Dear Chelsea - Losing Bob Saget & Finding Love Again with Kelly Rizzo
Episode Date: November 28, 2024 Kelly Rizzo joins Chelsea to discuss her marriage to Bob Saget, why gratitude is so important in times of grief, and what life is like now that she’s found love again. Then: An event planner st...ruggles to spread the word about her unique business. A sporty newbie spirals about an overheard comment. And a young widower wonders about family coming out of the woodwork. * Check out Sandi’s handiwork at epiccelebrationsnw.com * Need some advice from Chelsea? Email us at DearChelseaPodcast@gmail.com * Executive Producer Catherine Law Edited & Engineered by Brad Dickert * * * * * The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the Podcast author, or individuals participating in the Podcast, and do not represent the opinions of iHeartMedia or its employees. This Podcast should not be used as medical advice, mental health advice, mental health counseling or therapy, or as imparting any health care recommendations at all. Individuals are advised to seek independent medical, counseling advice and/or therapy from a competent health care professional with respect to any medical condition, mental health issues, health inquiry or matter, including matters discussed on this Podcast. Guests and listeners should not rely on matters discussed in the Podcast and shall not act or shall refrain from acting based on information contained in the Podcast without first seeking independent medical advice.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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It's Thanksgiving, everybody. Happy Thanksgiving to you and to yours.
I will be in Vegas this weekend at the third night of my residency at the Cosmo
with my whole entire family
and all of my cousins
and then I'm going to do the tree lighting
the next night at the Cosmo
because that's the kind of team player I am
are you a family that goes around
and makes everyone say what they're thankful for?
no
see I am
I do that in other families
but my family sucks
no one does stuff like that in our family.
No. No, they all think I'm, you know, if I say something like that, it's like,
Chelsea's so spiritual. She's in a cult, you know, it's like-
Too corny.
Yeah. It's more like, who's the most annoying person at this table to you?
Would be a better question for my family members.
I see.
Yeah. So now I will be in
Vegas for almost, I think, 72 hours. This will be my longest stretch in Vegas because my family is
all coming and they want the free rooms and I'm sure whatever else I pay for. So who knows? I'll
probably just break even performing and then leaving. Yeah. I feel like 24 to 48 hours is kind of the max that you should be in Vegas.
Yeah, and just to be clarified,
I am not paying for those free rooms, the casino is,
but I'm just saying that's why they're coming
because it's free.
I mean, hey.
Yeah, so this will be my longest stretch in Vegas.
So if I'm alive next week, that'll be a miracle,
especially with all of my family members.
You're not a big gambler, right?
You just want everybody else to gamble?
No, I have exactly.
I have a little stipend that I use.
And every time I come home exactly with what I left with,
and I just keep repurposing it.
Oh, that's pretty good, actually.
Yeah, I love to gamble.
I like to gamble.
And my sister likes to gamble too.
But my sister who likes to gamble isn't coming.
Oh, dang.
Yeah.
Which one is that?
It's all my cousins and all of like,
there's like 40 of them, my cousins.
I'm going to guess that's Shoshana that likes to gamble.
Shoshana, exactly.
Shoshana loves to gamble.
I like that.
The last weekend we were on tour together,
she came to the show in Philly and Bethlehem.
And Bethlehem was a casino,
so she went and gambled and came back.
And I was on stage.
I take photos with people after.
Like, people come up to the stage
and I take some selfies.
And she came out while I was taking photos
and said, okay, let's go.
She was done.
She was wrapped.
And then the next night she came out.
I called for my opener to come out to take a picture with me on stage.
And she was sick, so she had already gone home.
My sister came out when I called.
I was like, Megan, keep it going for Megan Gailey.
And my sister came running out.
And I'm like, what are you doing here?
And she said, she goes, tell them I'm the virgin.
Because I talk about her in my set. She goes, tell them I'm the virgin. Because I talk about her in my set.
She goes, tell them I'm the virgin.
And then she waved to the crowd.
It was so ridiculous.
Is she a little bit of a ham?
She's definitely got a very distinctive personality.
She's kind of like, she's a lot like my father.
Like my father was a used car dealer.
She won't like this because she doesn't see it.
But she's very, she's got side hustles going you know she's always got like things going on
on the side but she's got her ear piercing business but she's also probably like trading
furniture online that she rides like or at a garage sale and then like resells it on craigslist
you know she's a scammer a little bit like that she's like my dad in that way and motivated yeah
she's yeah And she's always
like, she came on the vacation with us, Molly and I, my cousin and I, who she's been traveling with
me. Molly and I have carry on bags and my sister brought a suitcase for three days, a huge suitcase
with six pairs of shoes. We're like, where are you? Where are you? I don't even have that much.
And I'm the one performing. What are you? Where are you going?
She's like, I have to be ready for anything.
I don't know what we're going to get up to.
I'm like, well, we didn't get up to anything besides sitting around in our hotel rooms all day.
That's kind of nice.
Yeah, exactly.
Our family's not motivated.
We're not activity.
Like, you know, I'm the one who's like that in my family.
Yeah.
So you just push everybody to do more stuff.
Yeah, they think I'm on crack.
I'm like, no, you guys are fucking lazy.
But when I'm with them, I become also lazy.
I can kind of feel like if she's traveling with you, she's like
feels like she's got to be ready for anything. But she
brought six pairs of sneakers. They were all
the same. Like, what?
She was just clearly trying to show off her shoe game.
No, heels. She can't fit her feet into
heels. Her feet are like bricks. Rectangular
bricks. Remember Kathy,
the cartoon character? That's my
sister's feet or like that.
Okay, great. Well, happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Our special guest today is Kelly Rizzo. Please welcome Kelly.
Oh, poor Shoshana.
Hi, Kelly Rizzo.
Oh, I'm so happy to be here, Chelsea.
I'm always so happy to see you. You're such a sweet person and you're always just,
you have a nice aura around you. I don't really see auras, but you have such kind eyes and you're always just, you have a nice aura around you. I don't really see auras,
but you have such kind eyes and you're always so kind. And Bob was, I met you obviously through
Bob, but Bob was also that way. Like he was so kind hearted, which is why he was so beloved.
And for those of you listening, Kelly Rizzo was married to Bob Saget for how many years were you
guys together? We were together six years, but only married three
and a half years. Three and a half years. Well, that's probably for the best. I mean, you know,
marriages don't really need to go beyond that. You know, it ran its course. We did the thing.
That's all it needed to be. That's really all it needed to be. It was cut short. However,
it was one of those things where I remember at Bob's funeral or at the after party,
Jeff Ross said,
and I don't blame him for saying this, but he goes, you know, Kelly, you got robbed.
And I'm like, even then, even the week that we lost him, I was like, no, I didn't.
I remember. I don't know where I heard you talking about it, but I remember you.
I had a hard time thinking I got robbed because I felt so grateful
for the time I got to have with him. So.
Yeah. And since then, the things that you've done with your grief, which is a real tenet of this
podcast, is talking to people about how to deal with grief, how to mobilize out of fear or grief.
For starters, you have a podcast, right? Yeah. Comfort Food.
Comfort Food, which is where you basically talk to someone about grieving over a nice meal,
right? Yeah.
About their grief. Yeah. I mean, it's a way to make it a little bit more palatable and a little bit more
inviting because it's not a fun topic and people hate talking about it. It's still really taboo,
which is so strange because we all go through it at some point. So I was like, how can I make this
a little easier and a little bit more, you know, fun for lack of a better word? Who were the people
that helped you when you lost Bob?
Who were the people that helped put you in perspective?
Or was that just something that was innate within you
that you were able to have kind of like a...
I mean, it's one of those things where when you go through something
and somebody's like, oh, you're so strong.
I mean, I didn't feel strong.
I didn't know what I was doing.
I'd never been through this before.
It was very new to me.
Never really lost anyone. And I was very fortunate because Bob had had so much death in his life and so much loss that it
was almost like I was leaning on him even though he wasn't here based on what he had taught me
about death and how to get through it. A lot of which is laughing and having really good people around you and
just understanding that this is life and this is what happens, but to kind of always look at the
silver linings. And fortunately, because Bob was such a wonderful, special human. He was surrounded by really wonderful people. So
I got through with his friends, his daughters. My sister was the most instrumental person by far.
I mean, she slept in bed with me every single night for like two months straight. But yeah,
his friends, I mean, Jeff Ross, John Mayer, all the Full House people, they really were his family.
And so that kind of got imparted onto me because they were so wonderful and they loved him so much that they're like, we're going to be there for her too.
Yeah.
And then you started a grief kind of like a support group, right?
Online.
Yeah.
So this is so brand new.
So thanks for letting me talk about it.
It's called Comfort Club and it's a membership
and just an online kind of support system where it's its own little social media network.
So people feel what I've learned in this past almost three years now, which is crazy,
is that so many people are reaching out to me all the time. And a lot of people feel very,
very alone in this. And they don't really know where
to go. They don't know, you know, and grief support groups are not really fun places, I'm
sure. It's a lot of people who are in the thick of it, really going through it. And I get all
these messages all the time and all these DMs like, I just lost my husband. What do I do? Help.
And it's, you can't DM somebody back and have it be really effective.
So I'm like, how can I create something that is a little bit more immersive and a little
bit more interactive and can really help people and that where they can meet each other and
then help each other?
So I'm having great guests on, whether they're therapists or people who I would have had
on my podcast, and they come on and talk live to the
group and they can ask questions because on a podcast, you can't really, I mean, yours is
different because you can take questions, but a lot of times, you know, it's not really interactive.
So these people can actually talk to the guest, talk to the expert, talk to the therapist,
whoever it is, because, you know, I make a big disclaimer, I'm not a therapist. I'm just here
to help facilitate this community. So I do the opposite on my podcast. I pretend I am a big disclaimer. I'm not a therapist. I'm just here to help facilitate this community.
So I do the opposite on my podcast. I pretend I am a therapist and that I have a medical degree,
that I'm a PhD, that I am a certified board pharmacologist, gynecologist. I'm a pharmacologist.
I'm whatever you need me to be. I'm actually none of those things, but I do pretend that I am because
I feel like all of the things that you learn when you go through something difficult and you lose somebody and you go through the proper channels of therapy and grieving are such valuable lessons.
You know, it's so important to impart that to other people who are struggling.
And, you know, grief isn't necessarily only doesn't only have to do with us losing someone.
That's the most obvious way to be grieving.
But,
you know, people are grieving this election. People are grieving, you know, losses of
relationships when people don't die. You know, there's grief everywhere.
Divorce, relationship. I mean, friendships. People grieve friendships. So I also am very
specific about that. Like, this is not just if you're lost a spouse or lost anybody. This is not just if you're lost a spouse or lost anybody. This is for any type of or some people just I have some people that are haven't really had a specific loss, but they're just like, I just want a good community that's comforting. I'm just having a tough progression from the sorts of conversations you're already having there.
Yeah, and it's so strange because, you know,
you just said that going through things
does kind of give you this expertise in a sense,
but I still always feel like I'm not an expert.
I don't know what the hell I'm doing.
I think people are always just looking for some support,
you know, like a ballast.
And because you've gone through something,
you do have something to say about it.
And you do have your personal experience to draw from. And that is valuable, especially when
somebody needs a reference point or a perspective. And it's always helpful to be able to talk to
somebody who's been through something that you're going through. So it doesn't matter if your
expertise, like you become an expert in humanity, you know, and wanting to actually
make other people feel better and less alone. I think that's what it really comes down to is
when, even when you're going through the depths of your despair and loss, it's like, you're not
the only one, you know, someone else lost someone. There's millions of people who are losing people
every day. And for some reason there's comfort in that. There's comfort in knowing that there's a
sheer volume of people who may be going through a similar experience.
And I think because it's also very unusual to have to go through it publicly.
Usually, I mean, that's not a thing that typically people have to, you know, I almost didn't need to help keep his legacy alive because he does that on his own.
But because he was such a special one in a billion person, I'm like, I owe it to him and to myself to do everything I can to share about him.
And while doing that, I started talking a little bit more
about the grief stuff too. And then people naturally were like, hey, help me or I want
more of this. And I was like, oh gosh, like normally I talk about food and travel and music.
I'm like, so all of a sudden now here I am talking about grief, but when I saw that that was actually
helping people, I'm like, okay, this needs to be more of the direction I go in so yeah okay so how can people join this group yeah it's just comfort
club online.com and it's it's just yeah membership that there's different live events every month
I do a comfort food Sundays every month where I do live cooking so for you know people get the
Sunday scaries they don't want to be alone on a Sunday. And so here I, you know, we'll cook a recipe that we can all cook
together and then eat dinner together virtually. That's sweet.
And then, yeah, it's only been a little over a month, but it's been really wonderful so far.
I love that. I love that. And so I want to just honor Bob for a little bit because
since you were so close, tell me what are some of the things that made him so unique and special to you and to the world.
Well, it's so interesting to say this to a comedian because a lot of people don't understand this about comedians.
But comedians are incredibly deep and incredibly complex and have usually gone through a really tough time, which is how they became comedians.
Incredibly deep.
Incredibly deep, incredibly complex.
And Bob was just this mix of he was hilarious, but also insanely neurotic and also
so giving and nurturing and helpful and thoughtful, but also so needy.
You know, I mean, he was just everything.
And it was truly, I certainly did not go into this before I met him thinking like, oh,
I'm going to end up dating Bob Saget one day. That was just so strange. When I first met him,
it was such a foreign concept to me. I was like, I can't like Bob Saget. That's so weird. That
Danny Tanner guy, that's so weird. It was that's that Danny Tanner guy. Like, that's so weird.
It was so bizarre to me.
But then I slowly started to realize, I'm like, this, I will never, ever meet another person like this in my entire life.
He was just the most unique, special, hilarious, introspective, deep person who just truly cared so much about the people in his life and also just cared about
that was his last big hurrah where you know his last tour was called I don't do negative all he
wanted to do it was you know tough time in the world and he just wanted to make people happy
that's all he ever wanted was just to make people happy so I think the thing that stands out most to
me about Bob is his enthusiasm. He was so enthusiastic.
You know, anytime I saw him, he was like, oh, my God, Chelsea, tell me everything.
What's going on?
Like, so excited to see you.
And it wasn't just me that he was like that with, obviously.
That's what he exuded to everyone.
And it was so genuine.
Genuine, right. It wasn't full of shit.
And he wasn't jaded.
And he was never a negative guy.
Like, I don't know if he had a dark side to him I
mean I guess we all do but as far as male comedians go he was you know one of the least dark comedians
that I've ever met yeah it was more personally just because he always felt the weight of the
world and he had so much loss in his own life he did have and when I say a dark side I don't mean
you know where he was like secretly,
you know, off yelling at people or something like that. I mean, he, it was more, he would just feel
sad, you know, and he just wanted to make people happy. And so he was always struggling with like,
oh God, like the world can be a tough place. And, but all I want to do is help people. And,
you know, at the same time time trying to be a good dad
and balance with his work and you know even though he you know was an actor and a producer and a
director and all this stuff like being a comedian was what made him the happiest so yeah and you're
still very close with his girls obviously so close how old are they now they're all in their 30s so almost 32 34 35 and 37 wow yeah so it was nice because you know i never
i never wanted kids well i didn't think i wanted kids and then i ended up not wanting kids
and which is well it was kind of a he's like i at first he kept the option open and then he's like
yeah i can't do it and i was like i don't you. I wouldn't want to be pushing a stroller. I don't want to push a stroller now, let alone at 70.
Right.
You know, and it was great because I had these three incredible stepdaughters that I just got
to like drink martinis with. I didn't have to change diapers.
I mean, that's really the way to do it is to get into some sort of step parenting situation if you
must, you know, because that can be pay such dividends to to joyfulness and happiness.
I have lots of stepchildren in my life well I will say that you being so outspoken about being child free
inspired me to also be more outspoken about it because it is something that's a little
taboo also and you always talking about it in the way that you do in such a hilarious way which I
can't do that but you know it just made me much more open to talking about it in the way that you do in such a hilarious way, which I can't do that. But, you know, it just made me much more open to talking about it more and making it,
trying to normalize that a little bit. Because it's weird that it's not as normalized.
Yeah, I know. It's weird that what's weird to me is for any man to think that we all
automatically want to be mothers. It's like, excuse me, where would you get that fucking idea?
Yeah, it's really crazy to me because it is something that like
when you were let's say 15 did you think you wanted or did you know from a very early age it
was like wait this isn't something i would ever want i don't want a newborn baby i've never
wanted it and being pregnant always terrified me and i never want even when i was a kid i was like
i don't really like being around kids.
But I just still thought that I would because it's just what you do. It's just kind of the
way of the world. And so I was like, oh, I'm sure- Which is what they're counting on, everyone.
They're counting for us to think we're supposed to do what we want. We're supposed to do things
and not think too much about it. Think about it. And it got to the point where I was like,
wait, I do have a choice in this? That's crazy. Interesting. And then when I met Bob, at first,
I still kind of wanted the option. And then he's like, no, I can't do it again. And then I was
like, all right, well, choice made for me because it reminded me always of that sex in the city line
with Carrie and Charlotte when Charlotte's like, I can't believe you're going to give up a baby for a man you hardly know.
And she's like, why would I give up a man for a baby I hardly know I want?
And I was like, mic drop, end of story.
I was like, that's it.
So I was like, I'm not going to give up this wonderful person for something I don't even think I want.
And so now you're dating someone else. Can we
talk about who you're dating? Breckenmeyer, who's an actor. I've known him for many, many years.
And we were all at the Sarah Silverman party recently together. I say hello back to Brecken.
He's a sweetheart. That's a big height disparity, by the way, between Bob and Brecken.
It is. It is. But Bob was also, he surprised people with how tall he was. Nobody
thought that he was that tall until they saw him in person. How tall was he? Six four. Okay. Yeah.
That's tall. Yeah. It's so interesting because they do have a lot of similarities. They're both
incredibly devoted fathers and they're both probably the two funniest people I've ever known.
But then they're also different in so many ways. And it's great because, you know, I've joked about this recently,
is that I feel that Brecken is the only person that Bob would be okay about. He, like, would not
want me dating anybody, but he's like, oh, if it's going to be somebody, fine, at least it's Brecken.
Because he really loved Brecken and respected him, but they weren't
really close. It would be weird if they were really close, but they were close enough to
where they really, really liked and respected each other, but not best friends.
And you clearly like to be with funny men.
Apparently. Apparently. Now looking back, I'm like, how did I ever think that that was a
non-negotiable? Like that's mandatory. It's must.
Yeah, yeah, right, right.
I mean, it's really nice to be around a funny guy.
It is.
That's very helpful.
Yeah, we just laugh all day, every day.
We just crack each other up.
Okay, we're going to take a break, and we're going to be right back with Kelly Rizzo.
Inside you, two wolves are locked in battle.
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and the secrets we keep from ourselves.
Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
And we're back with Kelly. Okay, we're going to take some callers. We're going to give advice.
We're going to give out comfort. Okay, so I'm pretending I'm a therapist. Okay, here we go. Exactly, exactly. So Sandy says,
Dear Chelsea,
In 2012, I lost my beautiful 16-year-old son.
I spent the next several years
participating in weekly grief support groups
where it wasn't uncommon for people
to express their guilt and dissatisfaction
for the type of memorial service
they were able to provide for their loved one
while in the depths of their grief.
It bothered me that A,
people's lives were
not being appropriately honored, and B, grieving people were feeling badly about this on top of
all the emotions that come along with grief. So five years ago, I started an event planning
business specializing in celebrations of life. This work taps into a perfect combination of my
life experience, my education in psychology, my organizational skills, and several of my
creative talents. I'm known for hosting the best parties, and I have a deep compassion and unending
patience for people in the depths of grief. The trouble is, since this is a unique business model
in the United States, I'm afraid that I'm a bit ahead of my time. I'm an introverted creative type
who is uncomfortable selling myself and have been struggling with figuring out how to reach people who need my services. After some slow periods last year, I incorporated planning
other types of events into my business. I've heard you talk about your preference for celebrations
of life over funerals on past episodes of Dear Chelsea, so I thought I'd ask you for your
thoughts on this career path I've chosen and desperately do not want to give up. Because truly,
no one needs an event planner more than people suffering from grief. Am I too ahead of my time for this endeavor? How do I lead the way into
establishing new norms for celebrating our dead in a society that doesn't seem quite ready to
think outside the box? I'd love your input. All the best, Sandy. Hi, Sandy. Hi, Chelsea.
Hi there. This is our special guest, Kelly Rizos, with us today. Hi, Kelly. Hi, Sandy.
I love that idea.
I mean, that's what we had for Bob, right?
A celebration of life.
Yeah.
I mean, I just have to say that is the most incredible idea I have ever heard.
And I can't tell you how incredibly valuable that would have been for me at the time. I mean, I was incapable of doing anything, but I also
fortunately didn't have to do anything because a lot of people stepped up. But there, to me,
is such a need for that. And for you to even feel the slightest bit of negativity around that,
I hope that you can embrace it fully because it is so needed. It is so important.
And I've never heard of anyone doing that.
So to me, it's like you're kind of one in a million.
Yeah, it feels like a service that will help many, many people.
I think it's just a matter of you getting the message out there, it sounds like.
So where are you?
What's your business strategy?
What have you been doing thus far? Well, like I said, I did have to switch to adding more events to my
repertoire and just offering my services to a wider scope of events, which has been fun, but my
heart really is with the grieving. So after the pandemic, I was slammed with work. I had a bunch and then it just suddenly dropped off.
And it wasn't even people who died of COVID.
And where do you live?
I live in Bellingham, Washington.
Okay.
And so is there, how are you marketing this?
Social media, mostly.
I've reached out to other event planners to let them know that I specialize in this in
case it's something that they don't want to take on.
I have, you know,
all of the funeral homes know that I exist. I've pretty much covered everything that I can think
of. What about advertising with the obituaries? You know, people don't really do obituaries very
much anymore. Do they? I guess not in the hard papers. They don't do them online.
Yeah, not very often. They are done through the funeral homes. And honestly, I'm kind of in competition with the funeral homes.
So they don't, you know.
I would think, A, I think obviously you want to broaden your social media advertisement
as much as you can by spreading the word and having people who have used your business
continue to spread the word.
But also making sure that your messaging is in temples and churches and congregations
that are in your area to let people
know that there's another option other than a funeral organizations or like even retirement
homes going into there. Yeah. Have you done that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There might also be an
opportunity, sort of a business to business opportunity talking to elder law and estate
planning attorneys. I did that as well. Did you already?
I saturate. Yeah. I sent out marketing materials to all of them. Yeah.
It may be a little bit more of interacting with them on a personal basis, like calling,
having a meeting, sitting down, talking to them a little bit about why this is something somebody
might want to include actually in their estate plans. Because marketing, like it's so like you said,
outside the box for people in the US that it might take more like maybe you are having events and
speaking for 15 minutes about like why you feel like this is an even better way to celebrate
someone's life. Yeah, that's a great idea. Yeah. Yeah. If you could do that, like if you could
talk to people's families at a retirement community or you go in and you talk to all
the people in the home, you know, how how do you or you go in and you talk to all the people in the
home you know how how do you want to spend how do you want to be celebrated when your life is over
here do you want to have a funeral like I'm here to offer something if this sounds I mean you really
do have to kind of have a conversation with them about it I think that's how you get people to
convert to the idea of not you know a funeral is so funereal. It's so depressing. You know, there is
an upbeat, more positive way of looking at like transitioning out of life. And I mean, even talking
to people in hospitals, you know, who are dealing with like difficult decisions and stuff like that.
But I feel like retirement communities are just so like, if you could talk to the people that are
there, and if you could talk to family members of the people that are there to give them the option,
because I'm sure it's more, I mean, everyone has to either bury or cremate somebody, right?
Yeah.
So there's that cost anyway, but are your costs kind of commensurate with the cost of a funeral?
Yeah. And I mean, I've had to keep them that way, even though what I create is far better than what the average funeral is.
And I'll tell you what I have found is elderly people, they have their plans kind of set in
place and a lot of them don't want anything. And they also have lived long enough that a lot of
their friends are no longer here to participate. So those aren't really the people that have hired me. It has been
people who have lost somebody tragically, suddenly, unexpectedly, far too young, who are just wiped
out by grief and need somebody to step in and celebrate. I've helped celebrate some pretty
incredible people in some pretty incredible ways. So it's been, you know, it's all been just a
learning curve because there's no, like literally literally I think there's five businesses in the entire country that
do what I do. And I was one of the first, so, and none of us are getting very much work.
So it's just a really new concept. Isn't one of the big selling points also that
a funeral is usually within a few days to a week or so after somebody passes where
what you're doing kind of gives them more time to prepare and to plan something where a funeral,
I mean, you're so rushed and sometimes you're like, I mean, for instance, Bob and I never,
ever talked about what he wanted. Fortunately, you know, obviously with his family and everything
being so involved, like we did what we think he would actually really have loved, but we never talked about it. So I
didn't know. And we were so rushed, you know, everything happens so quickly that you're like,
oh God, am I doing this right? What am I doing? To where your services, you know, you can have
much more time to prepare and do it right and do what you think the person would really have wanted.
And I do always encourage my people to not to try not to rush it. There's some
who just need it to be over with. But for the most part, people want to take the time
so they can get used to the idea that they need to do this thing. And the more time I have,
the more epic I can truly make the event be for them and really dig into who the person was and find
ways to reflect who they were in this celebration that we're creating of their life. And everybody
loves the events. I've had families tell me that they were absolutely terrified and dreading coming
to their person's celebration of life, but felt an overwhelming sense of joy
and love when they left. So it's kind of a magical service that I can provide for people.
And beyond just creating the event, I know what grief is like, and I provide support and let them
know that they're not crazy while they're going through, you know,
what they're experiencing sometimes for the first time in their lives.
Yeah. Okay. Well, we're going to, we'll help you promote it on this podcast. What is the name of
your business? Epic Celebrations. And you service anywhere in the country or is it just in your
area? I generally work between Bellingham and Seattle. Okay. King County, excuse me,
but I am certainly willing to travel
for my services. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think, yeah, I'm sorry we don't have a better business strategy
for you, but we will try to spread the word over here because I think that is the definite way to
deal with losing a loved one, especially in a tragic way. You want to go out with remembering
all of the beauty that they brought and kind of having a more modern way of looking at death rather than death being the final, you know, and such an ending and such a smack in the face.
And especially for people who you who lose loved ones unexpectedly, that's exactly what you need, you know, in the face of that.
Yeah.
Well, I will definitely keep it in mind, too, since I deal with.
Yeah.
A lot of grieving people all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I will definitely keep it in mind too, since I deal with a lot of grieving people all the time. Yeah. Well, I think it's just really important to like, I appreciate the
opportunity to put the idea out there in a larger sphere, you know, so people are thinking about,
you know, different ways and that there are people who can help in that. And just to start thinking
about thinking outside the box of what, you know, we how we celebrate the lives of
our people once they're not here. And also, you know, another way to kind of maybe outreach for
you to do is people are able to get euthanized in Oregon. So if they're planning that and Washington,
right. Oh, right. Yeah. So, I mean, is there any way to kind of couple your services or with with
with those with those programs that are
actually because those people know they're going to die and that's kind of what they they can be
around for their celebration of life yeah and one of the services that I offer you spoke with Katie
Couric about this on a previous podcast which was part of what led me to contact you was she talked
about the idea of living memorials for when somebody is sick and know they're going to pass and then having a celebration when they have all of the people around them who can hug them and love on them one last time so that they leave this world feeling full of love instead of fear.
Yeah, that's really beautiful idea, too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's one of the services I offer, but haven't been taken up on that one yet.
OK, well, I think it will happen. I think people will come around to this idea. It's very,
you, you are a little ahead of your time, but that's a good thing. That's not a bad thing.
What are the other events that you're doing to supplement your company?
I've done some corporate events and I've done some baby showers. So it's been kind of fun to
work on the opposite end of things. I did some birthday parties and it's been really joyful to
actually get to meet the people that I'm helping plan parties for. I tend to fall in love with the
honorees that I create celebrations of life for, and then I don't get to meet them. I just have to
find ways of bringing a piece of who they were into me and holding them in my heart, even though
I never get to meet them. But it's really,
it's pretty heartbreaking to know that I've missed out on knowing some really,
really cool people in this world. Yeah. Circle of life. The whole. Yeah. The whole spectrum.
Well, good for you for doing this work. It's really, really meaningful. You know, thank you.
Yeah. Thanks for bringing attention to it. Yeah. Sandy. So tell us one more time. It's
epic celebrations.com. Epic celebrations and W for Northwest. Yeah. Thanks for bringing attention to it. Yeah. Sandy, so tell us one more time. It's epiccelebrations.com?
EpiccelebrationsNW for Northwest.com.
Yeah.
All right.
Great.
Well, let's also offline a little bit more about potential B2B strategies.
I'd like to hear kind of like what all of you tried and offer some suggestions for more
stuff to try.
All right.
Thanks, Sandy.
Thanks, everybody.
Thank you.
Take care.
Bye.
Bye-bye.
That is a really cool idea. cool right yeah i just feel like getting that idea in front of people in a way
where you know obviously you don't know if somebody's going to have a sudden death but
where it's sort of like they remember like oh my gosh there's a woman who came and spoke at such
and such like two years ago and she would be perfect to jump in and and help out with this
yeah well now i know about it'll be on my radar. And yeah, as you said,
she's a bit ahead of her time, but there's also very little competition.
Yeah, right. Exactly.
It's also nice for people who have a terminal diagnosis to make this kind of plan. People who
know that they're not going to make it and they can plan either a life celebration
before they pass on or employ her to actually make their funeral something that they're going
to want to be at. What do you think about that, where you're at your own funeral almost?
I mean, I'm down for that. I don't mind that idea. Part of me is like, wait, that'd be amazing.
Then part of me is like, oh, wow. You always have those dreams of being at your own funeral,
what that would be like. Would anybody show up? Then it's like you get to see who shows up.
Yeah. Yeah. I like the idea of a celebration of life for sure because I don't want a funeral.
I want a party. Yeah. But it's a little easier to party while the person's still there.
Yeah. Or have a party in my honor without it's a little easier to party while the person's still there. Yeah.
Or have a party in my honor without me.
I'm fine either way.
Yeah.
And there'll just be plates of drugs everywhere.
Yeah.
Plates of drugs, mushroom ecstasy, all of that good stuff.
Our next question is not about grief, but this comes from, they're using the pseudonym
spiraling.
Dear Chelsea, I'm a 40-year-old woman who recently moved to a new city and state.
I really enjoy playing tennis and since moving, I've joined some leagues and have been meeting a lot of people.
Last Sunday, I was playing tennis with one of my teams, and I think I overheard our team captain talking about me to another teammate.
She said about me, she doesn't look like she'd be good, but she is, right?
I cannot stop thinking about it.
I've always been self-conscious so the comment cut
really deep i don't think the captain was trying to talk bad about me i actually think she was
trying to say something nice about me but it's really caused me to spiral a bit she also doesn't
know i overheard her i mean what's wrong with me why can't i just focus on the good part and not
on the looks part any advice sincerely spiralingincerely, Spiraling. We're talking about dark,
you know, your dark side. Like we all have a shadow self and our shadow self is, you know,
some psychiatrists refer to that or some people is like, oh, it's just your ego. However you want
to frame it, we have voices in our head that are telling us one story and then there's reality.
And the reality is that she was giving you a compliment.
And who gives a shit what she thinks about whether or not you look like you're a good
athlete or not?
The compliment is that you are.
And she's surprised.
That's all her business.
Like, it's none of your business.
But the thoughts that you're having that are related to this are your insecure thoughts,
your ego thoughts, your shadow self thoughts. That is your job to quiet those thoughts. And that is through like
daily work to understand that other people's opinions of you don't matter. They're not your
business. And sometimes even when they tell you about their opinions of you, it doesn't matter.
You're not, as long as you're not hurting someone, hurting someone's feelings or be acting in a
destructive way towards yourself or towards others, that long as you're not hurting someone, hurting someone's feelings or be acting in a destructive way towards yourself
or towards others,
that is work you have to do on yourself.
And that's going to be daily affirmations
of why, of all the things that you see about yourself,
that you are strong, that you are capable,
that you're active in your sport
and all of the other good things that you have in your life
or a gratitude journal, you know, writing down 10 things that you have in your life or a gratitude journal,
writing down 10 things that you're happy and grateful about.
You just kind of have to get to a little bit
of a higher frequency
than to let all these little comments from other people
that you weren't even supposed to hear in the first place.
Remember, you weren't supposed to hear that
in the first place.
If she had a choice to say that,
knowing you would hear it,
she wouldn't have chosen for you to hear it. Therefore, there's nothing for you to do about it. You're definitely
not going to say anything to her about it. Who cares? You don't want to like that's aggravating
an issue. But I think all of our negative self-talk, like that is a daily exercise that you
have to recognize that you're doing a, and now you recognize that you're doing it. I'm telling
you that you're doing it. You wrote in because that you're doing it. I'm telling you that you're doing it.
You wrote in because of this.
And you have to start to disassemble that.
And every day is like, I am not what other people think about me.
I am what I am.
And you're contributing in a valuable way to something that you really enjoy.
That's your takeaway, not the negative thing.
That is meaningless to me.
So while I know it's difficult to hear things
about yourself sometime I really just would want to implore you to like dig a little deeper into
who you really are the essence of who you are as a person and then you become a lot less affected
by what other people think of you and that can work with meditation too you can achieve that
goal through meditation through gratitude lists through affirmations every day. But I would pick one of those things
and really focus on doing that activity every single day to just kind of bring yourself up a
little bit more so you're not as vulnerable to others in things that are not that important.
Yeah, you nailed that 1000%. I mean, I was just thinking the same thing. Like what other people think of
you is not your business. And it can be hard, of course, to, you know, you hear something
gossipy and negative. It sounds, it's a high school thing. You know, it's that thing that you
would let consume you when you were younger. And it can be hard to, you know, if you hear somebody
saying something about you. But as you said, she wasn't meant to hear it. It was ultimately a positive. And didn't she say, like, I'm not even sure she was talking about me. Let's just pretend she wasn't even talking about you. It wasn't even about you. Just pretend that you didn't even hear because it wasn't even about you. It could have been about somebody else. You don't know for sure.
That's true also.
Yeah.
So just work on your stuff.
Work on it.
We all have a responsibility to each other
as women and as human beings
to get better at being ourselves.
We all have a responsibility
to kind of improve our own mental health
and our own mental self-assuredness.
Our self-assuredness is like,
you have to be aware of your behavior
and then, oh, oh, look at what I got hurt about. Oh, that's me being silly or insecure or small. Nevermind. Wipe that away. It's like water off a duck's back. Let it fall off of you and actually physically think about those comments falling off of you because that's something that I do a lot and it works. You just
think about the fact that, okay, I sat with this emotion, it didn't feel nice, and now I'm letting
it go and moving on. That's good. I like that envisioning the water off a duck's back.
So Luke says, Dear Chelsea, I'm a 34-year-old single gay man and life has been equal parts
horrible and generous to me. I met my husband online when
I was 17. He was 18. There wasn't a weird age gap. Even talking about it now, I want to pull
younger me aside and say, oh honey, you have so much time to fall in love. Don't rush it.
Well, we rushed it, and I rebelled against every piece of guidance my family had to offer.
We got married and never looked back. We both ended up being successful in our careers and built a great life together, and then he died in a car accident. I was and still am completely
devastated, and this was four years ago. Three months after he died, I learned that I was the
sole beneficiary of a $1 million life insurance policy. That policy has since paid out, and I
donated a large chunk of that to charities that I know he loved. The rest I invested.
As you can imagine, his family is coming out of the woodwork with their handout and my inclination is to tell them to fuck off entirely. What are your thoughts? Thank you, Luke.
This is tricky. This is tricky. I mean, I don't think it's fair to have to give handouts to
everybody in his family if those were his wishes.
Yeah.
Is it the insurance policy or was it a will?
It's an insurance policy.
Oh, I see.
So that is a little bit different.
What do you think about this?
An insurance policy is a very deliberate, very calculated situation.
You know, like he set that up for him. This wasn't like a probate situation where he died and left
a bunch of money and it's like, who does it go to? Well, they were married and the family's like,
well, what about me? We're his family. This was a very deliberate situation. Obviously,
if it was a different type of inheritance, that maybe is a little bit more disputable,
but I feel like life insurance
policy is just very specific. Right, right. And I think my big question is what kind of
relationship did you have with them before this? You know, did you have a good relationship with
them? Were they people you saw at Thanksgiving and holidays and this sort of thing? Or are you
just hearing from them now? I think that makes a big difference in sort of the answer to that question.
Yeah, but it's also not your responsibility
to be doling out,
like, you know, we're talking about a million dollars
and while that may sound like a lot of money,
that goes very quickly, you know,
when you start giving it away to different people.
And as you just said,
an insurance policy is not set up
for your other family members,
like your brothers and your sisters.
It's set up for your partner. That's what your brothers and your sisters. It's set up for
your partner. That's what it is. And it's not coming from his bank account. Yeah. It's not
like it's not like this is his money he worked for his whole life and he's leaving it all to him.
Like this is insurance money. Right. Right. I don't know if you're feeling really guilty that
you want to give them money. That's that's really a personal decision. I don't think you have any obligation to do that. And yes, are you in regular communication with these people or if they came
out of nowhere? If they came out of nowhere or you hadn't heard from them for a while,
one more reason to not worry about it. But I wouldn't let yourself be wracked with guilt.
You were in that relationship for a really long time and I believe that you deserve that insurance policy.
And I will say that you are not alone in this. This is so common and is almost a little bit more the norm when somebody passes away and there's, you know, whether there's a step situation and
exes and all this stuff and children involved that it usually can be very messy and it usually can create
so many problems. I was so fortunate that we had none of that, thank God, but that's not the norm.
My situation, we talk all the time, we're always like, we are so lucky that we didn't have that
type of, because a lot of times when somebody passes away, it is just a catalyst for your worst self to come forward.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I was just with a friend on vacation who was dealing with this, and I could not believe the stories.
I was just like, oh, my God, money brings out the worst in everybody.
My family is all in elder law and estate planning.
So everybody go get your estate plan done because when you do pass, you can make these choices
before any of that happens.
You can say how you want things to go and nobody has to argue about it.
Yeah, I've done my estate planning.
I just re-upped my estate planning and make sure that my cousin doesn't get to make medical
decisions in my favor because she'll keep me alive no matter what.
And I was like, listen, bitch, I have another cousin that will euthanize me.
And so he's going to be the one that has the medical decision making. I don't want to fight anything. I'm ready. I'm ready to go if need be.
All right. And, you know, one other thing that Luke brought up when we did sort of a pre-interview
call was being a very young widower is something very unique or is uncommon. Would you have any words of advice for him?
Yeah. Just knowing that you feel like when it happens to you that you're the only one because you're like, oh my God, I was not planning this. I was anticipating that. I mean, in my situation,
I knew that I'd probably be a widow maybe in my 60s or 70s, but I certainly wasn't anticipating
it at 42 when it was three years ago. And I will say when you go through it, you start like so many
people start to come out of the woodworks and you do have such a support group of people that you
meet who they're like, I'm a young widow too,
or I'm a young widower also. And I've met so many people who have, and then you feel
less alone. And it sounds like this was four years ago. So it's really tough. But if he can
find that support from other people who have gone through it at a similar age, you do feel alone,
but you're not alone. There are so many people. And it's really important not to let people put guilt on you. I know you might feel like that's a natural reaction to
them coming and saying, we want money too, or whatever they're doing. You can't let people
guilt you into things. You have to kind of really sit with the situation and think about what's
right for you and what's appropriate for you. And that is appropriate. Insurance policy is for the partner. That's appropriate. So anything,
other complicated feelings you have around it have been brought on by his family. And so I want you
to be very aware of that and where the feelings of guilt are coming from. Yes, you've done absolutely
nothing wrong. It's hard enough to go through the loss of the partner without all of this other stuff.
And a lot of people who aren't in your shoes and who haven't experienced the loss of a spouse and how absolutely gut-wrenching it is, it just goes back to the whole when someone is grieving, there's no wrong way to do it.
You can't judge them because if you haven't been through it, you don't know what it's like.
Yeah. All right, Luke, check back in with us. Keep us posted. And we can take a quick break
and come back with a kind of silly little question to wrap up.
Perfect. Let's end on something light today. It's been a bit heavier.
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Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if when you
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And we're back.
We are back.
Well, I identify with Cindy here because, you know, being a Midwestern kid, as I know you are,
Kelly, our families are a little more conservative
when it comes to what we do with our body modifications.
So Cindy says, Dear Chelsea,
I'm in my 30s and recently got a little lip filler for the first time.
Go girl.
I'm happy with the results,
but I find myself constantly afraid of being judged by my friends and coworkers.
I also live far away from my parents parents and I'm dreading their reaction.
They screamed at my sister when she got her nose pierced, so they definitely don't like
body modifications. My fear is that my parents will be disappointed in me for changing the
features they gave me and I don't want to break their hearts. Do you think I should give my
parents a heads up about the filler or should I just act normal and not say anything when I
finally see them? Thanks so much for your advice, Cindy. I definitely don't think you should give the
heads up to anyone about anything. It's really not their fucking problem or their business.
And if it's noticeable enough, like if it's a big change from how you looked before,
then I think you should go in there with like a plan about why you did it, explaining to them
that it was important for you and that this has been something you've felt insecure about and that you've seen everybody
else everybody fucking does this everybody does it i've done it like it's okay it doesn't matter
like whatever's gonna make you feel better first of all your lips get thinner as you get older so
like there's that a men's get thicker as they get older. How that happens. But also, whatever you need to do to make yourself feel better,
who gives a shit?
You don't owe them an explanation.
And if it's not noticeable enough,
they probably won't even fucking notice.
So I don't know how much you got done,
but everyone is doing this and that's it.
You always wanted bigger lips.
That's all you have to say is,
I wish I had bigger lips. I've always wanted bigger lips. That's all you have to say is, I wish I had bigger lips.
I've always wanted bigger lips.
Can you believe how lucky I am that they provide this?
And you could just go and get it done?
I didn't have to get surgery.
I didn't have to go under the knife.
I didn't have to do anything drastic.
I just got a little lip injector that will dissolve if I don't like it.
I mean, life is a miracle.
Yeah, I mean, I'm with you completely in that you're an adult, you're in
your thirties. I understand the still appreciation for what your parents think, but it's one thing
if you were like in high school and they're like, I'm not going to pay for college if you do this.
It's like, you're kind of still under their thumb. You can't just go out and do that. However, I mean, I come from
a very different, like my mom lived in the Playboy Mansion in the 60s. When I had like my nose done
and my boobs done, she was like, you go girl. Like she loved all that stuff. But then again,
like they hated all the tattoos. I have so many tattoos. My dad is, you know, born in Sicily,
very old school Sicilian, and he's would freak out about them. But I still just
didn't care. I'm like, they're still going to love me no matter what. They're not going to disown me.
And they get over it. They'll get over it. Yeah, they might be mad for a few minutes. Like,
why'd you do that? Five minutes later, they're not going to care. So just you're building this
up too much. Yeah, they'll get over it. Yeah, and it's the way you feel isn't silly.
That's not what I'm trying to say by this is a silly question.
But if this gives you confidence, that's the thing that matters.
And I do think that's true.
Like parents sometimes are like weird about something like a nose ring,
but like not about, hey, your lips look a little bit different.
But also just come from a place of like when you do deal with it,
your enthusiasm has to override their
criticism like I'm so happy I did this thank goodness this service is available thank god I
can afford it you can just pop into someone's office and do this like oh my god I'm so grateful
like you have to overshadow their pessimism or negativity and with the fact that their daughter's
happy that she made that choice yeah yeah like I
feel good about myself and if you want to be mad at me be mad at me but I'm sure you'll get over it
and yeah we'll have a wonderful holiday season yeah yes exactly cut to I want to see a before
and after picture okay yes please please send that Cindy okay so Kelly thank you for coming today so
listen to people if you want to be in a support group for grief or, you know, probably other things too, I imagine it will expand beyond
just grief, right? You can go to comfortclubonline.com. Comfortclubonline.com. And then you
can also tune into Kelly's podcast, which is Comfort Food, which is available on anywhere you
get podcasts, which is also about grief and handling grief with a little bit more
support and more comfort over food and actually using it as a guide to not even for yourself,
if you're necessarily going through grief, but if for someone that you love is going through grief,
figuring out a better way to be available for them. Exactly. And it's just really great advice
for not only how to get through it yourself, but how to help people going through it in your life.
Because if we haven't gone through it yet, someone we know has gone through it or is
going through it.
Yeah.
Well, thank you so much for being here.
Thank you so much for having me, Chelsea.
Yes.
It was lovely to see you.
Yeah, always, always.
Okay, we'll see you guys next week.
Okay, guys, stand-up shows that I have coming up.
I am going to San Diego on 11-29.
That has tickets available.
Oh, I'm coming to Vegas on November 30th, right after Thanksgiving.
And there are tickets available for that.
Then I'll be in Des Moines, Iowa, December 5th.
December 6th is Omaha.
And then December 28th, I'm coming to New Orleans right before New Year's.
And then I'll be in Atlanta, Georgia on
December 29th. And those are the rest of my stand-up dates for this year. It's over. New tour,
new year. If you'd like advice from Chelsea, shoot us an email at dearchelseapodcast at
gmail.com, and be sure to include your phone number. Dear Chelsea is edited and engineered
by Brad Dickert, executive producer, Catherine Law.
And be sure to check out our merch at ChelseaHandler.com. I'm Eric Zimmer, host of The One You Feed. Every week, I talk to brilliant minds and brave souls about the art of small, powerful choices.
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Joel, the holidays are a blast, but the financial hangover, that can be a huge bummer.
If you are out there and you're dreading the new statement email that reveals the
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without the judgment and jargon, listen to How To Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you get your podcasts. I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together, our mission on
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So that's why we created The Big Take from Bloomberg Podcasts,
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A lot of this meme stock stuff
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