational interview energy with personal reflection, and it will likely appeal to listeners interested in identity, faith, and music; it may skip people who want only light celebrity chat.
