Learning How to Find Joy with Former Music Exec Grace Harry

Learning How to Find Joy with Former Def Jam Music Exec
And Usher manager – Grace Harry

How happy are you? I mean, truly, can you say you have a joyful life? Or do you battle anxiety and depression, and wonder if your life has meaning … and why do you feel stuck? And Is this all there is, my friend?

Perhaps you need to bring some joy into your life. What if I told you there was a strategy that would help you bring joy into your life? An actual book that would help you get there, written by a Joy Strategist named Grace Harry.  And honey … she’s already been there and done that!

Not only has Grace been a successful entrepreneur in some very different types of businesses, but she’s heavily responsible for some of the music that you adore. She had an illustrious 30 year career as an exec at Def Jam and Jive Records.  She managed Usher. She’s worked with some of the top names in the music and entertainment industry. And now she’s turned her mind and heart towards helping people find joy.

In our conversation we’ll ask her what we can do to start the process, and how doing the thing that scares us the most might just be the thing to change our life.

Are you ready to find the path to inner change? To bring joy into your life? Then click below and listen to our chat!

Click on the player below to hear the chat with Pam and Grace

About Grace Harry

Grace Harry is an artist, entrepreneur, creative muse, pleasure instigator, and speaker. After an illustrious 30-year career in entertainment, Grace, “The Joy Strategist,” found her calling leading what she calls “the Revolution of JOY.” Through her popular playdate community “Play with Grace,” she helps everyday people welcome joy back into their lives. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, HelloGiggles, Vogue Online, The Times UK, The London Evening Standard, and many more.

For more about Grace: Click Here
For her book, The Joy Strategist: Click here
Follow her on Instagram at @GraceHarry

Talking Money Out Loud with Berna Anat

Ready for a better relationship with money?
Berna Anat helps us navigate the complicated waters!

So how much do you really know about money?  Do you know the best way to pay down your debt? Do you have a budget? It’s fair to say that most of us have a complicated relationship with money.

Enter Berna Anat! The author of Money Out Loud shares with us all the financial stuff that no one taught us. In our chat today we learn our money habits are directly connected to what we experienced as young people, (starting at age 7!), why paying just the minimum on our credit cards is just putting us in debt hell, and how we can make budgets work for US!

Listen in to our lively and informative conversation about how to become the CEO of our own lives and create a YES Plan to give us financial stability.

Click on the player below to hear the chat with Pam and Berna

About Berna Anat

Berna Anat is an award-winning producer, speaker, podcast host, rich auntie in training, and Financial Hype Woman—which is her made-up way of saying she creates financial education media all over the Internet. A proud Filipina-American daughter of immigrants, born and raised in the Bay Area, she taught herself how to pay off over $50,000 of debt and did what any Millennial would do: Yell about it on the internet. Berna’s work has been featured on platforms such as ForbesThe New York Times, and Buzzfeed. Berna was named The Plutus Awards’ Most Entertaining Financial Creator two years in a row and was named one of ABS-CBN’s Global Pinoy Idols. You can find Berna online at @heyberna on all platforms, at www.heyberna.com, or curled up with her nieces, watching The Office.

For more about Berna: Click Here
For her book, Money Out Loud: Click here
Follow her on Instagram at @HeyBerna
Twitter: @HeyBerna

From the Vault – Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson Turns 90!!
We Celebrate with this Interview from 1997

In 1997, Willie Nelson returned to Vancouver, Washington, to play at the Clark County Fair. Nelson had been a disc jockey at KVAN radio in the mid-fifties (where I was working in 1997), and it had been 40 years since he had been back.

We kept in close touch with his agent and manager to see if we could get an interview with Willie. Nobody could promise anything. So it was an utter and complete surprise one afternoon when the receptionist came to tell me that Willie Nelson was on hold, and he was calling in to do an interview! I had never threaded a reel-to-reel tape so fast!!

We chat about his time as a disc jockey (he clears up the story of his firing), why his music endures, and the challenges of fame coming when you are young, as had happened to Leann Rimes (she was only 14 and had just scored her first big hit at the time of the interview). Plus, we get a health warning about caffeine!

It is an interview that I cherish, for the warmth and connection I felt with Willie, and the laughs we had. I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.

Click on the player below to hear the chat with Willie and Pam

A Masterclass on Success with Acting Coach Bernard Hiller

A Transformational Journey to Achieving Success with
Acting Coach Bernard Hiller
A Masterclass on how to be happy and unstoppable

Are you ready for a masterclass from the premier Hollywood acting and success trainer? Whether you’re a performer or not… we’ve got you covered!

Bernard Hiller shares insights from his latest book, The Revolutionary Guide to Acting: A Transformational Journey to Achieving Success in Show Business and Life. We learn how to become unstoppable, how to create “wow” in an interview or audition, and why Al Pacino has gone to an acting coach weekly for 35 years.

Plus, he shares the three stages of success, the secret of life, and tells us that we may be wearing the wrong coat!

Get a pen and paper because there is so many gems packed into this interview. AND he gives us homework!

Click on the player below to hear the chat with Pam and Bernard

About Bernard Hiller

Bernard Hiller is an author, actor, screenwriter, producer, director, interviewer, teacher and success trainer. He started as a performer in NYC and Europe, doing Broadway musicals. From his Los Angeles studio, Bernard has helped stars, performers and actors succeed to the highest level in the industry. His sought-out Masterclasses are taught in over 24 countries. Bernard lives in Beverly Hills, California.

For more about Bernard: Click Here
For his book, The Revolutionary Guide to Acting: Click here
Follow him on Instagram at @Bernard.Hiller
TikTok: BernardHiller

Getting a Grip on the Economy with Howard Yaruss – Understandable Economics

How Much Do You Understand About the Economy?
Howard Yaruss says it’s easier to understand than you think!

How much do you understand about the economy? Do you know how it really affects your life? Most of us don’t know more than what we’re told by people we are told are experts.  But should we trust economists? And what’s the biggest misunderstanding people have about the economy?

When I ran across a book written by economist, attorney, and NYU professor Howard Yaruss called Understandable Economics – Because understanding our economy is easier than you think – and more important than you know, I thought – this I have to hear! I’ll agree it’s more important than we know… but easier than we think?!?

So in our chat, we find out why the economy is more like psychology than civics, what inflation is, and why we are supposed to stop spending when businesses need us to spend to survive. Why do we give corporations bailouts to help them survive, but not the little guy? And who decides how much money is worth anyway? And oh yeah… Bitcoin?!?!  I promise, you will have a much better understanding of the economy after you hear this interview!

Click on the player below to hear the chat with Pam and Howard

About Howard Yaruss

Howard Yaruss is an economist, professor, attorney, businessman, and activist who greatly enjoys explaining complex issues in a clear, interesting and easily accessible way. He has taught a variety of courses on economics and business, and currently teaches at New York University. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Radian Group, one of the largest guarantors of debt in the world. He has also served on the Boards of organizations that advocate for safer streets, help the homeless and support the arts. Yaruss graduated from Brown University, studied at the London School of Economics and earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Manhattan and serves on his local community board.

For more about Howard: Click Here
For his book, Understandable Economics: Click here
Follow him on Instagram at @UndertandEcono

Author and Former Cult Member Spencer Schneider

How a Cult Member of 23 Years Finally Got Out
Spencer Schneider Shares an Insider View into Cults

Have you ever wondered about cults? How do you get into one? How do you get out? Why don’t you leave when things get abusive? Why do people stay? Spencer Schneider is a former member of a Manhattan cult, who finally got away after 23 years in the cult.

His new book Manhattan Cult Story covers the journey from how he got in, to how he got out, and all the sordid details in between. In our chat we learn how people were targeted, some of their internal vocabulary they use, and how he came to doubt himself. We talk about gaslighting, mind games, and how relationships were regulated. Plus, how Spencer finally was able to leave.

It’s a rare insider view to the world of cults and how they work, with a strong dose of hope at the end.

Click on the player below to hear the chat with Pam and Spencer

About Spencer Schneider

A native of Long Island, Spencer Schneider is practicing attorney who specializes in corporate litigation in New York. Mr. Schneider is also an open water marathon swimmer and ice water swimmer. He is employed as an ocean lifeguard, operates a lifeguard training academy, and co-founded a water rescue group. Mr. Schneider is a contributing writer of EAST Magazine. His book, “Manhattan Cult Story: My Unbelievable True Story of Sex, Crimes, Chaos, and Survival,” will be released by Arcade Publishing and distributed by Simon & Schuster on July 5, 2022. Mr. Schneider lives in New York and East Hampton.

Mr. Schneider received his BA in Philosophy from Washington University in 1982, and his JD from Cardozo School of Law in 1985 where he was Articles Editor of the Arts and Entertainment Law Journal. He received the annual faculty award for best Law Review note. He began his legal career in 1986 at a predecessor firm to the New York City branch of Hogan Lovells.

For more about Spencer, check out his website: spencer-schneider.com
For his book, Manhattan Cult Story: Click here
Check out his blog here: cultrevolt.com
Follow him on Instagram at @OfficialSpencerSchneider

11 year-old CEO, author & activist Bellen Woodard

11 yr-old CEO, Activist, & Author of More Than Peach
On Activism and Entrepreneurship

Bellen Woodard is 11 years-old and the CEO of More Than Peach, but her story started when she was 8, and everyone in her class kept asking for the Skin Color crayon, meaning the peach crayon. But Bellen isn’t peach-colored. And she knew a lot of other kids weren’t either.

Now, at 11, she is the CEO of the world’s first multicultural art brand and Kid/Woman/Black-owned business. She’s the world’s first Crayon Activist, and has transformed an entire industry with her global movement. And she’s also the author of the children’s book More Than Peach.

In our chat we get her advice on how to handle things when you get discouraged, and what some of the challenges are that she faces as an entrepreneur. Plus – how a major brand changed their product in the wake of Bellen’s activism, why she wrote the book, and what she’s working on for the future.

Click the player below to hear the chat with Pam and Bellen

About Bellen Woodard
Bellen Woodard is the beloved 11-year-old entrepreneur, trailblazer, and CEO of Bellen’s More than Peach Project.® The World’s 1st Crayon Activist™ and pioneer of “skin-color” crayons, Bellen transformed an entire industry with a first-of-its-kind, innovative and inclusive project and art brand that have now become a global movement. She’s received many notable awards including being named a 2020 TIME Kid of the Year nominee and has been featured by Scholastic MagazineTIME®, Nickelodeon, and many others. Now a middle-schooler, Bellen embodies self-expression and discovery and enjoys traveling, dance, and spending time with family, friends, and her two beagles. Learn more at www.morethanpeach.com.

For her book, More than Peach: Click here
Find out more about Bellen and her projects at: morethanpeach.com

Ryan Holiday – The Obstacle is the Way

The Obstacle is the Way – Ryan Holiday on adversity

Every day we face challenges in the form of obstacles in our path, whether it be at work or in our homelife. Ryan Holiday, podcaster and author of The Obstacle is the Way:The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph gives us a roadmap for how we can turn these barriers into advantages!

Listen as he describes his three-point plan to tackle a perceived obstacle,  how icons such as John D. Rockefeller, Amelia Earhart and Abraham Lincoln took nearly impossible situations and turned them into amazing success,  plus how and WHY do we create our own obstacles that can sabotage us.

Click on the player below to hear the chat with Pam and Ryan

About Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday is a writer and media strategist. When he was 19 years old, he dropped out of college to apprentice under Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power. He had a successful marketing career at American Apparel and went on to found a creative agency called Brass Check, which has advised clients like Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as many prominent bestselling authors, including Neil Strauss, Tony Robbins and Tim Ferriss.

He is the author of ten books, including The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, Conspiracy and Stillness is the Key which have sold more than 2 million copies in thirty languages and have a following among NFL coaches, world-class athletes, TV personalities, political leaders, and others around the world. He spends much of his time on a ranch outside Austin, Texas where he does his writing and work in between raising cattle, donkeys and goats.

For more about Ryan, check out his website: RyanHoliday.net
For his book, The Obstacle is the Way: Click here
Follow him on Twitter: @RyanHoliday

Ghost Whisperer Creator John Gray on his Novel The Desecrated

Ghost Whisperer Creator John Gray on his novel The Desecrated

When my friend Richard suggested I read the book The Desecrated, I was a little hesitant because it had a supernatural bent and I’m a pure detective fan. But when he told me it was written by John Gray – I knew I had to open it up!  John Gray – the creator of the hit series The Ghost Whisperer. The director of Martin and Lewis with Sean Hayes and Jeremy Northam. The director of a ton of Grimm and Reckless episodes… Yeah, THAT John Gray.

And I’m glad I did! I raced through the book that was set in a morgue and got caught up in all the twists and turns and quirky characters. I recoiled at some of the descriptions and laughed at some of the situations. All in all – I got caught up in the book that made me start thinking “this sounds like a great movie!”

In our chat with John we find out why he delves into the supernatural, how he scared himself on a morgue set, and where he came up with some of his characters. Plus – we learn about the ghosts in his OWN home, how he turned the negative of the pandemic into a creative idea for a film, and what to expect from him next. Bonus pearl of wisdom – why it’s so important to ask yourself: “Am I leading my career, or is my career leading me?”

Click the player below to hear the chat with Pam and John

About John Gray
John Gray is an award-winning New York-based writer-director-producer. He created the long running hit CBS series, GHOST WHISPERER, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, as well as writing and directing many award-winning and critically acclaimed movies for television, such as MARTIN AND LEWIS, starring Sean Hayes and Jeremy Northam; the Emmy® nominated A PLACE FOR ANNIE with Sissy Spacek; the Emmy® nominated mini-series HAVEN with Natasha Richardson and Anne Bancroft; HELTER SKELTER with Clea DuVall and Bruno Kirby, and many others.

Gray has directed dozens of episodes of broadcast and cable series and was also the producing director of the CBS series, RECKLESS. He has written and directed several studio and independent feature films, including the award winning WHITE IRISH DRINKERS, starring Stephen Lang and Karen Allen, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
Gray’s acclaimed short films have played and are currently in film festivals all over the world including FRENCH KISS, which has also notched 6.3 million views to date on YouTube. THE DESECRATED is his debut novel.

For his book, The Desecrated: Click here
Follow him on Twitter: @JThomasGray
And Instagram: @bayrdge

Two Mikes and a Film Called Bound

BOUND – with Michael O’Neill and Mike Pniewski

When we heard that actors Mike Pniewski and Michael O’Neill were teaming up to film a 10-minute short written by Pniewski – we couldn’t wait to get in on the action! Wouldn’t it be cool to follow along in the process and see what it was like to create a film from start to finish?

Both Mikes were up for it! From getting to know their personal backstories, to fun Hollywood inside scoop, to how the actual filming went, we set up a series of interviews, with some of your questions included.

Now when the film BOUND comes out – you’ll feel like you were part of the crew all along!  Follow the series and become a film-making insider!

Interview Series


Michael O'NeillMichael O’Neill

Just SOME of the places you have seen him!
Council of Dads
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
Dallas Buyer’s Club
Scandal
Grey’s Anatomy
West Wing
Rectify
Catch up on our past interviews with Michael O’Neill.

In this interview from 2013, Michael talks about the very unusual way he was “discovered,” what his two requirements were before he took on the part of the crazed gunman on Gray’s Anatomy, and how he still lives with the insecurity of the acting business. Plus… his sex scene in Rectify, and how he didn’t recognize Matthew McConaughey on the set of The Dallas Buyer’s Club movie.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN to the interview


In this interview from 2020, we chat about the award-winning film Clemency, how it personally affected him, and how wonderful Aldis Hodge was in it. And how that role on Grey’s Anatomy changed him personally.  Plus, how Michael felt about Sons of Anarchy and Sea Biscuit, and what he appreciated about Al Pacino.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN to the interview


NEW!! Interview with Michael O’Neil posted 8/4/22

In this very vulnerable interview, actor Michael O’Neill shares insight into his characters and how it can affect an actor’s mental health when a job is finished.

In this interview taped right before the filming of BOUND, we find out how he felt about Council of Dads getting cancelled, why he went into therapy after one of his roles, and what it’s like to work with Shonda Rhimes. Plus, why he liked the character of Butterfield on West Wing so much and how HE says I bring out the worst in him!

Click on the player below to hear the chat with Michael and Pam


Mike Pniewski

Just SOME of the places you have seen him:
Hightown
The Good Wife/Fight
Madam Secretary
Blue Bloods
Law and Order/Criminal Intent/SVU
Mean Girls 2
Remember the Titans

INTERVIEW ONE with MIKE PNIEWSKI

You’ve seen Mike Pniewski in everything from The Sopranos to The Good Wife/Fight, Law and Order (just about every incarnation!) and now Hightown on STARZ. He’s a face you don’t forget.

He’s also a writer and an author. And calls fellow actor Michael O’Neill one of his best friends.  So it was only natural that they would want to do a project together. When nothing right came along, they decided to create their own! Pniewski wrote the script for a 10-12 minute short film that featured just the two actors.

In our first interview with Pniewski, we found out how dissecting human cadavers changed his career trajectory, how he found out he got a part on The Sopranos, and how people sometimes respond to him in public!

Plus, insight into his character Ed on the show Highttown, a rapid-fire round of shows he’s been in, and a question from listener Rebecca Griffith. Oh – and what it’s like to act next to a Spit Bucket!

Click on the player below to hear the chat with Mike and Pam