When I first saw Ann Cutbill Lenane’s real estate ad on the screen in the back of a NYC taxi - I thought it was genius! Turns out it was.

Taxi TV! Wow. Talk about a captive audience!

Ann Cutbill Lenane is the ‘OG’ of creative real estate marketing in NYC. She was the first real estate person to take advantage of movie theater ad screens. Ann created ads for her luxury NYC properties to entertain movie goers while they waited in their seats for the movie to start in the days before movie seat reservations were a ‘thing’.

She did that for 14 years before taking her “Annie Gets It Done” commercial highlighting her exclusive real estate listings and placing it onto the screens in the back seats of NYC’s yellow cabs.

So, it was no surprise that Ann who advertises on Taxi TV in NYC was featured in a recent Sunday New York Times Real Estate Section article called “Valuable Real Estate in the Back Seat “.  

Those back seat taxi ads not only showcase some of New York’s most luxurious properties but they’re also ‘geo-targeted’, meaning real estate agents can restrict their ‘ads’ to only be shown while the taxi is traveling in certain areas or on certain streets where they have listings.

 Ann, who’s an agent with Douglas Elliman, says buyers like to aspire and they want to see ‘into’ these apartments and this marketing strategy has translated into property sales.

Ann will tell you herself that NYC is a tough real estate market right now for sellers to get the prices they had been hoping for. But after 38 years of doing real estate in NYC, Annie prides herself on knowing just how to price an apartment and how to interpret market data with insider knowledge.

Even so, having just read that NY is #1 in the U.S. for people with marketing mindsets, I figured there must be a lot  of competition for buyers  these days? Does Ann worry about that?

“No, I'm always pushing it. I was the first one to advertise in the movie theater. I was the first one to advertise real estate in the taxis and I'm gonna be first to do something next. So, you know, I'm not worried about it, as you said, OG. So, I'm always gonna be out there and thinking creatively.”

 Speaking of being creative…

Annie typically makes 30-second slide shows of her listings, but along the way this single Mom of 2 daughters decided to risk throwing into her ad, that she was also looking for a Mr. Right!

“That ad went viral and over 15 million people saw it around the world. I was on Good Morning America, they took it and put it on the teleprompter in Times Square, I mean there were articles in China and Russia. I was getting phone calls from men in jail. I have not found the perfect man, but yes, I sure got a lot of attention from all over the globe."

 Ann didn’t find “Mr. Right” (yet) but she did find 2000 women who were rooting for her to find Mr. Right!

And Ann turned those champions into followers and friends, by creating women’s empowerment events to bring them all together under the group name “Wise and Wonderful Women”.

That’s actually how I met Ann in person as well as other wise and wonderful women at an event she threw a few years ago at the Neuberger Museum in Westchester County.

 “Well, it's so funny because what  actually came out of the Man for Anne Taxi ad was all of these men were reaching out, but almost an equal amount of women reached out and wrote to me, because in the ad it says, “  if you love your mother but you still don't live with her and have a kind and generous soul and can appreciate a 56-year-old, fit and fabulous woman, give me a call.”

Women were writing me, and they would come up to me and they still do, it's five years later. And they said it was so brave. And I said, tell me why it was brave. Was it because I said I was looking for love? And it was like a kind of a knowing glance, and I said, or was it because I said I was 56?”

“And they said, yes.”

“So, I said, that's got to stop. “

 Ann was inspired to do something that would lift women. She founded “Wise and Wonderful Women to educate and empower women 50 and older. All her events are free.

“I didn't get the man but I got 2,000 women so I have 2,000 women that are part of the wise and wonderful women, and we do monthly events that are free and empower and educate women focusing mostly on women that are over 50. But I'm finding that my 23 and my 24-year-old daughters need our wisdom too and need to hear the topics that we are also interested in. We did one on heart health, we're doing one on launching financial grown-ups, on estate planning, all kinds of things and I learn, and these women learn as well, and many friendships come out of these events. “

“So, wow the ad worked all right. It didn't end up with what I thought was the prize, the gold ring, right? But the Wise and Wonderful Women came out of it. And that to me, when somebody tells me that it changed their life or it saved their life, which is what happened recently with some information that we shared during a heart health dinner, how cool is that?”

Very Cool!

Known as “Annie Gets It Done”, Ann is ranked as Elliman’s #1 Manhattan Broker for Transactions. She has been voted the Real Estate Board of New York’s Broker of The Year and transacted billions of dollars in sales in Manhattan over her career.

She also gives back. In 2020, in response to the sanitation department budget cuts, she co-founded and still runs “One Block”. This very successful non-profit fills 1000 bags of trash on the Upper West Side EACH WEEK with the help of volunteers and paid workers who were formally homeless!  She also founded a literacy initialed in the Bahamas where she has a rental property and is a proactive member of the community there as well.

Interested in Taxi TV ?

I read in the NY Times article that NYC has two service providers for anyone interested in knowing more about how to advertise on the screens in the back seat of taxis: Curb and Creative Mobile Technologies. To advertise on Curb Taxi TV, agents can purchase ad space directly from Curb or through its sales partners like Firefly.

Enjoy this podcast of my live Interview with Ann Cutbill Lenane on The Debbie Nigro Show.

My greatest joy is discovering somebody I wasn’t aware of who's doing something uniquely meaningful.

That brings me to Brian Page. He is a Modern Husband. What does that even mean?

Brian Page spent his career improving lives through personal finance education and he has now founded a platform called ‘Modern Husbands’ to help couples navigate their home as a team.  

He and his wife have been married for over 20 years and have 3 kids. He says they’re an everyday dual income American family.

For the early part of their marriage, Brian was the one working out of the house and working long hours. His wife was home managing their life and taking care of their kids. Then one day things changed. His wife got a great job opportunity that paid more than he was making, and they made the decision to swap roles. Brian’s new job was much harder than he ever realized. When he and his wife switched working roles, he was seriously blown away by his new work responsibilities as a stay-at-home Dad!

He recently posted something on LinkedIn that caught my attention.

It was a list called ‘The Mental Load’.

In it Brian listed all the things that go on in somebody's day who's at home managing a family household. Wow - It really gives respect and insight to the day-to-day responsibilities of the stay-at-home spouse!

Brian said,

“For much of our marriage, I was the 60-80-hour-a-week breadwinner who did very little to manage the home. Early in our marriage, I probably would’ve rolled my eyes at a conversation about the mental load. You just don’t know what you don’t know, and that’s not necessarily anyone’s fault. “

“Many men rightfully feel defensive when we hear we need to do more at home. Most of us simply slip into doing certain tasks without understanding the invisible labor that goes with them.”

“I created a mental load list with just a few examples to provide some context of what it takes to run a home. However, as much as we would like our homes to be run by checklists, it’s just not that simple.”

“It’s been my experience that men desperately want to be great for their spouses. What often stands in the way is an understanding of the mental load that accompanies the tasks needed for a home to run, which is why I wrote this extensive post.”

Marriage is a partnership built on trust, love, and mutual respect.

Brian says he’s trying to show couples how to navigate life as a couple better.

I personally thought Brian’s ‘mental load’ list was LOUD and worth sharing for any stay-at-home parent who’s been frustrated trying to explain to their spouse what the heck they’ve been doing all day ‘at home’!

Find it on his website: ModernHusbands.com

BTW: Brian who spent 15 years as a personal finance and economics educator was recognized as a National Educator of the Year by the Milken Foundation and Ohio Department of Education. He was a CNN Money Hero, a CEE Forbes Award winner, and a former Working Group Member of the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability.

He says, life and family change, and his priorities now are to support his wife's career ambitions and his children's needs

Enjoy meeting this modern husband Brian Page in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show.

It really made me smile to see Nick Mautone from the old Mt. Vernon, N.Y. neighborhood all over the news during the U.S. Open.

Not for playing tennis.

Nick invented that now infamous signature U.S. Open "Honey Deuce" cocktail that took the media by storm this year. At $23 a drink, it generated about 10M dollars at The U.S. Open this year alone!  

Nick Mautone invented the drink back in 2007 when Grey Goose hired him as a consultant to create a signature cocktail for the event.  Talk about a never-ending drink! Even Nick couldn’t believe the cocktail commotion he's caused. (Do people get royalties from inventing drinks?)

I thought it would be fun to contact Nick and invite him on my show to take another bow, and give him some old-time love and find out! 

Nick said,

“Because I was a brand ambassador and a hospitality consultant to Great Goose Vodka, which I started with in 2005. As a consultant, it was the single best consistent gig I ever had in my life. I loved it and without going into details, they paid me well. I had a great expense account. They flew me all over the world to talk about Grey Goose, train teams, distributors, do great events like the US Open, and I played golf with celebrities!”

 Nick’s a warm and wonderful guy and he's written all kinds of books to teach people how to be great mixologists. Books that both professionals and those interested in being great mixologists at home will benefit from.

Nicks a dad, a futurist, and the brother of one of my best childhood pals Carol Mautone. The Mautone house was chock full of kids (seven I think? LOL) and commotion and their house always smelled like great Italian food! Their Dad had a specialty food business, and their sweet mom Adele was constantly shopping and making food. Never knew how she kept up with them all, but she always had a smile and always welcomed me and others into her home with open arms. It’s probably where her kids learned about the true meaning of ‘hospitality’. 

Carol became a chef and moved to Italy but now teaches English to foreigners and I’ve been threatening for years to fly over and visit her. Soon! Meanwhile, I stay in touch with her lightly on Facebook and I’ve connected with lovely Nick too a few times over the years. 

Nick and his family moved out to Washington State, to Mercer Island, near Seattle. I followed Nicks career in the restaurant industry. He started out bussing tables, backing bars, and then he and his brothers and sisters opened a place called American Pie on the Upper West Side of New York.

Nick Mautone now has 40 years of hospitality industry experience. He believes in the power of mentorship, leadership, collaboration, and possibility. Nick is the architect of an inventive process called “Hospitality Sabermetrics” — think Moneyball for Hospitality he says, and has a sixth sense when it comes to foreseeing trends.

He is known for nurturing sustained success, streamlining operations, and aligning core values in every sort of hospitality business.

Since his start, Nick has worked with some of the most iconic and influential restaurants in the world including Gotham Bar & Grill, Hudson River Club, and most notably, Gramercy Tavern where he was managing partner alongside Danny Meyer and Tom Colicchio for seven years, and helped define and nurture a fledgling idea Danny and the group coined called “Enlightened Hospitality.”

 So, what is Enlightened Hospitality?

Nick explained,

“Enlightened Hospitality’ is the core values of how you operate your business, and you hear that term a lot in business leadership programs where a company will say these are our core values and these are the way we want to operate our business, and these are the non-negotiables that we will not forsake any amount of money.

And so, they are the guiding principles, if you will, that you want to live by, that we wanted our business to operate by, and we wanted, as people, to live by.”

And I think it really made sense. I think that's why I enjoyed it, that's why I took the job. Danny had core values; Tom Colicchio had core values. At some point during the first few years that I was there, we actually took those core values and encapsulated them into our manuals and then we used them as part of our review process.

And it really became a great way to manage people, and everyone knew their expectations.

Everyone screws up, bear that in mind, but if you screw up and you forsake one of those core values, we’d sit you down and say, hey, you know, it just didn't work for us the way you handled this particular situation. Look at how we want to operate. Here's the way and the waterfall of progression of how you should handle these situations.

And people get it. And then, you know, nine out of 10 times, they understand what they did wrong, they correct the problem, and they move forward.

If not, they understand and they choose to move on because they can't live in those core values, and both are acceptable outcomes.”

Nick's spent a lifetime trying to keep integrity in all he does. 

I wanted to know his thoughts about the current state of the restaurant business.

So many restaurants have struggled after COVID. Some reopened, some did not reopen. Getting and retaining good help is the #1 problem I hear from most in the restaurant business I've spoken to.

Nick said,

“So, the pandemic forced this change to happen five or 10 years earlier than it needed to.” One, people need to get paid appropriately, plain and simple. Tips notwithstanding, yes, tips count for your income, but you need to be paid appropriately.

Most importantly, people need to be treated appropriately. And what I found, you know, in my career, and I don't speak for Danny Meyer, but I will say in our organization during that time, and I know it carries to today, our number one goal was to treat our employees well and take care of them to the best of our ability. And if we do that, then we can honestly live with honor and hold ourselves to a high standard as being good about the business.

A lot of people didn't operate that way, so the pandemic forced that change. And now you see this, people leaving the industry, going on to do other endeavors. It will come back because everyone needs to eat and everyone needs human companionship and the connectivity that comes with sitting in a restaurant or a bar or a movie theater or whatever it is and seeing other people. So, I think it'll come back. It's just going to take a little time.”

Nick is the founder of Mautone Enterprises. Whether you’re a first time first-time restaurateur, or turning around a big ship on the wrong course, Nick’s your guy to help guide you and your staff to profitable collaboration. Here’s his website: nickmautone.com

Enjoy this podcast my warm conversation with Nick Mautone on The Debbie Nigro Show. 

Has Matty Schirle Really Created Self Esteem In a Bottle?

If you read the reviews of Matty Schirles’ SkinKick line of skincare you might think they actually have created self esteem in a bottle.

And You Likely Be Intrigued by an accidental finding in in Amazon by a scientist who went there for another reason

People are amazed at how quickly these Skinkick products clear their skin problems. We’re talking blemishes, acne, acne scars and rosacea. Pretty much any skin condition that might make a person not feel so thrilled about their looks. 

Matty Schirle said, 

“When we got into the acne or the blemish category, the very first 14-year-old woman who used it stood up and said, we changed her life and she said you need to call it self-esteem in a bottle. That's basically because we deliver clear, healthy, glowing skin and the confidence that comes with that. And the beautiful thing is because we're natural, we can do that for problem skin and aging skin at the same time. “

 Matty who is the Founder and CEO of SkinKick was a former Chemical Engineer. He and his SkinKick Chief Science Officer Dr. Bill Provance developed effective, simple and safe, Naturally Smart(R) formulas that are cruelty free and dermatologist approved clean and natural ingredients, from the nutrient rich Amazon Rainforest!

It's an Incredible story of SKIN CARE discovery

FINDING BEAUTY IN THE BEAST

 The Amazon is beautiful, but it’s also dangerous. When SkinKick Chief Science Officer Dr. Bill Provance traveled to Brazil, he learned about a growing epidemic of parasitic diseases that plagued the native people. Not only did these parasites make people sick, but they also aggravated and inflamed the skin.

 Armed with years of studying skin cell biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dr. Provance began searching for a way to create a natural “second skin” that would prevent rainforest parasites from penetrating the skin and entering the body.

THE A-HA MOMENT

 Dr. Provance carefully tested a variety of botanicals on the skin of Brazil’s native people. What he didn’t expect to find was that all of the formulations he tested had a common result: overall improvement and appearance of the skin. He soon discovered that these formulations were leaving the skin smooth, hydrated, and clear. That’s when Dr. Provance had an ah-ha moment. If this “second skin” could clear and beautify the skin of native Brazilians, perhaps it could do the same for others? 

 That got Matty Shirle’s attention, and he then applied his knowledge and know-how to the findings from his 20+ years in the high technology semiconductor industry (computer chips). His mission was to figure out how to eliminate man-made chemicals including harsh acids that destroy the natural skin microbiome.

 Dr. Provance and the SkinKick team began working on developing a skincare line that used the same natural ingredients to clear blemishes and renew the skin And SkinKick was born.

 Matty said, 

 "Well Dr. Bill studied at UT Southwest Med Center here in Dallas and he took a job at the Viacruz Institute which is like the Harvard of Brazil. And so he, even though I'm a chemical engineer, you can move his IQs a few decimal points over from mine. He's just absolutely brilliant."

"They had an issue with parasites entering the skin. And the fundamental start of this is when they thought he was going to come up with a vaccine. And what he did is identified a botanical that if you rub it on your arm, it keeps the parasites, like a mosquito or whatever it is, you know, small things from entering your skin."

"Well, he flew back to Dallas and told the story of how he blocked the parasites, but he said, oh, by the way, that film that I rubbed on, you know, on your skin, it holds moisture under it." 

And right off the bat, the lights go off, because the number one issue with aging, regardless of what you've been told, is that the skin cell can no longer hold as much moisture as it did when you were younger. And therefore, less moisture, once it goes down, then the collagen protein has a hard time surviving and it snaps and breaks and it loses its rigidity which is holding the cell up and that's what starts aging. We started as an anti-aging company but it's a skin renewal company and now we have clinical trials with all our key ingredients right out of the Amazon rainforest.”

"These natural nutrients somehow clear, renew and protect the skin at the same time! “

 Matty says Skinkick’s naturally smart formulas are designed for all ages, genders and skin types even those with sensitive skin so everyone can have clear healthy and glowing skin. Their high-performance skincare clears, renews, and protects your skin without the use of harsh man-made chemicals typically found in popular brands. The secret is in their exclusive patent-protected technologies made with blends of supercharged botanicals.

SkinKick even offers a ‘Happiness Guarantee’ so that if you don’t love your SkinKick order it’s on them!

So why aren’t they everywhere? 

 They started to be, but Covid slammed them because Matty will admit he initially spent most of the money getting the brand into retail vs digital. A decision that’s held them up.

All entrepreneurial stories have their ups and downs…

“I'm the chemical engineer that I can understand what Dr. Bill creates. But I'm not the creator I'm the guy that wrapped a P&L around this technology and brought it to market.”

“We had an issue with driving the customer into the store. Well, didn't a lot of people have that issue during COVID? Yes. But anyhow, I take full responsibility with the digital marketing issue. Yep. I did not have the money to turn on both digital and retail. I focused on retail because Target Corporation incubated us right out of the gate in the Target takeoff incubator.”

The brand landed on the shelves in Target and in CVS and Ulta beauty but without the marketing dollars nobody knew 'why' they should buy SkinKick among the giant number of skincare offerings.

Everybody Loves a Comeback Story

“We had some snafu's and we're actually back in the gate getting funding. COVID literally knocked our wind out of us and almost knocked us over and almost killed us. But we're back, we're going to get funded and we're teed up ready to go." 

Matty gets amazing testimonials every day in his email. He’s driven to give everyone he can…self-esteem in a bottle of his SkinKick. I WAS DRIVEN to tell his story.

Thought some of you would like to know more about Matty Schirle and his SkinKick brand so I invited him to join The Debbie Nigro Show. Enjoy this podcast of our live conversation. PS I just ordered some to see for myself. 

LinkedIn® is the only professional social media platform and the largest professional networking platform in the world. They have over 1 billion members many of whom are decision makers. Most of their users are in North America, followed by Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

I love it! 

I connect with so many interesting people there like Debbie Saviano who’s a LinkedIn® pro.

I want to learn how to maximize my LinkedIn® potential and thought some of you might want to as well. I’m always better at telling other people’s stories than my own. Maybe you feel the same?

 I’m convinced Debbie Saviano’s valuable knowledge of social media can help many professionals, especially those who over 50, who want to learn how to best showcase their value and experience as they pursue their second and third acts.

Debbie calls LinkedIn a ‘Virtual Golden Rolodex’.

And She Says…Your Headline is like Gold!

“LinkedIn gives you 220 characters to do a headline. That headline should speak to who it is you want to talk to. Is it someone to hire you?"

"Is it someone to buy a product? Are you for a service? Who are you speaking to? That's what that headline should say.  And this is probably the goal to the whole thing I'm sharing. When you comment, engage on someone's page on their feed, the first line of your headline shows up."

"And I will tell you, probably 70% of my employment, if you will, comes from people reaching out because they saw me somewhere. Because what you want to do is you want people to come to you. They see you comment, they see your picture, they see the first part of your headline, and mine is about LinkedIn, and it says that you want them to click back on your profile. From there, that's where you can sell them. That's why you're the best person for them."

"So that headline is like gold. It's gold.”

As soon as Debbie Saviano and I spoke on the phone I could feel her similar upbeat good energy (and loved her similar name LOL)  I invited her to come join my radio show and share some knowledge.

 Debbie feels strongly that each person has unique abilities and in today's disruptive environment the playing field has expanded - affording countless opportunities for the assertive professional AND that there are a multitude of avenues on how to accomplish this.

 She is a seasoned wordsmith and content strategist who can help you clearly show WHY YOU!  Especially if you believe that what you do can truly help others, but you are stuck on how best to do that.

 Her background is in Education, with a minor in Psychology and along with a deep understanding of the digital landscape she offers a unique perspective.

 HER SPECIALITIES ARE:

• Digital Space • LinkedIn • Books In Bites Newsletter (LinkedIn) • LinkedIn LIVE • Let's Talk • Course Creation • Leadership • Entrepreneurship • E-Commerce • Mentor • Business • TV - Media • Education • Career Professionals • Entrepreneurs • Product Development • Communities • Non-Profits 

You’ll get some good professional social media advice in this podcast of my live conversation with Debbie Saviano on The Debbie Nigro Show.

The Debbie Nigro Show airs 11-12noon EST on WGCH. Tune in live from anywhere on WGCH.com. If you’re in the NY/CT area turn the dial to AM1490. Podcasts after on DebbieNigro.com

On August 17th, new rules rolled out that overhaul the way Realtors get paid to help people buy and sell their homes.

The changes are part of a $418 million settlement announced in March by the National Association of Realtors.

The changes end the ‘informal’ rules of a typical agent commission payout.

Now real estate agents across the country must sign upfront with prospective homebuyers what they’re willing to pay.

Historically the ‘sellers’ paid commission fees for both their own agent and the home ‘buyer’s’ agent. The typical commission has been 5 to 6 percent split between the two brokers.

That structure was pretty much enforced by The National Association of Realtors which has roughly 1.5 million members who pay dues.  If a seller didn’t agree to those terms their listing wasn’t shown ion the multiple listing services that drive most home sales.

This latest decision basically makes commission sharing optional so that sellers’ agents who don’t want to pay buyers’ fees can still list on databases.

Real Estate agents across the country have been attending trainings and learning the details of new contracts they must sign with prospective homebuyers.

Gideon Fountain is one of those agents and he’s also one of the owners of WGCH Radio in Greenwich, CT where I broadcast my weekday radio show. He grew up in Greenwich and has been selling real estate in the Greenwich CT area since 1986. He’s now an agent for Houlihan Lawrence.

I asked Gideon Fountain to join me in the studio to give me his take on the new real estate broker commission laws that just went into effect. He said;

“With these new rules if you’re a Real Estate Broker or Agent you have to tell your home buyers ‘up front’ that that they have to decide on the amount they're going to pay in commission whether you bring on somebody else to help you or not."

"There are two places on this new contract, and it says, here's our service fee. And we might say our service fee is 2.5%. Let's just say we write that. Two and a half percent. Then we also have another paragraph that says, you authorize us to accept compensation from the seller."

"If a buyer wants to look at a property and the seller is offering nothing, and that would be a very foolish move by the seller, I would say, then yes, you would say to the buyer, look, I'm happy to help you with this transaction, but I got to make money. I'm not, this is not charity. So here's my contract."

"Pay me two and a half percent. For some buyers, that's entirely possible. They might think, well, what do I need you for? You know, I don't, but they have no idea."

"But the buyer agent, it's amazing. You should hear the conversations between the soliciting agent and the buyer agent when the listing agent says my client won't go down one more penny. Can you make your guys go up a little bit and the buyer broker says? All right, I'll try whatever we're at a million five. What's it? What's your guy want? He wants a million 550 not a penny less So then the buyer broker goes back to the buyer says come on you guys are gonna lose this I mean we have there's very few choices right now You really believe you've lost out on six bidding words. You really want to hold out for $50,000, and the buyer says yes. So, then you go back to the listing agent. Sorry, they're not budging either. And then, you know, everybody sits still for a while. But this is the kind of give and take that exists and should not be interfered with by government action."

"It's negotiation. “

Gideon believes real estate agents have remained viable because they accumulate an array of local market knowledge that is hard to duplicate.

“Going out each day and seeing properties noting their eventual selling prices and hearing customer reactions to those properties is an invaluable experience that a Zillow search will never match.”

For Home Buyers and Home Sellers there’s good recap of these new rules and what it means for them on Bankrate.com in an article called;

“Realtors commissions changes are here: What they mean for homebuyers and sellers.”

Meanwhile enjoy this podcast of the rest of my live conversation with long time realtor Gideon Fountain on The Debbie Nigro Show. 

Everybody Knows My Show Theme is "Risk It or Regret It!" Whatever IT is for YOU! So, I thought it would be fun to share how I risked getting my first paying radio job after college.

It’s a memorable story of driving in a thunderstorm at 11 o’clock at night after working all day at another job, to a radio station in an old house in Briarcliff Manor, NY where Howard Stern had worked, to audition for an immediate opening for a news reporter.

I invited the guy who called me the next morning to tell me I got the job as the news reporter for WRNW Radio, to come join me in the studio to co-host a show.

Ol' pal Gary Axelbank was the then Program Director of WRNW Radio. He's now the host of BronxTalk and Bronx Buzz on BronxNet and he also hosts The Bronx Music Podcast -with Gary Axelbank.

He got in touch with me recently, sparked by the theme of my new book out to say he was totally on board with the point of "How to Talk to Strangers Advice From A Professional Stranger Talker".

I wrote it to try and spark people to try to have more meaningful conversations 'in person' versus the virtual conversations we've become accustomed to having by texting and email. Even making an actual phone call is becoming a lost art. (These days when I make a phone call and a human answers, I actually get excited!)

Gary said,

“You know among many reasons that I responded to the point of your book is that I'm a communications professional like you are, and communication is so important, yet people don't talk to each other.

I talk to people who I work with and I'm like, you know, we've got to get this guest booked or whatever. I'll tell them, do me a favor, just pick up the phone and find out if they can do it or they can't do it. They say OK I'll send them an email. Send an email? If you send them an email  we're going to wait forever. Then you get an email chain where there's a whole discussion about, well, I can't do 12.30, I'll do 1.30 and I've lost track of what's going on. If we picked up the phone, we could get to somebody.”

Gary and I are alike in that we intentionally put good energy into engaging people to converse ‘in person’ pretty much every day. We both feel it matters a lot, wanted to talk more about why it matters.

So we did… in this podcast of my entire show which airs weekdays 11-12noon EST on WGCH Radio in the NY/CT area and airs live globally on the digital livestream on WGCH.com  

I rarely post a whole show but decided to post this one because we both tell some good stories…. like the day I arrived to work at my usual 5:30am and found a drunk guy sitting on my typewriter. LOL And the day Famous Amos of Famous Amos cookies just walked in to introduce himself with a big box of his ‘new’ cookies he was trying to promote.

Gary tells a story about when Howard Stern worked there and what happened when he tried to kill a bee in the studio. Ha.

We also talked about all the famous people who came from the Bronx. People like Jennifer Lopez (who has my same birthday) and Chazz Palminteri who’s stopped by the show in the past and told me I reminded him of his mother Ha!  

Gary also teaches a course in TV performance and teaches his students that to conduct a great interview they need to ‘listen’.

“Well, this is a cool thing that I do. One of the things that we talk about is like when you do an interview, how do you get good depth? You get good depth because you ask a question based on what I say. And then I demonstrate to them, and I do it with them. I ask, you know, where were you born? What are your parents like? To do this, you must be a good listener.  I could walk into the pharmacy and talk to the pharmacist, and I could do a half hour right on the spot with that. And why? Because when I ask well, what medication do you sell a lot of? They’ll say, we sell diabetes meds. And I'll say, oh, what are the options? And then he'll say, well, these are the options. Why would somebody choose one, and why would somebody choose the other? And I could stand there forever. And it doesn't matter.”

We both could talk forever but that’s what we do professionally. We both ust want to encourage the rest to you to talk a little more, listen a little more, and make a little more an effort to engage your fellow humans in authentic conversations.

Enjoy this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show. If you’d rather read than listen the audio transcript is below.

Janet Heller made that now infamous GOAT necklace for Superstar Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles and the whole world went GOAT Crazy! 

This year’s global commercial for a single piece of jewelry may in itself be the GOAT! The Greatest Of All Time!

I got caught up in GOAT fever myself, and after watching the intricate making of Simone Biles 3D Diamond Goat Necklace on Janet Heller Fine Jewelry's Instagram,  I took a shot and sent a warm private Instagram invite to Janet Heller to join me on The Debbie Nigro Show.

It made me smile and shake my head in a good way, that the whole world was now paying attention to this talented female entrepreneur. Wow. Talk about a public relations opportunity! LOL 

 I somehow just felt compelled (woman to woman) to congratulate her and tell her how happy I was for her for this stupendous attention for her and her company because first she deserved the recognition for her talent and integrity, and second because I know how much harder it is, for women entrepreneurs who are also mothers, to succeed in business. 

 And in my usual spirit of “Risk it! or Regret it! I invited Janet to come take a bow on my show even though I was sure there were much bigger networks who’d be clamoring for her attention.

I was pleasantly surprised when she messaged me back and took me up on the offer.

Told her was I was very proud to have her on my show and that somehow, she must have trusted me to tell her story. 

(Like her I try to bring peoples stories to life in a unique and meaningful way.)

Janet said, 

 “Thank you so much Debbie. I really am so excited to be on your show today.

Yes, that's right. I mean, we've got thousands and thousands of requests.

It's overwhelming. I cannot even keep up with it.

My social media team can't keep up with it. But for some reason, I just, I don't know, I was drawn to you and your message and here we are.”

Every hard-working entrepreneur knows getting good PR for their business is incredibly valuable and rewarding. But the Global free PR Janet got in the 2024 Olympics is the most extraordinary free PR I’ve ever seen. 

Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles commissioned her exquisite GOAT piece she showed off during the 2024 Olympics, from Janet Heller Fine Jewelry in Calabasas, CA. to commemorate her remarkable achievements and undeniable legacy. She sure does have a legacy as the GOAT, and Janet said she was a joy to work with. 

NBC reported, “Simone Biles says she knew people would ‘go crazy’ over her Goat Necklace.”

Janet’s legacy is that she and her company, Janet Heller Fine Jewelry have been crafting exquisite, personalized pieces for discerning clients for 15 years.They’re a premier custom jeweler in Calabasas, renowned for their meticulous attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to quality. Janet Heller has become the go-to choice for those seeking unique, meaningful jewelry. 

BTW: That stunning 3D GOAT necklace (Greatest Of All Time) has 546 diamonds! Also, no small feat! How did she do that?

 Janet said,

“Well, so a lot of jewelry can be made where when you make the wax of the piece, once you've done the CAD image and you've done the rendering and then you go and you make the wax, a lot of times you can have the little holes for the diamonds in the wax. So when you print the wax, it already has a hole for the diamond. 

But I don't like to do that. I like to have my diamond setters drill each and every hole by hand. Just, you know, these are master artisans, master craftsmen, and that will enable the necklace to last so much longer. I mean, we want it to last forever, basically. And it's just an incredible art that they do. They have to wear those, you know, almost binocular glasses type things. They do it by hand. It takes a very long time and we pick the  diamonds out beforehand so we have them all laid out. We know the size and then you have to look at each stone, drill each hole so that it fits that stone and it's just the craftsmanship and the quality is just unmatched in my humble I think that's the most important thing.”

Janet has come a long way over her 15 years in business and I wondered now that she was having this amazing global moment of acknowledgement, what she remembered from when she first started out?

"When I first started out, my first necklace that I feel about jewelry and about selling jewelry. I want to share the love. I love jewelry. I want to bring the love to everybody. I want to make it accessible to everybody. I started with one piece, a love necklace. Somebody bought that from me and then somebody else thought on them. They asked where she got it from and then in turn came to me. Really, that's how my business has grown, very organically and mostly word of mouth, which to me is the biggest compliment any jeweler or artist or entrepreneur can have."

 Word of mouth is sure very loud right now for Janet Heller Fine Jewelry and that 3D Diamond GOAT necklace, and people have been asking her to make one for them. Will she? 

“I'm not gonna replicate that particular iteration of the goat necklace that is exclusively for Simone. It's so representative of her accomplishments, her achievements, and so I do not want to replicate that because I feel that Simone is one of a kind and I want that necklace to be one of a kind as well."

"So I will not be making any other piece of jewelry that is an exact replica of that goat And I feel that if somebody wants something custom, that we should make it about them, about their story, their milestones and not about somebody else's. Although I'm so flattered that people would want me to replicate it, but I feel like it's such a personal representation of somebody's story."

 Janet also was commissioned to create the Olympic rings necklace, symbolizing Simone Biles’ journey through multiple Olympic Games. Jordan Chiles, another gymnastic powerhouse wears several Janet Heller pieces that celebrate both her athletic achievements and personal milestones. Her collection includes a 14KT Gold & Diamond Olympic Rings Necklace, a custom diamond tennis bracelet and a diamond necklace bearing her nickname “Baby Jo,” 

 Janet said,

“Yes, and it all started with Tara Davis Woodhall, who is an Olympic long jumper. And Tara went to school with my daughter. They went to middle school and high school together. Wow. And Tara reached out right before the Tokyo Olympics for us to make her an Olympic diamond rings necklace and Simone saw the necklace on Tara and Jordan child thought on Tara as well, and  they both reached out to me to make them a diamond Olympic rings necklace as well. “

Janet Heller’s company originally was called The Foundry and only recently changed it’s name to Janet Heller Fine Jewelry.  

“Yes, it was named something else and we felt that it just wasn't personal enough and my daughter actually encouraged me to change the name of the company to my name, and honestly, I think it's crazy how we changed our name and then all of this happened. I feel like we were manifesting when we did that”.

Janet grew up in South Africa and I wondered when she was a little girl did she want jewelry instead of dolls?

 “Funny thing is I played with dolls a lot, Barbie dolls, until I was a much older age than most other girls and I kind of used to play with one of my best girlfriends and we used to kind of hide the fact that we played with dolls.

But my mom is an incredible artist too. She's a knitter and a crocheter and she used to make us these most incredible outfits for the dolls and then we would also make like with beads, we would make jewelry. I always wanted them to be adorned with jewelry. My mom loved jewelry too, albeit costume jewelry and my grandmother too, but I just always had beads on and necklaces and bracelets and just always wanted to make something and create something out of beads to make jewelry. So ever since I can remember, that's been my passion.”

 Janet is a mom of 4 who for 10 years was a full time Mom. She shared how she started out in the jewelry business. 

“I have I have three sons and one daughter. I started working in the California Mart when I was about 20 No actually when I was about 19 and I worked there for five years I worked in an accessory showroom, and we would have we would represent jewelers and other entrepreneurs who made accessories and stores would come to the showroom to buy them. I just remember being so involved mostly with the jewelry companies, helping them with their designs and trends and just being so invested into the jewelry part of it. So even then I was doing that. And then I kind of wanted to start my own jewelry company at that point, but I met and married my husband and we had four kids so for the first I would say maybe ten years I was just a full-time mom and then I just couldn't stay away and got back into it. “

I feel Janet’s story sends a loud message out there to a lot of mothers out there in the world, who while raising children might be feeling like they're missing out on their business or entrepreneurial dreams, because they just can't do both things right now. Point is, maybe ‘right now’ is just not the right time to do both.

The message is to them from Janet?

  “There’s a season for everyone”.  

 This is surely Janet Hellers season and I’m happy for her.

You can see the fascinating making of the symbolic GOAT necklace on their Instagram account.

And you can see all the other beautiful Janet Heller Creations on their website.

 And you can meet the lovely and talented Janet Heller here in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show. If you’d rather read than listen the transcript of the audio is included.

I was curious where OpenlyGray.com was going when I saw a social media post about it from a business gal pal. 

Was it a site for older people with Gray Hair? 

Nope!

I ‘got it’ and smiled.

It’s way cooler than that!

It’s a movement.

It’s an attitude adjustment about aging!

Lord knows we need one.

Thanks to the longevity revolution we are in a unique time and place in history. Until now many in their 50's 60's, 70’s, and beyond believed it was time to stop.

That isn’t the thinking of older adults today at all!

I Invited Lee St. James and gal pal Brooke Stachyra of Openly Gray, to join my show to share their purpose with Openly Gray and their big disruptive plan!

 Lee St. James is the Co-Founder /Creative Director of Openly Gray

Lee is a Cannes award-winning, multidisciplinary CD who has led major brand content development for over 20 years. From strategy to conception through execution Lee believes in partnering cross-functionally to build consensus and ensure projects meet all milestones, deadlines, budget, and business results requirements. Accustomed to fast-paced and start-up environments. He is constantly onboarding new technologies and innovative processes while ensuring compliance with corporate and client standards.

 Brooke Stachyra handles Partner/Client Success for Openly Gray

Brooke is a social media consumer specialist. Proud former NBC Page, longtime (recovering) journalist-writer, and storyteller with a million tales! NBC News, Time Inc/People Magazine veteran. Former content creator for Church and Dwight brands Arm & Hammer, OxiClean, and Trojan. Social media contributor for the American Cancer Society and CUNY. Grown X woman, lover of all things 80s. Name that tune champion! Foodie and travel enthusiast, bougie barganista, and expert in anything about Bravo's Real Housewives.

They are on a Mission to Loudly Call Attention To These Facts: 

The Gray Market has $8,000,000,000,000 (that's trillion) waiting to be seen

For the next 30 years, 10,000+ people will turn 65. Every. Single. Day.

In our conversation Lee said,

“When you turn 50, this is something that we observed years ago. We being the royal we, we observed years ago that you turn 50 and all of a sudden you become invisible. You become invisible to the opposite sex. You become invisible to your friends, sometimes even your family, but definitely to the marketing world. Marketers are taught from day one that you go after the 17 to, say, 45. Sometimes people switch it to 17- to 54-year-old market, but then after that, you stop. “

“Well, times have changed, and as you mentioned, there's $8 trillion in assets at play that are controlled by what we call the gray market, which is 50-plus. To put that in context, we saw a great little snippet about if you put this in context, this would be if the gray market in the U.S. was a country. It would be the third largest GDP in the world.”

“There's so much more to this audience and that's why we are Openly Gray. And there are two sides of the organization. One is called OpenlyGray.com. We are marketers. That's our goal. We want to get clients to start recognizing this audience and not leave all that money on the table.”

“On the other side of the coin though, we're advocates. So openlygrey.org is an advocacy organization, anti-ageism, pro-helping people grow older and grow into the next phases of life. And even there's an offshoot called Cozy Homes Community where we're trying to help build communities for 50 plus folks.”

It’s a big mission for Openly Gray who feels their biggest hurdle is to get relatively young brand managers and clients who are still in their 30s and maybe 45 to recognize that this is an audience that they are missing out on.

Brooke said, 

“It's unfortunate, but what Lee is saying is absolutely true, that you have the people that are in the power that are making the decisions that are creating the content aren't seeing us. We are invisible and we have to make them see the dollar sign. There is expendable income. There's money.”

I'm personally passionate about encouraging people to transform how they think, feel and act, to embrace and enjoy and celebrate whatever stage of life they're at. 

And like the folks at Openly Gray says, it doesn't matter how much hair you have on your head or what color it is or whether you have any of it all, it's the mindset and the attitude!

Enjoy learning more about Openly Gray and their growing movement that’s not stopping anytime soon in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show.

People from all over the world with different chronic illnesses seek out  Dr. Roni DeLuz, RN, ND, PhD.

Dr. Roni founded the Martha’s Vineyard Holistic Retreat in 1997 to help others discover the path to wellness that she herself achieved after years of debilitating chronic illness. You may know her from her NY Times Best-Selling book 21 lbs. in 21 days.

Here’s how I got to know her and now share her story with you. 

My buddy Tim and I were talking on the phone while I was driving when he asked, “So what are you doing today?”

I told him I was heading to the radio station to do my Wellness Wednesday show. He asked, “Who's your guest today?” I said, “I don't have a guest today, did my homework and I’m just gonna talk myself which I often do”.

He said, “No, no, no, you gotta have Dr. Roni” and he patched her into our call while I was driving before we even had a chance to discuss it.

I remembered Tim saying, “There's a woman, she saved my life, you don't understand, I lost 80 pounds, she moved in, she's a healer, she's like Mother Teresa, I never met a woman like her, it's not just me, she's done it for many people.”

So lucky me and lucky you, because of that random phone introduction, we now get to spend time with the amazing Dr. Roni, healer to the masses and to many lucky people who will forever be grateful that she’s kept them alive.

Dr. Roni is a Naturopathic Doctor, has a PhD in Natural Health, is a Registered Nurse, a Certified Colon Therapist and is a certified Hypnotherapist who’s been practicing in all these areas for over 40 years.

She is the founder of The Martha’s Vineyard Holistic Retreat and is the New York Times Bestselling Author of “21 Pounds in 21 Days: The Martha’s Vineyard Diet Detox” and “1 Pound a Day”. 

People fly into Martha's Vineyard, take a boat or do whatever they have to do to get there, in order to get to her to get her help. How did this all happen?

Dr. Roni said,

“Well, it sort of grew into this. I have this very large house on Martha's Vineyard and I built it because people would come and stay with me and wouldn't leave. So, I kept building sections on and sections on. It finally opened up. I'm not kidding you, they’d come from California, my friends when I lived out there, they would come like, you know, for like a weekend or something or a week, and then I started doing treatments on them, then they wouldn't leave.“

“Then one day I met a man named James Tester and he said, well, can you help me? He said, I hire chefs and cooks all the time, and I still can't lose this weight. I gained it all back. And he told me this large story about him and I just looked at him and I go, that's so easy. And you're going to lose 21 pounds in 21 days. “

“He said, lady, he’d just met me. He said, if I lose 21 pounds in 21 days, the world will know about you. He said, I'm not kidding you. And he was absolutely right!”

“I had no idea that that he was important because remember all I cared about was healing people. All I cared about was these chronic illnesses. That was my background. But when I did these 21 pounds in 21 days book that this publisher and James talked me into, they were right. “

“Now people come to me from all over the world, and all over the country for different chronic illnesses. And I have a protocol for each and every one of them, but it's always going to start with who you are. See, it's customized. It's integrated. It's for who you are.”

Dr. Roni believes she was born to heal people.

“Well, you know, I've been doing this for over 40 years. I literally believe I was born healing people. That's why my father told me to go into nursing. I mean, he knew this. He saw it in me. So all my life, I've been a healer. “

“And half of my life, I just went to school, getting certifications and certification. I started as a nurse and I became a naturopath and now I became a healer to the stars and politicians and now I live on this island called Martha's Vineyard. I love it. People fly in to see me privately most of the time.”

I wondered if this now ‘healer to the stars’, who says she was born a healer ever tried to heal anyone as a kid? Animals? Her dolls?

Dr. Roni said,

“I mean, when the little babies would cry, I was just a little girl. And I would just go over to them and for some reason, my energy, I would rock them and I would rub their foreheads. And I was so passionate. And so people saw that in me. I just did what my father told me to do, you know, become a healer, become a nurse. That’s just who I am. That's who I'll always be.”

The quote on Dr. Roni’s website sums it all up.

“IF YOU GIVE YOUR BODY WHAT IT NEEDS IT WILL WORK MIRACLES FOR YOU”

-Rr. Roni

Based on somebody's condition, whether it's cancer or weight loss, Dr. Roni knows exactly what their body needs.

But how does she figure that out?

“We live in a world of plenty, but we're starving. I learned that from my grandmother, because my grandmother wouldn't open up a can, a bag, or a bottle. She wouldn't own a can opener. Everything came from nature.

“Everything was pure. Everything was basically if you couldn't grow it yourself, you shouldn't eat it. You can't open up a can of preservatives and dyes, you know, red dye, yellow dye, all kinds of stuff that you get when you eat your food. And you want to repair your cellular space. You want to repair your body, your organs. It just doesn't happen like that.”

“We kill our own bodies by doing processed food. Now it's ultra processed food. So, we're not getting better, we're getting worse.”

People in the know with the means, go to see Dr. Roni when something goes wrong with their body. But she cares deeply about the average person who cannot get to her, which is why she shared her knowledge in a book that was a New York Times bestseller, 21 Pounds in 21 Days,

Now she’s got a new book coming called ‘High Five’ and it's about the five things that kill 80% of men over 50.

“I've watched people die from things that are unnecessary. The high fives are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high sugar, high weight and high stress and we see it every day.”

“But when you teach people from nature on how to eat the right things and how to eat according to not just their body type, but what their blood level says, who they are, then you can cure these things, right? And I think a lot of people don't understand that. I mean, they hear me say that, but they don't understand the process. And I talk about going back to nature and living a cleaner life, but they don't know what that means anymore.”

How does Dr. Roni handle the emotions of all these people needing her help?

“Oh, oh my goodness, Debbie, I'm not just a healer, I'm an empath and this is so hard for me.”

“I told my friend the other day, and she was there, she said, you're going to have to calm down, because I run up and down the stairs and I've got all this energy. I said, listen, if you ever see me just sitting down doing nothing for more than 10 minutes call 9-1-1.”

 What a fabulous woman!

Please listen to the amazing wisdom of Dr. Roni in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show.