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Transcript

Holly Mirabella – Telling Stories That Matter · She’s Smart

0:02
Hey, everybody. Welcome to She's Smart. I'm your host, Maria Robotham.
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Each week, we sit down with incredible women to talk about life,
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work, and everything in between.
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Today, I am sitting down with the incredible Holly Mirabella,
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two-time Emmy Award-winning producer, founder of A Better Life Media,
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and the executive producer and creator behind on par with Maury Povich.
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Holly spent over 20 years at NBC Universal, rising from an intern answering
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phones on Maury to producing more than 400 episodes of television.
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What fascinated me most about Holly wasn't just her career. It was the way she
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talks about people, intuition, storytelling, and resilience.
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In this episode, we talk about what it was really like behind the scenes of
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iconic daytime television, the evolution of media, and the superpower Holly
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developed from years of understanding people at their most raw and vulnerable.
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We also talk about reinvention, creating a second chapter, taking risks,
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starting over, and building something meaningful after life completely changes you.
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This conversation felt honest, comforting, inspiring, and surprisingly relatable.
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Especially for any woman navigating growth, change, motherhood,
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or figuring out what comes next.
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So get cozy as we connect, learn, and laugh together on She's Smart with today's
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guest, Holly Mirabella.
1:57
Oh, my gosh. Hi. Hi. Oh, wow. This is super fun. When did you start doing this?
2:02
This is my second season. This is good. Can I light this along?
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You can adjust it however you want. As long as it's not right in front of your
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face. I think that's okay.
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Yeah. You should be good. Yeah. Okay. And you can see you're the top one. So you're picking up.
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Test one, two. Yeah. I did that already. See? All right. Good.
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As long as it's working good. Okay. And you do this.
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I do. I sort of manage over the technical stuff, but I have a DP.
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So she kind of deals with them. One day.
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One day this is going to be so big that I have a producer sitting there being
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like, Maria, that doesn't sound right. Absolutely.
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You've got to like talk it into existence. You're pretty much there. It's all good.
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I'm really excited that you're here. Thank you so much for having me.
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And I've been reading what you sent me.
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And I'm just fascinated by your career and how meaningful, right, that it's been.
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So when people ask you what you do, what do you usually say?
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So I have a media company and I develop content that, you know, I think makes a change.
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I think that's what's the most important to me.
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But yeah, I mean, at the root and the heart of everything, I'm a television
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producer like through and through.
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So obviously my lane at this point is a little bit different.
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I'm running my own company.
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I'm an entrepreneur and I've, you know, elevated into more of like the development
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aspect. And obviously I'm doing a podcast now. So a little bit different than
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television, but I think at the core and the heart of everything is telling a story.
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And I think so if people were to say, like, what do you do? I help people tell their stories.
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I think that's what I do. And I help them get out what they're feeling and talk
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through their emotions, have clarity on whatever their story may be.
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Yeah. And give them the best way to lay it out.
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So I think, yeah, I help people tell their stories. So before we get into everything
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you're doing now, let's go back a little bit to...
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What you when you were younger, did you see yourself going into media or did
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this just kind of happen throughout your journey?
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Yeah. So it's so funny that I knew very early on that I was going to work in media and television.
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I remember it clear as day in the fifth grade. There was a kid in my class.
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I went to Our Lady of Sorrows in Westchester and White Plains, New York.
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Eric Bell was a student in the class and his mother was a producer.
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It's really like a pivotal moment in my life. But his mother was a producer
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at Fox 5 News in New York City. Okay.
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So we took a class trip down there and got to see sort of like the behind the
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scenes news. And this is like Rosanna Scato was there and all of that crew.
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Yeah. I knew at that point that I was like, I have to do this. Like, I have to work.
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Like, I want to be in this behind the scenes sort of industry of entertainment and television.
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And it's just funny. It goes back to how you inadvertently manifest things in
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life and realize it. And it really is true.
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I loved watching a show that, ironically, Maury used to be the host of called
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A Current Affair. Oh, yes, I remember.
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And I was like the only kid that was like, I was like seven,
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eight, nine years old because it was on for a few years. And I would come home
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and sit on my parents' floor and watch it on their television every night.
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It came on, I think it was like seven o'clock or something like that, six or seven.
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And it was sort of like this precursor to what TMZ is now, you know,
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it was kind of like they were breaking these sort of salacious,
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gossipy kind of news stories and entertainment.
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And I would religiously want to watch these episodes every night.
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I was like Maury's biggest fan and I was like a kid. So it was hilarious.
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And then to bring me full circle to end up working with him for so many years as I have.
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It's just ironic, right? But yeah, so between that and then that trip,
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I knew. And I think like as I got older and then when I got into college,
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I and, you know, you sort of learning the tricks of the trade and kind of seeing what really goes on.
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Like, so what do you want to do? What part of it? And for a long time,
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I thought I wanted to be an editor.
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OK. Which is interesting. Like I wanted to edit like trailers for films.
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Like I would go to the movies and I'd see the trailers and they would just like
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pull me in and between the graphics and the effects.
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And I was like, oh, this is so cool. And you kind of sum up the story in this
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little tiny amount of time. And I found that, like, fascinating.
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But as I got into working in the industry, I realized very quickly that I'm
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just an A personality. So I like to be around people.
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I like to talk to people. I like to be creative and, like, mesh with other creatives.
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Not to say that being an editor isn't, but I think it's more time spent on your
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own. Oh, for sure. And you're kind of in a room.
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And a lot of times it's, like, a night or an overnight shift. Or it just didn't.
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It wasn't, like, my vibe. It wasn't where I needed my personality to be.
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Yeah. Which is more like being in with the people, you know.
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And so I very quickly kind of transitioned from wanting to do that.
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To ending up to be a producer. And there was like a smidge of time where I was
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like, oh, I want to do on-air stuff.
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And then that went away very quickly. So for like a brief moment,
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you're like, I could be in front of the camera, but actually I really like being behind the scenes.
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I produce so many people, celebrities, talents.
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But then like you put me in front of the camera, I'm like, ah.
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But you can interact with all those people that you're working with.
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And that makes them comfortable so that they're like doing what they need to
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do on the screen. Okay. So you started at Maury Povich.
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Yeah. Do you remember what your first day was when you first started on that?
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Yeah, so it was interesting.
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I initially was an intern and I had just come home from studying in London and
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I had one more semester left in school and I was going to college upstate, Oneonta in New York.
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And I decided that I wasn't gonna go back up there because coming from London
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the semester before, I was just sort of ready to get into the game.
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I wasn't ready to like be back in college. I was just like, I wanna work, I wanna be in the city.
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So I did two internships, one of which was at the Maury Show.
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So initially, and I do remember, which I was just so excited because I loved
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a current affair so much.
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And I was like, this is like amazing, amazing.
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Yeah, it was such a like a cool, full circle moment.
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So back in the day in talk television, people used to like call into the show,
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right? Like, so there would be a number that would flash up on the bottom of the screen.
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Like, you know, if you're in a relationship and you think your spouse is cheating, call this number.
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And so there was a room like manned with phones. Yeah.
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The interns manned those phones it was called the cart room because that
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number that would and that question that would come up that was called like the
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cart of the day right so the cart room was
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where all the phone calls came into and these phones would
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be like i mean this is like the heyday still of like how old
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were you so i was i was i was 19 20 so 19 fielding phone calls from people who
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were like my husband just cheated on me like a really heavy heavy topic okay
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yeah and and you know it's this tiny little room but there were all these phones
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and so all of us were like answering the phone and writing,
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like you would have these papers and we'd write a little blurb and we'd take
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down the number and these papers would fill up so fast because it was divided
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into two categories, right?
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So you have like a name and like a story, like blurb, and then the number,
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and then you go on to the next sheet.
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And at the end of the day, I mean, these sheets would be stacked.
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Wow. And it was just funny thinking back now because it wasn't like being typed.
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We were like handwriting this all, like writing the numbers
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and just like handing in those like stacks of papers
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at the end of the day and at that point then those would be
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divvied up among the producers whoever was producing
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whatever their topic of show was and then they would
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go through and field those calls and field those stories so we were kind of
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like the initial point you know as an intern but i remember that that's kind
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of where you started on your first day as an intern it was like in the courtroom
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like can you handle this yes yes because there's a lot more that it came after. That's insane.
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Yeah, yeah. I cannot imagine 19-year-old me answering phones and talking.
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I don't know how... That sounds like a lot.
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Yeah. Sounds like a lot. Yeah, it was definitely an interesting time,
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but I will say this, like...
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You know, you learn so much so quickly in production, like, as an intern,
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because you're kind of doing everything, you know?
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And we were doing a lot of makeover shows back then, too. So it was,
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like, even, like, the craziness that goes on behind the scenes with styling
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and just things that you would never even think of. And, like,
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the last-minute disasters or a last-minute prop that had to be happening.
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I remember they'd, like, send us out, like, we'd be, like, the most,
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like, auspicious, like, craziest thing. And we'd have to run out.
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Like, it would be late and, like, find it in New York. And there wasn't like
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Google really then. You weren't like asking AI.
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Like you were like cold calling like random stores to find like whatever random
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thing you needed to track down.
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And you weren't coming back until you found it. Oh, my gosh.
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But it taught me many life lessons, which is that basically like you can do anything.
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And I take this with me today, which is that I never really take no for an answer.
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Like, no, it can't happen.
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I'm like, that is not like an answer for me. Like we everything can always happen.
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It's just how do we make it happen?
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Like, what do we need to do to get to that end point?
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And in what variation is it going to be what it's supposed to be?
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And it may not be easy, right? It could be very hard.
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In some cases, it could be simple or it could be a little bit off kilter of
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like how you need to go to get to make it happen. Yeah.
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But you can make it happen. Yeah. And I take that with me with everything in
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life. I always say this thing to myself.
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I'm always like, I can do hard things. Like, even at a tough time,
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I'm like, I can do hard things. I say that to my kids all the time.
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You can do hard things. Yeah.
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You can do hard things. That's one of our biggest quotes in our family. It is so important.
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And because you can and anyone can. And I think you just have to,
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like, empower yourself to always remember that and always know that.
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And you can do it. Yeah. The makeover shows, it's so funny. So as we grew up,
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we had makeover shows all the time. Yeah. Right?
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It disappeared for a while. Yeah. Like, people weren't doing them. It was, like, not okay.
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We're not making over people. People are who they are. Yeah.
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Beautiful in their own skin. And I think that came much later.
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Like, more recently. It's coming back. It is coming back. So we noticed,
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and it was a conversation that we had with my girlfriends, did everyone see
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that this makeover is coming back?
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Like, makeover shows are back. Like, so fun. Yeah.
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They finally, it's very cool. And I always thought the makeover shows were such
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fun shows to do. Because it wasn't, like, really about, like,
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the drama or, you know, the tears.
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It was, well, sometimes there were tears, right, obviously, because they were
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going through, like, maybe a journey.
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But for the most part, they were such a fun experience. So fun.
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You know, kind of themed out in different ways.
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I'm a huge fan. I was a huge fan because it's done now with Queer Eye.
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Yeah. I watched every single episode, both, all the two different groups that
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did it. Yeah. They were my favorite. And-
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I think of that, and I'm like, the
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change they made in people's lives as a makeover show was astronomical.
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Absolutely. Like, it wasn't about changing you because you need to change.
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It was like, no, we're going to give you more confidence. We're going to make
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you feel better about yourself.
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Right. So when you walk into a room, you are elevated, and you know your worth.
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And I just found it. I love it for that reason. Yeah. I agree.
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100%. Give them that. I think to be able to see that confidence on somebody,
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see that smile at the end, you know, when they're looking in the mirror and
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there's that big reveal.
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I think that's such a beautiful moment. I do too. Because sometimes people just
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have to like dig a little bit deeper to like find that and that's okay, right?
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But it's so nice when you can have people help support you to like figure that out, right? So yeah.
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Okay, I love that. I love that. Positive things about that. Okay,
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so let's go into Maury a little bit. Yeah.
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You spent 20 years there, produced over 400 episodes. A lot,
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maybe even a little more, Yeah, it's crazy.
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So what did that experience teach you about people at their most raw?
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Because really, a lot of his interviews really dug deep into who these people
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were and what they were experiencing and what the story was.
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Yeah. So what did that teach you?
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Yeah. You know, it's so interesting because I think that the biggest thing that
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it taught me and it showed me, it showed me so many different people and different struggles, right?
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So maybe something that I wouldn't have seen necessarily seen or known about
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in my own life, you know, like what other people are going through and it can
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happen to anybody. Right. And I think that, you know.
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You can say like, oh, the shows are the conflict, you know, sort of genre of television.
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I think the truth of the matter when it comes to those types of shows in daytime
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is that's the fabric of America.
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Everybody's going through all these different things. And that's like real people,
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real life, real struggles, real stories.
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And so it taught me so much about people. I always say my superpower is that
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I'm able to really hone in and understand the person.
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And I know who someone is right off the bat. From the moment I meet somebody
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and it could be a quick interaction, I automatically have the superpower of
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I get a feel for exactly kind of who that person is, how that person is. I think that came with.
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Being a producer in that genre of television for as long as I was.
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And I think there's such a beauty in that, right? Because sometimes,
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you know, you need to know, sometimes you want to like, sometimes people need
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you to take a step back or like, you know, take a beat.
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Sometimes people need a little more space or sometimes people need a hug or
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they need some words of affirmation in that moment.
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So I pride myself on, I feel like being able to understand like what people need.
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And that goes with anything, with my daughter, with my family members,
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with my friends, you know, with random strangers like that you just come across
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in day-to-day life that maybe just need like a nice little pick-me-up or throw a compliment their way,
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you know, because maybe you could tell on their face or in their reactions that
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maybe they're not having the best day. Did you have this when you were a kid?
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Could you sense emotion or feeling when you walked into a room?
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I've always been an outgoing kid.
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My daughter's very much like that. She's so in tune with people. It's amazing.
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I love watching it from the outside. You think it's such a cool quality.
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And I think that quality takes you so far in life, too.
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Oh, it does. When you can read a room in that sense, it really helps you traverse
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the different situations.
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Agreed. Whether you're going into a meeting, whether you're going into a social event.
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I think it's interesting because I share this quality where I can tell the second
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I'm talking to someone if they're off or not. Yeah.
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And it's crazy. I believe in intuition. I believe in all of that.
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And I don't know, but I've always been like that.
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I've always had a sense. I feel like compassion, too. It gives you a sense of compassion.
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Yeah. You know, just about, you know, what someone's going through and maybe what they need.
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And that's a nice thing, you know. Do you find that you end up people pleasing?
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Do you end up people pleasing?
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I'll tell you, it's ironic that you say that. I'm like, I'm definitely like working on that.
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But I listen, I think that sometimes just comes to in like a,
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you know, a professional setting, right? Like you always want to like.
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Be the best. Do the best. Not let anyone down. You can do it all.
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And I think that as women and, you know, women with careers and when you're
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managing children, I think and, you know, you have a house and you're doing all these things.
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And it's like it's it's it's a hard balance to be able to say,
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like, OK, I I can't like I can't answer this call right now or this email can wait.
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You know, like I have to like I'm going to be with my daughter right now and
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I'm going to devote this time or, you know what, I'm going to stop working and
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I'm going to cook dinner.
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And like, that's OK. Like, I don't need to answer all the text messages.
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So, yeah, I think it's like I'm definitely sort of leaning in and trying to
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be more in tune to like learn that sometimes it's OK to step back and you're
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not going to please everybody and maybe not even pleasing everybody,
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but maybe just pleasing yourself.
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Yeah. Like, you need to take that beat or you need to take that moment. It's OK.
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Like, you can do that. As women, we do so much and we need those.
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Yeah, I think sometimes it's so hard because it's like we want to have all these
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things. We want to have this big career.
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We want to be a great mom or a great parent, you know. And sometimes you just can't do it all. No.
17:18
The whole leaning in was such bullshit. I've said this so many times on this
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podcast. I'm like, there is no leaning in.
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Something is taken away from something else when you're focused.
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Right. You do 100% of what you can at the time you have it. Right.
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But your kid's not going to get that 100% because work's getting that 100%. Right. Like, it is...
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If balance is bullshit, it is what it is. Right, balance is a little bit.
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It's like, we do what we can. And I don't know how to find the right balance.
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I'm like, how do I do it? My balance is found in, all right,
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I'm overwhelmed. I'm doing too much of this thing. I got to step back. Right.
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Like, I've, or like when I'm tired, sometimes I'm like on a weekend.
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Like, if I'm tired, I'm like, I'm tired.
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Take a, I'm going to like. Go for a walk. I'm sitting on the couch for a minute.
17:56
Yeah, sit on the couch. I'm going to like read the book.
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I'm going to like, I'm going to flip through the teeth. I have been reading. That's okay. Yeah.
18:02
I have been reading a lot of books lately. Yeah. I'm deep into these romanticine
18:07
books and I get teased right and left by all my friends because none of them
18:11
read it. They won't. I've tried.
18:12
I'm foreign at this point. Like pre-ordered the next ones.
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Oh, that's so funny. Yeah. I'm deep. I think I've read, growing up,
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I've read so much, but I've read like every, like to speak of like romantic,
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like Danielle Steele, like every romance.
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I might have read every Danielle Steele book that could ever read.
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There is a crazy resurgence in all of these.
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There is, like, the world of romanticy is one I haven't even,
18:36
like, I've just started to do it. It is massive.
18:40
I don't even understand half of it. And some of them are too dark.
18:43
For me. Yeah. I need to escape into like a really beautiful world.
18:47
Right. The darkness I don't need necessarily. Yeah, I agree.
18:50
But we need those moments. We really do. But I've read to the point where my
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husband looks at me and he's like, you need to come back to us now.
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Like you're this time. Well, that's the thing. Because when I start a book,
19:00
I have to finish it. So like if I'm in it, like I'm in it.
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And it could be like, you know, for like a day, I just like I'm sipping through
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this. Like I don't want to stop.
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I'm working on this. So in a world where reality
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TV can feel really sensational how do
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you manage the sensationalism versus
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entertainment that responsibility of making
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sure that you're telling the story without overdoing it
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so that's it's that's an interesting question too so i would say so daytime
19:31
tv like conflict daytime tv from like back in the day like that genre i think
19:34
was like the precursor to like reality television right so So you wouldn't be
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able to have The Housewives and all. And Maury says this actually all of the time.
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Like those, these big franchises, these shows that are sort of revolutionizing
19:48
television now and people love to watch it.
19:50
Those wouldn't be, and what brands they have built too, right?
19:54
Those wouldn't be without, you know, the states that like the Ricky Lakes,
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the Maury's, you know, Sally's, all of that sort of stuff.
20:00
Oh my God, Sally, Jesse, Raphael, right? Yeah.
20:03
That just came to me. But that's the beginning of what reality TV is now.
20:08
And I've always said this. So I was always a producer that I really produced.
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My shows were like emotional shows. Like, you know, I really wanted to always
20:18
get to like the heart of the story, like where the pain like was for that guest. And I...
20:26
That's just my style of producing. So there are other producers where their
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style is like, we're gonna like, you know, hit the crazy numbers over the head
20:35
or whatever the case is, that really salacious thing. And listen, you need that.
20:39
I'm not gonna say you don't. And there's, it's a part of entertainment,
20:43
right? So I think that's important too, but I do, I will say that I think,
20:48
every producer kind of has their own style, right? And like,
20:51
what is important to them?
20:52
I mean, I think that, yeah, you just got to do what feels right and what feels authentic.
20:59
And you obviously want to have an entertainment factor in anything that you
21:02
do, and you want to have it be interesting to your viewers, to your audience.
21:05
But, you know, I just always err on like, stay within the.
21:10
Authenticity as opposed to pushing something like the beat and
21:12
sort of switch that's not necessarily maybe what it
21:15
is have did you ever feel like when you were producing a show that it was edging
21:20
on something you weren't comfortable with and you had to kind of like dial it
21:23
back right because you get those feelings where this is who i am this feels
21:27
right this is where i want to stay but then it was moving too far to either
21:31
side yeah no for sure i mean we dealt with like really,
21:34
heavy topics on the show sometimes and yeah i mean i think that you just have
21:39
to know how to kind of stay in the right lane and just follow the story.
21:43
I always would say to the guests too, we'd brief them ahead of time,
21:45
right? And I was like, this is your story.
21:48
I could sit here and we can go through questions or whatever.
21:50
But at the end of the day, when you're out there, just talk from your heart.
21:54
Nobody knows your story better than you, right?
21:57
Nobody knows the pain that you're feeling or the happiness that you're feeling.
22:01
Whatever that emotion is that's tied to that thing that they're talking about.
22:07
I mean, producer can, you know, brief somebody as much as you want.
22:12
But at the end of the day, it's, you know, the guest is just has to go out there
22:15
and be real and be true and be authentic to their story.
22:19
And they'll always be able to tell it then the right way, you know,
22:22
because then you'll be able to let your guard down and open up or,
22:24
you know, you'll be able to talk through that emotion or...
22:27
Through the happiness, whatever it is. Was Maury the one that did the You Were Not the Father? Yeah.
22:33
So iconic. A lot of the results are in. You got so iconic.
22:38
I can visually see it right now watching it from our television. Yeah.
22:41
I mean, he really sort of coined that whole paternity genre.
22:47
And I mean, the impact still is, you know, last well to this day,
22:52
which is, yeah. All right. So we're going to get into that.
22:55
The superpower you have. Yeah. Have you ever had a moment where you're talking
22:59
with someone and it surprised you how much a person opened up?
23:03
You know, no. And just because I that was what I would especially,
23:07
you know, if I'm when you're initially guiding the stories to like when you're
23:11
building out a story as a producer, like you you want to be able to get somebody
23:14
to open up so you can really understand the story.
23:17
You know what I mean? And what are like the twists and the turns of it are like,
23:20
you know, so yes. No, I always want that. You know, that was kind of like my the goal.
23:26
Right. If I wasn't getting that, then I would feel like I wasn't doing something right.
23:30
Yeah. Okay. Let's talk about the podcast. Yes. With Maury Povich. Yes. This new chapter.
23:36
Yeah. Right? So this idea of creating a second chapter.
23:39
I, when I was going through everything and thinking about questions,
23:42
I was like, this really resonates. And I think it resonates with a lot of women
23:46
who are reinventing, I would say, growing. Yeah.
23:50
Right? Into who they are going to become. Right. And I being a stylist for 15
23:55
years and then closing down my business because I was like, I'm done.
23:58
I love you guys, but you can dress yourselves.
24:01
And then one of my best friends launched an event planning company and I was
24:05
like, why aren't we doing this together? Yeah.
24:08
So I joined her and then launched this podcast. So I'm in a new era of life.
24:13
And I love this idea of the next chapter.
24:16
Yeah. Like, well, what's three going to be? That's going to be me in a caftan
24:19
in, as my husband wants, I guess, Palm Beach or something with my own store.
24:24
Yeah. So there are so many chapters, right, that we get to be a part of.
24:27
Yeah. How did the concept come to you for the new podcast that you're producing? Yeah.
24:31
So obviously I worked with Maury for so long and he's like been such an instrumental
24:36
and sort of the middle part and like a model in my life. Right. And so.
24:41
I would always hear he just had the most incredible, like, amazing, fascinating stories.
24:46
I mean, I think a lot of times people would forget that he had a whole career
24:50
before doing the talk show.
24:52
So, like, he started out in sports, you know, journalism, and then he went on
24:56
to really covering some really big news topics.
25:01
I mean, he covered the assassination of JFK. He was at Andrews Air Force Base
25:04
when, you know, Jack and Kennedy came off the plane in that bloodied suit.
25:08
He covered Watergate. And he was like a fat boy with the senators.
25:11
He was around like Joe DiMaggio.
25:13
So these really like amazing moments in history, he was a part of and he was front and center.
25:19
And I had heard the stories, right? But I felt like I wanted everyone else to
25:25
hear the stories. Right.
25:26
And, you know, the show was ending. He was retiring and, you know,
25:31
playing a lot of golf after the retirement. And I was just like,
25:33
hey, like, I have this idea. I think this would be amazing.
25:37
Like, what do you think about doing a podcast, you know, based on being able
25:41
to kind of, first off, take you full circle, right?
25:43
Take him back to where like he really started, which was like as a journalist,
25:47
right? Like sitting down, like really hearing stories, but being able to then
25:52
with this podcast intertwine his own really fascinating stories.
25:56
And that's exactly what we set out to do. And, you know, he was really into
26:00
it. And he ran it by Connie.
26:02
And Connie thought it was, you know, his wife Connie thought it was an amazing
26:05
idea. And then we were sort of off to the races.
26:08
Yeah. And it's been an amazing journey. And I'm so appreciative and so grateful
26:12
that he has given his trust in me to put this product together and bring this
26:19
to fruition. And I'll tell you, he is loving it.
26:22
You know, initially, it was really just to lay down a couple of things for a
26:25
proof of concept and then kind of take it from there. And he's like,
26:27
when are we going back in the studio?
26:28
Like, when are we going again? And I love that at 87 years old,
26:31
he just turned 87 in January.
26:34
He is, like, on the top of his game, you know, where he's doing other people's
26:38
podcasts. Like, we're doing the Today Show next week.
26:40
He's on Kelly Clarkson. Like, he's all over the place going on there now talking about what he's doing.
26:44
Right. And it's nice to have him in an element with the podcast where on the
26:48
show, you know, he was sort of the safe space for people to come and to talk
26:52
through their issues. Right.
26:53
But he didn't really get to talk a lot about his own stuff.
26:57
Right. Because he had to be there for the guests. So the difference with the
26:59
podcast is now he's able to, you know,
27:03
tell his stories and just kind of like be casual and chill and laid back and
27:07
open up in a way that he hadn't been able to do up until this point.
27:13
And I think that's important when you go back and you say like the next chapter,
27:17
it's like this next chapter allowed him to kind of build to do that. Right.
27:21
And there's a beauty in that. And I think that we can all take a beauty and
27:24
saying like, okay, like maybe we've, we've done this thing for like a really long time.
27:29
And like, let's shake it up a little bit and do something that maybe we don't
27:33
like know a hundred percent about, but like, we can learn, we can try something
27:38
different and like, see how it goes. Like, what's the harm in trying?
27:42
You know, I, I had never put together a podcast before. So it was my first time
27:46
I was doing something out of my element.
27:48
Yeah. What better time to do it? But then with someone that I have such a deep
27:52
respect for, you know, and have worked with for so long.
27:56
So there's this great trust between us. And it's been amazing.
28:00
We're actually going to be taping tomorrow.
28:02
We have Ricky Lake is going to be a guest. So having these two sort of like
28:05
iconic television figures sitting down together, we're super excited about that.
28:10
Yeah, we have Mark Normand, comedian Mark Normand. And Joy Reid is coming on.
28:16
And then, yeah, and then Steve Sharipa. So great.
28:18
Tomorrow is like a jam, a jam. Yeah, exactly. You do it all in one.
28:22
Tomorrow we're doing all those in one day. Yeah. Wow.
28:25
As I do this, because I produce it, I do the questions, I do all the emails.
28:30
It's mine. It's my baby. I do all of it.
28:32
But like I said, one day, one day we'll have a producer take care of it.
28:35
How great and how cool, like, you can do hard stuff. You can put this together on your own.
28:40
You can be your own producer, camera woman, you know, everything.
28:45
Easy. Yeah. It's pretty cool. Like, hats off to you. It's pretty fun,
28:49
but I could not imagine doing more than one of these interviews. Yeah.
28:52
It is for on my side.
28:56
It's like I'm in it. Like the first episode I ever did, I was reeling from it.
29:02
It's like planning a big party at the end of the night. I can't sleep.
29:06
I'm just like my I'm still going and it takes a while to come down from it.
29:10
The first episode I ever did, I was hours.
29:12
My whole body was like I was an out of body experience. I needed to go into
29:17
the dirt and just ground for a while because it was like, it's so funny that
29:20
you say that. It puts so much of you into it.
29:22
But don't you look back now from when you first started, so now you're in your second season, right?
29:26
Yeah. From that moment, that first time, and it was like, you're probably up
29:29
for 24 hours trying to figure out, you know what I mean? Like,
29:31
you're stressed out. You're doing all these things.
29:32
But now when you look back and how far you've come, and it's so much more simple, right?
29:36
Oh, so much more. You're not overwriting things or overthinking things or overproducing
29:41
things. You learn as you go.
29:43
Yeah. And that's like, and I love that because I think back to when we first
29:47
did the podcast and like,
29:49
I was like going crazy, you know what I mean? But then you get your flow. Yes, absolutely.
29:54
And you get in tune with what you need to do and how to do it. And it just works.
29:58
And the right tools to do it. And what's the best way to do it?
30:01
You know, you sort of try everything initially.
30:03
And sometimes, and I think this is just even in life, I think sometimes simple is just better.
30:09
I think when we overdo, it's funny, I've started, I feel like I used to wear
30:13
like a lot of makeup and do all this eye makeup.
30:15
And now I'm just like, what a little foundation on. I'm like, I do my makeup.
30:19
And listen, don't get me wrong. I love makeup. Like, I love a full glam, full man.
30:23
But like, on like the day-to-day or even just like if I'm going to tape the
30:26
podcast. And like today, I'm just like, I don't even do eye makeup anymore.
30:29
I'm like, I have my lashes.
30:30
Like, I'm good. Like, I don't need to. Sometimes simple is just a little better.
30:34
Yeah. I do. I love my simple. I have a nice routine.
30:37
Yeah. But then I also will throw on a gown. Oh, I.
30:41
Nobody loves a better gown than myself. And now I do these Gel-X nails. Yeah.
30:45
And I'm obsessed. I can't type and I do ASMR to my children constantly.
30:51
They think I'm totally cringe.
30:53
But I'm literally trying to type on my phone. My girlfriends are like,
30:55
what the hell? I'm like, I can't. But I love them. They're so feminine.
31:00
And I'm in such a masculine space constantly. I'm surrounded by men.
31:05
Two boys, husband, a dog that's a boy.
31:09
I'm surrounded by it. Other than my wives, my friends, I live in a very masculine
31:13
space. I'm in front of people all the time.
31:15
I'm president of things. So I have found lately that this feminine needs a release.
31:20
It needs to come out into the world. You don't wear frilly.
31:23
Never have. This is my feminine. And they look fabulous. Long.
31:27
I'm going to change to red in a couple of days. But like, this is it,
31:31
guys. The nails. Everybody got to get on the gel acts. Nails. Gel acts.
31:35
But I, yeah. No, I hear you. I hear you. Yeah. Okay. So you have had...
31:41
Million impressions on this
31:43
podcast what is it that's capturing people well you
31:46
know what i think it's just maury being maury he is such an iconic
31:49
figure he cuts across all age groups
31:53
all demographics all genres like just everything you know he is he's so much
31:58
fun and he's just like a cool guy right at 87 he's nick koser he's like the
32:04
dancing weatherman i don't know if you've ever seen him He's like in Times Square.
32:08
Like he's this big TikTok.
32:10
Lori's in Times Square doing dance, like viral dances with Nick.
32:13
And, you know, he's backstage meeting 50 Cent at like Sherry Shepard.
32:18
And like, he's just like fun and cool. And I just love that at 87.
32:23
And I think there's a beauty in that too, right? Like I want to talk about that
32:26
because I think a lot of times like people feel like as they get older,
32:29
it's like, oh, you kind of can't do the things that you love anymore.
32:32
You're sort of like, like pigeonholed into like this thing. like,
32:36
oh, I'm going to just like, you have to retire.
32:38
And you, you know, you see all these stories with health and stuff and what
32:42
older people are going through.
32:43
And I, I think, and, and I think for Maury, you know, his biggest thing is he
32:47
always talks about like, he, he's so curious about everything.
32:50
And I think that that curiosity is such a, like, it just drives him and allows
32:55
him to keep wanting to always learn and do and try different things.
32:59
And yeah, so I think, you know, she's just down for whatever.
33:02
But that curiosity is so important. Oh yeah. Because, I mean,
33:06
I've seen it. When my dad retired, it was hard. It was really hard.
33:10
He'd been working his entire life. Right. And just got to the point where he
33:13
was like, I can't. I'm done.
33:15
But he needed more. Right. He needed to be mentally stimulated.
33:18
He needed to be, he needed just. And that keeps your brain going.
33:21
It does. It's important. And they talk about that, too, with aging,
33:24
is that you need people around you. You need that socialization.
33:28
Otherwise, you deteriorate so much faster. Right. So I think it's just,
33:32
I agree. I think it's wonderful. So you're creating content, digital content.
33:36
And the podcast. How is it differing? I'm at traditional television.
33:41
Yeah. So it's very different. You know, when I was coming up in TV,
33:45
I mean, everything's about content now, right?
33:47
So you have to push out for every episode you're doing and you then have to
33:51
push out content across all social media channels.
33:54
It's not like it's one, you know, there's like a whole bunch of them.
33:57
Are you on TikTok too? Yeah. Yeah. We're on TikTok. There's some really great Yeah.
34:03
Well, it's interesting. I think, you know, every social platform is different.
34:07
Right. They're like kind of like the content that's there, how people are consuming
34:10
it. And that's like a whole and you have to constantly keep up with that. Right. Yeah.
34:14
Even just in terms of learning the new technology that goes along with the platform.
34:19
But yeah, I mean, it's very different because we taped our show on TV and they'd
34:22
put out promos. Right. But like a commercial maybe.
34:24
But it wasn't like this constant pumping of content, which is what the world
34:30
is now. It's literally constant.
34:33
Yeah. So you created your own media company. I did.
34:36
A Better Life Media. A Better Life Media. Yeah. When did that happen?
34:40
And what was the moment when you were like, I'm going to do this myself? Yeah.
34:43
So I think I knew that the show was, we were like a couple of years out from Maury retiring.
34:47
And it just felt like it was a good transition. I was working with another talent
34:52
and we had developed a project. And I was like, you know, like we're working
34:56
on this project. Like it feels like it feels different.
34:58
This feels like the time to kind of like hone in and own like my own stuff.
35:03
Right. So it's sort of like branching off from like the company and the corporation
35:07
and taking that chance on yourself. Yeah. Because then it's yours.
35:11
Yes. And there was a beauty in that. Yeah. Again, I had had cancer.
35:15
And so I went through the recovery of coming out of that and everything,
35:18
you know, thank God worked out. And I was just like,
35:21
ready for like a little bit of like something that was just different.
35:24
And that was mine and was going to sort of have this like longevity,
35:27
you know, because I saw the industry the daytime and I saw it changing back
35:31
then because it was a few years now.
35:33
And so I wanted to get ahead of that. And that was really my intentions behind
35:36
starting the company. And smart to get ahead of it. Yeah. So you gave yourself some time.
35:41
Yeah. To kind of get my feet. Exactly.
35:43
Did you start it on your own? Did you bring in a partner? So I had two partners
35:46
originally, great friends that
35:47
I worked with on the show because we had developed that initial project.
35:50
But then after the The show ended, you know, the Maury show,
35:53
they sort of went in a different direction.
35:54
They're still great friends. I had such a love for this and such a passion.
35:57
And I was always looking into new projects.
36:00
And, you know, it wasn't their journey. It was mine. Yeah.
36:03
What does it mean, a better life? I always, I just think that everyone's,
36:07
we're always looking to have our best lives, right?
36:09
Like we're always looking to, you know, you want to wake up and it's like,
36:12
you want to have your, you want life to just be good and better and constantly
36:15
evolving, you know? But not to say that you're not happy with what you have because that's not it.
36:21
But I just think that there's something about just wanting to search for the best for yourself.
36:26
Yeah. So you had stage three cancer.
36:29
Yeah, colon cancer. When did that diagnosis come in? What point of your career were you diagnosed?
36:34
Yeah, so it was a wild time. It was in 2017 was when I was diagnosed.
36:39
And I was probably 14. Yeah, she was like almost about three years old at that time. Wow.
36:44
And so, yeah, I mean, I was working. It was like, you know, we were really like
36:50
in the thick of it for the season.
36:52
But I just hadn't been feeling well for a long time and then finally figured out like what it was.
36:57
And I actually really credit my daughter because I think, you know,
37:00
I had been sick even during that pregnancy and not knowing it.
37:05
And I think that the pregnancy kind of...
37:07
Accelerated it to where started to show otherwise i don't
37:10
know they might have never figured it out until it was too late so
37:12
i always say like she literally saved my life yeah wow
37:16
i mean in more ways than one right like you have a child and i
37:19
think they do such incredible things you know as a parent right but like crazy
37:23
a crazy time right i will say and i always tell all of my friends this and just
37:28
kind of a learning lesson like trust your instincts and intuition like if something
37:32
doesn't seem right like it's not right because like i think we can trick ourselves
37:36
and be like, oh, not feeling good. Or like, I'm tired.
37:38
But like, it's just like a day or like then it's another day.
37:42
Like, I think it's important to listen to your body and be in tune with what
37:45
you're feeling and not just like, oh, I'm too busy or like, you know,
37:49
I'm just doing too many things.
37:50
And this is why. Like, I just always recommend get everything checked out.
37:54
Like, don't wait on it because you just never know.
37:56
And they didn't see anything. There wasn't anything that was showing it beforehand.
38:01
I mean, up until they had diagnosed it, they didn't know.
38:05
They thought it was a lot of different things, but then a colonoscopy was initially.
38:10
Yes. Which, another reminder to everybody.
38:12
Actually, yeah. Yeah, colonoscopy is so important because, you know,
38:15
these types of cancers, they start off as like a polyp, right?
38:18
And it develops and you could just get that removed through a colonoscopy. Yeah.
38:22
It takes a long time for sometimes for, you know, you could have it for a long
38:26
time. And if you get the colonoscopy and discover the polyp and have it removed, you're going.
38:30
You'll be okay. And they're actually, they lowered, they more recently,
38:34
I think, lowered the age of... It's 45.
38:37
Yeah, for women. But definitely super important.
38:40
That's a reminder, guys. Yeah, super important. I don't talk about it often.
38:43
So this is probably one of the first times that I talk about it with my people,
38:46
like my friends. And it's every time March is like colorectal awareness month.
38:51
So I always think I want to make a post. But it's always very hard for me. Oh, I can imagine.
38:56
I think it goes through it. Yeah, I think it's It's like a traumatic thing,
38:59
you know, but I'm happy to talk about it because I think it's so important for
39:03
women to listen to their bodies and just keeping up with those appointments.
39:07
Yeah. Doing the things that you need to do, like, you know, mammograms,
39:10
colonoscopies, all of those things. Yeah.
39:12
How did you manage it? Do you remember managing, going through the treatment and working?
39:19
Or did you get to take a little bit of a, took a little bit of a break?
39:21
As soon as my chemo ended, I did go right back because I just wanted to get
39:25
back to regular life, right? Yeah, I get it.
39:27
Blip on the radar that like I hated so much and I was
39:30
just like I just like want to like move on and
39:33
maybe that's why I don't really like like right like
39:36
because it was just like oh this like was like a
39:39
really wild time and like it was painful and like a lot of a lot of shit went
39:43
down right but you know I made it through to the other side and that's when
39:47
I'm like oh I can do tough things like yes you can do hard things and I get
39:51
not wanting to talk about it I also think that But it's important to acknowledge that you,
39:57
excuse my friend, you fucking did it. Yeah. And you made it through.
40:00
I fucking did it. And you're sitting here, own company, with a new podcast you're
40:04
producing, that's what you're doing.
40:05
Bad ass thank you like bad i
40:08
appreciate because i can imagine that if you had gone through that it
40:11
would be really easy maybe harder with a child because you're
40:14
also being awake and alive and for this human being you created right but to
40:19
just not do anything right and just be like well this is what i've become but
40:23
you can do it the biggest thing during it like i wanted to like i would get
40:27
up i would get dressed i'd want to go to lunch even the day after chemo because
40:31
it made me feel like a normal person.
40:33
Like I didn't, I think that your mindset sometimes in those situations is half
40:37
of the battle because it's very easy to fall one way where you can get very dark very quickly and,
40:44
And you have to be so super cognizant to be able to pull yourself from that
40:49
darkness and see your way to the other side where that light is. And it's not easy.
40:54
And so there were days that I didn't want to do those things, but I managed to do it.
41:00
And I'm proud of that because I think it was important.
41:03
Yeah, to get up, to get dressed.
41:05
Right. To be present. Right. To go outside. I get it. I get it.
41:09
And sometimes people didn't even realize I was sick, right? Because I was just
41:12
like, but that made me feel good to know that I was trying to keep up with, you know, but it's hard.
41:18
It's not an easy thing to just be like, oh, let's move forward and everything's great.
41:22
Right. No, because it's obviously not at that moment. Right.
41:25
It's almost like not tricking yourself, but just reminding yourself, I can keep doing this.
41:29
And honestly, a lesson for me in life, because I just keep going,
41:33
you know, I'm like, yeah, like I got through that. Like, I can't do anything.
41:37
And this, the teenage daughter, I got through, seriously.
41:40
Like, you can do anything. I can do anything.
41:42
I've got that. Totally. You can do hard things. I can do hard things. Absolutely.
41:46
Right now, what does it look like now your day-to-day? Because you have your
41:49
daughter. Yeah. You have the podcast you're producing.
41:52
Like, what does that look like for you? Yeah. It looks busy. Yeah.
41:56
But listen, we all know, you know, life gets busy. I'm lucky enough to be able
42:00
to work from home on the days that we're not taping press and not in the city.
42:03
So I have a nice balance of being able to work from home.
42:06
I live in Greenwich, so being able to be there, work from there,
42:09
which gives me the flexibility to be able to get my daughter at school and do those things.
42:12
But there's a nice balance then on the days that I am in the city,
42:15
which could be maybe like half of the month or whatever.
42:17
I mean, listen, the beauty with Zooms these days too is like you can have great
42:20
meetings and you don't, you know, you can be in your office at home or wherever
42:23
and it works. So that's where I think technology is so amazing.
42:27
But yeah, so I mean, I think that there's a nice balance, but I do like,
42:31
like I mentioned earlier, like I am a creative and as a creative,
42:34
I like to mesh with other creatives. I like to...
42:37
I like to, like, talk out ideas. I like when the, like, juices,
42:40
creative juices are flowing.
42:42
And, you know, so, you know, and that could even just happen at, like, a lunch, right?
42:46
I think that those things are important because it can get easy to just keep
42:49
working and not even get out of the house sometimes.
42:52
So I like the balance between taking meetings in the city or doing things down
42:56
there and then being able to come home. So there's a good balance.
42:59
We'll say. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I do. I like to be with people and doing stuff.
43:03
We spend a lot of time in the winter up in Vermont.
43:05
Oh, I love Vermont. Kids snowboard. And it's very isolating up there.
43:08
But then by the time the spring comes, I'm probably ready to thought that it
43:11
was perimenopause while I was depressed. And I realized, probably not.
43:14
I think it was just because I was in Vermont for too long.
43:16
Yeah. I love Vermont, but not for me. It's too, I need my people. Yeah.
43:22
I need my people. And I just love when people, like, ideas just come out.
43:25
I feel like I always, like, walk away from, like, lunches with my girlfriends
43:27
and we're like, you know, lunch is a new product or some new idea.
43:30
We have solved the world's problems.
43:32
The world's problems are solved. I love that.
43:34
It is the best. Yeah. So what is your most unexpected celebrity moment?
43:40
Oh, you know, it's so funny. I don't really, to me, like, it's just like a regular,
43:48
yeah, like, I don't. Were you ever awestruck by anyone?
43:51
No, I don't really get that. And I truly mean that. I also am,
43:55
like, not a person, like, even if I were walking the street,
43:57
like, I don't, like, notice.
43:58
Like, I can be, like, walking next to Jennifer Lopez and I'd be like, I have, like, no idea.
44:02
I'm, like, always, like, I feel like I'm always, like, thinking of a thousand
44:05
things. because I've got like a thousand thoughts running through my brain at any second.
44:08
So like, I'm not necessarily like looking for that. That's so funny.
44:12
Yeah, but I will say this. I met so many amazing people with this podcast.
44:15
We've had some really incredible guests and everyone has been so lovely.
44:19
I really have no stories where I'd be like, oh, like this celebrity was like not nice.
44:25
I mean, everyone just really, truly like.
44:28
Friendly like down to do fun content like
44:32
really nice respectful just yeah
44:35
like just like normal good people i need
44:38
to listen to the episode with kathy griffin yeah oh my god so we're
44:40
actually we got nominated for two we're nominated for two webbies best new podcast
44:45
and then with our kathy griffin episode for comedy okay now i have to listen
44:49
to it i might just been a fan for her she is a trip i tell you we were watching
44:53
that as it was happening and it was just the you have to watch the episode. It was so funny.
44:59
She is so lovely, so smart, so spunky.
45:05
You know, I feel like she got such a bad rap, like with so many things that
45:07
had happened, you know, and she was like, canceled for a minute.
45:10
And she's very vocal and talks about all of that stuff. But
45:13
She could not have been, like, a nicer, cooler, just down-to-earth,
45:17
amazing person. So kudos to Haki. I really love her.
45:20
Speaking of canceled, it really bothers me that we just decide people are canceled.
45:23
Right. We can't just, like, be annoyed by them and just not want to be near
45:26
them. But we have to verbally tell the world that we have canceled them.
45:30
Right. And they can no longer be people. And I think that's, like, ever evolving.
45:33
Like, I think, like, a few years ago, it, like, meant one thing.
45:36
I feel like we're in kind of, like, a sort of a different zone now.
45:40
But then you also have to think about, like, there's got to be,
45:42
like, we're always, like, about like forgiveness and like, you know,
45:44
there's got to be, you know, no judgment, right?
45:48
I mean, listen, we are all people. People are going to make mistakes.
45:51
I've made plenty of them. You've made plenty of them.
45:54
I'm sure there are some people who maybe should be permanently canceled,
45:57
but then there are others that, you know, it's just maybe you slip out versus one wrong thing.
46:01
But, you know, listen, people are people and nobody's going to be perfect.
46:05
Well, and I feel like for our kids
46:06
too, they're under this microscope with everything they do now. Right.
46:11
Being a kid these days is very hard. I mean, when we were younger,
46:14
you could be at school and say there's a rumor or something silly going around.
46:17
It's done. Now you have social media. You have the phones.
46:20
Nothing's ever done. Nothing's ever, ever. It doesn't go away.
46:24
And that's an interesting world, but that's the world they're growing up in.
46:27
Right. So they don't know the other side of it. Right.
46:29
Like, so I think it makes them almost more hyper aware.
46:33
Right. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know. You know.
46:37
I know. Some part of me always wants to just take all the devices.
46:40
I took my daughter's device this morning. I do it all the time.
46:42
We were late. I was like, I'm taking your phone. Taking your phone.
46:45
You can't have it for another two weeks. She'll probably have it backwards tonight.
46:48
Oh, no, you got to stick to it. No, I know. I did say that, though,
46:50
on the ride school. I was like, I'm sticking to it this time.
46:52
Like, you're not getting to it. How many times I was like, you can't have your
46:55
things. And then I was like, you can have them. And then they didn't stop believing
46:58
me. Right. So then I became a stickler.
47:00
Yeah. Because you have to or be very careful with how many days you're giving them.
47:05
Like, I've done it where I'm like, you've gone for a month and I'm like
47:08
shit, you know, I shouldn't have said that. Two days. That's the thing.
47:12
It's like, but in this world, it's in this world that we live in, right?
47:16
And so many things happen and you want to know where they are,
47:18
right? Or you want to be able to give them the tools to have access to get you,
47:23
God forbid, there's some emergency or whatever the case is. So it's like this
47:26
double-edged sword, right?
47:27
Because on one hand, you don't want them to have those things at all.
47:30
Like we didn't have those things.
47:32
And then on the other hand, you're like, well, I want to protect them.
47:35
So like, It's such a fine line.
47:36
And if anyone can figure out how to solve that balance, that fine line,
47:40
let us know. Because I don't know what it is. I don't either.
47:44
I try to give them their independence and be like, I know you can do this. Use it responsibly.
47:50
And then I'll check it and be like, why the hell have you been on here for an hour?
47:54
Like, this is not acceptable. So I think we also have to teach them.
47:58
Because they have no idea.
48:00
They do not have the ability to regulate that. I think that they should have
48:04
the ability to. But they don't. No, and they think they know everything. But I agree.
48:07
I still am trying to figure it out. Yeah, I mean, that's paranoid,
48:12
right? I've been trying to figure it out for 12 years.
48:14
Yeah, literally for 12 years. Okay, if someone is in this moment of reinvention,
48:20
whether it's by choice or not, right? They're going through this next chapter
48:24
or whatever it is. What would you tell them?
48:26
Here's one thing. I don't love the word reinvention. Okay, tell me.
48:29
And I know it's been sad and it gets sad. I feel like you don't need to...
48:34
Reinvention is like, that means you need to leave this part of...
48:37
You have to create this whole new version of yourself and you're supposed to leave the past behind.
48:41
I like chapter because I think every new chapter...
48:44
In your life is just kind of like leveling up to like another version of you.
48:50
But I think it's always important to remember who you are at the core,
48:55
like being of everything. Right.
48:57
So I prefer the word like next chapter.
49:00
And I love a next chapter because I think we all need one. And it's so nice to have like a refresh.
49:06
But like, let's always remember where we come from,
49:09
what's important to us our core values and
49:12
beliefs and take those with us on to the next chapter
49:15
yeah yeah and trust that gut trust that gut and
49:18
trust your instinct and it's scary it is scary to
49:21
move on and do something do something new right but that's what it's supposed
49:24
to be it's supposed to be scary because scary things are meaningful a hundred
49:27
i tell my kids this i tell myself this like my husband just launched a new business
49:31
i'm like if you're not scared you're not doing it right right like and then
49:35
it's just like boring it's like everything's mundane and it's like,
49:38
you're just, it's like Groundhog Day, right?
49:40
I don't, I want to have something new every day. You know, I want to shake things up a little bit.
49:45
I want to be challenged, scary as it is, even doing this podcast.
49:48
Like, I'm always the one that's behind the camera. I've never,
49:51
you know, and I've produced so much television and so many people and this should
49:55
be like a no-brainer to me, but it was a little bit of a scary thing,
49:57
but I'm loving every moment of it.
49:59
So it was very, well, you're killing it. I'll tell you. You've killed it.
50:03
This is flown by. I don't even know what time it is it's been
50:05
an hour has it this is i could sit and
50:08
talk forever forever this becomes a time
50:11
warp yeah yeah there have been moments where i have literally sat
50:14
with someone and it's two hours later we both missed meetings i'm
50:17
like running late to the kids and we look at each other we're like well we
50:21
gotta go but you know what that's a kudos to you and
50:24
that's why i'm proud of you for starting this because what does
50:27
that say about you like you're in your space this is where
50:29
you were meant to be right like it's a little bit
50:32
of a different version than what you were doing still the
50:35
same though right it's your next chapter but you're still taking that same like
50:38
core values beliefs the things that make you tick
50:41
and you're bringing them to this chair and to your guests and there's
50:44
such a beauty in that and you're doing such a great job so so my
50:47
hats off to you thank you yeah no seriously it's amazing this has been so fun
50:51
yeah i loved it it was such a blast i'll come back whenever please come back
50:55
please come back let's get christine on before we go so those girls christine
51:00
and how i met christine and our kids were in like daycare and like preschool
51:03
together at Building Blocks in Stanford.
51:06
And I would, you know, I was so busy with work and I just had Nyla and she's little and.
51:13
All this chaos is ensuing in life when I was a single mother.
51:16
And we kind of carved out this group of women.
51:20
And it's interesting because it's starting out big and then sort of over the
51:23
years, because it's a lot of years now.
51:24
I mean, this is our kids are like 12 years old, right? So, you know,
51:27
you lose some people like, you know, but like, there's like five of us now who
51:32
are really sort of stuck.
51:34
And it's great. And we make a point to see each other every month and, you know, have a dinner.
51:39
And we before we leave, we always have the next dinner, you know,
51:42
scheduled. So it's so important. I just had on this amazing fertility specialist, Amy Ropp.
51:47
And one of her biggest takeaways for us was as we get older...
51:52
We need those female friendships. Oh, my God. Yeah. We need that outlet, those humans.
51:57
Right. Who you can be with for 30 minutes if you need like a reset of any sort.
52:02
Right. And what I love so much about your relationship, your friendship with
52:06
Christine and my wives is that it has nothing to do with our children. Right. Right.
52:12
Our friendships are because we love each other. Yeah. They're part of my soul.
52:18
They're part of who I am. It doesn't, our kids can be anywhere.
52:21
We love each other's kids. I mean, we would take them all in a heartbeat.
52:24
Some of us, we just grab them when we need to. But it's deeper than that.
52:27
Okay, like all of the kids in that, they all are in different school.
52:30
Like, you know, so we still have remained and everyone's so supportive of one another.
52:34
And I love that because I and I think as we get older, right,
52:37
you have such little time for the BS, right?
52:40
So I just, you know, everything is so busy.
52:44
So my friendships are like, I am not like if you're in my life and I,
52:48
you know, spend time and I invest in you, Like you mean something because I
52:53
just don't have time for like sort of the frivolous nonsense. Totally.
52:56
Yeah. It's much easier to make plans now, I feel like. Yeah.
53:00
Because you choose where you want to be, who you want to be with.
53:03
And with people who like you really support each other and you encourage each
53:06
other to be the best version.
53:08
Like, right. And I love that. Yes.
53:10
I know. I love my women. Yeah. We all joke that one day we're all just going
53:14
to live together with dogs.
53:16
Husband or our husbands will be, but we will all be together.
53:19
Oh, this has been a blast. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
53:23
Thank you so much for joining me today on She's Smart. New episodes drop on Thursdays.
53:28
Don't forget to subscribe, like, and share. Stay cozy.