The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - The Secret to My Success

Episode Date: April 11, 2024

Welcome to The Secret to My Success, an inspiring journey into the minds and experiences of those who’ve made it. This is where curiosity meets wisdom, brought to you by The Hartford Small Business Insurance. We dive deep with creative business owners, unlocking the stories behind their road to success. It’s about sharing, learning and inspiring. So whether you’re dreaming of launching your own venture or seeking a spark to push you further, check out these candid conversation, insights and strategies that transformed passion into profit with real life tales from the owners themselves.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Eumanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble.

Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your... free iHeart radio app search emergency intercom and listen now why are tsa rules so confusing you got a hood of you want to take it all i'm manny i'm noah this is devon and we're best friends and journalists with a new podcast called no such thing where we get to the bottom of questions like that why are you screaming i can't expect what to do now if the rule was the same go off on me i deserve it you know lock him up listen to no such thing on the i heart radio app apple podcasts or

wherever you get your podcast. No such thing. I'm Dr. Joy Hardin-Bradford, host of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. I know how overwhelming it can feel if flying makes you anxious. In session 418 of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett and I discuss flight anxiety. What is not a norm is to allow it to prevent you from doing the things that you want to do, the things that you were meant to do. Listen to therapy for Black Girl.

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Janica Lopez, and in the new season of The Over Comfort Podcast, I'm even more honest, more vulnerable, and more real than ever. Am I ready to enter this new part of my life? Like, am I ready to be in a relationship? Am I ready to have kids and to really just devote myself and my time? Join me for conversations about healing and growth, all from one of my favorite spaces, The Kitchen.

Listen to the new season of the Overcomper podcast on the IHart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome to The Secret of My Success, an inspiring journey into the minds and experiences of those who've made it. This is where curiosity meets wisdom, brought to you by the Hartford Small Business Insurance. We dive deep with creative business owners unlocking the stories behind their road to success. It's about sharing, learning, and inspiring. So whether you're dreaming of launching your own venture or

seeking a spark to push you further, check out these candid conversations, insights, and strategies that transform passion into profit with real-life tales from the owners themselves. Hello, everyone. Welcome back. How's your Jones on third? It's my favorite place. One of the places that I always have to hit when I come back to L.A., their cookies, the best cookies in the entire world. So up next, we have a guest from the hottest zip code in all of America. from the 9021 OMG podcast, one of the creative forces behind the highly successful QVC home decor line of products called the BFF Collection. Everyone, welcome Jenny Garth.

Hello. Hi, you guys. Oh my gosh. This is so fun. I'm here. Wait a second. You're not Torrey spelling. Yes, I am. Bad news is Tori couldn't make it. So Wells is going to fill in. We're so sorry. But I'm here. So let's have some fun. Yeah, we are so happy. I'm saying we. We, Wells and I, we are so happy to be here with everybody and talking about small businesses and all the innovative ways that, and creative ways that you guys have ventured into small businesses. And I love to hear these stories and so excited to, you know, share some of my journey.

Our, this is weird, our journey with you guys. I am now. Tori spelling. And answer any questions that you have. So just happy to be here. Hi. Listen, I'm sad that Tori is not here, but I'm so freaking excited because I grew up in the 90s. and... Wait, what year were you born? 1984. Okay, all right.

I watched... I didn't see that comment. I just looked good, all right? Like, you don't understand. Like, I grew up on 90210, on Melrose Place, saved by the bell, fresh prints, and so I'm so excited, and I know I want to talk about, like, your podcast

and, like, your side projects, but I have to ask some questions about Nana 219. is that okay yeah hi wait hello oh there's people up there hello how is it up there you like okay good you happy um okay when did you start working on the show like how old were you when you started doing 902 and i think i was 17 i know i had my driver's license so i was either 16 or 17 but that's a weird thing. So you're in high school playing a high schooler? I was not in high school. I left high school to pursue a dream of acting, which I didn't even have. I just stumbled into it and then working and having school at the same time wasn't as easy as it needed to be. So I got my GED and started

working adult hours and paying adult bills real early. So did you ever go like go to prom or like Sadie Hawkins dances? Like did you do like normal high school stuff? I did on TV. That's amazing. Yeah. But I feel like I really experienced all that I needed to experience from those interactions. And they were

you know, I mean so often when you go to high school you don't stay in touch with the people that you were in school with. But I have been given the great opportunity to stay in touch with all the people that I went to high school with and to college with. so I feel

you know really blessed by that when you look back on that time what is like your fondest memory of doing that show gosh or do like so my wife was on modern family and we'll be watching the show and she'll go

I have no recollection of doing this and I wonder if you have that too kind of yeah because there was so much there's always so much going on and there's always so much going on And there's, you meet so many people, there's so much in your head at all times that it's really hard to, to remember everything, all the little things. But that is the coolest part of when jump right into the 902 and OMG real quick. Tori and I do a podcast called 902NOMG that's on IHeart.

And we are watching the show back from the very beginning, the first episode all the way through what will be the 10 seasons of the show. And, yes, that's right, I heart. You will be picking it up for all 10 seasons. What season are you on right now? We're on five. Okay, wow. But we're watching it for the first time, and it's enlightening. It's because I don't remember.

I never watched it. I was always busy making it. We had these crazy insane hours that we worked, and there was never time to sit down in front of the TV. Not to mention I had a baby at 23. so I had a lot of balls in there. But now going back and watching the show has given me just a new respect, a new love for it.

I swear to you, I am a fan of the show now. Like, I'm watching it from fan eyes, and I get it. Like, I get why people love the show so much, and I get why it was so important to them. Because when you watch it, we watch it week by week, and that's how you used to watch television. If you guys remember, you had to be in front of the TV, TV of whatever night it was at whatever time it was.

And yeah, and now through, we don't have to do that anymore, but that makes it more exciting and somehow more meaningful. And I'm just really loving watching it and getting to know that girl that played Kelly Taylor and getting to look at her, me through such a different lens and have a deeper understanding and appreciation for even myself and all those experiences. that I got to have. I wonder if there was a character arc while you were doing it that you didn't love,

but now watching back you're grateful for? Well, I don't... Well, for years I thought that I was a bad person via Kelly because I stole Brenda's boyfriend, Dylan. No. But I didn't. It didn't happen that way. They were broken up.

were broken up and she was away for the summer they were on a break so i've given my i've forgiven myself slash kelly uh for that now are there storylines that never happened that you wish had looking back i think that there is no storyline that we didn't do in those 10 years and specifically my character was um somehow the butt of all the drama she was you know shot in the parking lot. She was in a cult. She had a lesbian stalker. Um, almost raped, burned in a fire. There's so many. And look at you today. I made it. It's the proof that you can do anything. You can get through anything. Yeah. Um, so you guys are watching the show back in real time. The listeners are watching it with you. I imagine you're

having guests from the show come on as well and have their unique take and experience from it. What's that like kind of like re-connecting with some of these friends that you had back then? Well, we've been mostly focusing on our supporting cast members because the show really launched so many young actors' careers back in the 90s. And so we're going back and touching base with a lot of the people that were the supporting cast members. And that's really fun because they came into that experience, like, you know, just flabbergasted by getting to be. on the show and it was such a hit and we were in it so it didn't feel that way to us but now being able to hear their stories of their experiences of being on the show it's it's pretty cool

and um getting to know them now as adults you know i mean it's it's just a different ballgame who is the least like their character from the show in real life like their character you know what honestly in the very beginning of the show if you guys are fans of the show you know that the show started out very stereotypical. The characters were kind of one-dimensional and everybody served a purpose. My character in particular was the bitch from Beverly Hills with a nose job and the BMW and that's how they saw this character. But as the writers got to know each of us actors individually and we spent a lot of time together, they started to do something that was pretty ingenious, which was bringing in so much of who we were personally.

as humans into those characters and sort of threading those fibers into the characters. And I think in doing that, the reason that I feel it was so genius was because it made these characters so relatable to everybody out there watching it, whether they were from Beverly Hills or whether they were from, you know, the Ukraine or wherever. There was fans everywhere. And also, this was the first time that people out there had. the chance to see what living in Beverly Hills was like and we didn't have the internet then there was no let me Google it you know we they didn't they didn't know what it looked like so we got to take them into this exclusive you know glitzy glamorous world for the very first time

and it was just it just sucked you in listen I could talk to you about this show like all night long but I know that there are other speakers so I think that you know this whole night is about talking about, you know, side hustles and small businesses. And you've taken this career that started on this wildly successful show that was a cult phenomenon. And then you've been able to kind of like build this kind of crazy brand from it. So I wanted to talk about the BFF collection, if we could. Yeah. I mean, it's interesting because we, I didn't ever think as a young actress or even a middle-aged actress that I could build my own brand and do something else, you know? I think it hasn't, it wasn't until honestly I was in my late

40s, early 50s, I'm 51 now that I, my eyes kind of pivoted and my reality sort of shifted and I saw all the things that were, that I could do other than acting. And thank God now with the strikes and all the things that have happened, getting work is not as easy as it used to be as an actor. So pivoting has been really good for me, but I think I did never think at 51 that I would be having my own small business with my best friend, starting up my own, a separate small business that I'm doing right now,

creating a brand of my very own. And just to know that it's never too late to, sort of do what you always wanted to do because I'm an idea person. I have these embarrassing whiteboards up on my wall in my office. I don't like people to see them because they're embarrassing because it's all my like, my genius ideas, like listed out and some of them aren't so genius. But I stare at them all the time and I've spent many years thinking, what am I, how am I going to make this happen? Or I can't do this or letting all those voices inside my keep me from just trying, you know, and it was basically just fear and was something about

turning 50, 51 that I just decided that I wasn't going to be afraid anymore because I don't have much time left. And I just wanted to go for it, you know? Yeah. So that brought Tori and I to the sort of the same place of loving, working together and creating projects that we could do together and creating a brand that we felt would speak to a lot of our fan base, which is women our age, some younger, some older, and we partner with QVC, and we brought to life this cute little brand called the BFF Collection, and we've just had such a great time creating these products. There are some of our products up here.

Everything up here except the chairs, right? Yeah. I heart is our number one fan. Best customer ever. And we have a lot of our products up here because we're very proud of them. And it's been doing really well in QBC and the partnership's going really well. We had three drops in 2023. January was our debut. We came out with our home decor line, which was the Ottomans, the bar cart, the hurricanes, the trunk, all kinds of things like that. Then in July, we did a big event for QVC. Their Christmas in July, they call it C.I.J. It's very popular with the QVC ladies. And they buy all their Christmas stuff. That sold out on air while we were on air, which was so exhilarating and exciting to be having that happen. Yeah.

And then we had our last drop in September, which was our culinary collection. And those are some of the pieces over there, the cake stand, those beautiful churn. you see up there, the breadbasket, the pitcher, the pan, it's all here for you guys to look at. We're kind of proud of it. So what up there is yours and what up there is Tories? Or is it like an amalgamation of both your aesthetics? It is that. It is a combo of everything.

So we'll bring an idea to the table. And that's what I'm a collaborator. Like I love when other people bring me ideas on top of my ideas, ideas that are going to make my idea better. And so that's how Tori and I kind of work. We'll say, hey, let's do a bread bowl. And then we'll both bring our inspiration to the table and just kind of meet in the middle. And usually without fail, our instincts are the same direction. We are kind of picking the same things.

And it's worked out really well. We haven't had any big fights about like, well, I want it to be blue. You know, so how not very 902 and O of you. No, no drama. No drama. What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced.

He said, you are a number, a New York state number, and we own you. Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short-term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months. The first night was so overwhelming. and you don't know who's next to you. And we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything.

Listen to shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A foot washed up a shoe with some bones in it. They had no idea who it was. Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable. These are the coldest of cold cases, but everything is about to change. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA.

Using new scientific tools, they're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it. He never thought he was going to get caught, and I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, gotcha. On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors, and you'll meet the team behind the scenes at Othrum, the Houston Lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable.

Listen to America's Crime Lab on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Jenna Lopez, and in the new season of the Overcomber Podcast, I'm taking you on an exciting journey of self-reflection. Am I ready to enter this new part of my life? Like, am I ready to be in a relationship? Am I ready to have kids and to really just devote myself and my time? I wanted to be successful on my own, not just because of who my mom is. Like, I felt like I needed to be better or work twice as hard as she did. Join me for conversations about healing and growth.

Life is freaking hard. And growth doesn't happen in comfort. It happens in motion, even when you're hurting. All from one of my favorite spaces, The Kitchen. Honestly, these are going to come out so freaking amazing. Be a part of my new chapter and listen to the new season of the Overcomper, podcast as part of the MyCultura Podcast Network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

My name is Ed. Everyone say hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer and my mom is a cousin. So, like, it's not like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago.

I just normally do straight stand-up. But this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. On 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes energy. stage available now listen to wisecrack on the iHeart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you

get your podcasts obviously you can get this stuff on kbc but if people want to go find out more about it is there a website yes it's the bff collection dot com easy enough yeah um i'm supposed i'm playing the part of tory spelling today um oh they took the books away i have a bunch of books out That's, I put out a lot of books. You did. They're great. You've written, how many books is it? Seven or eight?

I don't know. There's a children's book. I know that. Really? I don't think you know that. I googled it. There might be. So there's that.

But you also are doing, like obviously I'm writing books. Seven or eight. One's a children's book. But you're also doing stuff on your own as well. And I want to talk about your clothing line, right? Yeah, that's, I think by doing the BFF collection, it sort of gave me that courage and confidence to branch out on my own. And I have to tell you, the collection, the brand that I'm starting is called Me by Jenny Garth. And it is, it spawned from something a long time ago, which my character actually said a line that was written by the late Jessica Klein, who was one of my favorite writers on the show.

she wrote a very profound line and I didn't really understand the depth of it when I was whatever in my early 20s it was the moment when Kelly was deciding between Brandon and Dylan they came up to her in the Peach Pit parking lot and made her decide

and in that moment she said I choose me and that has resonated me through the years and impacted me on such a deeper level. And now that I'm older and wiser and I have young adult women that I'm, you know, guiding in this life, I say that to them a lot. Choose you, put you first because when you take care of yourself, you are more available to everybody in your life. And we all know that old saying on the airplane when oxygen drops, you put it on yourself first and then

you take care of the person next to you. And that's kind of the backbone of my brand. And it's just encouraging women, young girls, anyone really, to listen to themselves and choose to listen to themselves first instead of other people. So my brand is me by Jenny Garth. And I've started just very preliminarily just doing some merch with the slogan on it, the I Choose Me, a lot of stuff like this just reminding me and other people that this is an option you can choose you it's not selfish and I feel really good about it you know it's something that's percolated in my mind a long time and people always said I remember I got my horoscope read once and they said you're supposed to use whatever platform it is you know those things they say if you're

Aries, you're more, you're more apt to be an entertainer, someone in the spotlight, or a public figure, whatever. That's what they said to me. I was like, oh, okay, what do I do with that? And they also said, you're supposed to help other people in doing that. And I always thought, I'm just an actress. How am I helping people? Yeah, okay, I get it that they relate to the show. They relate to the characters that I played, and that moves them and touches them and makes us, you know, closer. But I didn't really understand what I was doing. And now I really do feel like this is a calling for me to teach these lessons to women that need to hear them. This is a message that women need to hear that everybody needs to hear.

So the merch part is just the first branch of the Me by Jetty Garth line and coming out with a clothing line for QVC as well, which is also very exciting. It'll be out next year. And I just, I don't know where it's going to go, but I'm really excited about the options and the doors that are opening, and they wouldn't have opened if I hadn't looked that fear right in the face and said, no more with you. I don't trust you anymore. You're a liar, and I'm going to do what I want to do.

I love that. I choose me. That's good. That's great. Ashley and John are out in the audience. Do you guys have any questions for Jenny? I know John does right now, and then if you guys do, raise your hands, and we'll get to you right after him. Okay, bye, Tori.

I would go write a book Go write a book real quick Okay So Jenny talking about choosing you a little bit One of the questions we get a lot on our podcast Is about small business owners Kind of being in their head and needing to take time How do you choose you

Or what are some things that you do Kind of in your very busy schedule To make sure you're taking care of yourself And that your focus is a priority I am a calendar girl I write it all in my calendar It's color coded everybody has a color on my phone so I know who's where and when and what and all the addresses and everything so I live by

my calendar and I schedule in time for myself and those blocks of an hour or a day three days a week or whatever it is those are the times when which I've used that time recently to focus on my physical health as well as my mental health and the impact that just setting aside that time for myself has had on my well-being, general well-being, has been incredible. And I just feel like I'm in such a different place because I've decided to choose myself sometimes. And I'm still a mom. I still have three, my oldest is 26, 20, and 17. And they need me all the time. Like girls always need their moms. And it's a constant like Skype or Zoom or phone call or texting at all times with the girls, but I still have carved out that time for myself. And the great thing is,

once you carve out that time for yourself and you succeed at taking that time for yourself and you do something for yourself, the rest of your day is just like, woohoo. I got that. Check, you know? There you go. And then one other question, and more on the note of having a partner. So you and Tori are best friends. You know each other a long time. How do you find balancing being friends and being business partners? And what advice might you have for people who are trying to start something with someone that they're really close to in a different capacity in their life.

That's a really good question because sometimes you hear don't start businesses with your friends because it gets too muddy. I think with your family. There's family too, yeah. I haven't done that. But it can be tricky waters to navigate

that has to be an underlying, you know, unspoken trust there. Tori and I always have each other's back when it comes to speaking in public or being, you know, best friends and protecting one another. And I've always felt that with her, and I know she feels that as well. But I think, you know, putting us aside, I think for me, I just started my new brand with a woman named Lisa Klein. And in our first meeting, I said, look, I am completely open. I'm very straightforward.

And I just want you to know, never lie to me. I will never lie to you and never lie to me. Tell me, even if you think it's going to upset me. Because transparency is so important and honesty. If you don't have that, then you just don't have a solid footing for a business, and you need that. All right. I saw a question down here. Hello.

What's your question for Jenny? So my question was, when is the next QVC drop and what is it going to be? Is it going to be home? Is it going to be food? what's it going to be? Hi, by the way. I don't think we have another official drop in 2023, but we will. We're already developing Christmas in July for 2024, and it's so beautiful. I cannot take it. You guys are going to love it. There's so many sparkles involved. And other than that, I've just been working on me by Jenny Garth for QVC, developing the clothing,

which is just a whole new world for me, and it's been really fascinating and working with all the in-house design team at QVC. They're so great there. And so to answer your question, I believe it might be January 2024 for BFF and then July for JG. Yes, I'm doing my website right now for me by Jenny Garth and learning so much about all the little steps. Because when we started BFF, I had Tori and we had each other and we pushed a lot of the minutia work to our teams and everybody was helping us. And with my brand, I'm just like, I want to be, I'm the boss, and I want to be the boss at every turn.

And not that I don't need help because I absolutely do, and I seek the right people to help me. But I'm developing the website. I'm learning about, you know, all the things that you have to do and all the legalities and the trademarks. and, you know, there's so much that goes into it that you really don't think about until you're in it. And then you just write a list and you check it off

and you check it off and you check it off and you get it all done. So, website's coming. We have a question right here. What's your name? Mary. Mary, what's your question for Jenny? Hi. I've actually been so inspired by your fitness posts lately

and your I Choose Me, that you've kind of linked in with that so that I actually wrote a song about it. But I was curious. A song. Wait a second. Yeah, but I was curious. Do you want to sing it? But I was curious if you were thinking of doing it. I know you have so many side projects, but another side project that's like more fitness-based.

Because if you had something like that, I mean, I'd sign up for it in a day. I don't know if you remember it. I don't know if you remember it, but in 90 something. Yeah, your fitness tape. Yeah. I had a little exercise video. Yeah. Right on the shelf there next to Jane Fonda.

It was great. It was called Body and Progress. And, yeah, I've toyed. They don't make exercise videos anymore. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's a different landscape now and just trying to sort of figure out how to work that in because it certainly does live in the same world as the whole brand, you know, just being able to choose yourself and take physically care of yourself, mentally take care of yourself.

But I just started, you know, I started exercising for myself. I saw it. And I just started having my trainer film it. And we'd throw it up. And then people started to really respond to it. And I thought, oh, this is a great way to connect with my fans, the people out there that are like me, who want better for themselves. But they don't have that motivation. They don't know what to do.

They don't know how to start. They don't know what to eat. So I've just sort of been, you know, lacing that into my feet. and seeing how it does. And people are really responding to it. And the thing about it is they say I'm inspiring them, but you all are inspiring me when you comment and you like it or whatever. I read those comments and they move me and touch me and they keep me going.

So if you're keeping me going and I'm keeping you going, then it's all working the way it's supposed to work. Yeah, yeah. Well, they're amazing. Thank you. I have one right here. Let's do it. What's your name?

Hello, hello. My name is Michael. First of all, we love your charger plates, the gold charger plates. Aren't they pretty? We actually own a luxury venue in downtown L.A., and we saw those, and we actually carried something like this, not as amazing as that. And we were just thinking, like, it's so amazing and great, but what was your biggest challenge creating this line and going to the process?

Because like you said earlier, you have a lot of things going to your head and clouding you, but you have to stay the course, stay the, you know, whiteboard. Yeah, well, I think specifically with the BFF collection, going into it, we had never done home decor. We didn't know our customer well enough. We didn't know our price point well enough, so our January launch wasn't as successful as it could have been straight out of the gate. It's had success now living online and being available. So there was a little bit of a deflated feeling after we debuted it because it didn't sell like hotcakes like we were hoping, you know? So I think that it's about knowing your audience, knowing your customer, and really thinking about

them when you create the products. And so for me, that has been what I try to focus on. It's definitely what I'm focusing on now with apparel line for QVC, thinking about all the different bodies that are going to be wearing these clothes. And for me, just really focusing on what I want women to feel when they wear. these clothes and just keeping that as the through line of all my efforts, you know. I saw one hand over here I want to get to and get to a couple more questions. Hello, what's your name?

I'm Rasha. I'm Rasha. Thank you. Hello. Hi. My question for you is as you made your way into a small business, especially in this product line, what would you say was one of the biggest risks that you took? Well, people think that celebrities, whatever, actors are rich, and this is not the case

all the time. So for me, very frankly, the biggest fear was committing my own money to it to starting up a business and it took the right message from somebody in my life.

life that said you can't win if you don't risk, you know, you never know unless you try. So give yourself a budget of how much you're willing to let go of and then see what happens. So, and also learning to crawl, walk, run, because I want to run right away. And you really do need to take the time to, you know, experience each of those stages. because you learn so much in every stage when you're starting your own small business. That was awesome advice, really. I'm going to take that home with me. What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison

or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York State number, and we own you. Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short-term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting his. him the next six months. The first night was so overwhelming, and you don't know who's next to you.

And we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything. Listen to shock incarceration on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Ed. Everyone say, hello, Ed? Hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer, and my mom is a cousin, so, like, it's not, like...

What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. The 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks? into a comedy club.

A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A foot washed up a shoe with some bones in it. They had no idea who it was.

Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable. These are the coldest of cold cases. But everything is about to change. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA. Right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA. Using new scientific tools,

they're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it. He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, gotcha. On America's crime lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors. And you'll meet the team behind the scenes at Othrum, the Houston Lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Jenna Lopez. And in the new season of the Overcomber podcast, I'm taking you on an exciting journey of self-reflection.

Am I ready to enter this new part of my life? Like, am I ready to be in a relationship? Am I ready to have kids and to really just devote myself and my time? I wanted to be successful on my own, not just because of who my mom is. Like, I felt like I needed to be better or work twice as hard as she did. Join me for conversations about healing and growth. Life is freaking hard. And growth doesn't happen in comfort. It happens in motion, even when you're hurting.

All from one of my favorite spaces, The Kitchen. Honestly, these are going to come out so freaking amazing. Be a part of my new chapter and listen to the new season of the Overcumper podcast as part of the MyCultura podcast network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hello, what's your name? My name is Corrine. Hi. Hello.

My sister launched her porcelain brand home decor. She's right here. Kassanoi. I have what can you give her as an advice she just started so that's it can I pick you come yes more I was I think I was a little bit too embarrassed to ask the question so she went ahead and did it for me so as somebody who also launched their own homeware and dinnerware brand I wanted to ask you what how do you separate what you like, for example, versus what is going to sell or what the customer base likes, because those are

two very different things. Very different things. And you think that everything is beautiful and everybody's going to love everything. And some people are like, no, not that one. You're like, are you nuts? Right. You know, just the knowledge that everybody is in it for something different. Like we all have different tastes, different opinions, different lifestyles, everything.

And I mean, knowing your customer, like I was talking about before, knowing that you know, your price point. It's really important. And ultimately, going with your gut, like listening to yourself and putting yourself in their shoes and thinking, what would you want as your customer? You know, quality, top of the list, if it's a, you know, economic, top of the list, like things that are important to you comfort, all the things. And for me also, too, it's just a general, like, how do I want people to feel when they're in my clothes or, sitting on an ottomania, I want them to feel good about it and feel good about that purchase because I know that money doesn't grow in trees and people, especially we have the most incredible fan base from 90210 and all those loyal fans support us. They spend their hard-earned money on the things that we're making and selling and we're doing it for them. But it's also, you know, it's also our livelihood too. So it's so reciprocal and just, really appreciating your customer, I think, on such a deep level and having respect for them,

I would say is really important. Thank you. Thank you. You guys are asking such good questions. We have time for one more, so I'll go over here. Hello. What's your name? What's your question?

My name is Summer, and I was, your clothing line when you were talking about it, it really it made me think of my students. I'm an elementary school teacher. and I know that your line, thank you. The message that you're sending at, you know, I'm assuming that your audience is, you know, your fans like me who watched your show. But I think your message reaches much further than that.

And I was thinking about, you know, obviously you're just launching, but once you're established in your brand, would you ever consider bringing it down into the children, to children? because I know so many kids are struggling right now with, you know, emotional things and mental health and all of that.

And I think that message, especially for little girls, but for boys as well, but especially the young girls, would be amazing and, like, non-profit side of your business. Absolutely. My parents are both teachers, first of all, so I have such a respect for you and what you do. And I see it intertwined.

You know, I see me doing, what I have passion for, like I was talking about before, and figuring out what message was that I wanted to put out there. And I see how it can affect multi-generations. And in fact, I've had, I think, we've only sold the Me by Jenny Garth merch at the 90s con so far this year, while we've been working to get the rest of the line up

and the website up. And I've had a lot of responses from women just like you, who say either they want to take this home and give it to their kids and encourage their kids, or they want to use it in their classrooms. And that has opened up a whole new brain for me of what I can do with this message. And it doesn't just have to be, you know, my audience, my demographic. It can be for everyone. And I think that it's so much deeper than that.

So thank you. And that's it, I think, right? We don't have more time. That's it. That was so amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you. That was a wealth of knowledge.

It was amazing. Thank you, Jenny. You're welcome. I'm leaving now. Okay, bye. See you soon. Our next guest is passionate about everything she takes on, whether it's how she turned her small business

into truly one of the most lucrative brands in the entire world. I am so excited to introduce our final speaker, the one and only, Bethany Frankel. Hello. Thank you. Thank you. She just gave away my secret. I was thinking backstage, what is my secret?

I didn't know I was going to have to tell the secret, and she just said that I put everything into everything I do. So that's the secret. I gotta go. Have fun. Okay, so I was actually thinking, the people with me here were like, what is your secret? Like, do I have a secret? And it's a secret.

If it's a secret, why am I going to tell you guys? It's a secret. I think that everyone's secret to their success is different because it's a different formula. You know what your skill set is and you know where you thrive and you also have to stretch to try to be good at different things to fail. I think to succeed, you really do have to fail. There's a woman who, I don't know why, but likes to try to elevate herself by always bringing up things that I've done that have failed.

And there are so many. And I really do, I'm proud of my failures because I wouldn't be successful without them. And maybe that is, maybe that's one of the secrets. I think that Jenny Garth's secret is that Tori Spelling is in the trunk of her car, and now she has 100% of that business. So I think that's the secret, because I can't imagine getting into business with my best friend, but that's one secret. And Tyler Florence has never used an air fryer.

It's fucking 2023. That's Tyler Florence's secret. So I'm going to tell other people's secrets while we try to figure out what mine is together because another secret about Amy Sugarman who produces my podcast and is a star producer for IHeart. We were out to dinner last night. I flew on a plane.

On a car I flew. I have a special flying car. I forgot to mention that. Yeah, no, I flew on an airplane. You ever heard of one? So I flew on an airplane. And I come and I get ready and we go to this dinner that we've been planning.

It's 25 people. and today I did six podcasts in one sitting. Have you done? What have you guys done today? So I did that. And where else did they take me off? Oh, my other partner took me to Culver City to hawk my mocktails, which are out in the lobby, which are phenomenal. But I've talked about them so much today that I'm full.

So I had a quite full day. And last night we're just sort of all drinking and hanging out. And it was late, probably like almost 10 o'clock. And she was like talking to somebody else, not me. And she goes, yeah, she's tomorrow. She's talking for 20 minutes, doing a whole thing about her success or whatever. And then after, and I'm like, wait a second. I thought we were doing just a Q&A in a moderated.

This is my moderator. This is my Tori spelling right over here. So I was like, oh, Amy, when were you going to tell me? She goes, no, it's just like a quick 20, which I guess in comedy, they'd be like to do a quick three. It was like a quick 20. So then I was thinking today they're talking about the secret of their success. And I was like, I really don't know what my, do I have a secret?

it. So I want to go through it with you guys, because one of the things I do do in business is crowdsource. So let's try to workshop this together. One is, Ashley did say I throw my whole body into everything that I do. Didn't you say that? Or something. What did you say? Nice. I don't even know you. Nice to meet you. All right. So she said, this is, by the way, this was because today when I got in the dressing room, I was like, let me figure out my secret. I can't even read my own writing, so that's another secret on my Honda napkin.

So I do throw my entire body into everything that I do, if I do it. Like, people always talk about work-life balance, and I'm incredibly present in what I'm doing. Like, I'm very happy to be here, and this is my, you know, unless there was an emergency, I'm not here to talk to my daughter. Like, I'm here to be with you.

And when I'm with my daughter, I'm very present in being with her. But I did this game show last week with David Spade, and I was kind of just like, you know, sleepwalking through the idea of doing it, and I got there, and it was this woman next to me, and I sort of, as we started doing it, realized, like, what we were doing,

and it was, she wanted to go to Dolly World with her family, and I was, like, all of a sudden, like, part of her family, and we were all going to Dolly World. And then we had to think of these business, what business is snake oil and what's not, and then the money got, it kept going higher and she kept betting everything on me. And I was like, I was screaming like the price of right in 1988.

I was like, yes! Oh my God, I was so excited. And I won her $220,000. And she's going to Dolly World times five. So no matter what I'm doing, I do it. Like if it's making a piece of chicken at home or something, like I'm obsessed with everything. Everything is a full-blown investigation.

So that's a working model for maybe why I'm successful. That's one. Um, another one could be that, um, I know what I know and I know it, I don't know. You guys are all small business owners right here. You're all good business owners because I heard that it was $40 to come here and I heard you got a lunch from Jones on 3rd. Is that true? What the, that's like the sickest groupon ever.

There's like a scam. You could go to air one. You guys are definitely talking to each other. You're like, I should have bought, should have bought four tickets and got Jones on third meals for all my friends because $40, this. This girl I have with me backstage, she orders, what's this, do she plays together? Air one. And I like it, the Haley Bieber, I know.

You drink a smoothie, you're going to look like Haley Bieber, buy that bullshit. So she, every day, $54 because postmates to bring the smoothies to her house. I got an assay bowl in Venice last week. It was $21 out the door. So this is a deal. If I were drooling up here, you got a Jones on third meal. That's already. You guys are good business people.

So let's just start with that. And I'm expensive. So there's a lot of value here. So, what was I saying? How did we get into that thing? What did I just say? What was the second thing that was good about me? Oh, that I know what I know and I know what I don't know.

Okay, that's number two. Let me think if there are any other things. I am very honest, but that doesn't work for everybody else. Look at Charlie Sheen. He's like, you know, like in a box somewhere in his house, talking to himself. Like, it didn't work for him, so it has to be that that works for you. And, you know, you have to know the temperature of the room. Is it going well right now?

because I don't know the temperature. It feels like 78. It's not like I'm getting 100 right now. So would you like to hear me talk about Skinny Girl? I feel like you know about that. I'm excited for the Q&A because I want to hear what you want to know. And then before you ask your question, will you tell me what you think the secret is?

Because I, first of all, I may not tell. I may want to keep it to myself. I don't know. But I don't know the secret. So I hope we can work it out together. I think that the being present in the different areas of your life is critical. I also know that the whole entire business journey is a road.

And I think that younger people right now are really so obsessed with knowing what they're supposed to be doing with their lives. Don't you feel like the pressure with shows like Shark Tank and billionaires in their garages from tech ideas that you feel like exasperated like you're supposed to be where you're supposed to be? And I was a late bloomer.

I was 38 years old. I was still, I had no money. I mean, I was very, very stressed, very worried. I couldn't afford a taxi downtown in New York City when you live in New York City, and I don't know why I stayed living there when I really couldn't afford to be there, but it was very anxiety-producing, and I didn't have any safety net. But I always had something inside where I knew I was on a road, and I felt like it was going somewhere.

And you can't often know if you're swimming in the right direction, to be honest. You know, you have a hit, something happens, something in one of your business is successful, then you get set back so far, and you don't know whether to turn back or to keep going. And you have to really have a good gut instinct. You have to just have that sense, and you have to know if, like, it's really served you. And you also have to know whether you should be a crowdsourcer. Whether you should, I am a crowd sourcer. I ultimately make the decision.

When you sign something on a contract, it is you signing it, and that is critical. but I like to sort of get a lot of different ingredients and then make the recipe myself. I do, you know, a little Tyler Florence reference. I like to ultimately make the decision, but I am a crowdsourcer. And I think that you have to determine whether you're somebody who works best alone

to the Tory spelling, you know, Jenny example, or whether you're better in a corporate environment or on a team. And it doesn't mean either is wrong. It just means you have to kind of get a sense of where you really thrive, what environment you really thrive in. And I've always, always understood that it's a road,

and you could hit a roadblock, and you could get run out of gas, and you could have to make a U-turn, but that everything you're learning is taking you further, and you don't realize until later. That's why I mentioned the failures, because you don't realize until later how all of those weird, windy turns

and all the discomfort and the loss and your life and the stress and the time away from your family and things like that, how you learn from it and all of those experiences and failures and things that do work and challenges, those are like case law. So you try future business cases and you just

get older and wiser and you just are saying well no we can't do that because remember when we do that other thing but if we tweak that thing a little then the next thing will be better and you do find that as you get more successful the stakes are higher so while you may be doing well or fine or you're not where you want to be it's kind of like

good to spill something on yourself the minute you get in the car because it's going to happen, you might as well get it out of the way. It gets more expensive later, you know, and you kind of have to do plan for anything to happen. Whatever you are estimating, it's going to be way more expensive. And it's like getting married without a pre-up. You kind of have to just like prepare for the worst in any situation. You have to just be, have the hurricane insurance, have the pre-up, like you have to just, you know, Everybody's got a plan until you get punched in the face. And you will get punched in the face in business or on the housewives.

If you do that, you can get a punch in the face earlier and get that out of the way. But it's one of those things where the road is really, it's really the ultimate educator. And while it's great to have mentors and people to look up to you and to listen to, it's lonely. It's lonely because you really, you have a community and you establish a community. but, like, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a true entrepreneur, it's very lonely. Like, you're alone. And it's funny because Amy, who I was talking about earlier, says to me, like, the thing about you is that you give a shit.

It's what I was saying before about, like, that woman. I walk in, like, what are we doing? I don't know where I am. And then I'm, like, all of a sudden, like, in it. So if you do it, you have to do it, like, just fully all in or don't. And business is all in. It's just, it's just, I've interviewed. too many people on my podcast that are very successful and like very billionaires, people like

Mark Cuban and people like Jeffrey Katzenberg, leaders of industry, game changers, Cheryl Sandberg was, you know, Mark Zuckerberg's number two. None of them were motivated by money. Like money's great and I like nice things and money's just a scorecard. It's not, if you're, you won't have the drive if you're motivated by money because it's not, it's not like, it's tangible, it's not going to give you that passion inside that just the idea will give you. The idea, the process, the chance, the game, like it's a game. This is a game. It's a fun game.

And you're kind of like watching the board and watching other people, but you really should be running your own game. Because it doesn't matter what someone else is doing. And to bring back the Mark Zuckerberg, you know, the Winklevoss twins claimed that they came up with Facebook. but they didn't execute like he did, even if they did. I don't know that answer. It doesn't matter. Like, he was the one who executed. So successful entrepreneurs are passionate, like, by any means necessary.

And you're just always thinking about it on some level. It's just who you are. And you have to surround yourself with people like that that are in their own lanes, also thinking about it. And you've got to be good to your people. You've got to be really tough and fair. and you have to make them feel valued. And I think that really taking the time,

things move quickly when you're an entrepreneur. It just moves fast. It's hard to stop down, especially now. Every day you have to be like, let's do a check-in. How are you feeling? How's your emotional well-being? You know, and you're running a thousand miles an hour. But people really do appreciate feeling like they're part of something

and you being grateful, like saying like, wow, thank you. And people want to be valued and told that they're doing a good job. And you have to, like, that's like being a parent. You're kind of putting into your kids what you want to get out, and you do get it tenfold. Like, whatever you put in, you get out. The same is with your team and the same as with your business. So you have to know if you're someone who really just likes a very, very calm and predictable life,

that it's not that easy to be like a maverick business person. There are so many people out there that want it. It's like anything else. It's like being, you know, an athlete or something else. Like, there's so much competition, so many people want it, and only the strong survive. But there are so many different ways to be successful now. And I do, the one good news that I think, in the land of social media and filtering and facetune and all the BS, the one thing I will say is that, wait, I literally, I was going to tell

you the secret, I swear to God I just forgot it. Give me a second. I literally, it wasn't the secret, but what it was, what, can I just ask you what I was just saying? This happens to me because my brain moves so quick. Oh, thank you. This is the fucking secret. This is the secret. No, this might be the secret. I swear to you, I forgot it. It's such a secret that I was like, am I going to tell them, or gatekeep, Freud got in the way. Okay, in the land of FaceTune and social media and all of this stuff, the one secret is old school hard work. And it's not.

You're famous. It's not you're on a reality show. It's not you have a good Instagram account. You have a good publicist. You have a gimmick. You have a tagline. You have a website. You could have nothing. It's the hard work. It's the hard work. But not like you're at the gym, you know, standing around and leg warmers thinking you're working hard, but you're not like working smart. Like real, you know when you're like, you know when you're sticking the landing, when you're like locked in. That is the secret. I did not know that was a secret. see, we worked it out. Do you agree that's the secret, or is there another thing I said that's really the secret? I mean, don't you all agree that, like, the real secret is, like, the people around you that are, I don't care if someone knows anything about what we're doing. I only care about if they're hardworking and loyal. You may not even, there's a woman who doesn't speak the language at all that works in my house. I mean, we can't communicate at all. It's not one word. She works so hard. I don't care what she's saying. We can speak the language of work. And I love her. And I also thought.

like how hard would it be to find a job when she doesn't speak any English but I'm like she works hard and like I have such respect for anyone that works hard you could teach your business but you cannot teach a work ethic you cannot teach loyalty and honesty and you find someone you find people around you I've I had a girl that was um I was at a party with me and I was working for free to cook for the owner of Hampton's magazine because I used to do everything for free it didn't matter I mean, Housewives for season one was $7,250. It was like, that's free. Let's be honest.

We divided out for all the arguments I had. It was like arguing for, I was paying to argue with people. So I was paying to argue. So, but I was at this party and this girl just was like, I'm on it. And she was on it. And she, I didn't make any money. But I said, I'm going to, you're going to work for me one day. And I one day hired her, and she was unbelievable and went on to have like a major job.

Another girl was a co-check girl for me when I used to produce events. Merv Griffin, who I worked for, they wouldn't let me hire her. And I said, but she works her ass off, like, what's her resume? I'm like, I don't know. She was holding, like, the co-check, like, she was working, you know, for the freaking U.N. Like, she was very serious about checking these goddamn coats. Imagine what she's, like, about something that matters.

And she went on to work for Paul Allen, the founder of Microsoft, and for Red Bull, after working for me. So hard work is something that everybody could do. You could do it if you just had, like, an old rotary, and we're still watching Jenny's DVD. Fitness DVD back when we used to do dial-up internet and facts. So that's my secret. A foot washed up a shoe with some bones in it.

They had no idea who it was. Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable. These are the coldest of cold cases, but everything is about to change. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA. Using new scientific tools, they're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it. He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen.

I was just like, ah, got you. On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors. And you'll meet the team behind the scenes at Othrum, the Houston lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number a New York State number, and we own you.

Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short-term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months.

The first night was so overwhelming, and you don't know who's next to you. And we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything. Listen to shock incarceration on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Janica Lopez, and in the new season of the Overcover podcast, I'm taking you on an exciting journey of self-reflection. Am I ready to enter this new part of my life? Like, am I ready to be in a relationship? Am I ready to have kids and to really just devote myself?

and my time. I wanted to be successful on my own, not just because of who my mom is. Like, I felt like I needed to be better or work twice as hard as she did. Join me for conversations about healing and growth. Life is freaking hard. And growth doesn't happen in comfort. It happens in motion, even when you're hurting. All from one of my favorite spaces, The Kitchen. Honestly, these are going to come out so freaking amazing. Be a part of my new chapter and listen to the new season of the Overcumper podcast as part of the My Cultura podcast network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. My name is Ed. Everyone say hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer and my mom is a cousin. So, like, it's not

what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. On 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy,

and murder take center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who has the first question here? I just heard that there's somebody dying to ask a great question. Oh, you have a great question? A great question.

Spotlights on. I've been told from people back there. Oh, excited. What's your name? Kristen. My question is, how do you go? quiet your brain at night when you have so many things going on because I don't have anything near what you have going on and I can never shut it off it's well do you do you do you give

yourself a discipline with the phone I don't by the way everything I give you advice is like well but let's just start with that do you shut do you shut the phone off no I'm watching you on TikTok and you and your honest reviews on beauty stuff I'm reviewing cottage she's doing the Lord's work obviously mentioned it all yeah I mean it's very important I'm snatching your face and picking your book glasses, yeah. So I don't take anything. When I'm traveling, I'll take something like I'll take like an edible. I don't know if that's illegal, but I take an edible to sleep I did last night.

Call the cops. But I don't, I'm not a person who wants to take anything. I don't believe in that unless it's like really important. I'm in another country. I have to sleep. Like, this is a different country. I flew an airplane, I told you. At home, I have this herbal, like lab.

pillow that you put in the microwave, not on too long and too high. You have to watch it like you're watching a pot boil because if it goes on too high, it smells like burnt herbs and then I'm next to Paul and he's like, where am I? Like we're in a freaking forest lavender fire in bed, but I don't give a fuck because I have my night guard and it's hot. And it literally is hot. So I take my lavender thing and I put it in the thing, Mike, and I lay down and I pretend like I'm in an institution like, okay little bird. Like I lay there and I just, just meditate and I breathe in through my nose and out and I like do it in a circular emotion because you really can't breathe in and out 20 times without falling asleep. Like if you really do like a big one and it calms me. It's like it's like I've institutionalized myself at the end of the night. Meditate with essential oils. It really works. Yeah, it does.

But that's when the phone has to. Like you can't be like hearing the buzz of the phone. Like that's you got to turn the phone off. Phone's evil. It's the devil. It's the angel because it helps us. do all these things, but it's an appendage. It's the devil.

Get our app. Log on. Listen to our podcast. You would ask, too, if we had your secret or what we thought your secret might be, right? So I think it's that you're very curious and unafraid to take action when you see opportunity. Yes. So can you talk a little bit, kind of in the early days of your career, when you would find interesting ways, like you talked about how you would find producers on TV shows or kind of pitch

yourself for your businesses and... Yes. I, well, it's really, I wrote a book called A Place of Yes, and I'm a Yes person. I mean, that doesn't mean I'm in a good mood by any stretch. It means, like, I'm not really into hearing about the, this can't happen, and a roadblock, and I'm not really, if I think it's possible, then it's probably possible. And so I used to, I wanted to be on a television show. I wanted to be on the Food Network, and the head of the Food Network told me it would never happen. Bob Tushman and call him up

it's probably in the yellow pages where he lives now because I think he got fire but he's not because he didn't put me on I probably would have been canceled on the food network with my language but anyway so I used to watch television and you've heard of television right? I used to

right antennas so I used to watch television and I would see the producers at the end and their names and I would just like call them because they have an office and they have an assistant it's not like trying to call Obama it's some schmuck who works in an office and produces, you know,

schmucky television, it's going to get canceled anyway. So I would go in and I would meet those schmucks and I would bring them cookies and engage them. And like a lot of them actually wanted to do shows of me. It was again, the guy, the head guy said, stop coming in with all these people. But the point is most people are accessible. And if you're not annoying,

like if you find a way in and find to connect and transact and it's an email or it's on social media or it's send them something, people are accessible and I'm a find your way in kind of gal like I'm a figure it out kind of person you know we had people

I mean I'll go to the head I'll go to who did I go to who was the guy I went to the head of snapped yeah I'm like I'll find out I don't know that guy the head of Snapchat and I know yes I'm successful now but I acted like this when I couldn't afford the $25

guy like I'll figure out give me his email the head of Snapchat and like then I mean I'll talk to anyone I want to and pitched something last week to Ted Sarandos, who runs Netflix, $170 billion company, and I'm going in to meet with them. Like, you gotta grab it, it's there. I said to my daughter, I took her to a concert last week

here to see Adam Sandler perform because she lives for him. And I know David Spade's manager, and they were all performing. And I said to her ahead, you're gonna see Adam Sandler. I can't guarantee you're gonna meet him. Like, life moves pretty fast around here. I cannot guarantee, and there's only so much of a desperate loser I'm willing to be at a party of my people. years. Like I was literally next to Ted Serrano, standing like,

yeah, my daughter, I was such a loser. I'm like, this is not who I am, but you're a loser when it comes to your kids. So I said to her, listen, you have a plan. You don't be like, oh my God, I love you. I said, have a plan of what you're going to say. Like, what do you want to say? What do you think? I'm like, here's something. What do you think about this? I love how you put your friends and your family and your movies. She's like, I like that. That's so true because she told me that he puts his friends in his family and his movies. So I said, that's a good hook. He'll like that. It's not like, when people come up to me, they're like,

I don't know who you are, but my wife likes you. I'm like, why don't you go fuck yourself and get a television? So, anyway, she, so we were standing, waiting for Adam Sandler, and he was standing there, and I was like, he's right here. I mean, I got her in the door. We're in the door now. We're in the elevator. You got the person.

But he's right there. And I was like, just, you're a kid. You're so cute. You're 13 years old. Like, it's fine. Kids can do anything. So walk up and she's like, no, mama, no, mama, no mom. And then he vanished.

And I was like, listen, that was like the day we were at the beach when you saw that girl and you wanted to make a friend. And I said, just go say hello. Who cares? And she's like, I don't want to. I'm like, what if she says you're ugly and a loser? I never want to speak to you again. You never see her again anyway.

But you could be her best friend. You could be in her wedding one day. So she didn't that day. And she was sad because the girl left the beach. I'm like, you got to grab it. So Adam Sandler walks back in. And then, and I'm like, Brin, I don't know what to do. She's like, Mama, go again.

I can't. Like, so he can't. walks back and then he comes back out and she walked right up and she like landed stuck her landing landed her line a tear came out because he started talking to her and I was like wait we got it so it's like you got to go for it and grab it people are accessible even Adam Sandler Bethany you are so not shy you're so gutsy what's your advice for people who are a little bit more just shy when when they're business owners there are people that are introverts that have to put it on when they're out

and to be honest it's going to be scary when you guys hear this I don't go out much I don't I'm very insular I don't like engage in that much like I'm here I'm fully invested I'm with you guys but like we're not all going to a cocktail party after because my brain will explode because I give it all and like I want to go get my like fuzzy socks on and my lavender pillow that I actually had to Amazon Prime because I forgot it and I had the hotel bring a microwave to the room because I'm a diva like that about my neck pillow. So I think that you have to, you got to grab it.

My daughter is not a complete extrovert, but like you want it, you're going to have to figure out a way and mustered up in that moment. Like you're jumping out of that plane. You want Adam Sandler and you want that tear to come down your cheek? I can't do it for you, babe. You got to go get it. The ring is right there.

You got to grab it, though. So like, you have to just find your way and also being the loudmouth like me doesn't always work out. not a lot, that's not really a winning model for many. A lot of people really are looking to the person that's listening. You know, you can feel someone who's really interested or someone who's interesting. It doesn't have to be that, you know, it was funny because that night so many people were saying, oh my God, your daughter, and she's so positive, and she's so smiling,

and she seems so happy. Like, people can, you can be engaging in different ways. And I'm sure You just sort of have to find out the way that celebrities try to find their pose. I have no idea my secret and I don't know how to pose, but people do that. They look in the mirror and figure out their side, their good side. Through your friends and family, like figure out truthfully and honestly what your skill set is, even if you're an introvert, like what you shine at and lead with that. I would say like really just figure that out and ask other people. We have two huge fans over here. What are your names?

Botha and Chanel. All right. What's on the T-shirts? Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. It's her artwork. It's her art. That's beautiful.

Thank you. Really nice. Taking your advice and listening to your speech really motivated us. And our question is, how do we access you and pitch to you? What's your idea? The art? What's your idea? Yeah, we have a cosmetic company here in Los Angeles.

I do the artwork on all of the products, and our mission is to connect art and beauty. Nice. Yeah. My daughter's an artist. What's it called? Genelica. It's a whole line of makeup? Yes. I shadow everything. Who put the money up? Me, mom, the mom. I literally thought I've been cursing and there are kids here. And that's your mom? Yes. You guys, look the same, I really thought there were kids here. I'm like, I'm in so much trouble now because I asked if I could curse. And they said you guys would be cool with cursing. Are you? It's a weird time to ask. forward on. Is it okay? Yeah, we love you.

Well, did you bring the products today? No. No. Well, that's a mistake. We brought the flyers, but the studio. Okay, well, you're wearing the makeup? Okay, they're wearing the makeup. But I know, but I can't rub it off their face onto mine, but I would say, because this happened on a show, I was on, you can't, you have to have that, I have makeup in my car. I almost got canceled two weeks ago for having makeup in my car because

I was giving it away to people. at T.J. Max, but you have to have the makeup with you, always like in a little gift bag. Like, I have literally gifts in the back of my car for anyone who's nice to me. You knew, did you know you were coming to see me today? Yes. Okay, well, that's... Well, you got to be, you're like my daughter.

We're here. You could have brought the bag up, I would have seen it. We would have posted it, so you'll have to send it to us. Yes. But be prepared. You have to have those products with you at all times. You never know who you're going to run into. We went to Shark Tank this season. You're on Shark Tank this season? We went to the...

Oh, you tried to be on. Okay. Yeah, but I think it was too late. It was too late? Did you add the products with you there? Yeah. You did. Okay, Janelica, the name is beautiful.

Thank you. Really, congratulate. And you both look so beautiful. Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate that. Hi, I'm Janica Lopez, and in the new season of the Overcover podcast, I'm taking you on an exciting journey of self-reflection. Am I ready to enter this new part of my life?

Like, am I ready to be in a relationship? Am I ready to have kids and to really just devote myself and my time? I wanted to be successful on my own, not just because of who my mom is. Like, I felt like I needed to be better or work twice as hard as she did. Join me for conversations about healing and growth. Life is freaking hard. And growth doesn't happen in comfort. It happens in motion, even when you're hurting.

All from one of my favorite spaces. the kitchen. Honestly, these are going to come out so freaking amazing. Be a part of my new chapter and listen to the new season of the Overcumper podcast as part of the MyCultura podcast network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A foot washed up a shoe with some bones in it. They had no idea who it was. Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable. These are the coldest, of cold cases. But everything is about to change. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our

lifetime. A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA. Using new scientific tools, they're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it. He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, gotcha. On America's crime lab, we'll learn about victim and survivors, and you'll meet the team behind the scenes at Othrum, the Houston Lab that takes on the most hopeless cases, to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

My name is Ed. Everyone say, hello, Ed. Hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer, and my mom is a cousin, so, like, it's not, like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks in? into a comedy club. I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke,

but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. The 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house.

So what do you get when a tree? True Crime Producer walks into a comedy club. A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced.

He said, you are a number, a New York State number, and we own you. Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short-term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months. The first night was so overwhelming

and you don't know who's next to you. And we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything. Listen to shock incarceration on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And one follow question, kind of on the notion and not being afraid to kind of go for it. So we get a lot of questions from small business

about how to think about content and go on social media or they're kind of embarrassed that it's not produced, but you've really been clear on this content to the people, going to move. What advice would you get... I've been clear on what?

Sorry, like content to the people, just being authentic, getting live, getting in front of people. What advice would you give to people besides just do it when it's kind of thinking about how to promote themselves or their businesses on social?

Well, you know, it's a very interesting, amazing time now because it really is the wild wild west of marketing. I would say for the most part if you have a small business, a publicist would be a waste of money. You could be your own publicist.

You could be your own marketing team. If you have the bandwidth, if you have the hours in the day, unless you're baking all the cookies or whatever the business is, I think it's content to the people is really the model. I mean, it's so liberating and so

freeing to be able to, if you have something to say, you can say it. Just find the same way as you have to find your means of connecting and conveying who you are, whatever your strong suit is, I would say find a way to convey and communicate through video, through social media, through comedy, through cooking, through makeup videos. I mean, you've got, it can click, and it's usually just by not trying so hard. Like just being yourself, just finding a way to be yourself. And if you are insecure and if you are an introvert talking about that, if you are failing and you are struggling, talking about that, when you are winning, talking about that. I mean, I think people want to connect now. And the pandemic was a strange time because everybody really got so introverted

just by nature of, I mean, last night we had a dinner and everyone said like, oh my God, we're out. It's almost like we're still, we haven't adjusted back. So I feel like people want to connect with each other. I'm finding that people want to connect with each other a lot. I found that last night, and I was shocked. People really want to, and everyone wants to talk about their business and ideas. So you have to find a way to connect and convey. And it's very, very powerful, and no one can stop you, and no one can edit you,

and no one has to distribute. You don't have to watch television and look for those producers to call them. I don't need to do that. no matter what I want to say, I get to say it. And you could say that it's because I already have a following, but I started on YouTube with 2,000 followers a couple years ago, and that's a whole group of other people. Jenny was talking about QVC.

That's a different group of people. It's just a different audience. There's so many audiences that you could find an audience that your friend, you could have millions of followers or thousands of followers that your friend has no idea what world you're in. That's why it's so fascinating. Like if you're living on YouTube, you're living in a different planet. If you're living on beauty talk, you're living in a different planet, food talk, Instagram.

Like, it's just so many different choices of how to connect and communicate that. I think it's really open, but you should focus. You can't try to please everybody. If you try to please everybody, you'll please nobody. We have time for probably two more questions. Hands. All right, go over here. Hello, what is your name?

My name is Laura. Hi, Laura. What's your question? I wanted to know if you could touch on people who maybe want to do something so bad that they could come off desperate as opposed to confident, being assertive versus being needy when you want things to happen with your business. It's the same way as it is in dating. If you are, people can smell the thirst, people can smell blood in the water.

The person having the most fun is the most, attractive, the person who's naturally confident, you have to find your natural confidence or just, it's like I say about everything. If you don't know what to do, sit still. So people get, can be a lot, and the best advice is to just take a couple of deep breaths and relax and pretend you're in a bar

and who would you be, like the person who's just engaging and having fun and comfortable in their own skin or the person who everybody knows, like, wants it so badly. Like, you know, whoever you're trying to attract would, they'd be like, this bitch wants a ring tonight, and I'm scared. You know, so I would just chill. Right? Yeah.

We have one more right over here. Hello. Is that too much? What's your name? Mary. Oh, yes, we talked earlier, Mary. Hello there. Yes. What's your question for Bethany? Well, quick, I just want to make sure that I just say your work with Be Strong. Doing Be Strong is the most inspiring thing I've probably ever seen in my life. And I just wanted to make sure someone said that to you know. Oh, that's sweet. That's nice. We're working, we have a relief effort called Be Strong. And we work in natural disasters and we did a lot in the PPE crisis. And war is very different because there's no end in sight to it. So like there's a hurricane, and I know this wasn't your question, but I just, I'm glad you brought it up because it's important time right now where it's great to talk about the pumpkin spice latte and TikTok dances, but there is a war and it's very divisive and it's very scary.

And it would be, it's like business and it is of not-for-profit business, but it's as important, it's more important than business. It's literally life or death. And you have to make difficult decisions and you have to think about how to connect and convey and to write a post about something and stay present in it and stay passive. about something when every single celebrity is terrified to do so. I mean no one's no one will talk about it and I know because the publicists are saying shut up don't say a thing and I'm like that say with thoughts and prayers they say to him I'm like that is baby talk but it's not that easy because you're trying to convey something you're trying to hear every side and you're trying to save lives so it's important for me to talk about what

we're doing and it takes a lot of thought that's when like it's as hard as like your business is going under like you have to hold the steering wheel and not hold too tight as you were talking about appearing but you can't let go you are driving the car and you are just trying to like on a rainy scary road like control the car but not let go it's very hard and that's what it's been like but I'm sorry that was an interruption to your no it's not an interruption at all thank you um my my question though is um I know you've gone through some some tougher times you've followed your career for a long time I'm actually just kind of coming out of one myself a couple of years of a really tough medical thing. And in that time, I wrote a Christmas

musical and I'm starting to do better. I'm trying to kind of reenter the world again, kind of get that moving. And it's actually really hard. Like before I got sick, I kind of identified with you more. I was very go-getter, very, you know, not afraid of anything, but it's a little bit harder now. I just feel more delicate. And I just don't know if you ever dealt with that kind of when you were kind of coming out of harder times if there was things that, like, I don't know, like, like, mottoes or anything like that that you had that kind of helped you get your, like, fire back. I'm glad you asked that because it reminded me as something that's really important because

I am an, you know, intense, passionate person, but the best ideas come, my best ideas come between sleep and wake, and during times when I've been home, like just doing yoga or just relaxing or just hanging with my dogs or being with my daughter, the ideas come when you allow to relax. So anytime someone's going through something, whether they're sick or they had surgery, everybody wants to, like, control the process and like, oh, but I can't work out for this long. And I always see, and this is the, I ever, this is the real secret. That was a scam. That was fake news that other secret. This is the real secret. The real, see, I had to work this through with you guys, is that I, I, when I failed and got knocked down so many times,

when I was the, when I was the, um, runner up on the apprentice, no, and I didn't even make it onto the apprentice after a week of being sequestered. I was always like knock yourself down and brush yourself off, but then I always would be positive and make meaning out of the failure or the thing or the surgery or the illness. Like, then I'm going to learn about this. Or then this means I'm going to rest more. Then this means my skin's going to be better because I'm not drinking or I'm home breathing and relaxing, like make meaning out of what's actually happening, which is really being present. And then, and that's what the pandemic also did. People found, instead of panic like deer in headlights, they shook the snow globe up, and we're like, where else are the fish?

And this is why the whole content to the people and why my podcast exploded and all, because I wasn't like just looking at this one thing that had to happen. You know, Stacey's Pita Chips, who I bring up all the time was a sandwich cart, and they knew that they had to have extra bread because that's one thing you can't run out of. They could run out of other things, but to make sandwiches, arguably you have to have bread unless you're eating in-and-out burgers and lettuce and then don't come here. It's ridiculous. So, because that's not a sandwich. Lettuce and a burger is not a sandwich.

But anyway, we can fight that out in the comments. So, again, I forgot I was going to say it. It was telling you my secret. So those are the times when you really like, oh, so Stacey's. So they ended up making the bread, the extra bread in the winter, and to pita chips. And they ended up selling for $250 million because they were looking at the sandwiches, but the fish were where the chips are. So whatever you're going through, find the fish.

Like, you don't have to be a hundred percent. You could be working smarter, not harder. Like, find what this means in your life and be present in it and lean into it, and you don't need to be who you were before. The world has changed since before anyway. You're who you are now. So be present in that. And make meaning out of it.

Like, really, when it's a failure, like, find the yes and the failure, because that's when I really thrive. When the shit hits the fan, when we're sending $13 million in PPE to Cuomo, and I realize that I think the people are criminals and they're scamming us and it's counterfeit PPE and I need to get myself a diaper deal like Chris Jenner did, I was like, that's when you get like real tight

and like that's when you have to solve the problems and that's when you learn, when it's like not easy. You don't learn when it's going good. You learn when it's like, okay, now's a chance to really learn. Have they asked you to be a panelist on Shark Tank yet? I was. Oh, you were? Yeah, a couple of times.

Oh, my gosh. Been there, done that. Whoops, didn't do my research. No, it's okay. I didn't research you either, but don't worry. You are seriously. Amy didn't tell me I had to. I think that's right.

I know. Amy does love, no things, you know. All right, well, seriously, you are a legendary bosswoman, and I have been honored to be in your presence for this chat. Thank you. And everybody else backstage, come on. out. Yay. I love this stuff. Thank you so much. Everyone for coming. Yeah, it's gorgeous. I want this. I love anything green, obviously. This is so pretty. I want this. I want this.

I'm putting this in my purse. Yeah, and I want the picture. Hi. So, just wanted to wrap this up and say thank you to our wonderful guest, Jenny Garth, Wells Adams, Bethany Frankel, Tyler left. Tyler had to get out of here. He had some cooking to do for some other people. hungry people for cooking that giant steak in here i'm like if this place goes up in flames that be a bad look for the insurance company no complaint from the hartford thank you so much for your great questions throughout the evening well thank you thank everyone for coming this is great thank you all of you and everybody watching at home thank you so so much and uh also thank you to the hartford small business insurance you guys made this all happen and put out all this great info for all

the inspiring and current business owners down here in the audience. Thank you so much. Good night. Thank you. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening today. Check out more secret of my success episodes on the IHeart app or wherever you get your podcast. Make sure to check out Small Biz Ahead, the Hartford Small Business podcast for more tips and tricks on how to start, run, and grow your business. Hi, my name is Enya Eumanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom.

If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free... iHeart radio app search emergency

intercom and listen now why are TSA rules so confusing? You got a hood of you want to take it all! I'm Mani I'm Noah. This is Devin. And we're best friends and journalists with a new podcast called No Such Thing, where we get to the bottom of questions like that.

Why are you screaming? I can't expect what to do. Now if the rule was the same, go off on me. I deserve it. You know, lock him up. Listen to No Such Thing on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you you get your podcast. No such thing.

I'm Dr. Joy Harden-Bradford, host of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. I know how overwhelming it can feel if flying makes you anxious. In session 418 of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, Dr. Angela Nealbarnett and I discuss flight anxiety. What is not a norm is to allow it to prevent you from doing the things that you want to do, the things that you were meant to do. Listen to therapy for Black girls on the. iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

The Super Secret Bestie Club podcast season four is here. And we're locked in. That means more juicy chisement. Terrible love advice. Evil spells to cast on your ex. No, no, no, we're not doing that this season. Oh. Well, this season, we're leveling up.

Each episode will feature a special bestie, and you're not going to want to miss it. My name is Curley. And I'm Maya. Get in here. Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast.