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Jennifer with Coffee - Episode 25 - Reset your life with CEO and Author Marnie Schneider. · Jennifer with Coffee

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[music]
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SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Jennifer with Coffee, a mindset podcast for people who are looking for real change.
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SPEAKER_01: I'm Jennifer Lauer, writer, yogi, and fitness fanatic.
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SPEAKER_01: Lately, I've been having lots of coffee meetups, long,
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SPEAKER_01: honest conversations that delve into mindset,
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SPEAKER_01: identity, choices, and habits that shape our lives.
0:32
SPEAKER_01: I kept thinking how I wanted to share these conversations.
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SPEAKER_01: So here we are.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: Each episode moves in three beats.
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SPEAKER_01: An inspirational story,
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SPEAKER_01: an interview with thinkers,
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SPEAKER_01: builders, athletes, and artists, people who want to share their own transformations.
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SPEAKER_01: And we'll end with a brief meditation to practice calming the nervous system.
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SPEAKER_01: If you've been connecting with the stories and conversations here,
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SPEAKER_01: I've also written some fiction that explore emotional spaces.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: One is an AI dystopia, and the others are part of a paranormal mystery series.
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SPEAKER_01: So if you're ever curious, you can find them on my website, jenniferlauer.com.
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SPEAKER_01: Today's inspiration is based on a piece that I put in my newsletter, The Delicate Papers.
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SPEAKER_01: It's called The Joy Wave.
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SPEAKER_01: I was inspired to write it this one day that I took my children to the beach
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SPEAKER_01: and my oldest really didn't want to go to the beach and gave me all of these reasons
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SPEAKER_01: and complaints.
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SPEAKER_01: But of course, when we got there, he ended up having a great time.
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SPEAKER_01: He said one of the most memorable things only children can say in this poetic,
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SPEAKER_01: I always get a big response from people, which just makes my heart happy.
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SPEAKER_01: You can join my podcast.
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SPEAKER_01: Substack, which is called The Delicate Papers for free.
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SPEAKER_01: You just put your email in or you can do a paid subscription.
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SPEAKER_01: I put my writings on there,
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SPEAKER_01: poetry, philosophy, my journey writing TV and film, my journey writing books.
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SPEAKER_01: Also, this podcast is through that Substack, Jennifer with Coffee.
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SPEAKER_01: This is the piece called The Joy Wave.
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SPEAKER_01: My mom said she was taking us to the beach.
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SPEAKER_01: I didn't want to go.
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SPEAKER_01: Because I don't like getting salty and sticky.
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SPEAKER_01: And sand somehow always gets inside my sandwich.
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SPEAKER_01: She said we'll have fun.
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SPEAKER_01: When we got there, I forgot I didn't like the beach.
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SPEAKER_01: Right away, we spotted an upside-down crab shell.
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SPEAKER_01: My brother and I raced against the ocean.
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SPEAKER_01: We even saw surfers.
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SPEAKER_01: I told my mom they looked like they were riding joy waves.
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SPEAKER_01: She agreed.
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SPEAKER_01: I found a long spiral of seaweed that looked like pasta.
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SPEAKER_01: My brother lost his shoes and then found them again.
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SPEAKER_01: When we ate our sandwiches,
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SPEAKER_01: seagulls surrounded us and I ate so fast I didn't notice if the sand got in.
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SPEAKER_01: Mom said it was a go time.
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SPEAKER_01: Our legs had sand coats and my eyes stung a bit.
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SPEAKER_01: When I got into my cozy seat in the car, I was tired.
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SPEAKER_01: I told my mom that I felt like a joy wave.
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SPEAKER_01: And now for the interview.
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SPEAKER_01: Marnie Schneider is the founder and CEO of Gameday in the USA,
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SPEAKER_01: a sports edutainment brand created to make reading as exciting as Gameday.
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SPEAKER_01: She's the author and creator of Football Freddy and Fumble the Dog series
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SPEAKER_01: and Baseball Billy and Bunt the Dog,
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SPEAKER_01: an officially licensed Major League Baseball book series that combines sports,
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SPEAKER_01: travel, history, culture, and literacy.
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SPEAKER_01: A Penn State Journalism graduate who began her career at NFL Films,
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SPEAKER_01: Marnie comes from a pioneering sports family.
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SPEAKER_01: Her grandfather,
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SPEAKER_01: Leonard Tos,
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SPEAKER_01: owned the Philadelphia Eagles,
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SPEAKER_01: and her mother,
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SPEAKER_01: Susan Tos Spencer, made NFL history as the league's first female general manager.
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SPEAKER_01: Today, Marnie brings together her passion for sports,
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SPEAKER_01: storytelling,
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SPEAKER_01: children, and community to inspire the next generation of readers and fans.
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SPEAKER_01: Her mission says it all.
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SPEAKER_01: When kids read, we all win.
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SPEAKER_00: Hello, Marnie.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad to have you here.
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SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jennifer.
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SPEAKER_00: Well, I am very excited.
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SPEAKER_00: And while your listeners can't see what's going on,
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SPEAKER_00: I will just give them the play-by-play that I have some very cute friends with me
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SPEAKER_00: and they happen to be four-legged.
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SPEAKER_00: So if you hear barking, it's not me, it's them.
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SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
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SPEAKER_01: We love the pups.
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SPEAKER_01: So let's jump right in.
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SPEAKER_01: Go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself and what brought you to the work you do now.
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SPEAKER_00: I grew up in Philadelphia.
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SPEAKER_00: At the time when I was growing up, my grandfather, Leonard Toews, owned the Philadelphia Eagles.
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SPEAKER_00: And my mom, Susan,
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SPEAKER_00: after being a teacher and then going to law school,
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SPEAKER_00: she ended up becoming the first female vice president,
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SPEAKER_00: legal counsel, and general manager of an NFL team.
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SPEAKER_00: And still to this day,
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SPEAKER_00: she's the only female that's held those high level of positions
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SPEAKER_00: within professional football.
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SPEAKER_00: I had an amazing childhood,
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SPEAKER_00: very fortunate, got to travel around and see all these great cities.
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SPEAKER_00: My mom was a brilliant business person and a great mom at the same time.
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SPEAKER_00: When she retired from football,
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SPEAKER_00: my grandfather had sold What we decided to do about 10 years ago was write
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SPEAKER_00: a children's book series based on my travels and getting
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SPEAKER_00: to see all these great cities that host professional football teams.
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SPEAKER_00: So Football Freddy and Freddy is a girl and Fumble the dog
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SPEAKER_00: and Fumble really is my dog, a little rescue chihuahua.
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SPEAKER_00: Football Freddy and Fumble the dog, game day.
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SPEAKER_00: Each book takes you on a tour through a different football city.
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SPEAKER_00: And my newest book, Football Freddy and Fumble the Dog, Game Day in Miami, just came out.
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SPEAKER_00: Now we're also officially licensed by Major League Baseball,
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SPEAKER_00: and we have Baseball Billy and Bunt the Dog.
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SPEAKER_00: Same idea,
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SPEAKER_00: Baseball Billy and Bunt travel around,
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SPEAKER_00: see all the great sites,
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SPEAKER_00: and then you make your way to the stadium to cheer on the home team.
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SPEAKER_00: Because my passion is really getting kids excited about reading, playing, and being a fan.
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SPEAKER_01: I love that.
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SPEAKER_01: What made you choose books as your way to help inspire kids?
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SPEAKER_01: Were you a big reader as a child?
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SPEAKER_01: Did your mom encourage you to read?
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SPEAKER_01: Or what got you into writing?
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SPEAKER_00: So I did.
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SPEAKER_00: And we saved those.
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SPEAKER_00: They were kind of collected throughout the years and in a box.
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SPEAKER_00: I think being an only child,
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SPEAKER_00: I'm not a hoarder,
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SPEAKER_00: but I've definitely saved a lot of things that I thought were interesting.
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SPEAKER_00: And about 10 years ago, my mom was on the verge of being diagnosed with frontal lobe dementia.
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SPEAKER_00: Although we didn't know it, we just knew something wasn't right.
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SPEAKER_00: And she said, let's take out those stories that you wrote when you were a young girl.
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SPEAKER_00: Let's see if there's something there.
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SPEAKER_00: So I took some of them out.
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SPEAKER_00: They were terrible.
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SPEAKER_00: But we were like, well, wait a minute.
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SPEAKER_00: Maybe this is a good idea.
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SPEAKER_00: Put it together.
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SPEAKER_00: And so my first book, Football Freddy and Fumble the Dog, Game Day in Philadelphia.
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SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
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SPEAKER_00: Football Freddy based loosely off me and Fumble the Dog
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SPEAKER_00: and their friend Billy traveled throughout Philadelphia,
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SPEAKER_00: all the great sites,
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SPEAKER_00: the National Constitution Center, the Liberty Bell, Reading Terminal Market.
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SPEAKER_00: And then you get to see all the sites and then make your way to the stadium.
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SPEAKER_00: So history is very important, Betsy Ross House.
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SPEAKER_00: And then you make your way to cheer on the home team,
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SPEAKER_00: because I think when kids can speak sports, it really is the universal language.
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SPEAKER_00: And so getting kids, like I said, excited about reading, playing and being a fan.
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SPEAKER_00: Those are things that I believe are great coping skills that we can give children.
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SPEAKER_00: And they definitely are fun to do.
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SPEAKER_01: I love that.
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SPEAKER_01: And what a lovely legacy for your mom that you worked with her on it,
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SPEAKER_01: that she knew that you were creating this series.
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SPEAKER_00: I think so.
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SPEAKER_00: My mom is my co-author on a few of the books.
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SPEAKER_00: I mean, she was quite ill, so it was really more about just the sentimental part of it.
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SPEAKER_00: But it was something really nice that I knew that we were collaborating in our own way.
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SPEAKER_00: You know,
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SPEAKER_00: I think people that are successful,
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SPEAKER_00: Jennifer, and you'll understand this, they figure out How to make it work.
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SPEAKER_00: They just do.
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SPEAKER_00: It doesn't really matter what the impairment might be or where you are.
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SPEAKER_00: It's like,
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SPEAKER_00: I'm just going to figure it out and we're going to make it work and it's going
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SPEAKER_00: to be great.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's that positivity because you know you can do it and also figuring out how
9:00
SPEAKER_00: to make it work.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's what I did with a bunch of books with my mom.
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SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay, she's my co-author.
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SPEAKER_00: She might have frontal lobe dementia,
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SPEAKER_00: but I know she can still understand things and can give me some tips and be able to
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SPEAKER_00: at least acknowledge what we're doing.
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SPEAKER_00: And that was also what I needed to her acknowledgement because we were so close.
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SPEAKER_00: So knowing that she knew what I was doing and knowing that she was there
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SPEAKER_00: as my constant cheerleader really helped me get through the first couple of books so
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SPEAKER_00: that I had the confidence to continue to do more.
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SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's great advice.
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SPEAKER_01: When you have an idea to do something or try something,
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SPEAKER_01: you need to figure out how to do it instead of deciding if you should do it.
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SPEAKER_01: It's more about focusing on like, how do I get this done?
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SPEAKER_01: How do I make this happen?
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SPEAKER_00: My grandfather had a saying and he told me this and he said,
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SPEAKER_00: in every meeting, the question to ask is, what do I need to do to get it done?
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SPEAKER_00: And then you listen because sometimes you might not know.
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SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it might be very simple.
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SPEAKER_00: It might be more complicated.
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SPEAKER_00: But asking that question and then listening to the answer,
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SPEAKER_00: which some people often don't want to have the answers.
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SPEAKER_00: But what do I need to do to get it done?
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SPEAKER_00: And then you figure it out.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: Then you make your roadmap.
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SPEAKER_00: You make your outline.
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SPEAKER_00: You make your business plan.
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SPEAKER_00: You just figure it out.
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SPEAKER_00: And what do I need to do to get it done?
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SPEAKER_00: And then you do it or you don't.
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SPEAKER_01: Can you tell us a little more about your grandfather?
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SPEAKER_01: How did he come to buy the Eagles in the first place?
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SPEAKER_00: So my grandfather was a really smart man.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: We'll get to some of the other stuff.
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SPEAKER_00: He was the smart businessman, was in the trucking business.
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SPEAKER_00: It was a family business.
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SPEAKER_00: His dad started the trucking business.
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SPEAKER_00: My grandfather's brother, who was kind of the heir apparent, died of a heart attack.
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SPEAKER_00: And my grandfather,
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SPEAKER_00: although not ready for the job,
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SPEAKER_00: stepped in,
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SPEAKER_00: became the president of the trucking company and built a successful business.
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SPEAKER_00: But I will say this, that he still was probably not ready for the job.
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SPEAKER_00: He had a great vision and understanding.
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SPEAKER_00: And my grandfather,
10:54
SPEAKER_00: despite being as what people would refer to as our town's answer to
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SPEAKER_00: the Great Gatsby, my grandfather was also a really good humanitarian.
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SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, he really wanted to find ways to give back.
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SPEAKER_00: And he knew that owning a football team
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SPEAKER_00: There was a ton of vanity in it,
11:24
SPEAKER_00: but it was also a business that you could add a lot of value to the local community.
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SPEAKER_00: So I think that when there was an opportunity to buy the team,
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SPEAKER_00: people kind of thought he was crazy when he said he was going to buy a football team
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SPEAKER_00: and he had the ability to get it done, bought the team.
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SPEAKER_00: And then within a couple of years, turned the team around into a Super Bowl contender.
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SPEAKER_00: Now, it became harder to sustain that success at the team level
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SPEAKER_00: because my grandfather definitely had some addiction issues and so forth.
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SPEAKER_00: And when you're running
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SPEAKER_00: My grandfather was a visionary,
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SPEAKER_00: understood what it meant to own a team and to be a great team owner.
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SPEAKER_00: And I think to this day,
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SPEAKER_00: people still remember Leonard Toews as a great team owner for the city
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SPEAKER_00: and really making good choices for the city.
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SPEAKER_01: You said it gave him a tool into being a humanitarian.
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SPEAKER_01: What were some of his charitable contributions would you say?
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SPEAKER_00: While he owned the Eagles,
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SPEAKER_00: a player on the team named Fred Hill from California,
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SPEAKER_00: from USC, was a dual athlete, baseball and football.
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SPEAKER_00: Fred was a football player,
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SPEAKER_00: Fred and his wife Fran,
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SPEAKER_00: and they had a young daughter named Kim, and Kim was diagnosed.
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SPEAKER_00: The Delicate Papers.
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SPEAKER_00: So it's something that I'm very proud of.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: I don't think that they really thought in 1974 that they were going
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SPEAKER_00: to open up this charity called the Ronald McDonald House,
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SPEAKER_00: a place for families to stay while their children were ill,
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SPEAKER_00: that it was going to turn into,
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SPEAKER_00: 52 years later, one of the best philanthropies in the entire universe.
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SPEAKER_00: With Ronald McDonald houses all over the world, helping families.
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SPEAKER_00: If you were to ask a family,
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SPEAKER_00: I guarantee somewhere along the way,
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SPEAKER_00: somebody has had some sort of positive interaction with the Ronald McDonald house.
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SPEAKER_00: And I'm very proud of that philanthropy.
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SPEAKER_00: And I serve on the board here in Charlotte where I live.
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SPEAKER_00: And I'm very involved with a bunch of other Ronald McDonald houses.
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SPEAKER_00: It's an incredible charity that really makes a big difference for families
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SPEAKER_00: while their children are sick.
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SPEAKER_01: Wow, it really just goes to show that gesture can turn into a meaningful legacy
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SPEAKER_01: that probably he had no idea deciding to try to help this one girl.
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SPEAKER_01: It turned out to help millions of people.
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SPEAKER_00: It has, and you know, it's interesting.
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SPEAKER_00: It's like, I love being involved in the Ronald McDonald House for many reasons.
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SPEAKER_00: Obviously, so many of my closest friends are part of the Ronald McDonald House family.
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SPEAKER_00: Also, it's part of my family legacy.
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SPEAKER_00: So if I'm gonna talk about
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SPEAKER_00: the contribution I've got 13 different Football Freddy books and we're doing more,
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SPEAKER_00: but also being involved in the Ronald McDonald House is my way of picking up
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SPEAKER_00: the ball proverbially and running with it and sustaining my family legacy.
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SPEAKER_01: I feel like I have been
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SPEAKER_00: As a mom,
15:02
SPEAKER_00: when you have children,
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SPEAKER_00: I look at my life as kind of like, okay,
15:06
SPEAKER_00: that was before children,
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SPEAKER_00: during children, during the heavy lifting years of children.
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SPEAKER_00: And now it's interesting, my two boys are in college and my daughter just graduated.
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SPEAKER_00: She's about to get engaged.
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SPEAKER_00: I was like, I want to do differently.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to continue to write children's books and get the message out there.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: Reinvention is a great thing.
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SPEAKER_00: And I reinvent myself every day.
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SPEAKER_00: Reinvent myself in ways that are enjoyable,
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SPEAKER_00: not necessarily where I have to completely throw away the old version because I like
15:50
SPEAKER_00: the old version.
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SPEAKER_01: That's a really healthy way to look at life.
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SPEAKER_01: Do you have any tips for people who are maybe in a transition?
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SPEAKER_01: Like it sounds like you've gone through a lot of transitions in the recent,
16:01
SPEAKER_01: like having the children leave and having your mom pass.
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SPEAKER_01: Those are huge life changes.
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SPEAKER_01: What has helped you maintain a steady, positive outlook?
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SPEAKER_00: My grandfather would always say, you can't live in fear.
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SPEAKER_00: I never really knew what that meant,
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SPEAKER_00: but I knew that in 2017,
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SPEAKER_00: we were living in California and I said to my kids, I'm like, you know what?
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SPEAKER_00: I think it's time to leave here.
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SPEAKER_00: And they were like, why?
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SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, because I have a book coming out.
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SPEAKER_00: My first book was coming out.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I think it's time that we make a change.
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SPEAKER_00: Your question was, any tips?
16:32
SPEAKER_00: It's really good to put yourself into situations that are safe
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SPEAKER_00: or you've done your homework, but that shakes.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: It's good to find situations where you do your homework.
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SPEAKER_00: You have to do your homework.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: All right.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying impulsive.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: I am not an impulsive person at all.
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SPEAKER_00: It seemed like moving three children that were teenagers across the country to
16:55
SPEAKER_00: a place I had never lived where I didn't know anybody was a weirdly impulsive move.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: But I knew that I had to reset everybody and reset everything in order to get things going.
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SPEAKER_00: And so I think that, you know, you can't live in fear.
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SPEAKER_00: Try things and dip your toe in the water and see what's going to go on.
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SPEAKER_00: But do your homework.
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SPEAKER_00: Don't just do it impulsively.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: And then being like, you know what?
17:15
SPEAKER_00: I believe in myself and having enough confidence to believe in yourself
17:18
SPEAKER_00: that I'll make it work no matter what is a good thing.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: And also know that whatever it is, you can always go back to it or restart it.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: Most likely nothing's ever off the table.
17:29
SPEAKER_01: I love that advice.
17:30
SPEAKER_01: Shake things up.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: Make a new choice.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: You have to.
17:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: You have to.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: And especially as a parent,
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SPEAKER_00: for me, it was like, okay, you know, I wanted to show my kids, it's me.
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SPEAKER_00: Like I have to show them life lessons.
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SPEAKER_00: Like you move across the country for work.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: You move across the country for family.
17:47
SPEAKER_00: You move across the country for romance.
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SPEAKER_00: You move across the country for whatever, just because you want a new change.
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SPEAKER_00: And like, don't be afraid of that.
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SPEAKER_00: There's so much out there.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: Go get it.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: Like the world is your oyster.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: Go get it.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: A safe risk.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: A well put together plan and there's going to be holes in it.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: There are.
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SPEAKER_00: I mean, I first moved here and I didn't know anybody.
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SPEAKER_00: My neighbor's gigantic trees fell on my yard and there's going to be things,
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SPEAKER_00: but whatever, you figure it out and then you become an expert.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: I also, myself,
18:15
SPEAKER_00: when I feel like I'm getting a little too comfortable,
18:16
SPEAKER_00: I try to make things less convenient for myself.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: It kind of gives me a way to reset myself.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: Because I like challenging myself and that's how you get better.
18:41
SPEAKER_01: That's really wise that you consciously think about that because you're exactly right.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: You can't really change or become better without friction, right?
18:52
SPEAKER_01: It's just like growing a muscle.
18:54
SPEAKER_01: You have to strain it and injure it almost.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: And then that scar tissue grows your muscle.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: We have to have that resistance, that friction in order to recover.
19:04
SPEAKER_01: And then you grow from that recovery.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: It's really interesting that you do that consciously.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: That, oh, my life needs more challenges.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: I do.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: I'm at a place in my life now where I can choose the challenges in some ways,
19:17
SPEAKER_00: but then some just naturally happen.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: But it also makes you more interesting.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's the thing.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: It's like,
19:24
SPEAKER_00: I am pretty disciplined with the majority of my life because I want
19:27
SPEAKER_00: to be I'm really fiscally responsible because I have three kids that I have to pay
19:30
SPEAKER_00: for.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: I like to give myself some challenges of what I can do to be better because
19:35
SPEAKER_00: then I feel like I'm more interesting to myself for sure.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: This is what I have chosen.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to accomplish it.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: Also knowing that it's a circuitous path.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: It's not linear.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Everything in life is a circuitous path.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've been grieving my mom and right before that happened,
19:54
SPEAKER_00: my serious relationship, he passed away.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: Can you
20:04
SPEAKER_01: give an example of one of the challenges that you've created?
20:08
SPEAKER_01: It could be something small,
20:09
SPEAKER_01: but what's something you were like,
20:11
SPEAKER_01: you know what, I need some resistance, I need some friction in my life.
20:15
SPEAKER_01: So like,
20:15
SPEAKER_01: what's an example of something someone could create if they're thinking,
20:18
SPEAKER_01: I need to change things up?
20:19
SPEAKER_01: What's a good way to get their motivation moving?
20:23
SPEAKER_00: This was like a personal example.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: Yesterday, I had a business call and somebody had asked me if I would work on a book for them.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: And the idea that they had given me,
20:32
SPEAKER_00: they were a successful businessman and it has a sports theme.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: I thought it was not a great idea.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay, wait a minute.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I could just go along with it, but I don't think it's good.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I don't think kids are gonna like it.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: Let me figure out, have a really honest conversation with myself.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, if I don't do this project, is it going to hurt me?
20:55
SPEAKER_00: And the answer was, maybe, maybe not.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: But if I do the project and it doesn't work, is that going to be worse?
21:03
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, yes, that's going to be way worse.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: What are you going to do, Marnie?
21:09
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, put your...
21:10
SPEAKER_00: Head back on, figure out a better solution.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: And he had never written kids books before.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: And he was like, oh, what about this?
21:18
SPEAKER_00: And then honestly,
21:19
SPEAKER_00: I was like, listen, there are some good moments in that, but it's not good enough.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: What if we did that?
21:26
SPEAKER_00: And I said,
21:27
SPEAKER_00: the only way that I'm comfortable doing this project is if we do it more this way,
21:32
SPEAKER_00: because I know what I'm doing.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: And he was like, oh my gosh, that's so much better.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: I can't believe it was kind of scary for a second because I was like, he might hang up on me.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: That was something that I definitely put some more work onto myself,
21:45
SPEAKER_00: but in a good way where I wasn't accepting what they wanted.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: I was like, wait a minute, I think there's a better way to do it.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: That's one way you could do it.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: The other way is putting more boundaries on myself where, you know what?
21:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm not as available to some people and I'm not gonna be a free consultant to everybody.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: I love to give advice to a million people.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: I wanna be a little more selective.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: So that's how I also do it.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Great advice.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: So speaking about writing and children's books,
22:15
SPEAKER_01: people coming to you for advice,
22:16
SPEAKER_01: do you have some advice for someone who's interested in becoming
22:20
SPEAKER_01: a writer specifically for children?
22:22
SPEAKER_00: Well, so my first tip and my first suggestion is, Just know you can do it.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: Like we're all really capable people.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: There's whatever the story is, we're all really capable.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: I've been told this is what makes my books special is that they're for all ages
22:36
SPEAKER_00: because I'm not writing just for children.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: Yes, my audience.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: My books are fun for people of all ages.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: That's the secret ingredient in what my game day books are,
22:59
SPEAKER_00: is that they're really for all ages, which is what I wanted them to be.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: The first book, Football Freddy and Fumble Game Day in Philadelphia.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: All my books are very similar in that concept where you travel around,
23:09
SPEAKER_00: you get to see all the sites.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: And then,
23:11
SPEAKER_00: like I said,
23:11
SPEAKER_00: make your way to the stadium to cheer on the home team,
23:13
SPEAKER_00: whether it's Philadelphia, whether it's Pittsburgh.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: One of the things that I did in all my books is added in a tour guide in each city.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: For example,
23:23
SPEAKER_00: in game day in Pittsburgh,
23:24
SPEAKER_00: football,
23:24
SPEAKER_00: Freddie and fumble game day in Pittsburgh,
23:26
SPEAKER_00: Freddie's tour guide is a young man named Hugh.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: Hugh is my college roommate's son.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: And Hugh is the best person to be your tour guide in Pittsburgh.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: And he was also autistic.
23:35
SPEAKER_00: So it was a way for me to Celebrate the fact that while Hugh might be autistic,
23:40
SPEAKER_00: he loves football.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: He still loves his city.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: He still is a good friend and wants to show his city to Freddie.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: And that was something that I'm really proud of because it was an organization.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: In Game Day in Tampa Bay,
23:55
SPEAKER_00: Freddie's tour guide is a young man named Fred,
23:58
SPEAKER_00: and Fred happened to be staying at the Ronald McDonald House.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Fred has cerebral palsy.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: We're also learning a little bit about cerebral palsy.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: We're learning what that means.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: We're learning how to be a good friend.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: We're learning acceptance is good.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's not like,
24:15
SPEAKER_00: you know,
24:16
SPEAKER_00: every character has something going on, but in certain books, it made sense to me.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: We added that in and it was an organic way to celebrate the people
24:26
SPEAKER_00: that were important to me or some of the places that were important
24:29
SPEAKER_00: and also acknowledge that to have a good friend, you have to be a good friend.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: And those are things that are messages that come across very clearly in our book series.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: I love that you included people from your life.
24:39
SPEAKER_01: I was going to ask if you had a tie in between Ronald McDonald House and your books,
24:43
SPEAKER_01: because I feel like it's such a natural combination.
24:46
SPEAKER_01: So I'm glad that that's already happening.
24:48
SPEAKER_01: It's a really beautiful addition to your books.
24:52
SPEAKER_01: I also just wanted to highlight that great advice that you gave to potential writers
24:57
SPEAKER_01: of children's work.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: The customer is the adult, the consumer of the books are the adults.
25:03
SPEAKER_01: And not only are they the ones who have to purchase the book,
25:05
SPEAKER_01: but a lot of times they're the ones reading it.
25:07
SPEAKER_01: With everything, you have to know your audience.
25:08
SPEAKER_01: And I learned that from living in Hollywood.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: If you go to a focus group, they spend a lot of time and money
25:32
SPEAKER_00: The Delicate Papers.
25:47
SPEAKER_00: And so I think that that's like a life lesson in everything that you do,
25:52
SPEAKER_00: wherever you're going,
25:53
SPEAKER_00: whatever you're,
25:54
SPEAKER_00: if you're going to an event,
25:55
SPEAKER_00: dress for that audience,
25:56
SPEAKER_00: you know, make sure because that's the details that make people, I think, special.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: Understanding what your audience is and whatever you're doing.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: It gives you more credibility for your product.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: Do some homework for me with my kids' books.
26:11
SPEAKER_00: I learned very quickly that my customer,
26:14
SPEAKER_00: my audience are very different,
26:16
SPEAKER_00: but they're the same because like you said,
26:18
SPEAKER_00: I want the people that are buying the book to look at it in the bookstore or look
26:22
SPEAKER_00: at it on Amazon and be like, oh, this looks fun.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to enjoy giving this.
26:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to enjoy reading this.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to enjoy reading it myself.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: I wanted it to be something where everybody was like, this is kind of fun and I can enjoy this.
26:35
SPEAKER_01: Marni, this has been such a great conversation.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: You have shared so many great pieces of wisdom for writers and everybody in general.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: If someone would like to work with you, where is the best place to find you?
26:47
SPEAKER_01: If someone wants to buy your books, what are your social handles, your website?
26:50
SPEAKER_01: Please share with us.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: All right.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: So my website is marnyschneider.com.
26:55
SPEAKER_00: On Instagram, I'm marnyschneider1.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: And then Facebook, it's me.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: If they want to go to Amazon, it's Football Freddy and Fumble the Dog.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: And there's 13 different books to choose from.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: Also, Baseball And baseball,
27:07
SPEAKER_00: Billy and Bunt, which are officially licensed by Major League Baseball.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: Right now we have two books.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: We've got Game Day with the New York Yankees and Game Day with the Philadelphia Phillies.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: And baseball,
27:16
SPEAKER_00: Billy is not me,
27:18
SPEAKER_00: but she is a lovely young girl and she travels around,
27:21
SPEAKER_00: for example,
27:21
SPEAKER_00: Game Day with the New York Yankees with Mateo as they make their way to the stadium
27:25
SPEAKER_00: to cheer on the Yankees.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: And in Philadelphia,
27:28
SPEAKER_00: it's baseball, Billy and Bunt game day with Benjamin, as in Benjamin Franklin.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: I love Ben Franklin.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: And same thing,
27:34
SPEAKER_00: they travel along through the city of Philadelphia and learning about the history
27:38
SPEAKER_00: of Philadelphia.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: So I want kids to have an understanding of history.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: And the game,
27:43
SPEAKER_00: because like I've said in the beginning of our conversation,
27:45
SPEAKER_00: I really do think that sports are the universal language.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: So getting kids to speak a little bit of sports will help them with everything they're doing.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: It helped me so much knowing a little bit about football,
27:56
SPEAKER_00: certainly, and baseball and basketball.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: Knowing these things really do bring everybody together because I really think
28:02
SPEAKER_00: that sports are the universal language.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: Well, congratulations with your deal with MLB.
28:06
SPEAKER_01: That's exciting.
28:07
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
28:08
SPEAKER_00: Yes, there will be more.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: There's, you know, basketball.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: Bobby is in the works.
28:11
SPEAKER_00: Our goal with game day is to do the same thing with all the leagues.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: So we've got all the different characters, all the leagues.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: So getting kids excited.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, Marnie, we end each episode with this very important question.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: Marnie, how do you take your coffee?
28:45
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, I vary.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: Some days I feel like I want it more like dessert than other days.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: If it's not like just regular half and half,
28:53
SPEAKER_00: then it will be,
28:54
SPEAKER_00: there's a new brand called Two Goods, I think it is, and it's a sweet cream.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: And that is delicious.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm at the bottom of it now, but I'm drinking it.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: If I go and get a coffee at any sort of coffee place, I'll always do a mocha, just half sweet.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: Great choice.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: I love sweet cream creamers too.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much for being here.
29:13
SPEAKER_01: It's been a joy to chat with you.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you, Jennifer.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: And thank you for having me.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: And thank you everyone for tuning in.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: And I'll look forward to hearing from people.
29:22
SPEAKER_01: Finally, to end each episode, we take three intentional breaths together.
29:27
SPEAKER_01: Here we go.
29:29
SPEAKER_01: Let's take our three breaths and let go.
29:33
SPEAKER_01: Just allow whatever moment you are in to develop.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: Allow your shoulders to relax, your hands to unclench, and your jaw to release.
29:47
SPEAKER_01: Take a deep inhale.
29:51
SPEAKER_01: And slow exhale.
29:57
SPEAKER_01: Another inhale, filling up the lungs.
30:06
SPEAKER_01: Exhale, pushing every last bit of air out.
30:14
SPEAKER_01: And one last inhale.
30:21
SPEAKER_01: Exhale, surrendering to whatever is in this moment.
30:27
SPEAKER_01: Just be here.
30:31
SPEAKER_01: Simple.
30:33
SPEAKER_01: Be.
30:44
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to Jennifer with Coffee.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: Follow us on Instagram at jenniferwithcoffee and on Substack.
30:53
SPEAKER_01: This has been a Kings of Content production.
30:56
SPEAKER_01: Music by Oreo CC.