Motherhood In Hollywood

I was telling my friend Heather the other day that I interviewed Jamie Denbo who created a show all about the Ren Faire. Her reaction, like mine, was...FINALLY! Why hasn't this subject been explored and put on display for all to see before? Denbo created "American Princess" which airs on Lifetime on June 2nd. I invited her to tell me about this show and how she became an actress, producer and top improviser. Denbo came to Hollywood in a unique way. She didn't train a traditional top acting school or have famous parents. She got a taste of theater and performing after a random audition for the Ren Faire. She says she was hooked on a life of immersing herself in other characters ever since. After a short stint at Disney World, she found her way to New York and trained under the original UCB founders - Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, and Ian Roberts. She found the experience of doing improv in New York strangely competitive at the time, unlike it is now. But she learned the UCB style and brought it to L

Still feeling very inspired after this conversation with Katie Locke O'Brien. She, like many, moved out to Hollywood to be an actress. But in recent years she's found creative outlets in other areas of entertainment. She applied for the inaugural NBC Diversity and Inclusion Female Forward program, was accepted and recently directed an episode of AP Bio on NBC called "Melvin." All within in the last 2 years! Katie Locke O'Brien directing Christopher Lloyd on the set of AP Bio But it all started with an idea to share her story of motherhood when she became a first time mom. Her short film "Have It All" takes a look at motherhood through a very honest lens. I loved that Katie didn't sugar coat motherhood, but she also doesn't show the mom tropes that Hollywood loves to revisit again and again. We are not all a hot mess who can't seem to get a bath and get our kids out the door or change a diaper without smearing poop on our face. That's a side of motherhood I don't relate to and neither does Katie. So she set

I don't know why I'm still surprised, but every week when I interview someone new I get another mom crush. Lara Scott is no exception. She is a bright light and I'm mad that I didn't meet her sooner. She is so easy to talk to and a great listener, both are qualities that make her an outstanding radio host for K-EARTH 101. Lara got started in radio at the age of 17 in Bend, Or. She and a friend thought the local morning DJ sounded cute (I can relate), so her friend dared her to call the station. She wound up asking if they were hiring and got a job. If all jobs were just that easy! Cut to many moons later and she is the midday jockey at K-Earth 101, the top radio station in LA. I had the pleasure of co-hosting a special sneak preview of the movie "Wonder Park" with Lara and K-Earth and was so struck by her kindness. We have been exchanging messages on social media for months so it was a thrill to finally hang out with her in person. She tells me how becoming a mom changed her outlook on her career, and h

When it was announced that Will and Grace was coming back, no one was more excited and surprised than my friend Amy Crofoot. Amy was a stand in for Debra Messing during the first run of the series and was invited to come back and share her talents for the second run. At first it was only going to be for a limited run, but the show was so popular NBC greenlit it for more episodes. Amy had no idea that by saying yes it would quickly expand into several seasons worth of work. I have known Amy for nearly a decade and she was the second guest on Motherhood in Hollywood. I chose her because she's an amazing person and friend. But she was also the only person I knew with kids in the industry and had graciously shared her knowledge and experiences with me. I remember I was super pregnant and would go over to her house to ask her advice on everything from giving birth to wiping butts. She was a wealth of information and was my first example of why moms NEED other moms in this business to support each other. O

I have a new mom friend! Her name is Beth Bowen and we were destined to meet. I first heard about Beth from my friend Stefanie Fair when she was on my podcast a few years ago. Stefanie suggested I reach out to Beth at that time to have her on my show but I dropped the ball and it fell through the cracks. Cut to a year and a half later and Beth and I were invited to speak on a panel at Influential Summit in Carlsbad where we bonded over our love/hate relationship with social media and the entertainment industry. Beth came to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting. She had success but ultimately ended up marrying someone she thought was her prince charming and leaving it all behind. More than a decade later she found herself missing something inside that many women think is over when they become moms: her career. I've said this a thousand times on this show and I'll say it again: wanting a career and being a mom do not have to be mutually exclusive. It's okay to want to work and build a business or life outs

I can't even imagine the balls it took for Jamie Otis and Dough Hehner to get married at first sight. But that's exactly what they did! They were on the first season of the hit Lifetime show "Married at First Sight" and are coming up on their 5th wedding anniversary. In the last 5 years they've faced challenges just like every newlywed couples do, but they did it under the watchful public eye. And from what I can tell, a lot of people are rooting for them to make it! So I was very excited to talk with them and get some scoop on how they make it work. If Jamie looks familiar outside of MAFS, it's because she was a contestant on the 16th season of The Bachelor and the spin of The Bachelor Pad. She explains how her time on those shows changed her outlook on love and sent her right into the arms of Married at First Sight. That's where she went through weeks of what I called pre-marriage counseling and high-level matchmaking and was paired with Doug Hehner to get married. You can read more about her story on th

How many of you saw your marriage change in some way after having kids? It may not necessarily mean a negative shift but everyone's life changes when kids come into the picture. This week I'm talking to NYT bestselling author Jancee Dunn about her book How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids. She's sharing her humorous look at how her marriage changed when her daughter was born. We all would like to think we are highly evolved, and enlightened creatures these days. But no matter how enlightened you are, when you throw a baby bomb into a marriage crazy shit happens. I look back on the days after Channing was born and think, that wasn't so bad. But in the months, and years after, there has been a lot of WTF moments that we weren't expecting. Honestly, Chris and I don't fight, and never have. But when Channing came along, it really challenged us and our marriage. I think we navigated it pretty well and with humor, which is something Dunn says is key. Listen to this episode to hear how she and her husband n

My friend Erin Cardillo is on the show this week talking about her new movie, and first movie, "Isn't it Romantic." She first started writing this movie 9 years ago. Nine years! And it's now hitting theaters. Let this serve as a lesson in not giving up on your dreams. Erin and her writing partner Rich Keith have been on my show before talking about their TV projects. They are a very successful writing duo and are currently working on several shows right now. I have offered to sleep with them if they will put me in their shows, but so far they haven't taken me up on my offer. What I love about them is their sense of humor. It's clever and thoughtful and they really go the extra mile to nail a joke. And I think you'll see that same sense of humor come through in Erin's film as well. When you listen to this interview you'll hear how she says the movie went from her original idea, to New Line, to the hands of very skilled touch up writers, then eventually into the hands of Rebel Wilson, who also stars in an

I will watch any version of Big Brother, celebrity or otherwise. Even if the cast is a little lackluster I will always try to find something redeeming. Hey, at least the competitions are fun? But this season of Celebrity Big Brother feels like it's missing something. So I invited my girl Kate Casey from Reality Life with Kate Casey to be on my show and help me figure out what's up with CBB. This year the cast is Anthony Scaramucci, Dina Lohan, Ryan Lochte, Tom Green, Kato Kaelin, Natalie Eva Marie, Lolo Jones, Joey Lawrence, Kandi Burruss, Ricky Williams, Tamar Braxton, and Jonathan Bennett. If you've been following along you know Jonathan and Ryan have been voted out already. And Scaramucci, "the Mooch", was a fake houseguest and only in the house for about a week. Kate told me that she initially though Scaramucci would win but the producers pulled a fast one and he was never an official houseguest. Nice move CBB! But with Mooch gone, and the two hot guys, WTF is left? A whole lot of boring. Tamar

Have you been watching YouTube's original programming? If so then you've undoubtedly seen the work of my friend Danny Zaccagnino. He's the Head of Casting and Talent for YouTube Originals and has the inside track on the future of streaming content. Ralph Macchio with Danny Zaccagnino. Actors, listen up. Not only is he sharing what goes on when they are casting a new show, but he talks about the "list", what happens in the room before you come in and when you leave, and why you may not have gotten that part you were so perfect for. I can't count the number of times I've driven away from an audition thinking, I totally nailed it only to realize a few days later that I didn't get it. Actors get so caught up in what we're wearing, how we look, and emphasizing certain words in an audition but the truth is, so much of casting has nothing to do with any of those things. Danny used to be an actor himself, and a very talented one at that. He tells me about how he found his way into casting at MTV and w

I first met Katie Rosen Kitchens on my dream trip to Disney Aulani. Our girls instantly became friends and I got to know Katie as the incredible force behind FabFitFun. I've worked with FFF as an influencer for the past few months and really grown to love their brand, products and what they stand for. FabFitFun co-founders  And after talking to Katie I understand why so many people are drawn to it. In fact so many people love it that they just celebrated a huge milestone. FabFitFun now has more than one million subscribers and made more than $200 million dollars. That's an incredible feat for a company that just started a little over 5 years ago. Goals people. Goals. Even though Katie owns one of the hottest companies on the planet right now, she is incredibly grounded and focused on her family. She is married with 2 darling little girls yet manages to run a company that is beyond hip and not generally associated with motherhood. If only that 22 year old using the foaming sheet mask new her b

Addiction is a powerful disease. And unless you've experienced it first hand, or with someone you know, you may have a hard time wrapping your head around it's messy, devastating grip. Ben is Back is Peter Hedges' way of peeling back the onion of addiction and letting us peer into the lengths parents go to to save their kids, and how desperately addicts wish their disease would go away. Peter has written some incredible movies like About a Boy, Dan in Real Life and The Odd Life of Timothy Green, which he also directed. I was so thrilled he took the time to talk with me about this latest project. He tells me this story about a boy named Ben who's young life has been ravaged by addition to opioids and other drugs has nearly destroyed his family. His mother, played beautifully by Julia Roberts wants to believe he is getting better when he shows up on their doorstep at Christmas, but has been burned by a false sense of sobriety before. To add an even more personal touch, Ben is played by Peter's son

Most people in Hollywood would agree that the the best thing to come out of of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement in the past year has been an increased awareness in the need for women in all areas of production. This week I'm so thrilled to talk to Vanessa Parise, Production Director and Co-Executive Producer on the CW's re-telling of "Charmed." Parise was just named One of Ten Female Directors Breaking Stereotypes by SheKnows and one look at her work will tell you why. As production director, she is in charge of overseeing the visual style of each episode of "Charmed." Every visual angle of the show rests on her shoulders. The colors, the shots, the angles, the sets, the design and the overall feel must match each week. She also has a strong resume as a director as well, something she hopes to continue to more of. She tells me she's seen a difference in the number of women working on set and in larger, leadership roles since the recent #TimesUp and #MeToo movements rocked Hollywood.  We also talked abou

Money is something every couple talks about and struggles with at some point and it can be one of the biggest sources of stress in a relationship. Add kids to that, and you've got even more financial demands and desires to think about. It's something Chris and I constantly have to work on and we're still not where we'd like to be in the twilight of our careers. But outside of winning the lottery, how can we fix our financial woes? Is it too late for us? Jeff Motske, CFP®, is president and CEO of Trilogy Financial, author of The Couple's Guide to Financial Compatibility and host of The Jeff Motske Show.   My guest this week is Jeff Motske, president and CEO of Trilogy Financial, a privately held financial planning firm headquartered in Huntington Beach, California. He's written a book called "The Couple's Guide to Financial Compatibility" and he's sharing valuable information on how couples can get on the same page when it comes to money. It's not easy, but he says it doesn't have to be a source of frustrat

I love watching beauty pageants. But probably not for the same reasons as everyone else. To me, they are an archaic tradition where women are gleefully being show ponies for all to judge. And so, I do judge them. And often not in the nicest way. Mostly because I haven't known many real life beauty pageant queens and the ones I have met turn out to be less than beautiful on the inside. Susan Kay Wyatt and her daughter Cut to why we're talking about this today. My guest is former Miss Ohio and Miss America contestant Susan Kay Wyatt and she has completely changed my perspective. She agrees that modern pageants objectify women and hold them to impossible beauty standards. She's also written a book about her experiences in the pageant world and thought-provoking insights as to why she would never let her daughter compete in a pageant. Susan Kay Wyatt Wyatt's book is called No Crown Required: Raising a Confident, Courageous and Compassionate Daughter and is available in bookstores and online. She also shares h

My guest this week is Dr. Ramani Durvasula,  a psychologist, professor and relationship expert at TONE Networks. She explains how parental entitlement is becoming an epidemic and what parents and educators,who are being bullied by other parents, should do. She wrote a wonderful article about this epidemic and explains it so much better than I ever could. So, with her permission, I am reposting it here so you can read along as you listen to my interview with her. The New Bully In The School Yard: Mom and Dad By Dr. Ramani Durvasula  The father who insists his son start and play in every game.  The mother who demands that a school procedure related to college applications be revised for her child.  The parent who calls the college admission’s officer or their child’s teacher and berates them for not admitting them or giving them a poor grade.  The mother who is a “room mother” who insists that her rigid rules be followed vis-à-vis cupcakes, library volunteering, and Halloween parades and shames those who do n

If you have boobs you're going to want to listen to this episode. If you don't, you should listen anyway because you will learn a lot. My guests today are Casey Christensen and Jennifer Goodman from the musical, "Life in Boobs." The Cast of "Life in Boobs" These awesome mamas dropped by my house so we could chat about where the idea to produce a musical about boobs came from. Goodman says it was her idea, which she shared with Christensen several years ago. Eventually, after having kids and a few life detours, they got Rachel Lawrence on board to write the music and "Life in Boobs" was born. Book by Casey Christensen They tell me it's a series of stories that highlights the "trials and tribulations of boobs everywhere." And, it's set to music. The stories touch on everything from  motherhood, to breast cancer and they were all written by Christensen. Conceived by Jennifer Goodman Right now these mamas are workshopping their production, hoping to get the attention of some big Broadway investors. We talk

I played with Barbie growing up and I loved it. She also wasn't the only toy I played with and I was never told that she was the ideal body type or that I should be like her. But many women over the last 60 years have felt like Barbie sets a standard of beauty and success they have to live up to. Why do we compare ourselves to a toy? You wouldn't let your son compare himself to the physical look of a Transformer so why do we do that as girls? Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie These are just a few of the questions that popped into my mind when I was watching Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie on Hulu. It's a new documentary that shows the inner workings of the Barbie team at Mattel headquarters. One of the key players on that team is Michelle Chidoni. She is the Vice President of Global Communications for Mattel and is tasked with making sure an iconic brand doesn't slide into PR nightmare when the brand decides to rethink Barbie for a modern world. Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie In her 59 years, Barbie

We just got back from Disney Aulani and my mind is racing because I have so much to share. So I invited my favorite guest on the show, who also happened to be on the trip with me, to talk it over. Chris Brooker and I are dissecting every detail of our recent trip to the Disney Aulani Resort and Spa in this week's episode. Family time in the Disney Aulani pool But I'll also be sharing more blog posts in the coming weeks to give more detail and show off some of the incredible pictures we took while we were there. Aulani Resort is perfectly placed on the beautiful beaches of Ko Olina on the leeward coast of O‘ahu. The last time I was on O'ahu was when I was 16 years old and vacationing with my mom. And now to be back on the island with my own daughter was such a special moment for me. We swam, ate, swam again, relaxed, napped, dance with Moana, and learned a ton about the Hawaiian culture. Moana and Channing at Aulani Aulani is part of the Disney Vacation Club and offers members villas to stay in during thei

Transitioning to kindergarten is no joke. Chan handled it like a boss. I on the other hand am still a bit shell-shocked with our new schedule. We have an earlier drop off time, and an earlier pick up time. Neither of which work well with my work schedule and auditions. So I invited Chris Brooker back on the show to talk me through this major life change. We started off talking about the perils of kindergarten, and ended up talking about LA Food and Wine. Let's just say, we cover a lot in this episode and it's worth your time. I love it when Chris comes on the show. I often wonder how different the show would be if I had him on as a weekly guest from the beginning. Would I still be as famous as I am now? Would famous people still talk to me?  Probably not. I guess the path I took is best but I will always wonder. I also wonder sometimes how different my life would if I hadn't switched my degree from theater to journalism in college. I always feel like it was one of the best decisions I've ever made becau