SheSez with Linda Grasso

Sex in a long-term relationship can be a challenge. Even if you truly adore your partner, how do you keep it alive and healthy after that initial spark fades? Why is sex so important? What do you do when your partner starts initiating sex by taking a Viagra (and forgets that you, too, are part of the equation)? In this show, Linda asks those questions and more to Dr. Shannon Chavez, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and ASECT Certified Sex Therapist. She is the Clinical Director of the SHAPE Center (Sexual Health and Pleasure Enhancement) in Beverly Hills, where she provides therapy and coaching, and community outreach on sexual health and wellness. Dr. Chavez also covers how to handle the Viagra-popping partner, the pleasures of porn made specifically for females by females, and she explains her philosophy on opening up a long-term relationship to other partners. (She does not automatically nix this idea!) Plus, Dr. Chavez answers some questions from SheSez listeners…and they're pretty juicy.

Menstruation is a shameful experience for girls in many parts of the world. When Oakwood School high school English teacher Melissa Berton and her students discovered (through a program called Girls Learn International) that girls in some villages in India have to miss school when they have their periods, they set out to do something about it. They raised money to buy a sanitary pad-making machine for one village and then traveled there to teach the locals how to use it—all of which they documented in the short film, Period. End of Sentence. In January 2019, much to their surprise, that 26-minute endeavor won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject and Melissa, her students, and director, 25-year-old Rayka Zehtabchi, took to the stage to accept the award. In this show, Melissa recounts with Linda that life-changing experience and how the effort to help other girls—as well as end the taboo surrounding menstruation—continue with the non-profit The Pad Project.

Marketing/branding executive Katie Klencheski shares with Linda how she re-focused her company, the Brooklyn-based Smakk Studios, to concentrate on clients with brands that aligned with her core values of helping people and the planet. The impetus was an upsetting meeting during which a potential client was disrespectful to his employees during which Katie walked out. For her, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. The 37-year-old turned on a dime, redirecting Smakk's mission, even though it initially meant losing money. She also shares about some of the more progressive brands on her client roster—specifically those aimed at women. They include CBD oil for menstrual cramps, a non-toxic bra (Vibrant Body) and an herbal feminine hygiene care line (Honey Pot).

A deep dive into the topic of failure—the shameful way it makes us feel and how it (or fear of it) can present a roadblock to achieving and living full, satisfying lives. Our guests are Melissa Brohner Schneider and Sara Singer Schiff, hosts of the podcast The Other F Word. The two share what they've learned from interviewing guests like Sharon Stone and Elizabeth Craft (Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast) and some innovative mindsets aimed at not letting failure define you. Plus, Melissa, a licensed therapist, offers her take on why it is critical to share our failures with our kids.

With the release of the Elton John musical Rocketman, we hear from Anett Murray, wife of Elton John bass player Dee Murray. Dee played with the band during the most prolific period of Elton's career—the 1970s—during which there were 15 Top-10 hits and 6 number one records. Anett shares what it was like in the early days as the only woman traveling with the band. And we talk about what it was like having a front row seat to Elton's meteoric rise —and well as his fall due to drugs.

To keep herself busy while on the road, Anett started sewing. At first, she was doing simple repairs for the band but as Elton's on-stage outfits became bolder, she started sewing stuff for him. In fact, the denim jacket covered with patches that was prominently featured in Rocketman was actually her work. So, was Anett was the inspiration for the lyrics in the hit song Tiny Dancer (Blue jean baby, LA lady, seamstress for the band…)? We suss that out, too!

To see more pictures of Anett, Dee and the EJ band, check out SheSez Instagram at she_sez https://www.instagram.com/she_sez/?hl=en and SheSez Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SheSez/.

Leah Yari and Mary Lennon share the story of how Mary's frustration at not being able to have her daughter's birthday party at a nail salon (that seemed healthy enough to host a bunch of kids) morphed into—not just an uber healthy salon—but an entire line of nail polish that is formaldehyde, toxin and gluten-free and vegan.

The duo's company Côte now has 2 environmentally safe salons in Brentwood, CA and NYC and a line of toxin-free polish with 125 different shades. Here they chat with Linda about their journey in quitting their jobs and launching a company (Leah was an interior designer; Mary was a school admissions director) and their ultimate goal: to transform the manicure experience for women—and their daughters.

With her company Barney Butter, Dawn Kelley has developed a unique way of making almond butter that avoids bitterness and that nasty, pasty texture so many products on the market have. Barney Butter also offers a no added salt or sugar version, making it one of the healthiest almond butters on the market.

On the show Linda and Dawn discuss the health benefits of almond butter—ranging from better sleep to stronger bones—and tasty ways of integrating it into your diet.

They also discuss the year Dawn's life turned upside down (for the better)—a year in which she quit one job, started another, moved from Southern California to Maine and married a man with three kids. By the way it was also the year, she turned forty.

Let's face it: being a mother can be one of the most joyous things in life but also one of the most challenging. In this episode: Just Tell Me What to Do—the SheSez segment that zeros in on the complex situations that keep us up at night—with therapist and parenting coach Erin Taylor. Erin tackles listener emails on three scenarios: how to have the small birthday party that your kid wants but keep the peace with the rest of the class (and their parents); how to talk to the mom of the kid who is bullying yours; and how to handle family gatherings when it comes to the the grandparent who keeps getting married and divorced.

Are you an expert of some sort who might be up for doing a Just Tell Me What to Do segment answering listener emails? Or do you have questions that you'd like answered by one of our experts? We currently have an advice guru, a stylist, a cosmetic injectables specialist, a child/family therapist, a reinvention specialist, a holistic nutritionist and an integrative OB GYN who can address listeners' hairiest, most complicated situations. Email us at [email protected] .

There's nothing worse than feeling like you've got a great idea, sitting on it, and then seeing someone else doing it—successfully. That's exactly what happened to Kim Malek back in 2010. The marketing executive had been going back and forth on her idea of creating an artisan ice cream shop for years. Then boom! She opened the New York Times and read about someone else doing it. "I was literally enraged!," she recalls. But she turned that anger into action. She cashed in her 401k to open a Salt & Straw ice cream shop in Portland, Oregon with her chef cousin, Tyler. With Tyler creating never-before-heard-of flavors like Honey Lavender and Goat Cheese Marionberry Habanero, the shop was an overnight success, ultimately spawning 18 more up and down the west coast. Kim shares with Linda the lessons she's learned along the road and another pretty amazing thing that was going on at the same time she was growing her company: she married and adopted three fosters kids, ages 2, 4 and 5. Talk about a Super Woman.

With her website Truth in Aging, Marta Wohrle has spent the past ten years investigating what products really work to restore collagen, lessen lines and improve complexion. Favoring state-of-the-art, little known companies (and avoiding high-end department store brands with fancy packaging), Marta sources products, sends them to her team of testers across the country and then quantifies results with thorough and, sometimes brutally honest, reviews. In addition to tester input, Marta also gives careful consideration to the ratio of effective ingredients to essentially "filler" and to price.

In this show, Linda chats with Marta about what specific ingredients have proven to be the most effective. She highlights three in particular—including one we'd never even heard of—as well as an emerging Scandinavian brand that's water and preservative-free that she views as game changing. Marta also shares why getting retinol from your dermatologist may not be the best approach.