Sandi Klein's Conversations with Creative Women

Houston native and New York-based artist Mary John Frank's creativity has taken her in several different directions. The choreographer and director has worked in film, on stage, music videos, fashion, multi-media and installation art.

Her latest project - Debutaunt, is an inter-active dance-based show that explores the age old tradition of being presented to society. In her adapation, the audience is invited to attend a debutante ball and gets to know 5 VERY different debs.

In a time when 'coming out' has taken on an entirely new meaning, the concept of a young woman being formally introduced to society is jarring.

Oh, by the way, Mary John is a former deb herself.

Meet Seret Scott, actress, director, playwright, cultural historian. She won the prestigious Drama Desk Award for her Broadway debut in My Sister, My Sister. Seret's also appeared in several movies and film and television shows. Her work as a Director is a rich, varied and rewarding one and includes Off-Broadway and regional theater - from the Old Globe in San Diego, to Yale Rep to New York's Roundabout Theater. She recently directed The Whipping Boy, the powerful play about the Civil War that featured an all-male cast. Join us as we shine the spotlight on the decades long career of the multi-talented Seret Scott.

Jessica Oliveira's goal is to educate and empower women who don't have the resources we take for granted. And to that end, the OB-GYN Physician Assistant with a Masters in Medical Education, is involved with Saving Mothers. The aim of this non-profit is to eradicate preventable maternal deaths and birth related complications in the developing world. In 2013 Jessica became the Guatemala Program Coordinator and then last year launched The Saving Mothers School of POWHER - Providing Outreach in Women's Health and Educational Resources.

Tune in to meet this committed and compassionate go-getter.

Aryn Quinn has some tale to tell. She, like her mother and sister, is a domestic abuse survivor. As a young child, she watched her father brutally beat her mother - and was powerless to help. Aryn's helping now. The former model is the founder and CEO of EndAbuse4Good - a nonprofit aimed at preventing dating and domestic abuse against teens, women and children. Its goal is to make sure every student in the U.S. takes a class dedicated to preventing domestic abuse before it begins. Students learn about teen dating violence, self-esteem and the need to stay on track with their personal goals. This is a conversation you can't afford to miss.

Aileen Bordman grew up surrounded by beauty and art. Her mother Helen helped restore the gardens at Giverny, home of Claude Monet. Aileen's passion and first hand knowledge of the artist's life is evident in Monet's Palate, the 2008 documentary she wrote and produced after taking a sabbatical from her career on Wall Street. And now there is Monet's Palate Cookbook - The Artist & His Kitchen Garden at Giverny. Co-authored by Aileen, it recreates the artist's two-acre garden through detailed information about the vegetables he grew and the 60 recipes she created - inspired by his journals and extensive travels. You're in for a fascinating, first-hand conversation about the Father of Impressionism.

Hera Navassardian was 21 when she began modeling for Bob Mackie, Geoffrey Beene, Zandra Rhodes and other famous designers. During her 30+ years in the fashion business, Hera has also worked as a makeup artist and stylist. In 2007 she opened Klymaxx Unlimited, a boutique and transformation studio in Provincetown, Mass. for women AND men that includes the LGBT community. Hera's got plenty to share in this engaging conversation.

Lisa Fantino has been there...done that. She spent more than 20 years as an awarding winning reporter at New York City's two top all news radio stations; she's an attorney with an international, general practice; is the founder of Wanderlust Women Travel - a concierge travel company, and....is also an author. Amalfi Blue - Lost and Found in the South of Italy is her travel memoir, written after she packed up and moved there for love. Then there's Shrouded in Pompei, a political thriller. Lisa talks about it all in our conversation.

Attorney and social activist Dorchen Leidholdt is the Director of The Center for Battered Women's Legal Services at Sanctuary for Families in New York City, the largest program of its kind in the country serving domestic violence victims. Since the mid-70s, she's been a leader in the movement against violence against women and is the founder of The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. You won't want to miss this riveting and eye-opening conversation.

This week we revisit our Conversation with Lacey Schwartz. Lacey is the director and subject of Little White Lie,

a riveting, powerful, emotional documentary that traces her upbringing

as an only child in a white, Jewish family in upstate New York. However,

it was during her freshman year in college that she learned the truth. 

When confronted, her mother finally acknowledged having had an

extra-marital affair...and that her biological father was in fact,

black. Lacey, who is also the CEO of Truth Aid, a company that makes

movies, produces multi-media content and performs educational outreach

on social issues, makes for a fascinating conversation.

You're about to meet an extremely interesting woman. Lynne Friedman is a contemporary abstract and landscape artist whose work has been shown in numerous solo exhibitions. Her paintings hang in many corporate and private collections and in 2013, was selected by the U.S. Department of State "Art-in-Embassies Program" for our embassy in Djibouti, E. Africa and Colombo, Sri Lanka. Get this, Lynne also happens to be a licensed private investigator! Her assignments have taken her around the world. Listen in and hear how she 'marries' these two careers.