The Debbie Nigro Show

Talk About Risk It! Or Regret It!...

After reading one of my email newsletters (they're free btw at DebbieNigro.com) where my headline was my question "What are you going to do with TODAY?"

James (Jim) Flaherty a subscriber replied to my email:

"About to leave (Mon Morning) for a 19 day 11-flight trip, visiting Flagstaff, AZ; Las Cruces, NM; and Houston and San Antonio before landing in the Baja of Mexico to teach a Modern Elder Workshop on THE BLUE ZONES, where there are more centenarians than anywhere else in the world. Trust you are well. Good column today. xo Jim

Jim Flaherty is a former ad agency guy, entrepreneur and writer. I made friends with Jim after randomly featuring his book on my show, which I randomly found on an old table, in a random old general store, in an old section of an old town in upstate NY. The only thing I won't call old is Jim - even though he's 89. This guy's ageless!

And talk about Risk it or Regret It! I was exhausted just reading about the trip he had planned. I asked Jim to call into my show from the airport while waiting for his first flight. I wanted to know how the hell an 89-year-old was gonna do all that airport walking? I couldn't! LOL

Jim said: "The only part of me that really doesn't function as well as I expect it to, because I always expect everything to work perfectly, are my legs. I can walk around the house, I can walk around an office, I can walk onto a stage and give a speech but I've had three surgeries starting with one bad surgery in Mexico years ago on my right le,g and now my left leg is just being 89 years old and tired. So I find when I get to an airport, and it's a mile or a half a mile between one thing to another, I have to have a wheelchair. And of course, it really, basically, it pisses me off because I never did."

I was wondering how this 89-year-old was going to handle all those flights?

"I don't mind the fact that I'm going to have 11, I'm going to have 11 flights in the next 19 days. That doesn't bother me. I'm fine on a plane."

Was this 89-year young guy going to rent a car and drive himself around the country in between flights?

"Yeah, I drive fine. I'm a good driver. I'm okay behind the wheel."

I wanted to know more about that 'Modern Elder Academy' I'd read about, and Jim's workshop he was giving on the Blue Zones.

Jim said:

"The founder, Chip Conley, is a wonderful, wonderful human being. Chip, who was going through his own kind of midlife crisis in his 50s and saw so many of his friends just at the end of their rope, decided, God, there's nothing for people going through what he called the messy middle. And they put a long age range on it, ranging from 35 to 75. People are going through the messy middle with one transition or another at all of those ages. So he put together this academy.

"And the reason it ended up with the name Modern Elder Academy is that the Airbnb boys who were all, you know, well, they weren't 12 years old, but they might have been, they were 20, 22, 23 years old, you know, when they started Airbnb, they didn't know their ass from their elbow, but they had a wonderful idea. And they, they asked Chip to come aboard, to tell them about hospitality, because he had owned a chain of hotels out in San Francisco. And, yeah, and one of them one day said, gosh, Chip, you're our modern elder. Because he was at that point like 52. And he thought, That's an interesting point of view of modern elders."

Jim wants everybody in the world to look up modernelderacademy.com and put their name on the free mailing list. He said you get a free daily blog that is worth its weight in gold. And he said they have free monthly webinars that are just terrific. The workshops are too, adding that the workshops aren't for free, but he said he read the blog for two years before he signed up for one.

Jim said:

"Fell madly head over heels in love with the whole concept, went back eight months later for my second workshop and now they've invited me to help facilitate workshops."

From what I've learned now about those Modern Elder Workshops … they seem to get people unstuck and give them clarity for their what's next. Might interest some of you or someone you know.

Meanwhile goodness knows what's next for 89-year dynamo Jim Flaherty. Senior Ninja Warrior Games? LOL Not sure but Jim wrote me a follow up note, "I'm wild (again) trying to triple my output so I can keep up with myself"!

Enjoy listening to this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show.

Was missing my ol' belly laugh pal TV Producer Adrienne Lopez. She used to live close by me but moved, and moved on to traveling for work. Hadn't seen her in person since before Covid. Happened to a lot of friendships.

Can't remember exactly how we originally became friends, but I think it started way back when 5000 years ago when she once booked me on a TV show. Adrienne's been in the tv & film business a long time.

She's a veteran television producer and talent executive. She's been a casting director/producer in all tv genres including, reality tv, docu-series, and competition shows as well as scripted programming. She is a very successful celebrity talent booker and is currently The Senior Talent Producer on The Tamron Hall Show in NYC.

Adrienne said, "We usually tape a live show at ABC on 67th and Columbus, but the news is we're moving. All of ABC Disney is moving down way downtown to Tribeca. I just found out today that we're moving in December. Everybody else is moving right after the election".

Adrienne is used to being on the move. Both Adrienne and I were independent female entrepreneurs and single moms along the way of life. Always hustling because single moms always have to hustle, but also always laughing – even when things weren't exactly going our way.

We'd stop and have a glass of wine together and commiserate. Once we were so broke, we had to share a glass of wine…at happy hour. LOL We still laugh like hell about that one.

Though we haven't seen in each in person in a while, I'd kept up with Adrienne online, knew she became the Sr. Talent Producer at The Tamron Hall Show, always joked she had fancier friends than me when I'd see her post about her celebrity pals, and found out when the great Willie Mays passed, she actually was his neighbor for a while growing up near 'Shea Stadium'. Yes Willie Mays was her neighbor for while on the street she grew up on in East Elmhurst, Queens.

Told Adrienne it was time for her to come visit me and have a few of those same ol' belly laughs we always like to have. I thought it would be fun to catch up with her in the studio live on the air with me, so she could talk about all those things that she does and knows that might interest you guys too. (Like what goes on behind the scenes on a live TV show and how to get booked as a guest on one!)

Adrienne has been at The Tamron Hall Show five seasons now and is very proud she's been nominated for an Emmy twice. She didn't win, but oh well, she says she'll get 'em next time! The new season starts September 3rd.

Meet Adrienne Lopez and find out how getting booked a TV show works and more, in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show.

"Super Nanny' Shannon Albrecht is the creator and President of President/Nanny-Land®️, LLC, the world's only company specializing in Nannies at Disney!

Located at most Disney locations worldwide, and available on Disney cruise Lines they provide you with a Magical Nanny for your Family Adventures!

Shannon joined The Debbie Nigro Show to share that most of her clients are simply families who could use an extra set of hands when they take a Disney Adventure.

Typical families who book with her might have 3 or 4 kids, a child with special needs, or kids with a large age gap. Single parents find this service invaluable as do parents with disabilities.

Shannon knows firsthand how helpful her service is because she herself uses a wheelchair and has a son with autism spectrum disorder.

Shannon says, "A lot of parents will ask, what's the difference between your Disney nannies and me just bringing my nanny from home. Of course, your nanny from home knows you and they know your children personally, but they may also not really know the Disney parks. They also probably do not have, especially if you're traveling from out of state, a Disney annual pass, so therefore you have to buy their tickets in the park every day. Our nannies that help in parks are called our golden crown nannies. They're local to Disney. They visit Disney multiple times a week, some of them every single day. They have Disney annual passes so they're not only childcare professionals, they're also Disney masters and Disney experts."

"I should also throw in there that most families that come to us have never even been to Disney. It's usually their once-in-a-lifetime trip or their first trip I'd say as high as 70 or 80 percent of families. We do get reoccurring families but a lot of them are new to Disney and when they arrive, parents especially have no idea how exhausting it is and so providing them with a nanny for Disney helps them navigate the parks, it helps keep an eye on the best of both worlds. The family fun time and just adult assistance or adult downtime. I think most parents don't take that into consideration how physically and emotionally exhausting it is."

Nanny-Land offers lots of ways to make the trip more fun for everybody traveling, including Nannies for date nights and Nannies to grab the kids early mornings so adults can get a little more sleep. (Which if you've ever been on a vacation with kids, you know is desperately needed.)

Shannon says, "That's a very popular service we call a sleepy session and that's from our silver crown nannies which are the nannies that help with the resorts and the hotels. Because we operate around the clock we never close so we work any hours and and not for an extra price. We'll work really early really late throughout the night. A sleepy session is when a silver crown nanny comes to the resort or hotel as early as you want 3 a.m. 4 a.m. 5 a.m. to wake up with the kids, get them ready for the day, have breakfast with them, and start the morning so that mom and dad can sleep in. And this is really popular after a date night, the night before. That's huge. Huge. And or after a big park day, the day before, so they can recharge, so they can be there at the parks for their children."

All Nanny-Land Nannies are CPR certified and background checked, and all Nannies are Disney annual theme park pass holders and locals familiar with the parks. They make great stroller pushers and family photographers too. All Nannies and families are paired before the trip.

Enjoy meeting Founder Shannon Albrecht / President/Nanny-Land®️, LLC in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show!

And check out Nanny-Land.com. Feel free to email them with any questions at [email protected]

The Debbie Nigro Show airs 11-12 Noon EST on #WGCH Radio. Tune in live from anywhere on WGCH.com.

Have you heard about The Key to The Castle workshops for writers? The next one is taking place in Torre di Cittara, Italy from October 19th to 26th this year.

Kathy Curto, Patricia Dunn, William Papaleo and Angela Derecas Taylor are behind this. It's their signature workshop on the Amalfi Coast but they offer workshops for writers, artists and yoga enthusiasts both online, locally in the NY area and in other cool places abroad.

I found about this when ran into Angela at a writer's event. I'd known her from her days working in the mayor's office in my city. When she retired 2 years ago - she started this cool company.

So who is the ideal participant for a writers trip to Italy?

Someone who is open to adventure and discovery as a community of artists.

One benefit of working as an artist in community with others is the gaining of new insight, particularly when it comes to ways of seeing and valuing their own work. This applies on the page, the mat, out in the natural world and on the canvas.

An ideal student also recognizes the importance of getting away from their own day to day life to experience the illuminating effects of travel and the sharing of culture—in all ways.

Many students attend their workshops to collect fresh understandings of their own promise as artists and to gain the variety of perspectives that come from being in a new place.

Kathy and Patricia joined me in the studio to tell us all about it.

Kathy says, "The Key To the Castle is sort of our signature program and that is in October for, and as Pat said, writers really of all levels. We do writing and painting primarily and some meditation and yoga and lots of eating and sort of collaborating with one another. It's really community driven.

We've been doing it for several years now in Cittara. We have a great relationship with the community, with the merchants there, with the people who help us actually organize the housing and the trips.

You actually stay in this beautiful fishing town right the Amalfi coast and everybody gets apartments like the person that arranges you it's like condos Everybody gets their condos and then we actually do the writing right in the castle."

Seems many great writers just don't really 'get it' until they are with other people who bring it out in them and see it.

Pat said, "You can write alone, and you might get to certain things in your work, but until you share it with people you trust, in a safe environment, you're not going to get the kind of feedback that you need to move on to the next step unless you want to wait 25, 30 years."

Wow. Who the heck has that kind of time to waste? LOL

If this sounds like something you'd like to know more about check out KeysToTheCastleWorkshop.com.

Meanwhile enjoy this podcast of our live conversation on the Debbie Nigro Show.

Let's just say if I was building or renovating a pool I'd call Vinnie Groppa. And for the record yes, stars do call him, but so do very regular people who still get the same star treatment!

Humble guy that Vinnie. Great sense of humor. Really nice human and super creative pool and backyard design visionary.

I wanted to give Vinnie his own star treatment, so I invited him into the studio to tell the great entrepreneurial story of his family's 50-year-old pool business Gunite Pools of Westchester. It's a good one. And a story that's entering a new chapter... 'expansion'.

Vinnie Groppa grew up in the family pool business, learned about the business from a very young age, and eventually took over the company. He now proudly employs his own son to help him run the day-to-day pool operations which every year involves a ridiculously busy scenario opening hundreds and hundreds of pools for the season to be ready to roll by Memorial Day weekend.

"Gunite Pools in Westchester was started a long time ago by my father, who was a builder at the time. He and my uncle started the company. And Gunite Pools became renowned and very well-known in Westchester County in NY. I started my own little pool company, V Groppa pools, when I was like 15 years old. They were building pools but there was no service division. So at 15 I bought a car, the old Buick Skylark, I put a vacuum hose in a pole. I had this beautiful car, I could put my tools in, I had a pole hanging out the window, and I was on my way. The first year I had four customers. And then from there it just snowballed, and I got a great reputation. Eventually my dad retired, so I took on his company and now without giving that name up, I just incorporated the two together and now we have a beautiful service division."

While the demand for pool service is high, demand for new pools has slowed a little bit since the pandemic. However, the desire for well-designed, safe, and functional pools remains very strong.

Vinnie's passionate about great pool service but his real passion lies in designing those gorgeous pools and transforming backyards into beautiful spaces. It's what turns him on and what he's looking forward to doing more of!

People Fly Vinnie In To Design Pools? Yes! He's That Good! Lol

V. Groppa Pools & Gunite Pools of Westchester have always been known for a high level of integrity and excellence. They're now expanding into Greenwich CT Fairfield County CT, the Hamptons (where Vinnie has already designed quite a few pools) and other upscale locales where people have actually flown Vinnie in. Vinnie gets a real kick out of doing that.

"It makes me smile because I really love that part of the business, I love being creative and seeing something through till the end and stepping back and saying hey, you know what? Look what I did. Yeah, look what I built, look what I created. You can leave something behind, and people enjoy it and to see the smiles on their faces is just invaluable to me."

Adding a Pool These Days increases the Value of Your Home.

Realtors and Builders always reach out to Vinnie when they're trying to increase the value of a home sale. Either by adding a pool or renovating one, making a pool safer, or adding a hot tub, a waterfall, lighting etc. So, if anybody's out there interested in knowing more about this, Vinnie is the guy who can educate you on how to enhance the value of your home.

Let's Talk About Pool Safety!

There's nothing like enjoying a pool and nothing worse than having something go wrong at a pool. Especially when it's yours and it could have been prevented. One of the most effective ways to prevent accidents is to make sure the pool is securely fenced with a self-locking gate.

Vinnie says, "So the code is you have to have a self-locking gate with a lock on top so you can actually lock the gate. And if, God forbid, you forget to close the gate, it automatically closes behind you.

Another code is that every door leading to the backyard within the fenced-in area must have some type of alarm on it. So, if the mother of the house is upstairs and she's getting dressed, and the child's on the first floor and decides he/she is going to go for a walk out the back, the mother is alerted to that when the child opens the door."

What else does Vinnie see trending in pool safety?

"The most effective thing right now in nine out of ten pools I'm building is that they are equipped with an automatic cover. So, it's almost like peace of mind where you close that cover. It's like locking your door to your house. You know this is something that every parent with a small child should have but the only thing with that is your pool must be a rectangle. "

When Somethings Wrong with Your Pool Make It Right - Right Away.

"95-98% of our pools, we do weekly service. So my guys are my eyes and if there's anything that's wrong, they'll shoot me a picture right away and we reach out to the client and we tell them, safety's first. This is dangerous and we want to repair it, we want to take care of it. Give us the okay and we'll take care of it right away'

Does everybody want a rectangle pool?

"I go in a backyard and immediately I'll tell you what the backyard dictates. It's like a palette and you can see what type of backyard people have, what type of house they have. Is it modern? Is it colonial, does it warrant a free form pool? If it's very natural in the back, I'd love to put something with a waterfall. "

It's instinct after all these years with Vinnie Groppa. He just knows what would work and what would flow.

If you've got or want a pool, you need a Vinnie! LOL

Gunite Pools of Westchester (and beyond now) has a stellar reputation founded on integrity, loyalty and availability.

V Groppa Pools and Gunite Pools of Westchester.

Get in touch Vinnie Groppa at VGroppa Pools or Gunite Pools of Westchester at 914-769-3513 or at gunitepoolsofwestchester.com

Meanwhile enjoy meeting the 'pool artist to stars' Vinnie Groppa in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show.

We have an ongoing national lifeguard shortage.

This is not good.

This poses a significant risk to water safety in communities for the 3rd year.

American Lifeguard Association (ALA) has launched a crucial initiative.

and Wyatt Werneth their spokesperson, who's like the Jame Bond of Lifeguards, is making headlines highlighting a crucial reality:

"Professional lifeguards, the dedicated guardians of our waterways, are deserving of both acknowledgment and compensation that mirror the critical nature of their work."

The ALA is calling on employers to enhance their Lifeguard incentive offerings, including bonuses, reimbursement of training expenses, and competitive wages.

It's a strategic effort designed to not only draw a wider range of qualified lifeguard candidates but also to elevate the profession of lifeguarding to a highly esteemed and rewarding career choice.

I've always wanted to be a lifeguard I wonder if it's too late? LOL I'm half kidding of course, because I'd feel self-conscious walking around in a bathing suit as my work outfit but hey all day but never underestimate the life saving power of a Grandma!

They do think it's time to widen the net of appeal to lifeguarding which includes encouraging older people as well.

Wyatt joined me on The Debbie Nigro Show to share what we all need to do to solve the lifeguard shortage for the safety of all.

Wyatt is a great choice as the Official Spokesperson of the American Lifeguard Association. He's a highly skilled waterman with core training in rescue swimming and public safety diving, and he also holds several world records.

He served as the head of the Cocoa Beach Fla. patrol and has over 20 years of experience in various military and contractor roles worldwide. His expertise extends to MAROP (Marine Operations) in marine environments, working with the USCG as an Officer in tactical/security and medical fields, and collaborating with the US and UK Special Operations Forces.

He's also a really cool stuntman who's done outrageous stunts in a multitude of movies you've likely seen. But his World Record is one of the things he's most proud of.

"I have a Guinness World Record. It is in paddle boarding, 345 miles, and I'll tell you a story about that. I was the lifeguard chief of an area that has 72 miles of ocean front, and at that time, we only had 13 lifeguard stations available for 210 beach accesses for 110 days out of the year.

We ended up having a tremendous amount of drownings. And at that time, in 2007, we'd already had 10 drownings. So what I did, in fact, on the actual anniversary. 17 years ago, I did the paddleboard journey.

And what it was, I considered it dragging a cross for the souls that we lost.

You know, I pulled each of these people out of the water, I met their families, grieved with them. And the only way I could deal with it was I was like, well, you know what, I'm going to drag her across.

So I put myself on a paddle board in the open ocean and I paddle boarded night and day for 10 days. And just to remember every soul, to bring awareness to the drownings, to these people's lives, to the lack of lifeguards, beach safety, it was during beach safety week. And yeah, I'm very proud of that. I think that, of all the things I've done, is a major accomplishment and a signature of what I do."

The Drown Zero Foundation.

.

Wyatt Werneth's passionate about the Drown Zero Foundation - making beaches safer one beach at a time.

Drown Zero which started as a Cocoa Beach Rotary Club project has successfully implemented sixty-two (62) Drown Zero flotation device stations along Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral.

These "Throw – Don't Go!" stations provide beaches without lifeguards (unguarded or off duty) a means to assist a s distressed swimmer. As in throw the orange floatation ring into the water don't try and save someone yourself. Call 9-1-1 and keep your eyes on the swimmer until first responders arrive.

These stations are available for adoption, which helps make the Drown Zero Project possible. The Drown Zero project has been made possible by the Surfing's Evolution and Preservation Foundation, Cocoa Beach Rotary Club in conjunction with the Cities of Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral.

'Drown Zero International' now has the ability with support from the Surfing's Evolution and Preservation Foundations as well as donations to help bring this life saving project to your community. Please feel free to contact them for more information.

[email protected]

321-704-0151

Meanwhile back to the Lifeguard Shortage…It's time we take our Lifeguards seriously so enjoy this podcast of my live conversation with Wyatt Werneth on The Debbie Nigro Show.

There's nuttin' like a blast of hot 'clothes shedding weather' to make some people realize they wish they were in better shape. LOL

If you're a woman in your HOT phase of life this seaons hot weather shock can be even more uncomfortable.

However, you can turn things around in just 30 days and feel a whole lot better if you listen to my Nutritionist pal Jacqui Justice.

Jacqui is one passionate nutritionist! She's the OG of 'Talkin' Menopause' and was talking about it when nobody else was. She's been a pioneer in the space trying to help her fellow females with solutions. Even if she won the lottery, she says she'd still spend her days trying to help others feel better.

Jacqui is a Functional Nutritionist and author. In addition to helping all kinds of individuals, she excels at helping peri- through post-menopausal women shed belly fat, reverse their symptoms, and finally feel like themselves again.

Jacqui Justice joined The Debbie Nigro Show to talk about her SHED IT! DIY Plan. It's a 30-day hormone balancing 'Belly Shedding Cleanse'. That should perk up some ears! LOL

Every woman going through this phase of life should listen to what she has to say in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show.

Needless to say Aimee Hofmann is an INSPIRATION to many!

At 30, she suffered from the neurological condition, Transverse Myelitis, an inflammation in the spinal cord that caused complete paralysis from level T10 of the spine. After learning she would never walk again, art gave her peace during the difficult stages of loss, grief, self-reflection, and re-discovery. Art helped her emotionally heal, as well as find joy again.

Throughout the years that followed, while facing a new life with a disability, Aimee created a number of collections. Her works featured landscapes, abstract florals and swirl patterns, which have continued to evolve into deeper abstract work.

Her unique abstract art has inspired many with its vibrancy and depth, symbolizing the resilience and strength found in the journey of recovery.

Aimee is being honored on June 6th by Burke Rehabilitation Hospital with the Burke Award, their highest honor. This year's theme is the "Healing Power of the Arts," which highlights the transformative impact of the arts in rehabilitation and recovery. Burke is a nationally renowned rehabilitation hospital located in White Plains NY and Aimee's impactful artwork adorns the walls throughout Burke Rehabilitation's buildings.

Aimee joined me to share her pride in how her unexpected journey brought her to this moment and how art contributes to the rehabilitation and recovery process for patients.

I asked Aimee to talk about what she does every day and how she does it.

Her most recent collections she said, express a newfound freedom that embraces the beauty of imperfections, renewal/rebirth and nostalgia and the symbolism of one's unique life journey.

"After I became paralyzed throughout the years that followed, I learned so many life lessons. I did a lot of self-reflection and self-rediscovery work. One of the things was that I learned to let go of perfectionism, and it's something that I struggled with throughout my whole life. And so, my latest work features, for example, paint in diverse textures and various consistencies, which I liberally pour and splatter all over the canvas. And this kind of embracing the beauty of imperfections, allowing the paint organically to react instead of focusing on being perfect and that is a complete reflection of my personal journey. "

"And so, acquiring a disability has also helped me discover this newfound courage that was born from the realization that there is nothing to fear because I realized that the future will always be uncertain for everybody no matter what. So, this epiphany has allowed me to relinquish control over outcomes, allowing my intuition to guide the creative process instead of focusing so much on the final results, if that makes sense."

Everything Aimee creates makes total sense.

In addition to individual collectors and Burke Rehabilitation, Aimee Hofmann's work is part of corporate collections at Amazon, JPMorgan Chase & Co., HSBC, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Intuit, State Street Bank, Ipsen, Brown Advisory and Vigil Neuroscience. She has also shown at local and regional arts centers and has been a guest speaker at the Harvard Business School.

Aimee Hofmann lives with her husband and two children in Westchester County NY. She is a two-time hand-cyclist marathoner, avid swimmer, fundraiser, and guest speaker. As disabilities advocate her goal is to continue to create awareness about inclusion and fair representation for people with disabilities.

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About 'The Burke Award': Given by Burke Rehabilitation, it is conferred upon an individual or group who has made significant contributions to the field of rehabilitation, either through personal achievements, the development of research or the establishment of programs and facilities to assist individuals with disabilities. It recognizes strength and courage in overcoming the challenge of a disability or a significant contribution to the understanding of physical disability. It remains the highest honor bestowed by the Board of Trustees of Burke Rehabilitation Hospital.

The Burke Award Dinner is Burke's premier fundraiser, with proceeds supporting Burke's outstanding rehabilitative care services and the Healing Power of the Arts fund.

Your generous support of the 2024 Burke Award being held on June 6th will make a difference in the lives of the thousands of patients Burke serves each year.

Enjoy being inspired to learn how art heals by the fabulous Aimee Hofmann in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show.

If You Don't Know About Eugene Ruffolo I'm Hoping You Willl Now.

He's not just any talent. Eugene is a prolific and deeply personal songwriter.

The world could use more of him. His music calms people down.

A mutual friend who went to school with him in NY back when, had no clue about his talent until a zoom decades later during Covid. He then became addicted to his music and kept insisting I needed to listen.

So, I did. I swear I could feel his music in my veins. I was taken aback by the beauty of his vocal gift and the genius of his songwriting. As good as any famous musical artist I've ever enjoyed. I honestly was shocked I had not heard about him. Apparently even Kenny Loggins was shocked he didn't know about him after both collaborated on a segment of someone else's record.

In addition to his own songwriting, Eugene has shared studios and stages with many famous artists, drawn to his unique vocal talents. People like Garth Brooks and Tony Bennett and Kenny Loggins, Run-DMC, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Livingston Taylor, Spyro Gyra, just to name a few.

He covers themes like forgiveness, the precious bonds of friendship, the search for existential truth. Among his many worldwide accolades his music has been referred to as "the jewel of folk pop' .You'll hear for yourself if you take a few minutes to listen to this podcast of our live in-studio bonding session.

Eugene even took a little musical departure recently to write and record a collection of Italian songs celebrating his Italian heritage and his love of Mediterranean and pop music, folk music. And he wrote a classy little book to along with it, on food, music, and Italian culture, which I thought was very cool.

Eugene Ruffolo also has a great sense of humor as evidenced by how he handled my ridiculous opening of my live show. En route to the studio, I reached in blindly to my purse while driving and accidentally sprayed 'Band Aid Antiseptic Cleansing to Go Spray' in my mouth instead of the 'Listerine Cool Mint' which comes in the exact same pump packaging. Needless to say I was an idiot.

Panicking that I might have poisoned myself but knowing that Eugene was coming into the radio studio, I decided to risk not going to the emergency room and instead spent a few hyper minutes on the phone minutes before the show started with the nurse from Band Aids 800 # who sweetly read off the chemical ingredients I sprayed on my tongue and suggested I contact poison control. Had no time for that.

Instead I played a few of Eugene's songs to calm myself down LOL and give my audience a taste of his extraordinary talent including new songs he's just released.

In order we sampled:

Late Bloomer (My personal favorite as the words were just so good!)

Bella Maria

Closer To You

Poor Lonesome Me

Like many who were just about to launch 'something' right when the pandemic hit, Eugene's best laid plans got put on hold.

"Embarrassed to say it was actually because that little pandemic that pesky little pandemic got in the way because I finished the record in 2019 and I was just about to go on a tour to Europe, literally in April 1st of 2020, and then you know what happened there. So yeah, and I was about to release the record and then that happened and then I sort of just sat down."

"It felt like a strange time to do it and I couldn't figure out what the right time was and all this time went by and then I thought, well, I need to get this, I need to get this record out. I have more music to make."

As far as Eugene Ruffalo's Italian songs go…his are quite beautiful. His Italian album is called 'Canto per Mangiare'.

"I've always embraced my Italian heritage, and I always had a sort of love of Italian music, because I started going to Italy when I was a child, and I went a lot during my twenties. I spent a lot of time there during my 20s. I had all these friends, and I didn't speak any Italian when I first started going. One of the ways that I learned how to speak Italian was through the music. I listened to a lot of music, and I would ask my friends, what does this mean and what does that mean."

Eugene wanted to get to the roots of real Italian music not the stereotypical Italian songs.

"That's one of the impetuses behind this record was the fact that I think in America, people only know Italian music in two ways. They know it as classical, right? Let's just use Pavarotti. Bocelli is more of a pop guy, but he has sort of a classical, he has a classical aesthetic right? Or the Italian American Dean Martin singing Volare and that kind of thing. So, I wanted to get to more because there are a lot of other aspects of Italian music. So, my record really has a few elements to it. One of them is traditional Neapolitan folk music, which is really beautiful. And then the other is just singer-songwriters from the 70s, like the equivalents of the James Taylor, Cat Stevens that we have here, but that existed in the 70s in Italy. So, I covered some of their songs, and then I wrote a bunch of tunes myself."

Eugene's about to take his first trip in 4 years to perform. He's going overseas to Ireland. He's never been there. Then on to the Netherlands.

But I told him he had to come do my show first because I needed to know more about him and wanted more people to hear him so they wouldn't have to say… How come I don't know you?

You'll thank me for introducing you to Eugene Ruffolo on this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show.

I love gritty and gutsy women who make it in business against all odds. I am one, and so I am always drawn to the same.

We all have stuff. We all have crap. We all have horrific things that happen to us emotionally and financially that make us think, how the hell am I ever getting out of this? Often you don't even know where to begin.

Sometimes just listening to someone else's story lends a clue. Especially when it's a real-life lesson in resilience and survival. This story I'm about to share is very powerful. Because it's about the power of believing in yourself.

Today you're going to hear the extraordinary story of Marcy Manfredonia. This now successful entrepreneur rose from extreme emotional and financial hardship. You will be inspired. She turned nothing and I do mean NOTHING, into something else!

Three Successful businesses now and counting. National Maintenance, Custom Candle Co. and CBD Live Natural, with plans for plans for more entrepreneurial ventures in the hopper. She's Unstoppable.

Most amazing is that she never even learned how to read or write as she had to drop out of school young to take a job to help support her family.

This is one of the most authentic interviews I have ever done with one of the most authentic people I have ever met. If you're not a Marcie fan after listening or reading, I'll eat my hat.

I do think you should listen to this one vs read about it. Why? Well, let's just say Marcie's story told in her deep voiced Bronx Italian accent might just remind you to never judge a book by its cover. I'll take the liberty to say that because I'm also Italian (American), have been judged wrong along the way by many, and also have a pretty deep voice for a female. I often talk a little too NY fast for some, but if you want to hear two gritty and gutsy female entrepreneurs talkin' no BS about how to push through when life gets tough - you should listen.

Also, in the spirit of May being Mental Health Awareness Month and knowing full well how many people struggle with emotional, financial and relationship challenges – I felt showcasing Marcie's story would encourage a whole lot of people - to never stop believing in themselves!

I had met Marcie some years ago at an event held at her cool store in Bedford Hills, NY. She held a sort of networking party and I was invited by a lovely friend so I went. I was in awe of her beautifully designed store filled with magical candles and gifts on one side (Custom Cando Co.) and on the other an entire classy line of CBD and related products (CBD Live Natural) The party was set up father back in the store where there was a bar set up and beautiful appetizers and art.

Then there was Marcie. To say Marcie has a presence that stands out would be an understatement. She's tall and attractive, always dressed a little sparkly, and has a unique deep voice with a Bronx Italian accent. She bubbles with enthusiasm, confidence, and compassion.

That day I overheard her telling another guest about her years of suffering from fibromyalgia and anxiety and trying every possible way to get out of pain to no avail - until her son suggested she try CBD which she didn't understand and was afraid of but tried out of desperation. It worked and changed her whole life. Thus, her decision to start her CBD Live Natural store to try and help others get out of pain. Marcie spends a lot of time trying to help others.

In fact, I learned it was at a American Cancer Society fundraiser that she threw to raise them some money, that a women from Whole Foods flipped out over her table decorations. Marcie made impressive centerpieces filled with candles flowers and candy out of recycled pink bottles that her son found in NYC which she cut and polished. When that someone said wow you should make this into a business - Marcie did. Her company Custom Candle Co. will take any bottle of wine or champagne that represents a memorable occasion to you (wedding anniversary, birth) and cut it and polish it and fill it with any one of her long-lasting great smelling candles in any scent you want. Marcie's candle business has sustainability at the core and all her candles are made from soy and recyclables - often bottles donated from restaurants so they don't go to the landfill.

Marcie and I only spoke briefly that day at her party, but we had one of those good energy connections and both agreed we should stay in touch.

But years went by, until last month in a clothing store in Scarsdale, NY. I heard her voice. Blocked by racks of clothes that kept me from seeing her, I thought, hey that's Marcie from the party that I met, and I loved. So, I went over to her, and she was like "Debbie what happened to you?" "I always thought we should connect it again". "I even asked my friend who invited you what ever happened to that woman?"

So, we start talking, and I asked her to share a highlight of what's going on with her, and she mentioned she'd just won a bid for a job she was excited about. Who knew she owned a big construction company too?

Wow I'm thinking there's a lot more to this woman than Candles and CBD. So, I'm telling her a little about my ventures and of course my show where I always feature innovators and she said, "I'll be a sponsor". And I realized at that moment we were a perfect business match.

She is the epitome of gritty and I'm the epitome of gutsy and we both always come from the heart. Together businesswise I thought, wow we could be dangerous. (Dangerously fun too.)

I understood Marcie's businesses, but I wanted to understand Marcie better, so I invited her to sit in the studio with me. I always try and go above and beyond to help people who support me and often end up making exciting strategic business matches for them they didn't see coming. But I like to understand the person I'm dealing with first, not just the business.

Like me, Marcie lost her dad when she was young. Never easy. I was 23 but she was only 16 when her dad passed.

"What happened was I didn't really go to school. I had to help my mom take care of my dad. So, growing up it wasn't easy because I had to go get a job. I worked at Woolworths, McDonald's whatever I could do.

When my dad passed away, I felt like, now what am I going to do? I met my first husband and we got married at 18 because I thought I needed somebody to take care of me. And I always felt stupid because I didn't go to school. I couldn't spell or read. And then I got into that relationship. I stood 18 years, but it wasn't a good relationship. '

"And I always heard, you're no good, you can't do nothing. "

"You go through the battering. And you stay, and I stood just to raise my children."

Marcie one of 4 girls herself, had four boys. Her mother was a widow and was a stay-at-home mom, Italian, typical, back in the day, whose official job was housewife and who did her best at that job, but then her mother got breast cancer.

"I think I was thirty-three. And I juggled and took care of her, going back and forth to chemo. I hate to get emotional. I'm sorry. I think it's okay. I would have my four little boys; one I would have on the backpack of me. I would walk, go there, take care of her, get my kids to school, and it was a lot. It was a lot. And I just stood until the day she passed. That was the day I knew I was able to have the strength to leave my ex-husband. "

About to be a single mom, scared to death but knew she had to leave the abusive relationship. Like many women in abusive relationships, it's hard to explain it to anybody. Which is why I'm talking about this loud on the radio during this conversation during Mental Health Awareness Month. Thank God the world is talking about these kinds of crazy awful situations now and encouraging people to talk about these situations and get some help because they are not alone. There was no help back in the day.

"You buried this stuff, and if you talked about it , what happens is people think you're crazy, or you have those older people, your family would say, you know, just take it, where else are you going to go, you have a house, you have a roof over your head, and that's what they would always say, and then you would think to yourself, maybe I should be a little nicer, maybe I do deserve it, and you start thinking that, but when you try to get away, it's even harder. I always found myself going back. You know you don't want to go to shelters and sleep on the floor and so you always find yourself going back. And I was so I was at the breaking point, and I had to get out even though I realized I have no backup plan. But I knew if I was gonna get out of it and get my kids out of it, I had to do it."

Talk About A Risk It or Regret It! Moment.

Marcie went and got financial assistance. She wanted to get a small little apartment. She was on public assistance for six months. But she said she felt belittled.

"I hated going down there. I had to go down to 61st Street. The kids would sit on the floor while we waited to get a check. The only reason why I did that because my boys had asthma and I needed the health insurance. One day I went back down and said, listen, I don't want to be on this because if I stay on public assistance, I'm going to be like everybody else. Could I just have the health insurance? The guy said it's all or nothing. And I don't know where the guts came, but I said, then it's nothing."

And just like that with four little kids with no money, Marcie borrowed money from a Shylock to get though. She juggled and paid it back.

Marcie told me she called a job ad for a power washing company she saw in the paper and when the guy answered the phone she said,

"I'll never forget this in my life, if you give me this job, I really need it because I want my son to go to St. Teresa's to be able to go to a public or Catholic school and I need some extra money. I promise you, three weeks I'll work for you for free. Just give me the opportunity. I don't really spell it or write well, but I can sell anything if I believe in it. I made more money in those three weeks for him than he had with eight girls in the office."

But the guy kept not paying her commissions, so after a year Marcie proposed they go partners and she buy into his company. He laughed at her. So, she quit and opened her own power washing company. Cleaning and Power Washing. Her first company!

"I bought a broken-down truck and a power washer, and my son Santino left school he was gonna go be an accountant, but he had to come out of school at 16 to help me. I had like one of those little Jeeps, because I had to make the kids go to school in the morning. The only way I was able to do the estimates was to drive around Manhattan at night and look at the awnings and write down the prices. And the boys were asleep, so I'd go home in the morning, dress them, and bring them to school. After getting the jobs my son would go out and clean awnings. And we did that for a year and we started making good money. But then, winter came...

Then the truck she owned was in a bad accident and she lost everything.

So, Marcie went to a Shylock again and borrowed money. And off she went again to figure out how to survive. With her never wavering belief in herself, and with powerful passion to create a better life for herself and her kids, Marcie Manfredonia figured out how to do way more than power washing.

"So, then I said oh my god what am I gonna do? So, I started doing painting and my first contract was Rite Aid and I worked with them for 10 years. I did all their painting, I did all their plumbing, I did their emergency services, I did all their work. I was their GC. They came to me for everything, which was great. That's how I started building up my company. Then I went to work with the USPS, postal service also. That's how I met my second husband, because I hired him to work for me."

"I used to hire painters to watch them paint, sit outside and watch them figure out their man hours. Because see, when you don't spell and read really well, you're very visual. I could look at something, tell you how long it takes, and I would just watch them, see what they use, then I would watch somebody else. Then when we got the concrete, I would go out there, watch them flow concrete. I just learned just by watching."

Marcie Manfredonia learned a LOT about construction and maintenance and business in general. She's very visual so she learned by watching others do. And she hired people to do the things she needed help with, like read and type for her.

Now 25 years later, Marcie's company Nationwide Maintenance is a huge success, and she employs a whole lot of people.

Her company does design and remodeling, custom woodwork, floor tile installation, flood and fire damage, window replacement, general repairs, painting, plumbing, electrical construction, cleanups, demo.

Her company also does exterior services; asphalt and blacktop, concrete, driveway, masonry, stonework, fence installation, painting, retaining walls, retaining walls alone, please, tree removal and pruning, drainage systems, roofing, trash removal, demo, power washing and landscape design.

Her newest additional service is rodent prevention. Helping restaurants stay compliant. They seal things up vs having ongoing pest control.

Marcie is also an award-winning female entrepreneur constantly being honored for her business success and her integrity in business.

I'd never bet against her.

"When you can talk from your heart to sell something, and you have passion that's what matters, she said. I never was one of those people that could go to the door and sell a vacuum if I didn't believe in the vacuum."

And if you know me, I won't take a sponsor on my media platform that I don't believe in.

I not only believe in Marcie Manfredonia I am more than proud to represent her and her companies. She's still the first one on a job and the last one to leave with all her endeavors.

A triple threat entrepreneur with three companies you might want to check out.

Nationwide Maintenance, fix something anywhere in NY NJ or CT, I'm calling her first. nationwidemaintenance.com.

Nationwide Maintenance - Nationwide Maintenance is a full-service Facility Maintenance and Construction Company that helps manage and maintain the day to day operations of your business. Their WBE, WBNEC & School Certified Construction staff is fully licensed and insured and ready to serve you in your maintenance and construction needs. Conveniently located in Bedford Hills in Westchester County NY and accessible to the NY CT NJ Tri-State area.

Custom Candle Co. – On Site and online

CBD Live Natural - On Site and online

All her companies and her offices are on North Bedford Road in Bedford Hills, NY. Her custom candle company shops nationwide. If she's there when you stop in, she'll come out to help you herself to help you.

This woman is a true testament to what I've always know about people. I truly believe each of us is born with an innate gift. Something that comes naturally to you that you take for granted.

For Marcie it's that she' sees' things and then just 'acts'!

Recently deeply saddened and pained by the end of her second marriage which lasted 18 years, Marcie admitted to days 'you had to drag me off the floor' but I knew that tomorrow was going to be a better day. And you don't know what tomorrow's going to bring. "

A good example is that surprise phone call Marcie got one day to be on Bravos 'Below Deck' TV Show. LOL Talk about a divorce distraction! You can catch her in the last episode of the season.

Marcie's doing really good again these days. Actually, better than good. She's doing great and she's full of self-love.

"I finally found out who I am. I'm in control of my own life. Nobody can tell me what to do and make decisions. I feel peaceful. I love that I can do what I do best, my businesses."

Her advice to others who may be struggling with a life circumstance?

"All I want to do is help people know that there is tomorrow. Whatever you got to do today to get through it, like I said I had days you had to drag me off the floor, but I knew that tomorrow was going to be a better day. Just never stop believing."

"Never be afraid to try new things or be afraid to fail, because with faith, hard work, and dedication, you can accomplish anything."

-Marcie Manfredonia.

Enjoy this full show podcast of my live conversation with Marcie Manfredonia on The Debbie Nigro Show. It's about as good a story as you could hear about making it against all odds.