The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - Brooke Shields On Building Confidence, Resilience, and Maintaining An Empowered Life

Episode Date: June 1, 2026

#976: Join us as we sit down with Brooke Shields – actress, model, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and cultural icon. From iconic roles in Pretty Baby, The Blue Lagoon, and Endless Love to Broadway, television, and bestselling books, Brooke has remained one of the most influential and recognizable women in entertainment for decades. Expanding into entrepreneurship, Brooke recently launched Commence, a hair wellness brand designed for  women over 40 focused on scalp and hair health. Alongside her career, she has remained a vocal advocate for women's issues, mental health awareness, and arts education. In this episode, Brooke opens up about growing up in the spotlight, why education always came first, her experience with postpartum depression, navigating motherhood and longevity, and how she's empowering women to embrace every stage of life while raising confident, resilient daughters.   To Watch the Show click HERE   For Detailed Show Notes visit TheBossticks.com   To connect with Brooke Shields click HERE   To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE   To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE   Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE   Head to our ShopMy page HERE and LTK page HERE to find all of the products mentioned in each episode.   Get your burning questions featured on the show! Leave the Him & Her Show a voicemail at [phone].   To Shop Commence visit http://shopcommence.com and use code SKINNY for an additional 10% off bundles for a limited time.    This episode is sponsored by PVOLVE Head to http://pvolve.com/skinny and use code SKINNY for 15% off sitewide, or on class packs at a Pvolve studio near you.   This episode is sponsored by FRE Nicotine Try FRE Nicotine Pouches today at http://FREpouch.com and use code SKINNY for 25% off for NEW customers only. WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.   This episode is sponsored by Nutrafol For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you visit http://Nutrafol.com and enter promo code SKINNYHAIR.   This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp You don't have to say yes to everything this summer. Find support in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/SKINNY.   This episode is sponsored by The Skinny Confidential  Shop the limited edition Eden Rock x The Skinny Confidential collab at https://boutique.oetkerhotels.com and at http://shopskinnyconfidential.com. While supplies last.    This episode is sponsored by Polymarket Polymarket is now available in the U.S. App Store, with pop culture markets launching very soon. Download the app now and use code SKINNY to skip the waitlist and be first in line when those markets go live.   This episode is sponsored by Beekeeper's Naturals Go to http://beekeepersnaturals.com/SKINNY or enter code SKINNY to get 20% off your order.   This episode is sponsored by Function Health Function provides 160+ lab tests for $1/day and member pricing on MRI and CT scans. Join at http://functionhealth.com/SKINNY or use gift code SKINNY25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Produced by Dear Media

Welcome to the Bostics, starring Lauren Bostic and Michael Bostick. Together, they are the Bostics. She's an actress, a model, a best-selling author. I'm a huge fan, an entrepreneur and a cultural icon. She's also a mother of two. Brooke Shields, I mean, it can't get better than Brooke Shields. She is so multifaceted and she's truly had such longevity. in the space. To me, she's remained one of the most iconic and recognizable women in the

entertainment world. I have followed her career forever, and I'm so excited to welcome the one, the only, Brooke Shields to the show. I told you off air. I have wanted you to come on the show for so long. I'm a big fan. I've read all three of your books. Thank you so much. They're stacked over there. Thank you. Yes, you have. And I told you've had quite the life. I mean, Wow. Yeah, I've been around a long time. So I guess I'd love to like sort of tell your story on this show and just kind of give the audience a full perspective. When is the first moment that you knew that you wanted to be in show business? Was there an epiphany? Well, considering I was working since I was 11 months old, not quite sure I had the proper perspective then.

You know, mom, get me out of diapers and get me in showbiz. So I think it really wasn't until I had made movies and I had sort of gone to college and I'd satisfied that part of what I really knew I always wanted and needed in my life. And then it was after college that I just thought, okay, this is really what I'm going to pursue because I've taken the four years, I've stepped away. I've had a life. I've got great friends. I had a great education. And those are things that I just didn't. want to miss out on. And it wasn't until I then started applying that sort of knowledge to, I wonder how it would look if I researched roles differently or if I, you know, kind of went into the acting world from a different perspective, not just doing it because other people want me to. 11 months old? I was a model. I was an ivory soap baby. So at 11 months old,

you, that's your first moment on the big screen. What is the next, when is the next thing? How does it sort of tumbley? I guess, why did you become aware of kind of what you were doing? Because obviously you're starting that young, there's, you know, I mean, you don't know anything. I was my, they needed a baby and the client didn't like any of the babies. And Skopula was doing the photo shoot. And so he called my mom because they're friends.

And he said, Terry, you know, bring the baby. I'm sure she's had a nap and she's probably in a good mood. And I was really used to being like with people all the time. mom would just bring me everywhere. And so I got the job, like kind of on the spot. And they said to my mom, like, hey, you know, you could probably put that baby into modeling and make a decent living together, you know, that way. And so I was a baby model for the longest time. In fact, it modeled as a boy until I was two years old because I had no hair. So I modeled for catalogs and it paid the rent and we were able to get a bigger apartment and it was just a sort of this, we fell into it.

And then as I got older, you know, it was a fun thing for me to do after school because I had really great little friends who were also models. Sometimes my mom would, you know, because a lot of these moms had more than one kid. So my mom would take, you know, take me and another kid to a go see because she lived in the city. A lot of the moms lived like in Staten Island and out of the city. So we lived in the city. So it was just sort of like, We fell into a community and I still have friends that I met as a young, young, like seven, eight, nine-year-old model. Your mom sounds like a real character. How was she plugged in with all these people?

She was from Newark, New Jersey. So, you know, she was like, I'm getting the hell out of here. And she finished grammar school or high school, I think it was maybe. And she was like, I'm out. I'm leaving. And she went into Manhattan and never looked back and just, she happened to have been really beautiful and had really good style and was fascinated with society and all the rules and all the fancy Upper East Side Women. And she was so beautiful. And she would go to the thrift shops and buy all of their like hand-me-downs, but she looked fabulous.

And so she kind of just put herself, she was a makeup artist at Lord and Taylor. She sort of modeled in the clothing district, in the garment district for a while, anything that could just keep her. And then she just fell in with all these really artistic people, photographers, hairdressers, makeup artists. And that was our family. So she herself was creative.

She had a perspective. She was creative. And she would, you know, if she said once she made a sheath dress and she, with that out of this family, that looked like poochie, and it wasn't poochie. But she just made it to look like poochie instead of putting Emilio, which was written all through it, she put her name, Terry.

She said it was great until the rain started. And then it became like, and then it became like, b'b-b-but-but. And are you telling your mom as you get older that you want to go to these auditions, or is your mom like you have to go or is it collaborative? You know what? It didn't. It was just never a question of not doing it, because you could go on field trips with these other kids from a couple of

calls patterns or for, you know, Butterick or Gimbles or, you know, Alexander's, all these, like, catalogs. And so they would take three or four kids and we'd go out on the big van and we'd have the best time. And then I'd come home and, you know, go to sleep and go to school. And it was sort of like, it was this whole other life. And if I didn't want to do something, she would say, okay, we're turning off the phone. So she would unplug the phone and we'd go to the park or we'd, you know, if I didn't feel like it or if I wasn't feel like it. Or if I wasn't feeling well. And so it became, it was just our life and our social life, too. And what about the kids at school when they start knowing that you are on television? Are they receptive? Yeah, they were

really, it was like everybody was really proud, you know? It's like I did my first movie when I was nine and all my little friends, we went and saw screening of it and we all got to, it was like a teeny screening room, but it was a horror movie. And I didn't know that when a horror movie was edited together, it got really scary because I wasn't scared making it. And they edited it all together. We were like in third grade or something and we were just terrified. I was like, I'm never making a movie like that again. When you were a child, do you remember your favorite thing that you did? I didn't really attach much to the work that I did. We got attached to, I got attached to things like, oh, we can go to a dude ranch.

We can afford to go to a dude ranch for, you know, four days or a week. Yeah, it was like, we can go spend the night at the holiday in and swim in the indoor pool. Like those were the things that like we got a Jeep. Well, think about it. I got to adopt a cat, you know. You think about it. We have a six-year-old daughter. Like, and I can imagine, like, that's what you would be excited about that a kid, like, the stuff.

The going, the places. Or you go to a nice restaurant and get like prime rib. You know, it was like it was fancy, you know what I mean? It seems like your mom also made it fun. She made it so much fun. And she was so inclusive with other kids. And the moms trusted their kids with her because she was just so fierce. And like not one photographer was creepy with any of these kids.

Not one, you know, was stylist, was mean. They were all so terrified of my mother. And so it was a, you know, a lot of the other times we would go on auditions and, you know, you'd hear the mom in the elevator like, I'll give you a bike if you do this. And my mom would be like, we're not bribing. I'm never bribing you to do anything if you don't want to do it. Kids would get, like, hit, like their moms would be like, how could you not do better? And my mom was like, hell no, this is going to be an fun experience or no experience. And is there an acting coach or people that you're working with to improve the acting or is it just natural? No. And that, you know, I was never put in a position to actually grow as an actress.

And my modeling career took over so quickly. And it was all about being on the covers of magazines and being in ads and you got more money and your day rate got bigger. And so that was it. And then my first like real big. movie was Pretty Baby. And it was such a difficult, difficult shoot to do because we were in New Orleans for almost five months and it was just a period movie and the hours were really long and it was during summer. So I only worked the three months and then I had to work like on weekends. So I didn't miss school. And it was such a made modeling look easy. You know, you model after. You model after You go do your homework, all they were doing your hair. You go shoot a cover and then you're back home by eight.

You know, this was so intensive. And then we went to the Cannes Film Festival with the film. And there was such a frenzy about me. And it was crowds of people in them trying to cut off my hair. And it was insane. What did you cut your hair because they wanted a piece of your hair? Because they wanted a piece of my... Like it was ridiculous.

And my mom and I were like, nope, never again. No more movies for us. Go back to modeling. cut back to dude branches. So they became obsessed with you. They were, and the movie was such a controversial movie. And it was a French director, first American film. And so we were so proud because my mom always just like took me to Felini movies

and took me to all these art films. Like we, you know, yeah, we'd see Disney cartoons and stuff too, but she was taking me to these real art house movies from the time I was a little girl. And so I had this appreciation of cinema and then was so happy to be a part of a film that was really cinematic. And then it just, it like wrecked, wrecked our whole life, our lives. And we just refused to do anything for years. It sounds like you guys came at it, like from culture and art and had a really different perspective than how people took it. Well, that's true.

And then also, the pressure started to come on to her to move me out to California so that I could get a school equivalency test. So I wouldn't have to go to school. Because if I had a job, you know, they'd call my mom and they'd be like, okay, you know, she's got this booking. And it starts at 10 a.m. And she'd say, okay, we'll see you at 3. And they said, no, no, it starts at 10 a.m. Because she didn't want to pull you out of school. Yeah.

She's done at school at 3 if you don't want her. You don't want to start at 3.3.30. Get another kid, you know. And that just sort of set the precedence for the importance of education, which is something she really didn't have. And that also gave me, like, real friends that weren't in competition, weren't in lived in L.A. and she refused to move me out to Los Angeles. She was like, we're New Yorkers. You're staying in New York. You're getting educated in this city. you're going to, this will be your sport. Sounds like a very smart woman. I think she was so ahead of her time and so ferocious with keeping people away from me, that that was the beginning of how she got such a bad reputation. Because she, it wasn't just because she was an alcoholic, which didn't help. But she, she was just so tough and badass and kind of,

She wouldn't let anybody take advantage of me. Well, it's interesting, too, that she knew how to do that then. And she had no model of her own mother doing anything to take care of her. And she had this little baby that, you know, she was divorced. She was a divorced mom at I was five months old. And she said to my mom, my dad, like, I don't want alimony from you. She even divorced him without telling him, which is just also kind of my mom. mom's MO. You can't fire me, I quit. She knew he was going to leave her or something. She was like,

that's it. I'm not the right pedigree for your father. And my father was from a very sort of Upper East Side sort of more fancy well-bred to, you know, more his dad married really wealthy women in New York. And so I had these two worlds like Newark and then I had my dad's world. And she said, look, I'm not, I don't want anything from you. I want you to educate this kid. So he had to pay for my schooling, like up until like college because then I could pay for my own education. But like she had such pride.

And it was us against the world. And we had this cast of fabulous gypsy people who Thanksgiving was the best ever because it had nothing to do with family. Just like a collection of character. Yeah, the collection. I mean, she taught me about Warhol and she, you know, introduced me to all these people that were, it was in that 70s and then 80s in New York was just a very, very specific, amazing time, art-wise. If she wasn't going to protect you, though, who was? The reputation thing is interesting to me because it's like if she didn't protect you, it's like you have to have someone that is creating a boundary. And the last thing that people won is that boundary.

Right. You know, they want to use you up. They want to get their pound of flesh. They want to, you know, they don't, they would get mad if I was doing my homework in the chair because I wasn't, you know, I wasn't engaged in all of it sort of socially. And, I mean, we didn't have, you know, phones then. But there was, it was like, no, we're going to be quiet in the makeup and hair room because she's got to do her homework. If your daughter had a daughter now, and that daughter, so it would be your granddaughter, wanted to be in show business, what would you tell your daughter to do? How would you handle it? Well, I'm, I've got a line of defense that's before then because I have two daughters and one of them had a modeling contract with Tommy Hilfiger.

and the other one is works for Extra and Good Morning America and she's on a reality show. And the thought of having my daughter be on a reality show was about, it was, I was apoplectic. I just, I could not believe. I was like, we're not reality people, nothing against reality, but we're not, you are not a badly behaved person. and I refuse to let you be a badly behaved person. Or those shows push for badly behaved. And they push that. You're doing boundaries like your mom.

Good TV. And so I really sat down with her and I said, I can't tell you what to do or what not to do because I am your mother. But even though I am your mother, you are of age. So what I can say is, you know, be the person holding the person's hair back. Don't be the person thrown up. You know, and I said every, I believe the. these shows need balance and don't get suckered into all of it in a way that compromises

who you really are as a person with manners, with integrity, with an education, with a good upbringing, with a work ethic. And so I think she saw bad behavior. She was sort of, she wasn't shocked by it, but she thought, okay, I don't have to just jump in. So I'm only teaching them by example, by what I am asking of them in the conversations I have. My younger daughter, you know, the modeling industry is a brutal, brutal industry. And it's based on telling you everything you're not. You're not skinny enough. You're too muscular. You're not this enough. You're to this, you're too that. And it's all based on breaking you down. And, you know, it's important for me.

Like, no, I'm not going to let her just go to Paris at 20 without any supervision. Maybe it won't be me per se, but if she doesn't want me to be around. But, like, I'm not throwing her to the wolves just because she thinks she wants to be a model and she's pretty. You know, I mean, it's very hard to – also, I was from a different era. Yeah. And models were very different from one another. You know, or even if you just look up the real supermodels, right, they all had a very different personality. There's this sort of homogenous way of looking that these kids are all really obsessed with all the time and the face tuning and all of this stuff that kind of creates this sort of airbrushed image.

And these kids are young. Like, I'm not against wanting to look better and feel better, but these are young kids, you know, and they're being told they're not enough of something. And they have to look like this to be important or necessary or pretty. And it's like I have to talk to them all the time. Yeah, and your era it felt like there was the era of the supermodel, but it was everybody was kind of like their own perspective and different. And I was before them. Like, I wasn't a supermodel. Like, I wasn't the Cindy, you know, Linda with like that whole.

That was, they were their own thing, you know, Helena and all those girls. I was, kind of came up before them, never did runway. That was always the face of the covers. Didn't they call you the face? They called me the face. Yeah. And so, you know, you get, you sort of go. It's pretty cool, though.

You know, it means that's all you are. You know, it means your body somehow is not good enough to do runway. Is that how you took it back then? I didn't until a little bit later because I didn't covet it. Like, I didn't. And, you know, runway just seemed so hard to do and stuff never fit me because, I mean, I've got, like, you know, I could palm a basketball. Like, I'm not a small-boned person. And I was, you know, always the cover girl and sort of just separated myself even from my own body and looked at all those women as like, oh, my God, they're the real models, you know.

So it didn't really take a toll until I got a little bit older and I watched me in interviews. And I thought, oh, my God, you were so young. You didn't know. And you weren't being asked any questions about your opinion. And it wasn't until I went to university and I came out that I realized I had opinions. And they weren't going to like my opinions because my opinions weren't their opinions, you know, PR and magazines and the press. And, you know, that's when I started thinking, okay, I've got to find my own perspective, my own agency, my own. because if I keep going along at this path, I'm going to just disappear.

And I will be very sad and I won't have any purpose, you know. What was it like to go to university as Brooke Shields? Was it a normal experience? Not at first. You know, people did this kind of really sweet, not even in hindsight. When it was happening, it was just really sweet. The students tried to protect me. So if they saw a photographer, they would report them

or they would come up to me and say photographer, photographer, you know. And I'd be like, oh, okay, thank you. And they'd be like, okay, let's walk to class together. Or not because they wanted to be in a picture, but because they didn't want me to be, you know, attacked. And, you know, they were offered money to take pictures of me in the shower and none of them accepted it. They all went to the proctors and they went to campus security

and said, this is happening and we're protecting her. But then they did this other thing where they really let me be alone. They were like, we're giving her space. And so I was like ridiculously lonely because they were respecting my privacy and my space. And I was like, no, I want friends. Because I assume that you have too many people in your face too often. And I was like, no, no, I want friends. I'll go to that party if you invite me.

So I wasn't getting invited to any parties. I wasn't, you know, nobody would ask to study with me. And so I'd spend all my time in the library. by myself. And I was like, this is miserable. Like, I want to, I think I want to go home. I can't. And then slowly, I did really well on my first 300-level exam. And it was, you know, multiple choice. So you either got it right or wrong. It wasn't left-open interpretation. So no one could say, oh, she got favorite treatment or something. Like, it was an essay. And I was one of four people that got an A out of 300 students.

And people were like, I saw them go to their name. And then I saw them bring the paper back and level it up to where my name was, because mine was on the S's. And I thought, oh, shit. God, I hope I got a good grade because if not, this is going to, this is not going to bode well for me. And from that day on, because I was only one of four people that got an A, because all I had time to do was study it.

So, of course, I was going to get. I wasn't at the party. So then they started saying, like, hey, we're going to do a study group. Do you want to study with us? And I would have rewritten all my notes by hand for people at that point. So it was through my achievement and then through just hanging out that people then, it wore off. And then we just became friends. Why do I feel like you graduated at the top of your class?

I graduated cum laude, which is not the top. of the class, but it is honors in French literature. It's pretty good. I'm also a really type A high achiever, really hard on myself. It just felt, you know, I always wanted straight A's and I wanted, you know, and it was like that was self-inflicted and definitely caused me a lot of stress. Where do you think that comes from? I honestly, it's not from my mom, not from my dad.

I think it came from being in the entertainment industry from such an early age. Yeah. And watching it destroyed people, watching what addiction looked like, watching how people's lives could just disappear. And I thought, oh, hell no, I'm not going to be a victim to this. It's so hard because unlike other businesses, you know, like in some business, maybe like some of the yardsticks, how well a company is doing. and entertainment as well, but you're also, like, at the mercy of public opinion and how well they feel you're doing or how well they like you or perceived to like you. And I imagine that's just, it's brutal being on the other end of that because there's not a lot

that you can control. And they were brutal to me. I was raked over the colds all the time, said I wasn't talented. I was, you know, just a pretty face and was that going to last. and my mother was a drunk, and it was like all this really horrible negativity. And it wasn't until I went to college that I was like, oh, wait a minute, okay, I can have a intelligence, I can have a brain. And that can't be taken away from me. So, you know, it was like my version of rebelling. But I also didn't read any of it. I started to, and my mom would be like,

Nope, nope, you're not reading any of it. Not reading any of it. Would she read it or would she trash it too? She started reading it and then she was basically like, I'm not, we're not doing this. Their opinion means nothing. We're going to keep going and we're going to, you know, laugh all of our way to, you getting an education, us having a good life and let's see where it leads us. You know, she didn't do anything really to nurture my acting

because it kind of wasn't necessary. I didn't have to be really good. I just needed to show up and make, you know, Paramount money or Columbia money, you know. And that was unfortunate because it took so many decades before I really started to believe in my talent and keep getting up to bat, up to bat, up to bat, and then learning, oh, wait a minute.

I'm still here doing this. I can't really suck if I'm still here 20, 30 years later, you know. And I think it would have been, I also, you know, mom didn't think in terms of, oh, you do a movie with, you know, a French director. Wouldn't it be interesting after that to go to Europe and maybe work in Europe in the film industry? Or maybe you go to Broadway or maybe you, you know, what's the next step? No, mine was, you know, oh, let's do, make a hair dryer about a doll after her. And I became like this mega, mega celebrity that made us so much more money,

but it didn't have the artistic value that I grew up believing and watching. So there was a real, you know, there was a disassociation with both, and it was a tough period for me. Then I just went hardcore into studying, you know, acting in classes and then was able to go be on Broadway. And that kind of just launched the next sort of trajectory of my career. How did you look at the next trajectory of your career when you graduated college? I thought it was going to be a lot easier. I really thought, oh, I've been gone for four years.

It's not that long. Now I'm smart so I can bring more to what I do. I'm not just, you know, vapid or I can answer questions and interviews. I really, really thought that they were going to just open arms and welcome me back in. And I'd do a movie a year and all, and I wouldn't have lost anything and could not get a movie to save my life. And by then there were all these other Natalie Portman's and all these young, you know, kids were kind of as Diane Lanes and the, who now were kind of really coming into their careers and being quite successful at it.

And I wasn't in the group. I wasn't in the club. So what was the first thing that you felt like was a good representation of what you wanted to do? Going on Broadway made me realize that I was a really hard worker and I could really learn. It's a lot of work. And it's a lot of work. And I excelled at it because I,

picked the best dancer and studied them. They picked the best, you know, singer and found out what their technique was and studied all the time and just really worked at being my best version of a triple threat. And it was the first time that kind of talent had much more to do than just with the way I looked. You know, I had to be able to dance. I had to be able to sing and act. And I needed to really work at it because I had never studied any of it. So it was the first time I felt really, really proud of doing eight shows a week and keeping a show open and doing all the press and thinking, okay, if this is what it is to be the Brooke Shields part of you, because you got, it was stuntcasting. Now everybody is stuntcast, you know, on Broadway and in theater,

which is great. It's tough for a lot of the hardcore long time Broadway people. But But I thought, okay, your fame got them to want to cast you to keep the box office open. Okay, that's okay. There's a tool. Yeah, it's a tool. That's fine. Don't resent it. Use the hell out of it and grow.

And that was kind of just really the beginning. And then from that I got, not because of that, but I got cast in friends in one episode. And it changed everything for me. How did getting cast in friends change everything? It was, first of all, I wasn't playing myself. I was with the Julia Roberts of the world and who were huge movie stars. And I was able to hold my own. I wasn't acting opposite them, but we were all in the same Super Bowl episode.

And I had one of the funniest parts written in the whole episode. And I really, you know, talk about balls to the wall, like comedy. It was comedy gold. And at first they didn't let me do it. And they said, it makes me too crazy. And I said, I have to do it, please. And at the last minute, we did one pass without it. And then the showrunner said, you know, hey, Shields, put it back in.

And that moment was just a very crazy moment for this character. She was just crazy. And that sort of shock of seeing someone that had been sort of considered a supermodel, yeah, kind of a thing and pristine and untouchable. And all of a sudden she's licking a guy's fingers. She's laughing with like a crazy person. And they were like, oh, my God, what is this? Like we haven't seen the likes of this.

And it just changed everything. It got me my own television show. And it allowed me to really. kind of delve in with comedy chops. And it was a hybrid because we had a live audience every week. So it was like theater and TV all put into one. Many people aspire to fame, maybe even fantasize about it. What do people miss about the costs of fame from somebody who's experienced, you know,

at the upper ends? And you're very right. And, you know, you ask a kid today what they want to be. I mean, a lot. And they say famous. where they say an influencer. Or crater or whatever. Yeah, they don't like...

But there's an element of you want to reach a level of notoriety and fame. And likes and numbers and all of that kind of stuff. And listen, if that's an ambition and you are a young person, go for it. Like, I don't look down on it. I just, it's very, it can be very, very short-lived. And the transience of it is what I get, nervous about for young people because it's so seductive. And, you know, my, my older daughter, she's sort of tapping into this stuff like, oh, this water bottle company and will you send us

50 and I'll post for you. And it is a business. And I say to her, it's a business, but it's just, it's not who you are right now. If you want a family, you know, anonymity can be navigated. you play it smart and you really fight for it. When you bring children into the world of fame, it can be very scary and dangerous, especially because they inherit it and they don't necessarily know how to handle it. You have to keep, you have to fight for, it's not just normalcy, but it's when this is all over, what are you going to have left? And what are you going to feel good about growing old?

with. And those are the kind of things that I just asked myself because I knew I wanted an education and I knew I wanted a family. And I knew that when I had kids, I was going to have to pull back. I couldn't be the kind of gypsy that I wanted and take roles. But how were you able to pull back with the profile that you had? Are you able to kind of like go somewhere else and hide out? No. I can't hide out. And. Because you've reached, because I think there's, what I tell people is there's like a, I think there's a certain level where you can pull it back and kind of maybe fall into the shadows and be forgotten. I think there's a level that you've achieved where you, it's not possible any longer to just disappear. Fade away.

Right. Yeah, you can't, you know, and there's other people that I think once you get to that point, like that's your new life. And, you know, that it's not something you can even seek and make happen because it either happens in the zeitgeist with the public or with response to you, or it just doesn't. And that can be really. frustrating for people. I think what I fought for the whole time is a diverse type of creative career. So when a place was cold to me, I was able to go into theater. When, you know, theater had its moment for a while, I was able to write a book or, you know, I tried to keep going into areas of creativity that would still allow me to learn, grow, and be creative, be a talent,

a creative person. And that kind of diversity seemed to have given me people I trust and environments that I feel safe in. And I also don't try to hide from it. You know, I don't, I'm not wearing hoodie and, you know, all like this. And it's like, no, but you also have to be really careful because if you're too much, people just take more and more and more and more. So you have to find where your boundaries are comfortable. And that's really hard to do. But for me, it's been through education and through really surrounding myself with very specific types of people. When you date one of the most famous athletes in the world and you're one of the most famous people in the world and the attention doubles, I would think. Is that crazy? You know, with tennis, it was interesting because tennis is such a, it's such a one-on-one hero focal point for people and they really feel like they own these tennis players.

and their fame is so, sports is, I mean, fanatics are sports fans, fanatics. Like, that's a real word. If you love someone, they lose, it's like you ruin part of their life. Oh, yeah, and they take it personally and they get angry. Come on, why are you missing that shot? It's like, you try this for five hours. Shut up, you know. But, you know, they cannot like what I do.

They cannot think I'm pretty. They cannot like my talent, whatever I did in something. But I can argue that I've won, still, you know, because I did something I believed in. You're not going to scream at you from missing a line. Right, exactly. So that was a very interesting, different look at fame. For me, he was so much bigger than where I was at that time in my career. And I got to hide behind his whole and time.

That's interesting. Enterprise. I always walked a little bit behind, usually with his bodyguard, and it wasn't all on me. I didn't have to get out of the car first. So is that part of the attraction in a way? That was a huge part of it because it was such a relief to not carry that burden and that torch, you know? And, you know, and then I started getting blamed for everything.

And then that was like a whole other element to it. Yeah. Yeah, so, you know, and that's when it, that was tricky. But, but, you know, and he, that type of a life, they take over everything in your life. They take over, you switch all your doctors, you switch all of your, your people in your life. You go with their talent managers and their lawyers in their whatever, and you just become under this blanket. And there's like a real safety feeling to it until you feel like, you feel like, you. you don't know who you are anymore, you know.

That's so interesting. When you guys divorce and you meet your husband who you are with now, how did you guys meet? He, well, he had seen me first because I was doing the Larry David show, and I knew all those comics. Oh, no, I was doing Gary Shanling. Excuse me. Jesus.

Sorry, Gary. I was doing the Larry Sanders show, which was. Gary's show. And Chris was friendly with all those comedy writers. And so Chris saw me on my episode, but I didn't meet him. And then, you know, cut to I getting a divorce. Nobody, I mean, it took seven minutes. And nobody knows yet.

And I walk into the gym on a lot because I had gotten a dog. and I bring the dog into the gym to visit everybody and just say hi to all my friends who work there. And I let the dog go because I knew there wasn't an outlet for her to leave. And he brought her back and was like, is this dog stray? Is this your dog? And I was like, yes, yes, it's my dog.

My husband doesn't want me to have a dog. And he's like, all right, lady, I'm not hitting on you. Like, get over yourself. Like I just kept saying my husband, even though I was divorced. And so I was, because the legal stuff hadn't all fully happened, and I was being instructed, don't say anything, don't say anything, the world can't know. And it was funny because he was just like, okay, look, you're not all that.

It's okay. And then over the course of the next few months, he was writing something, and I was hired to host it. And he said, oh, tell her, you know, it's not some hacky writer. It's this guy that I actually have met her before. And then that was kind of the beginning. It's through me delivering his words on television. How long have you guys been together now? So this is 20, 26 years.

Wow, congratulations. And then three before, you know, getting married. All right, I'm going to tell you guys about something that I have been obsessed with lately. Polymarket. Okay, hear me out. If you're someone who loves being ahead of the conversation like me, I like to be on the pulse, avant-garde with my thinking, I like to spot things early and I like to really stay on the pulse of what's happening across culture, entertainment, tech, and just all the things.

You're going to be into this. The way that I think about Polly Market is when the odds move, something's already happening. It's the most accurate real-time signal on topics that you you already follow and it moves before the news does. So if you're already in the know, you have a place to actually benefit from it. So there's markets for everything. Like if Kylie Jenner and Timothy will get engaged in 2006, there's AI advances in the tech market. And there's even like the most talked about entertainment trends. I was on there earlier and I right now am obsessed with James Bond because my son is named Bond and we're having a James Bond party. And I kept checking in on the odds of who the next James Bond is going to be. So these are the kinds of

conversations that are coming to the Polymarket app very soon for US users. What I think is cool, though, is it's not limited to one category. So you can really get everything all at once. All the things people are talking about weighing in on everywhere. Anyway, you know Michael and I like being early on with things, and this is one not to miss. It really gives you the sharpest read on where things are heading before the news drops. You are going to be like a psychic, okay? Polymarket is now available in the U.S. App Store with pop culture markets launching very soon. Download the app using our code Skinny to skip the wait list and be the first in line when those markets go live. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, one of our favorite long-term partners

of this show for years now. Summer is upon us. And for some, summer is their favorite season. Travel picks up, kids are out of school, and adventure is the focus. For others, juggling it all can be tough and can lead to overwhelm and counting down the minutes until the kids are back in school. And many worry they're wasting the days of sunshine.

This summer, Lauren and I are taking a couple small family vacations, but by and large, we're going to be locked in, we're going to be working, we're going to be in the studio, we're going to be running the companies. But the kids are going to be out of school. There's going to be a lot going on. And here's the thing, for the parents out there, they all know this.

Summer can be even more stressful than the school. year. BetterHelp helps people perform at their highest levels. Therapy can help people better understand their needs, feel more confident setting boundaries, and create a version of summer that actually feels good. What I love is BetterHelp brings therapy right to the comfort of your own home, long gone are the days of waiting

in a waiting room and driving across town. And with over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform having served over 6 million people globally. The BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the U.S. and BetterHelp does all the initial matchmaking so you don't have to do the work,

you can just focus on the therapy that you need. Of course, you can switch therapists at any time for any reason. And if there's one thing we've learned doing this show for close to a decade, is people that are achieving, performing at a high level, and taking care of themselves, utilize therapy on a regular basis. That has become clear to us. It's a tool in their toolbox, and it can be a tool in yours as well. So check them out. You don't have to say yes to everything this summer. Find support and therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash skinny. That's betterh-h-el-p.com slash skinny. If you have hair thinning like me and you've tried everything, listen up, okay?

This is the Lauren kit for hair growth. I have a silk pillowcase. I do my groanedling on my scalp. I do scalp massage. I eat a lot of organ meat and I also supplement Nutriful. It has the most proactive approach and targets the root cause. If you have not heard of neutroful, it is the number one. Dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand and it's the number one hair growth supplement brand,

personally used by dermatologists. This is big news, you guys, because Nutraful's hair growth supplements are peer-reviewed, NSF certified for sport, and clinically tested. So it's not a one-size-fits-all. They have different formulas, okay? I am on the postpartum one, but you have to look at your life stage and match it with that. Let your hair be one last thing to worry about. See visibly thicker, stronger, faster-growing hair in three to six months with Nutraful. For a limited time, NutriFle is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you visit neuterful.com and enter promo code skinny hair. That's neuterful.com spelled nutra f-l.com promo code skinny hair. Every single morning I wake up and I give my kids their supplements. And one of the supplements

that we give our kids every single day is beekeepers naturals. So there is this propolis throat spray. I'm sure you guys have seen it everywhere. It's yellow. It's amazing. They have an adult version that Michael and I use all the time, but they also have a kids version. And why I like this for my kids is it's your daily dose of immunity. So this is going to be proactive for the immune system all year round. I also like it too when they're sick. It feels really soothing on the throat. And the best part about it is it delivers antioxidants like flavonoids that fight free radicals in combat stress. I carry this in my handbag. We have it in our supplement drawer. Michael has it and is carrying. on all the things. If you're on Bekeeper's Natural's site, I also recommend getting their nasal

spray. I have loved to use this every single time I've been sick this year. It's a non-toxic, non-habit-forming nasal spray, and it cleanses and sues the nasal passage. So how I use this is any time I'm feeling like I'm having a histamine response, or I feel like I'm getting a cold, I'll use it. And it's the best nasal spray I've ever used. They also have a throat soother and a vitamin C liposomal. So you really can't go wrong with other products. Today, beekeepers naturals is giving our listeners an exclusive offer. Go to beekeepers naturals.com slash skinny or intercode skinny to get 20% off your order.

That's B-E-K-E-P-E-R-S-N-A-R-S-N-A-L-S dot com slash skinny or inner-coed skinny. Beatkeepers Naturals products are also available at Target, Whole Foods, Walmart, Amazon, C-V-S, and Walgreens. When you opened up about your postpartum depression, I had postpartum depression with my first baby. I actually went back and re-read the book. I had already read it, but you don't understand it when you haven't had kids as well as when you're actually in it. I went back and read it and it was so helpful. There had never been anyone who had written about it. What did that do for women everywhere? I feel like it was liberating. Well, thank you, and I'm hope, you know, I'm glad if it could help in any way. I mean, I sort of was afraid to write the book because I thought, oh, who wants another celebrity complaining about boo-hoo? I've got the baby blues, you know, it's like I just didn't, I was so ashamed by it. And I was like, I'm not getting on a soapbox.

And my agent at the time said, no, nobody's talking about this. And if you do, you can, you might be able to help even just one person. And it was, and having had a daughter, too, I thought, oh, my God, I hope she never has to go through this and never has to feel it. And it's so custom made to absolutely every mother. Yeah. And the fathers or the partners or the other people involved have no idea how to. fix it. None. And to be honest, you guys are not a help.

No, it was a, I mean, they're scared though, they don't know what's lost. I've personally we've talked about it and I've taken a lot of flacklers but what I remember at the time I just I was like, what's going on? Like what is the person? Yeah, and I did say that at one point and I that was not a good thing. That was said to me too. But it was so

I mean, we've known each other for so long and when it happened I remember just being like what is going on and like it was like who's this person. Yeah. And you, I say in the book you feel like you've been in you know, the invasion of the body snatchers. It's like you don't even recognize yourself. And because of the biochemical aspect of it, it can be hysteria creating.

You know, your hormones are so out of whack that that lends itself towards these behaviors and these reactions that that's why we're called crazy, you know, and that's why we're, and it's in the shame surrounding it. matter with you? Why can't you just love this baby and be all googly-eyed and really thrilled and happy because we're all happy? And you wanted this baby. And I went through IVF seven times for a baby. And I was just, I made a huge mistake. I'm a horrible person. I can't believe. And then I started researching it. And I started delving into different accounts and doctors' accounts and medical journals and then talking and asking repeatedly people, hey, did your sister ever go through this?

Or how's your wife with her first baby? Or, you know, I mean, they would ask my husband, oh, is she sleeping through the night? He'd go, yes. I'm like, whose house are you in? Yeah. Because my kid's not sleeping through the night. You're sleeping through the night. Yeah. I've got sleep deprivation and I feel crazy. Yeah. So it's like, and then the word crazy is such a bad word, right? So it's, it was this, it just kept compounding it, but the more educated I got on the range of, you know, baby blues to postpartum psychosis to, and then I went through extensive therapy to alleviate myself from the failure that I thought I was, I was a failure. I failed at the thing that is the most natural, and people have been doing it for hundreds and hundreds

of years and I failed at it. And I don't fail. I get straight A's. And here I was, you know what I mean? It was just between that and then biochemically finding a way to balance my hormones through medicine. If it hadn't been for medicine, I don't know if I would have survived it. And getting flack for that and thinking, wow, women are suffering alone and they're afraid and they don't, they're not being supported or educated and being told there is help out there. Yeah, and I think to your point, it's to be told you're supposed to feel this way and then you don't, it makes you feel like a bad person. Yeah, you're a bad, horrible human being.

You know, and what did that baby ever do to you? I mean, it's just like, and the thing that's so genius about it, is that it's literally custom-made. Every bad question you ask yourself, your postpartum will answer it. Right, you're spirally. And then I think you talked about this in your book, intrusive thoughts.

That's a whole different. You have thoughts that you're like, where is this thought? Like, it's like a horrible thought. And visions. Yeah. Visions where you are seeing horrible things. And you're, you are going,

you are in a process. of a psychotic break, but that it can be helped biochemically and physiologically. And once I started to realize that it wasn't something that was just a choice, you know, that if I had gotten, my one daughter has type 1 diabetes and I always said, hey, if you know, if you have diabetes, take your insulin, like insulin is there for a reason or if you have cancer, there's treatment for it, you know. And I started looking at this as the affliction that it was and the sort of the biology of it. And it took a bit of the guilt and oneness off of what I was looking at as a failure.

Were you prepared for when you launched the book for all of the people to come around and everyone has an opinion? Men are having opinions, which they should just sit down. Were you prepared for that? I'm so used to being rigged over the coals that I for so many years that I was ready for I thought okay bring it's going to be out there yeah it's going to be out there and I'm going to have to be okay with it because I'm not even going to pay attention to it because I was honest in this book and this doing writing this book even helped me and one day I hope my daughter is able to read it with perspective you know and and not and not be heard

by it but learn from it. And it was funny because every time any men had negative things to say about it, I would be like, wait, wait, do you have ovaries? Oh no, oh no, you don't. Oh, okay, yeah, that's right. I mean, I guess what were the men upset about? What were they saying about?

They wanted me to power through it, you know, get over it. You know, come on, soldier on. If you said that now too in this time in 2026, they would get their dick chopped off. Oh, absolutely. It's kind of like, you were almost like, you were like, you were so ahead of the pulse. If that, if that book came out now, men wouldn't. Well, what I've realized doing this show now and having conversations both with doctors

and people have experienced postpartum nutrition, people have written about it as it, this, I think, has been misdiagnosed for so many years with so many women. And like, you just don't, you know, maybe someone you hear, oh, they're depressed or they got, like, I think a lot of women experience. this without a proper diagnosis or even under there was no like putting words to what the thing was and you kind of don't know you have it when you're in it it's weird no it you really don't it's weird this is like a new thing to talk about even though you were very early but it's not it's not it's still not like yeah things like this and menopause are not taught in medical school people

the doctors have said they've gone through entire gone through medical school and had never learned about these things and you know you don't have to just be in gynecology to to learn this stuff, you know. So also, there's this, you know, back sort of in the day they had wet nurses and they had people to sort of, it took a village, you took the baby away, you let the mom rest, you fed her, you, you nurtured her, you know. And now we're supposed to do it all and still have a career. And, you know, and all of this.

And so there's this, you're just, you're out of the gate. You're up against so much. And undiagnosed, sometimes you are able to level biochemically. But very often, undiagnosed, it can get worse. And that's when we hear those horrible stories. And so we think that that's what all postpartum is. I'm watching Mad Men again. I hadn't watched it since it came out, so it's a lot younger.

And I'm just only season one. But you're watching, and they did a really good job of this, what many women's experiences were back then. And then you see Betty, who's, she's playing the housewife, and she's like with the psychologist and the husband's calling, and you're like, oh,

like, this is how they used to treat a lot of these people and these women, right? And so they like, almost like they were crazy and, like, you shouldn't have those feelings. Like, just get it together. Yeah, just get over it. Yeah, it's a get over it. And then it's interesting to watch.

I just saw, die, my darling, with Jennifer Lawrence, and don't, I mean. Don't see it. Don't watch it? I could not handle it. And she's brilliant in it, and Pottson is amazing in it too. But it is such a raw account of unchecked, isolated postpartum. Oh, I can't watch that.

I can't watch that. It is so brutal. And it's just, I mean, it does not, it's not a, there's no. I was, I didn't know what I was watching. I didn't know I was sitting watching it. It was a screening and I stupidly didn't do any research. Otherwise, I would have spared myself the, I mean, I found myself, I couldn't breathe. I was sweating.

I was just, I thought, okay, this isn't healthy for me. And I mean, it was brilliantly performed and very raw. But, you know, there's still this, that's an extreme case. And it, and so we're still looking at that. We're not looking at the beginnings of. of it. When, you know, in other countries, they ask the mom, how's mom doing? You know, they check up on the mom all the time. You know, you have a baby in this country and all they do is talk about the baby. This checkup, that check up this vaccine or not vaccine or whatever. And you're just like, you know, and God forbid your baby doesn't latch on. Well, it's another thing you're failing at. You know, and it's just you're up against so much. And then, you know, our parents' generation are going, what's, well, What's happening? Why aren't you okay? Like, why aren't you? That generation just had to grit their teeth and go through it. Yeah. So it, yeah, I mean,

I was glad that I was able to at least be a part of starting the conversation. Quick break to talk about function. I've personally been paying a lot more attention to what's actually happening inside my body these days, especially when I'm training and as I'm getting a little older. I'm almost 40 years old. And let's just say things aren't like they used to be, but I'm doing all that I can to make sure I can. keep taking care of myself. And in the last four years, I personally started pushing harder in the gym than I ever had before. And for the longest time, I couldn't figure out why my recovery was taking so long. When I hit a wall with my performance and nothing I was doing seemed to move the needle.

After realizing I was doing everything right and still feeling like I was running on empty, not making the progress I wanted to, this is when I decided to dig a little deeper and start checking on what was going on under the hood, for lack of better words. What surprised me is how much of how you perform and recover actually comes down to what's happening in your blood. markers most people never think to check. And what I learned is that training gives your body the stimulus, but your internal environment determines what actually happens next. Things like your glucose, whether your body is burning clean or running on fumes,

your omega-6 to omega-3 ratios, which is so important. So for me, understanding these metrics, understanding what I need to supplement with, understanding what I need to change, understanding what needed to be in the right place, was an absolute game changer to make sure I started making the results that I wanted. And now, ever since then, I've been on fire. This is why I use function. It's 160 plus lab tests a year, so I can see existing. what's going on under the hood, not guess at it if something is working against my performance,

I want to know. That's what taking your training seriously looks like. So check your health the way I do. Function provides 160 plus lab tests for $1 day and member pricing on MRI and CT scans. Join at functionhealth.com slash skinny or use gift code Skinny 25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Again, that's functionhealth.com slash skinny. Quick break to talk about free nicotine. I love free nicotine. I've always loved nicotine, but I'm conscious of the delivery system these days. Here's the thing. Nicotine gets a bad rap, obviously because it's an addictive chemical that people can form bad habits with. But it can also be something that if used with intention and used as a tool, can be incredible in your toolbox when you're looking to focus more,

when you're looking to lock in, when you're looking to guard against brain degenerative diseases. And nicotine has been used for generations for people who want to perform more and lock in. Personally, I love taking nicotine when I have to focus and lock in on this show, when I have to stay engaged in the conversation. I like it when I have to have to have to have to. to review financials and P&Ls, what I have to do regularly in this company. Really, I like at any time I need to really focus with more intention and when I can't be distracted. And like I said, I use it as a tool. I don't use it recreational, even though some do. For me, I use it when I need to be my best self, when I need to lock in and when I need to perform at my

highest potential. What I love about free nicotine is they have industry leading strengths that range a wide variety of strengths from three milligrams to 15 milligrams. I suggest if you're just starting out, you start low and then maybe over time, you can go a little higher. But, but definitely take your time with it. And what I love is free exists for the ones who stay sharp when it counts. They come in these discrete slim pouches for anywhere smoking can't, vaping won't, and dip shouldn't. My favorite flavor currently is the watermelon and the mint, but really you can't go wrong if you're looking for a nicotine pouch. So check them out. Try free nicotine pouches today at free pouch.com and use code skinny for 25% off for new customers only. That's

FREPouch.com. Eden Rock St. Bartz times the skinny confidential. This collaboration has been years in the making. I have been going to Eden Rock properties for a very long time and I fell in love with the way that they thought about branding. Every single detail, they don't miss anything. It's such an experience. And when I thought about what brand I wanted to collaborate with, Eden Rock immediately came to mind. So we went down to St. Barts and we sat with their team and we conceptualized what this collaboration would look like. And so it's here. After a year and half. It is live. The Eden Rock St. Bart's Times Skinny Confidential red ice roller. It's in their signature

red. It has a gorgeous, like, look at this. Ah, silver roller. It's so beautiful. It's very summer, you know? I could see this in an ice bucket while you're on the beach, enjoying some rosé or a margarita. Goes right in the ice. And then we also launched mouth tape. So it's red too. So you're going to get those red lips very summer-esque. And again, it's in the Eden Rock, St. Barts branding. And then we launched facial towels. Everything is limited addition. It's very exclusive.

Once it's gone, it's gone. And these facial towels are plastic-free. They don't have any formaldehyde in them. And they're so adorable to throw in your beach bag. I use them to wipe my kids' hands. I use them after an oil cleanse. This collection is so major. I'm so excited about it.

It's so fun to see the Skinny Confidential come to life in red. You can shop our collaboration at the link in the show notes or on shop skinnyconfidential.com. And if you're at the Eden Rock St. Bart's property, you can also shop at the Eden Rock St. Bart's Boutique and the spa. Eden Rock, St. Bartz, wherever you are. This episode is brought to you by Lauren Bostick for P.Volve. That's right. I have launched a kit with P.Volve.

I designed every single aspect of this kit with the P.Volve team. and it is gorgeous, as you can see. We have 8 pound weights, 12 pound weights, 15 pound weights, because I am so passionate about getting women to lift heavier. And this kit has heavy weights in it. And it also has everything you need for stability and mobility. So in this kit, you're really getting everything you could ever want when it comes to fitness. You're also getting access to my P-Volve trainer, Danny Coleman.

She also happens to be Jennifer Aniston's trainer. She's coached me along this P-Volve journey. P-Volve has been something that I keep going back to for the last seven years. I've had three babies and it's helped me stay in shape and tighten and tone up. I love the founder, Rachel. I think she's an absolute genius. So when she came to me and wanted to create this custom kit for you guys, I was like, let's do it. It's limited edition.

It's gorgeous. It comes in the most beautiful box ever. And the best part is everything is built with intention. So PIVOV's core strength pillars are strength, mobility, and stability, and this kit hits all of them. This is product that you want out in your living room, in your office. It's aesthetically pleasing. It's gorgeous, but most importantly, it works. If you want to shrink your body composition and change your life, start lifting heavy and implement stability and mobility.

Lauren Bostic for PVolve has all of the things. Like I said, this is a limited edition kit. It's called Strength Evol. and once it's gone, it's gone. If you're looking for low impact but intense workouts, check out Pvolve. Head to Pvolve.com slash skinny and use code skinny for 15% off sitewide or on class packs at a Pvolve studio near you. And definitely grab this kit, you guys. Because like I said, once it's gone, it's gone.

Lauren Bostic for Peevalv. When you look back on everything you've done all your work, because you've done a lot of different things, what are you most proud of? I mean, creatively, I mean, I'm most proud of my children because they're being launched into their own lives and they're going to be fine. Like, I'm so proud of them. But I'm proud of my longevity because I, it's given me an entire life. It's allowed me to be in this position at this age right now, being able to get a show on the air. that's my own show. I mean, that's not nothing, you know. And in this age and for actresses,

it's really, it's really hard to stay working. And I just keep fighting for it and, you know, and hoping that, you know, and enjoying it and making sure that I still love it. So I'm so, I'm proud that I don't feel angry or jaded and that I'm still excited about the future. You're also very entrepreneurial. I am definitely, entrepreneurial, which is not for the faint of heart. No, it's not. When you look at your career, though, and the length of time and longevity you've had, what do you think some of the key elements

or reasons for that longevity are? My mom used to say never take no for an answer. And it's easier said than done. But I would sort of say, oh, OK, you don't want me right now. Someone will. So I'll come back to you. You know, we'll see. And you'll say, oh, I always knew.

She could do it and find and get all the credit you want. I don't care. I think it's just this willingness to keep switching it up and keep, you know, try a play, try this, try writing a book, try doing what, you know, anything that stimulates your brain, I think that that's helped me in the darker times when I wasn't getting what I really coveted and dreamt about. It still kept me busy and creative. And in a reverse way, for so many people now trying to get into creative spaces, what do you think kills longevity?

Comparison. Really just trying to fit into something that you think you're told is the right way to do it. Listen, you have to be willing to play the game to a certain extent and play by the rules and play by rules, meaning, you know, yeah, you're going to have to do this. and you might not like it, but okay, but don't let them tell you that because you're not like so-and-so or this, that you somehow don't have value. And that's the hardest thing to do because we're in a business of comparison. You know, we're sitting there going, pick me, pick me. If you are one of a few, few people who can really do their own projects. But for the rest of us, you know, we have to find ways to get people to work with us, create.

You were really open about, and I want to make sure I'm saying this, right, you something happened to your hip? Oh, yeah, I broke my femur. You broke your femur. Yeah. That sounded crazy. I think I still have sort of a PTSD about it because I went back to the gym in which it happened. And I broke out into a sweat and I was like, I'm sorry I can't work out here. I just, I can't, I really physiologically cannot do it without, you know, I don't know what.

And I, my ego got involved and I was trying to show somebody I could do this balance board because they said, oh, you make it look easy. I can't do it. And I said, no, don't say you can't. You know, I'm going to be a cheerleader for you. And you can do anything you set your mind to. And it's like, oh, you know, put it on a refrigerator magnet. But I literally was like, no, no, no, look, look. It took me a year to learn how to do it.

And the one thing you're not supposed to do is take your eye off a point. You don't turn your focus and then I turn my focus. Because that gives you body the balance. Yes. And I flew back because I wanted to make sure he was watching me do this so well. And I flew up feet in the air and I landed just on this. And there was someone in the gym and they said, you know, that's the sounds that came out of your voice. They, not even just the break, but the sound, this like wail of pain.

And then I blacked out. And it was just getting me in the ambulance was a nightmare. And paramedics were fighting. And I was like, and then they tried to arrest my trainer because he didn't. know if I was allergic to morphine or not, and they didn't know if I had a compound fracture. So if I was bleeding out, they didn't know. So they had to give me morphine, but he was responsible for me. And he was trying to call my husband to say, is she allergic to morphine? It was like, it was just. Oh, my God. It was the, it was. We're going to find that stuff out about each other.

Yeah, you better, you better know. I mean, not trial by error, but yeah, no, maybe minus the femur. And then I was in the hospital during COVID for a month by myself. That's a brutal recovery. During COVID, when no one can visit her. But I mean, like, that's a, I mean, that's a... Yeah, but add COVID on top of it, no one can go in. Terrible. No one could go in, and I was allowed one person, and I couldn't pick one of my Sophie's Choice kids.

You know, I couldn't pick a kid. My husband didn't, you know, hates hospitals. So I was like, oh my God, so I called an osteopath that I know, and I said, you're tested for, you don't have COVID. Would you come, you know, every other person? you know, every other day and work on my neck in the hospital. And then I told the PT guy, I said, I want PT twice a day. And he was like, well, we only give it once. And I said, Bob has not gotten out of his bed in a week. I'm telling you right now he's not doing PE. Mary just screams. She's

not doing PE either. And we all had like broken hips. And I was like, I'm, I would like any available Pee G please. And so I did it two and sometimes three times a day to just accelerate the muscle memory of it. And then, you know, you have to learn to really self-advocate, too, because you're in the hospital and these teams of doctors come by. And, you know, I would listen and I would remember things. And then they would say, oh, are you web-mdying everything? And I said, no, I'm not. I'm listening to you talk about me as if I can't hear you. They're like just forget that they're, yeah. And I get it.

You guys are understaffed. You're really busy. You're really good at what you do. But I do know my body and something is not right. And then it turned out I had a staff infection. And it was all these things that were sort of like, I thought, God help people who's first languages in English talking to doctors. And then the, you know, teams.

that people are saying, you've got oxy on your list. And I said, I don't want any. Yeah, but it's here. I said, do not put an IV in my arm. I do not want oxy. I would like extra strength Tylenol because I'm an addictive personality. I will become the best addict ever. And I will do it before I even leave this hospital. So I do not want it. And I was like, I had to call another doctor who was a friend of mine. my roommate from college's husband and he's a surgeon and I said you've got to step in here and make sure they don't give it to me and it's stuff like that like you don't no protocols I know a very successful gentleman that has no problems ever in his life doesn't drink alcohol ever and he had a hip replacement and they put him on a lot of stuff and he literally had to check himself into rehab because it just like couldn't handle the medication yeah and like I think that's a common story for a lot of people you go you get hurt they put you on something and it's just too it's just to stuff is so strong. It's so strong and it's being handed out right quite readily. You know, that's a whole other thing. But for my perspective, I just thought, keep your wits about you and like

really listen. And I had to, you know, I had to be really self-aware, which is not always easy to do to self-advocate for yourself. I'm not a doctor, you know, and I'm a female. Yeah. And alone in COVID. Oh, it's just, I had a grand mal seizure a couple of years later, and it was because I had flooded my system with too much water. And because I was so afraid to be dehydrated. And the doctor kept asking me, am I restricting my water intake for dietary reasons? And I literally looked at this one doctor, and I said, let me tell you something. I said, look at this face. I'm a 58-year-old woman.

I look younger bloated. So no. When I don't understand that face is swollen, I look younger. Women look younger when they have a little bit of meat on the both. I think so do men, right? I get what you're saying. As you get older, you have less volume in your face. Yeah.

I was like, I'm not restricting salt intake. One of the things I fell off a melon truck yesterday. I'm just making sure you know. What you have raised to, from the outside, it looks very, well-adjusted daughters. What is the secret? I was very difficult on them growing up, really strict, and things with phones and even celebrations or gifts and manners. And I was so strict with them and I enforced respect for adults and elders and thank you notes and manners and school and schoolwork and they went to rather I mean we were lucky being very very

sort of good education they got a good education and good college preparatory and I I know how lucky we are that I was able to do that but But they also saw me how I treat other people. Yeah. And my older daughter interviewed me recently for a Mother's Day thing. And she said, you know, you taught me that you treat everybody with equal respect. And that there are no, you don't, that's not a hierarchy. Humanity doesn't have a hierarchy with regards to deserving of respect and kindness.

And she said, I take that with me now. when I'm going into these other environments. And they both got to college and they both called me and said, mom, people don't know how to talk to waiters. Kids are rude. Oh, that bothers me. They don't make eye contact with people. And I was like, yeah, see.

See, I always used to say, look someone in the eye, you know, go bring your dish to the sink. I don't care if they have 50,000 servants. You were, you know, people working that wait on people. I was like, I don't care what it looks like. you bring your dishes to the sink and you thank the mom and dad for having you. And my little one was like, why, why, why? I was like, because I want you invited back. Basically, it's that simple. Tell us about what you're doing now. You gave us a code, but tell us, tell the audience what you're doing now, where your energy is going. Well, aside from my show that is, you're killing me, which is coming out on

the 18th on AMC, I started my own company. my own, it started as a community, and we went into hair care for women over 40. And the biology in a woman's skin, but on her scalp, people don't really look at the skinification of scalp. And your face can take in hyluronic acid. Your scalp cannot because it's too large a molecule because your pore shrink. and it's impeded by a hair follicle. So those are things that make your scalp dry and patchy. And it comes through hormonal shifts and biological shifts.

And nobody was out on the market really designing for women my age. And I was sort of getting this feeling like, oh, because I'm in my 50s, I don't have value anymore. And I'm not allowed to be sexy anymore. And I'm not allowed to have the beauty industry want to sell to me when I'm, I'm, I'm, this beautiful age and I'm I'm more independent now. I'm financially able to take care of myself. My kids are fine and I don't have one foot in the grave. Like, you know, so we kept growing this community and they all were telling me about shifts that they felt in their hair, lack luster, you know, elasticity, all these things. And so we thought, all right, let's try the

beauty industry and deal with hair care for. I think people want to buy beauty products from Neil Brock. Well, you know, I researched everything. And I, you know, I went into the lab and I was like, well, what do you mean? The hyluronic acid is too big. He's like, it's too big a molecule. And I said, well, can't you cut it up? You do that stuff in the lab?

And he's like, okay. And thought I was kind of nuts. And then came back three weeks later and said, we quadronized it. And what do you do for those brows? You got to talk about the brows. Well, they're starting now to get like, I'm getting, like grays every now and then. No, those brows are famous.

You know her brows are famous. They're good brows. Since you were little, you've had the brows. No, but you know what? I became a dad. No, I don't want to hear about your brows. I want to tell you something what happens. I don't know what's going on with these brow hairs with dads.

I don't want to hear them. It's disgusting. It's disgusting. Something happens all of a sudden. Like every kid, it gets grosser and grosser. I didn't figure it out. What do you do for your brows? I really don't, I never plucked.

My mom, never let me pluck. And people would say, they want to bleach my eyebrows, and she'd say, you're touching your eyebrows up on my dead body. And nobody touched my eyebrows. But now, like, because they're not as thick as they were and there's grays kind of coming in, it's, you know, it's like a national treasure that is being. I got you. I have my brand, the skinny confidential, I got you a brow peptide. It's castor oil. But I don't even know if you need it.

I think we all do because, again, the quality change. Okay. And they're a little more wiry and all these things happen. You know, you lose pigment. And, you know, I've got to get my roots done every, you know, three weeks or so. So it's kind of really just addressing beauty for women in my age bracket. And we gave you guys a code for a limited time. It's code skinny for 10% off bundles. So you got to get a bundle. Got to get a bundle. Which bundle should they start with? You know, my hero product that I sort of started with is this instant shampoo that has the hyluronic acid in it. Okay. Because if I get a really good blowout and I maybe work out a little or I get a little sweaty, I don't really want to ruin the blowout. Yeah. So I sort of wait and then use the instant shampoo so it absorbs all the extra oil. Is it like a spray?

It's a powder. It's a rice powder. And the hyleronic acid is embedded in it. Cool. So it recognizes on your scalp where there are dry patches. delivers hyaluronic acid like little army man you know like love it bad and then

the rice powder itself absorbs all the extra sebum and oils so you can really and it really works as a volumizer so that root serum I love the shampoo and conditioner but they're different bundles and you'll it's very easy to use it's not a head

difficult system I love it tell us where we can find the brand and you you can it's we're direct to consumer if you go to shop commence.com. Really great. Thank you. Congratulations on the new show as well. Thank you. It's really fun.

It's funny and it's mystery and it's a physical comedy but it's also really sweet. These two generations of women kind of come together and form a bond and they solve mysteries. Thank you for doing this. Your next book, I need another book from you

and we get a book on all things motherhood. Like how to raise strong daughter Strong daughters. That's my pitch to you. Please. We need another book. An Empty Nest is a really weird. Yeah, that's such a good book topic.

It's such a weird thing. And then it's even weirder when they come back. Yeah, I bet. Because they have new mannerisms. Yeah, and you're like, don't you want to go back to school? A couple more years. Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you for doing this.

Thank you so much.