Top 10 Moments from the First 10 Episodes!! | Ep 049

Top 10 Transformative Stories: Resilience, Humor, and Inspiration from Our First 10 Episodes

In this special episode, as we near our 50th published episode, we revisit the top 10 transformative moments from our first 10 episodes of the Gurus of Game Changers podcast. Each story encapsulates themes of resilience, humor, and inspiration, showcasing the incredible journeys of our guests.

Maddalena Palermo's Battle with Anxiety: Maddalena's inspiring story of overcoming panic attacks and her significant efforts in supporting doctors' mental health post-COVID.

Scott Clary's Approach to Reverse Engineering Success: Scott shares his innovative techniques, derived from his own weight loss journey in college.

Nikki Stanzione's Missed Opportunity: A lighthearted tale about Nikki's humorous regret over missing out on a role in "Boogie Nights."

Nancy Hicks' Exploration of Grief and Religion: Nancy delves into profound discussions on grief and faith, offering deep insights and solace.

Sean Ziegler’s Early Entrepreneurial Spirit: Sean's entrepreneurial journey began in kindergarten with lollipop sales, highlighting his drive from a young age.

John Moyer's Career Shift: John recounts his fascinating transition from comedian to hypnotist, filled with both hilarious and poignant moments.

Matt Cabrey and Anthony's Supportive Relationship: A touching story underscoring the importance of having supportive relationships in one's life.

Brandon DeShields' Transformation in Solitary Confinement: Brandon finds unexpected hope and purpose during a dark time, illustrating the power of resilience.

Ed Doherty's Culinary Journey: From kitchen disaster to executive chef, Ed's story of perseverance, aided by a hidden Julia Child cookbook, is both humorous and inspiring.

Emme's Path as the First Plus-Size Supermodel: Emmy shares her journey in the modeling world, facing challenges and triumphs alongside icons like Cindy Crawford and Halle Berry. Her resilience and confidence shine through her experiences.

Each story is a testament to the resilience and spirit of our incredible guests, blending humor, inspiration, and valuable life lessons.

(00:02) - Top 10 Moments 
(07:53) - Favorite Moments From Podcast Interviews
(17:14) - Transformation Through Vulnerability and Resilience
(24:32) - Redefining Beauty and Resilience
(37:10) - Counting Down for Live TV

Keywords:
#Podcast, #GurusofGameChangers, #MaddalenaPalermo, #Anxiety, #ScottClary, #ReverseEngineeringSuccess, #NikkiStanzione, #BoogieNights, #NancyHicks, #Grief, #Religion, #SeanZiegler, #EntrepreneurialDrive, #JohnMoyer, #Comedian, #Hypnotist, #MattCabry, #Anthony, #SupportiveRelationships, #BrandonDeShields, #SolitaryConfinement, #EdDoherty, #ExecutiveChef, #JuliaChild, #Emmy, #Plus-SizeSupermodel, #CindyCrawford, #HalleBerry, #Fatherhood, #Prison, #RoleModels, #LiveTV, #Countdown, #F-Bomb

Transcript

00:02 - Mark
so we had this idea of doing. What are our top 10 moments from the first 10 episodes? 

We're just going to go back and forth my number 10 okay number 10, my number nine. Well, you go first. You're number 10, my number 9. 

00:23 - Stacey
Well, you go first, you're number 10 first, without any further ado Maddalena Palermo. 

00:28 - Mark (Host)
Love. 

00:29 - Stacey (Host)
Maddalena. 

00:29 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
And Maddalena is Italian. 

00:31 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah. 

00:32 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
And you would think that my favorite part of that story is that her husband learned Italian to propose to her which is really sexy and romantic. But what I love to hear from her was when she described her panic attack. 

00:45 - Mark (Host)
I started having panic attacks. So I think my first panic attack was Mother's Day, when my kid was two years old. 

00:53 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Oh, my goodness yeah. 

00:55 - Mark (Host)
It actually requires hospitalization. 

00:57 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
yes, so I thought that was fascinating and she's just such a wonderful, kind human being. She really is. 

01:03 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, and I've known her for years and I did not know that about her what was your number 10? My number 10 was episode four, scott clary. 

01:08 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Mine was like a really good aha moment from scott clary because he has his own podcast on success, so he interviews countless people and how they were successful and how they define big time people, huge guests like that you would know of yeah, top-notch, top-notch personalities. 

01:23 - Stacey (Host)
And he said something during it about the thing that you're trying to accomplish. Somebody already did. 

01:28 - Scott D Clary (Guest)
I truly believe that, if somebody else has achieved it, there is a pathway that I can reverse engineer that will allow me to achieve the next thing that I want. It's just a matter of marking out those points on a map. 

01:42 - Stacey (Host)
It's just a great mindset, like don't start from scratch, go figure out who already did it and just reverse, engineer and then start. Have to give yourself a pathway by pulling it back and then start. 

01:53 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Yeah, I love that. So smart. Everyone can do that. My number nine was Scott Clary, believe it or not, but you know what I loved? I love that re-engineering thing. I always love the human part of the stories too, so I loved when he spoke about the way that he learned how to succeed in business. The model that he kept using was when he lost weight in college. And the discipline and things that he did to lose weight and get in shape in college. He transferred that over to his business acumen. 

02:22 - Scott D Clary (Guest)
So I always played a lot of sports. I always played a ton of sports. And you know, in university when you stop playing sports you start drinking and eating, like that, you like put on a whole bunch of weight and like that was like not okay with me. And I I remember thinking like, okay, up until this point in my career, like health was very like ad hoc. You just play a lot of sports. You know you eat, but you play a lot of sports. You don't really like. 

02:44
You always kind of look good and I'm like I got to be like very as opposed to just living life ad hoc. I got to be like very purposeful of my health and wellness and you start to research and you start to learn, you start to unpack. And then I realized that like I think it was probably because of the physical change in my body from adopting like a very strict health and wellness routine that I understood that if you actually unpack the steps that it takes to get to somewhere, like you can actually action that. And a lot of it is just like willpower and grinding it out and like going in day out. Because that's, I think the first like this is when I'm still in college. This is when I'm still like university in Canada but I'm not really really that focused on career. I'm you know I'm messing around in classes, but I'm very purposeful about like. I don't want to be a fat ass. 

03:31 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, he was very open about that. 

03:32 - Scott D Clary (Guest)
Yeah. 

03:32 - Stacey (Host)
My number nine goes to fun, more fun. Episode one Nikki Stanzione. Nikki, if you're watching you already one. 

03:43 - Nikki Stanzione (Guest)
I hear about this movie, boogie Nights. Now I get all the details of it and it says it's about the porn industry, it's about drugs, it's about just awful things, and I thought, oh no, what is this movie? What am I getting myself into? I went to the fitting, got the fitting and then they give me the directions to the house where the actual shoot was going to be for that day, and it is one of those houses. So I pull up and I see all these girls and I see bathing suits and I just got this really bad feeling and I got scared and I thought I hope I'm not walking into something. That is really that I will look back and say why did I do that? That was such a bad move. Well, now flash. So I didn't do it. I called my agent. I said I'm not doing this. I don't know what this is, but I don't think this is right. And that's my favorite scene when they're all at the pool at Burt Reynolds' house. 

04:39
That was Burt Reynolds' house in the movie house in the movie. Okay, anyway, that's a big regret because it became one of my favorite movies. I would have been in an iconic scene of one of my favorite movies with some of my favorite stars, if I had not been a little chicken and that's that's that one thing she's like. 

04:54 - Stacey (Host)
That was the mistake I made, that was the one mistake fish that got away right now. I love that. 

04:58 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Lots of success, that's actually on my list too, so I yeah, yeah yeah, um, okay. So my number eight was nancy hicks, episode seven. She, if you watch her episode, gets deep talks about grief. She also talks about religion. I had told her about an experience that I had when I thought I went to bible school I went to bible study and I get kicked out of Bible study. 

05:26
So I went to Bible study and I had so many questions and I kept asking these questions. They believe in the literal translation of the Bible. I was coming from a perspective of listen. I know nothing about this and I'm trying to learn, but I'm also questioning the validity of these stories which don't seem real to me. So eventually I was kicked out of Bible study. Oh my God, my Bible study teacher. 

05:50 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
See, there you go. Are you kidding me? When I hear that, right, it makes me crazy and cringe and feel like God. I'm so sorry, you know. Gandhi said the trouble with Christians is they look so unlike their Christ. 

06:07 - Stacey (Host)
Oh my God, what a great quote Right. 

06:09 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
When I hear that I am so genuinely sorry, I mean that no perfect churches, right, right. No perfect church, because as soon as people arrive. 

06:17 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Oh there it goes. She really listened to me and I don't know that was such an emotional episode. 

06:25 - Stacey (Host)
I loved every part of it, but that was the thing that stuck out for me who's your number eight? 

06:29 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
My number eight was actually Madalena. 

06:30 - Stacey (Host)
Oh, your number eight moment, episode 10. 

06:34 - Mark (Host)
Yeah, and it was centered around her husband and just her journey. It was really about her journey. She came over here. 

06:38 - Stacey (Host)
She's just one of those women that I think I even said this in the intro. She reminds me of you. When she decides to do something, she goes about it in the best possible way. 

06:47 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Yeah. 

06:47 - Stacey (Host)
Like she wanted to be a handbag designer. She went out and found the Italian designers. Like she's from Italy, so it was a little easier for her, but the best leather designers? Yes, when she what she's doing now with coaching in the healthcare world, she's going about it the best possible Like. I love that mindset and that's what stuck with me for her. 

07:05 - Mark (Host)
Yeah, it was July 2002. I came here as a student. I didn't speak any English, I mean a little bit like basic stuff. But yeah, I came here to learn English. Basically I walked into her office asking you know, I would like to learn english, maybe go to england or ireland. That's what I expected. And then they asked and they said what about united states? I was like I don't know if I can't afford that. I was like no, if you pass the test, everything is paid for. So I was like okay, when do I do the test? What about now? And I did it. So I had to create the opportunity. 

07:42 - Stacey (Host)
so that's why I came as a human, like her whole story with her family and coming here and her relationship with her parents and her dad, and it was just a great yeah, what a beautiful lady, amazing episode. 

07:53 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
I think it's an underrated episode. I don't think it gets, it gets enough love about. Madalena, and now what she's doing for the healthcare industry and helping doctors with their mental health, which you know has to be such a hard thing to admit if you're a doctor after, especially after, covid. 

08:05 - Mark (Host)
Yeah. 

08:06 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
She was wonderful. Agreed. Number eight. What's number seven? Number seven? Okay, my number seven was Sean Ziegler, and the reason why he was my number seven favorite moment was because and this was the first we did two episodes with Sean, so this was the first we did two episodes with Sean, so this was his first episode, which was episode five. 

08:25 - Stacey (Host)
Episode five Episode five. 

08:26 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
So and it's episode about you know, maybe you don't need college to succeed. My favorite moment in that episode was when he actually sold lollipops. 

08:35 - Shaun Ziegler (Guest)
In kindergarten. We would go to our deli, which is this breakfast spot Kindergarten, are you five or six? Yeah, five spot, um, are you five or six? Yeah, however old that is. We would go to this breakfast spot with my dad, you know, a couple times a week before school and they gave free lollipops. So I would go and get a bunch of free lollipops and then I would go into the scarce lunchroom where there was no lollipops and to sell them for like five, ten bucks a pop. What lollipops for? 

09:04 - Scott D Clary (Guest)
five bucks there was no lollipops. 

09:09 - Mark (Host)
I was the only person who had lollipops, so that was probably my earliest taste. 

09:14 - Shaun Ziegler (Guest)
My mom would make me give back a lot of the money, are you? 

09:18 - Stacey (Host)
kidding me, it's kind of like fencing probably was a little legal, but he's done with it now, so don't please don't approach the statute of limitations. 

09:23 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Don't approach him. 

09:24 - Stacey (Host)
I think the statute of limitations Don't approach, so that was my number seven moment of the show. My number seven was episode eight of John Moyer. 

09:31 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Okay. 

09:32 - Stacey (Host)
The magician turned hypnotist and just what he's able to do, and we have footage of that, I think, in it's 115 degrees, that sun is beating down. 

09:54 - John Moyer (Guest)
You can feel the sweat dripping down your neck. It's dripping down the front of your head. You know, when you're bringing a group of people up on stage, a lot of it in one regard is throwing mud up against the wall and seeing how much sticks. You know if you're working with somebody one-on-one, there's a feedback loop. You can specifically cater that to that individual. But now, when you have a group of people on stage, you know you're kind of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, right, and there's little things that you can do during the induction. There's certain things that you're knowing what to look for with people, because there are very real responses that somebody gives when they are legitimately hypnotized versus when somebody is trying to pretend to be hypnotized. 

10:37
So, you're able to. 

10:38 - Stacey (Host)
You know you're able to work that. This is a guy that reinvented himself completely. He was a comedian and then he fast forward. He was a. He was a comedian and then he fast forward. 

10:46 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
He's a very successful I know right, there's like a lot of stuff. A little bit happened in the middle, yeah um he's a very successful hypnotist we asked him point blank is that real? And he did he does it with soldiers. 

10:56 - Stacey (Host)
You know, soldiers in front of their command are not going to do that kind of stuff. 

10:59 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Yeah, they're harder and yet I love him, just to do it. I love him. There's a moment from that one a little further up in mind which I'll talk about. I'll talk about too. Um, okay, so what are we on? 

11:11 - Mark (Host)
number six. 

11:12 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Okay, my, oh, here it is. This. Is it my number six? Most favorite moment was john moyer's episode, episode episode eight, episode eight. Yep, um, but you know what my favorite part was? 

11:26 - Stacey (Host)
No, there was a lot. 

11:28 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
You told his joke. 

11:30 - Stacey (Host)
I told his joke that was great, that was a great delivery. Are you kidding me? 

11:35 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
John Moyer's a comedian and you remember one of his jokes. 

11:38 - Stacey (Host)
Oh, what is this? 

11:38 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
It's a funny joke, you told it like a newscaster, You're like, and then he went to me and then the duck said I'll drive. That's a favorite. We'll let you guys listen to it right now and you tell me. 

11:48 - Stacey (Host)
Dude, I got to tell you I watched some of your comedy and this one joke. I was literally laughing, belly laughing, and it's going to be hard to hear somebody tell you back your joke in a terrible way. 

11:57 - Emme (Guest)
I'm sure. Give it a try, give it a shot, marty. 

12:00 - Stacey (Host)
He was like you know, I rented this DVD or I rented this CD. I don't even know what it was, but it was. They always talk about anti-piracy in the beginning, like do not download or just copy. You know, or copy this, you wouldn't shoplift, you wouldn't steal a car, so why would you steal this? And he's like I got news for you I've shoplifted, I stole a car, I stole a car, jersey. It was such a great line. 

12:21 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
It was such a great line. 

12:22 - Stacey (Host)
Number six, right. 

12:23 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
That was my number six. My number six is Matt Cabry and Anthony. Oh, I hope you don't say the same one. I'm going to say Go ahead. 

12:31 - Stacey (Host)
What was it? 

12:31 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
No, I bet I don't Okay. 

12:33 - Stacey (Host)
Number six Overall. 

12:39 - Matt Cabrey (Guest)
what I took from that is the importance of having people in your life that will say yes to you a hundred percent of the We've all gotten a message from a friend or a colleague, or maybe a total stranger, and the message says I'd love to get together sometime, and they've never listed a time or a place to meet. So now the burden is on the recipient of that message to say, okay, I could say, hey, great to meet with you too. Let me know some times at work. Or you can respond back with I'd be happy to meet. Here are three times at work. Or you can respond back with be happy to meet. Here are three times at work for me. And I've just programmed myself to always make those times available for folks, because I don't want to go through this dance of back and forth of you know who's going to set a date, time and location to get together, so I try to make it easy and efficient and uh, it's um. 

13:25
It's a scoochy aspect that I've that. 

13:27 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
I've tried to master. I don'm going to have to look that up when I get out of here Like an urban dictionary. An urban dictionary. 

13:33 - Stacey (Host)
Somebody who actively tries to help you in your life. 

13:37 - Mark (Host)
Actively yeah. 

13:38 - Stacey (Host)
Not just. Oh, you lost your job. I'm sorry to hear that, yeah. 

13:41 - Mark (Host)
Like what do you need, what do? 

13:43 - Stacey (Host)
you want to get into. Maybe I know people. I know people, I'm going to connect you. Talk to the connectors. 

13:48 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
They're amazing and I actually said you're like that. I said it in the episode and I truly believe that, like you, will help anyone yes, I remember that that's amazing. Here's what's so weird that's my number, my number five, episode number nine. So but my favorite story, which I thought you would steal too, was when Matt Cabry tried out to be the Philly Fanatic. 

14:07 - Stacey (Host)
Oh my god. 

14:09 - Matt Cabrey (Guest)
I once auditioned to be the Philly Fanatic. 

14:12 - Stacey (Host)
Nice no. That's an awesome story, let's hear it, I love it. 

14:19 - Matt Cabrey (Guest)
So I happened to be looking through and learned about auditions for a mascot in Philadelphia and I discover it's for the Philly Fanatic, which at this time had been in existence for about 10 or 12 years, and I said okay, I'm going to, I'm going to, I went for it. I said what do I have to lose? I'm going to go down and audition. So I walk in no costume, you just got to perform. 

14:47
Not wearing a mask or not wearing an outfit or not wearing any kind of what I would call guard to protect you. 

14:59 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
How many people were there? Set the stage? 

15:02 - Matt Cabrey (Guest)
It was a room like this. They had a table with six or eight people who worked in a variety of positions within the Phillies organization. 

15:12 - Mark (Host)
And you had to. They played music and you had to like perform in different ways. You had to have fun, you had to do goofy things Right, yeah, yeah so. 

15:19 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
So how long did you have to do that, like you? 

15:22 - Matt Cabrey (Guest)
only had like five minutes each, and there were. This was at the old veteran stadium and there was, you know, 16 people out in the concourse who were all waiting to be called in and you know, you all got your turn and I was not expecting that level of what I would call exposure, that that level of vulnerability. 

15:43 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Yeah, yeah. 

15:44 - Matt Cabrey (Guest)
So I didn't perform the way I had expected to and the way I wanted to. 

15:50 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
So the story is hilarious, plus Anthony Jojo Queenan's accent. He's Australian. 

15:57 - Stacey (Host)
I love that part, he's a good guy. All right, number five my number five is actually Nancy Hicks, who you've spoken to already. She's episode seven. You know the episode. A lot of it centers around the loss of her son yeah, but she's. 

16:12
She was very, um, deeply rooted in faith, and some people that would drive away from their faith, some people that would drive, which I still can't wrap my head around how it drove her closer to her faith. She lived her life in faith. She's in ministry, she, this is who she is as a person, and then you know, you could say god took the one thing that she valued most in life her son, her own son, and how she handled that traveled that road and in a windowless room. 

16:41 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Uh, in 2021, um, david and my husband cam were sitting there and he was about to do his final round of chemotherapy and David said none of this is working, what's our plan B? And the oncologist said to David David, there is no plan B, it's hospice. And so David was put on hospice and after six weeks, on May 1st, we watched our unbelievable son, with his whole life ahead of him, die. And let me tell you, when it comes to walking with God, I help people walk with God. I love to serve people. As you mentioned, I love to watch people come alive in their faith, like not just like trudge through life. 

17:28
I have a book called Meant to Live Living in Light of the Good News. When that happened to our son David, I was utterly I'm going to use the word destroyed. My heart was destroyed, and when I say destroyed, I don't mean it's gone forever, I mean like shredded can't mean it's gone forever, I mean like shredded can be is being currently rebuilt. But I am here to say the grief journey has been real for me, totally real, and I have faced it and done the hard work in the last two years, and it's my relationship with God. 

18:09 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
It's, uh, very different right now from screaming at God all the way to acceptance and getting closer like that's the fact that she got there, that the whole story will stay with me forever my fourth most favorite moment was Brandon DeShields, and if you go back and listen to Brandon, he's one of our longer episodes because he just had such an incredible life. But my story that I loved which was a sad story but also a happy story was when he was in. Did you have this one, too? When he was? In solitary confinement Okay, and he had decided that his life wasn't worth living. 

18:48 - Stacey (Host)
Hey guys, thanks for listening. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review, give us a follow, subscribe, all those things. All those things. We love it because we read each and every comment and it helps shape the show, so we would appreciate it. 

19:01 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Please, and back to the show. 

19:04 - Brandon DeShields (Guest)
I feel like everything I had wanted to lose or didn't want to lose sorry was gone. It was gone. 

19:09 - Mark (Host)
Was gone. 

19:10 - Brandon DeShields (Guest)
It was gone and I was like you know what Time to plan this thing. I planned the whole thing. I was like I'm going to attack this officer. 

19:16 - Scott D Clary (Guest)
Oh my gosh. 

19:18 - Brandon DeShields (Guest)
He's a nice man too, which is crazy. I hope to see him eventually in time. 

19:21 - Mark (Host)
I'm like man, I was planning on doing this to you and I know how he is this and that too he's a funny guy, he's a nice guy, he's just the biggest guy there yeah and I was like I'm gonna do that and then I'm just do like a suicide by officer type thing so I was, I felt like 

19:34 - Stacey (Host)
it was kind of cliche you genuinely got to that point oh yeah, I was planning that thing out. 

19:38 - Brandon DeShields (Guest)
Man, like they always make the rounds when they come in and I'm like cool, and I know him, he doesn't want you hanging anything in your in your cell. Like he doesn't want like your sweatshirt draped over anything, nothing up over your window like a curtain, anything like that. So I'm like I'm just gonna hang this. I mean, he doesn't care what it is, he just doesn't want anything draped over anything. So I'm like I'm gonna drape my sweatshirt up and and that you and I was in the osu at the time um, the they have like these closets in there and I'm just gonna wait in the closet. He's gonna come in and you know, I'm fit now, I'm stronger now, like I'm like cool, I'm gonna like make this happen and I'm waiting on this shift and I'm like it seemed like two o'clock, took forever to get here. So I'm just reading this book but I get like trapped in the book that's three of destiny by james allen and before I know, they're calling count. 

20:30
time Counts are like 4 o'clock, like 4 or 4.30. 

20:33 - Stacey (Host)
So you missed the window. 

20:34 - Brandon DeShields (Guest)
Yep, and was just dug into the book and came out of that. It was a 72-hour process. It was wild, a 72-hour process, and I was like you know what? It started as a thing of revenge. Everyone that left me. I'm going to make them regret it. And then I realized, you know what my life is up to me. I get to choose it. 

20:59 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
It was so fascinating. Yeah, he got lost in a book. 

21:09 - Stacey (Host)
Number four is episode. 

21:10 - Mark (Host)
I don't know why I'm laughing. 

21:12 - Stacey (Host)
Episode three Ed Doherty laughing. Episode three ed doherty his story about uh, because he was a chef, but this is before he was a chef. He was a struggling chef. He was working with famous chefs oh, I know what you're gonna say, and he didn't know what he was doing and, um you know, he was told make a hollandaise sauce. 

21:25 - Ed Doherty (Guest)
I went in there and I was like, oh yeah, I couldn't do this and do that. I was putting parsley on a plate. I had no clue. 

21:30 - Stacey (Host)
Oh my gosh. 

21:30 - Ed Doherty (Guest)
I was thrown into this kitchen and I had no idea what I was doing. I realized in one moment what did I do Any parsley I could put on a plate. 

21:40 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
No, come on, you knew more than that. Oh, I did not, seriously, I knew some. 

21:51 - Ed Doherty (Guest)
I was really not good. So what'd you do? Well, because it was 1980 and you can get away with that crap, I had a copy. I had a copy of Julia Child's the Art of French Cooking. I put it in my locker and every time the chef would go go make some holidays, I'd be like I wonder what that is. I swear to God, I would go downstairs and I'd go, and I'd go upstairs and he was like no, no, not like that. What are you doing? Oh, I'm sorry, this is what we did at the last place and I just lied myself through it Meaning my locker. 

22:12 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Wow, you faked it till, you made it. 

22:14 - Ed Doherty (Guest)
Yeah. And two and a half years later, I was the executive chef. 

22:17 - Stacey (Host)
So he was faking it till you make it. Yeah, I mean, that's another underapprecity episode Great, unbelievable. 

22:27 - Brandon DeShields (Guest)
It's our mom's both of our mom's favorites. 

22:29 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, my mother talks about Ed all the time, like come on, man. 

22:32 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
He's really a you know. The ladies love him. So what's weird is my number three is also about the Ed Doherty episode, when he told the story of and this is another kind of emotional thing where people have been in the trenches and then they succeed. People can learn from how they've gotten out of the trenches. So Ed found himself in a situation where he looked in the mirror and said I am an asshole. 

22:57 - Ed Doherty (Guest)
The journey along the way. I just wanted to build happy, high-performing teams. That was my goal, and I just happened to be a chef. I didn't know that until later, but I realized my behavior did not sync up to my why and what I wanted to accomplish. 

23:13 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Well, what's an example of that kind of behavior? 

23:16 - Ed Doherty (Guest)
it's just pure dominance. Shut up I. I'm the only voice here. 

23:22 - Mark (Host)
I'm the king, yeah it's. 

23:24 - Ed Doherty (Guest)
It's a fiefdom, right and, uh, it's fun for a while, but it doesn't work with human beings over the long term. So I wanted to build these long-term relationships. People would come and go. I had some notoriety as a chef in the 80s and the early 90s, so people would hang out with me long enough to get their resume Right, but they really didn't like me. So I looked in the mirror one day and I said you know, you're an asshole dude and you know, if you really want to accomplish your overarching goal, you need to change the way you navigate the planet. 

23:58 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
The story of how he went from there to where he is now, which is helping people figure out how to be vulnerable leaders and really lead people in a way that's like you know, next level, I mean, he's a coach now. He was one of my coaches and he's fantastic. 

24:15 - Stacey (Host)
That's episode three. I think right, ed is yeah, episode three yeah episode three, so watch that. And he gets emotional right. He got emotional he got emotional, you got emotional, I got emotional, it was an emotional day, yeah, but it's good though, and it has funny parts too, so don't think that's going to make you cry. My number three has to be Emmy. I know you know the name If you haven't seen the episode. She was the world's first plus size supermodel 90s supermodel Emmy. 

24:38
Yeah, cindy Crawford and Turlington, all those she was right in there with them. Episode two it was a story of when she was working with a photographer that she wanted to work with for the first time. Yeah, crazy she's always one of the he did Harper's Bazaar. He was like the it guy and he walked in and it was her in a chair with a makeup artist and no one else yeah. Right. He walks in and says where's the model? 

25:05 - Emme (Guest)
And I was just so excited, so model, and I was just so excited, so I had, you know, hair and makeup for an hour and a half and looking fabulous. I'm sitting with my, my, my curlers in my hair and he comes late and he slams the door. He comes in and he's like, okay, where's the model? Now he says this while I am sitting in the director's chair with hair and makeup on either side of me in curlers, and he looks at me and you know there was silence and he looks at me from my toes all the way up to my head and all the way down and he goes I'm not shooting this fatty. 

25:38
And it was completely quiet. So I was really A happy that I was older. B that I wasn't an emotional mess. C I swear to you I wish many, many times over that I would have been like dude, get down to do 20 with me because it could have banged them out with him. 

25:55 - Stacey (Host)
Oh, you would have killed him. Could you imagine being her at that moment? And she said fortunately. 

26:00 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
I would have quit Over game over. I would have been out. My number two is Emmy Emmy. I geeked out over Emmy Like oh my gosh, she's like a legend. 

26:10 - Mark (Host)
She's like a legend. 

26:11 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
I loved her so much, so the story that I was psyched to hear was that when she was modeling with all those 90s supermodels, there was a point in time where she was doing a Revlon shoot with Halle Berry. And listen to this story. So she was doing a Revlon shoot with Halle Berry and they're in their dressing rooms and she said, hey, halle, let's go check out Cindy Crawford. 

26:34 - Emme (Guest)
Halle Berry and I were and Cindy Crawford were all working with Revlon at the same time, and when we're all in dressing rooms, I would go over to Halle Berry's dressing room and go let's go look at Cindy. Oh, my God, you go, look at Cindy. Go over and there's. Cindy Crawford, not a stitch right, not a stitch. God, she's still just so, so, naturally, just gorgeous. That's the same as Christy Brinkley, though I do have to say Christy Brinkley, not a stitch. 

27:03 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
And she just radiates 70-something. So fun to hear that models geek over other models and we're all just human beings, right? So that was my number two. You guys have to watch that one, love it. 

27:14 - Stacey (Host)
My number two, brandon DeShields, episode six, went to prison. I don't know how many years, but he had to raise. He went to prison, I think, two weeks after the birth of his child, yeah Right. So he had to kind of try to raise his kids. For the I think it was nine years or maybe it was 15. 

27:32 - Ed Doherty (Guest)
It was something like that in there, yeah. 

27:34 - Stacey (Host)
That he was in prison, but he tells a story of when he comes out. He's still being a dad. He's like even while he was in there he was trying to make sure his kids don't end up like him, Right, which you would love to do if you've gone through that. 

27:46 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Oh, this is good. I love this one. I know what you're going to say. 

27:48 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, yeah. So I mean, in addition, to look, here's what it's like in here, which is horrifying, right that but he drove him around and he said 

28:03 - Brandon DeShields (Guest)
look, look at this giant home. 

28:03
He drove him around neighborhoods big house, and this was like when covid was going on. So we're just driving around, we look up like million dollar homes in kennedy and we just pull up on the back roads and see, I'm like, look at this house. And they're like, yeah, my little cost this many millions of dollars. Like, yeah, I'm like, would you like to live in a house like this? And they're like, yeah, I'd like to live in this house like this, for sure. I'm like, look, it costs this many millions of dollars. Like, yeah, I'm like, would you like to live in a house like this? And they're like, yeah, I'd like to live in a house like this, for sure. I'm like it's a big house. They're like it is a big house and I'm like it's got a lot of rooms in it, like it's got a ton of rooms. I'm like, right, it's called the Chester County Prison, it's a prison, and one name for prison is the big house. So I drove him by it. I'm like, hey, see that that is the prison. That's also a big house and that also has a lot of rooms in it. 

28:50
Now you have a choice to make. Whatever choices you make, some choices can lead you to live in that multi-million dollar house where it's going to be you and your family, or you can go to this one right here. Those choices are going to lead you to come right here, and it's still going to be a big house. Some of your family members might be in here also. It's only going to be guys. It's all guys in here. There's no Christmas. There's none of that stuff. Regardless of what they give you, it's not going to be like being home and spending time. So you have choices to make. I'm like that. You're like. I never forced them to make a choice. 

29:23 - Stacey (Host)
And so I just love I mean I've known Brandon for a number of years and um he is a motivational speaker, yeah. He's a great guy, like the guy he's become and the dad he's become and the personal trainer he's become and the friend he's become. He's just a a great um redemption story, if you want to call it that, the whole episode. 

29:42 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Yeah, it's a longer episode, but it's worthwhile, like the whole thing is good guy fantastic now I gotta call him. 

29:48 - Stacey (Host)
I haven't talked to you. You should call him. Why don't you call? 

29:50 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
him all right. So now we're on number one number one. So let's do the drum roll. We're gonna have the same number one. We're gonna have the same number one. We're going to have the same number one. 

29:58 - Stacey (Host)
That would be bizarre. Well, my new number one. 

30:01 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
All right, my number one. 

30:02 - Stacey (Host)
Episode which I figured out first, before Mark did. If we have the same one is episode one. Oh no, nikki Stanzione, I have episode one. Nikki Stanzione, nikki Stanzione. Okay, wait, let me tell my story. 

30:15 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Wait, for I had the Boogie Nights story, but you already told that. 

30:17 - Stacey (Host)
Well, that wasn't your number one though. 

30:19 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
I know, but I couldn't decide between the Johnny Depp story and the Friends story. But I think the Johnny Depp story is going to be my number one. Is that yours? 

30:25 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
I'm going to wait, no, you tell your story. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. 

30:27 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
So the Johnny. 

30:28 - Mark (Host)
Depp. 

30:28 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
It's a cliffhanger, so Nikki Stanzione gets an audition Right, so she's going to think she's actually going to be his little sister. Did you say little sister? 

30:41 - Ed Doherty (Guest)
Little sister. 

30:42 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Yes, which is when you see her. You'll see like there is a bit of a resemblance. So it was in a hotel room. 

30:50 - Nikki Stanzione (Guest)
I had an audition for Lou DiGiama, who was, I believe, the director of Donnie Brasco, if I'm not mistaken, and he worked a lot with Johnny Depp. And again now I sound like, if I'm not mistaken, and he worked a lot with Johnny Depp, and again now I sound like, oh, I'm such a big deal. I was literally doing a recurring character on Young and the Restless and then nothing. So I was just DJing on weekends, hoping to get work, auditioning and not getting the jobs. Then I get a call from my agent at the time and said there's an audition. 

31:15
Johnny Depp is doing a movie is crazy, uh. And they, you would play his younger sister I believe it was something like that and she's, you know, a rebel. And it was basically everything. I'm not and I had to really dive into this like thought process of who, who is that person. And so I said, well, I need the sides. Which sides are the script right, the copy? And they said there is no. There's no sides, it's all improvised. You're going to be improvising with johnny, with johnny, with johnny depp now usually on an audition, you go pressure. 

31:46
You know no pressure right you meet with the casting right and then maybe you go to a callback and then you meet some more people on the production and then, if you get to the screen test situation, then you get to meet the actor you'd be working with. This was the first audition. 

32:00 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Oh my gosh. So Johnny Depp was sitting in there. 

32:03 - Nikki Stanzione (Guest)
I still thinking about this makes me like get the chills. What was crazy about it was that I get the notification that it's going to be at this hotel, in this hotel room. So then I thought-. 

32:14 - Stacey (Host)
Red flag Creepy, but not Johnny Depp. 

32:16 - Nikki Stanzione (Guest)
Right. I thought this is not good, this is not so. Then I had my agent check it out and they said no, this is definitely on the up and up, 100%. The casting director is going to be in the room with him. It's not just the two of you alone. It's very like 100%. 

32:29 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Profesh, all profesh. 

32:31 - Nikki Stanzione (Guest)
Yes, so sure enough, I did go on that audition and then I and I met him and he was wearing a red bandana. I remember that he was super kind and we just improvised, and it was the weirdest experience Because to this day I can't believe that actually happened. I so rarely have talked about that Because it seemed so unreal and unbelievable that I'm in a room auditioning and I'm a nobody at this point in my mind, right, and so I was very fortunate. It was an amazing experience. Were you nervous? Of course, I was petrified. I don't even know what I did. I couldn't even. 

33:08 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
You blacked out. I was 22. I don't even remember. This is a fantastic story, so that's my number one. I loved her episode. And number one episode number one favorite moment. 

33:19 - Stacey (Host)
So my number one was not the Johnny's episode. 

33:21 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Okay, okay, another story from Nikki Stanzione. 

33:23 - Stacey (Host)
And it was not the Friends story. 

33:25 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Oh shoot, what was it? I can't believe you don't remember. 

33:29 - Stacey (Host)
My number one, Episode one, Nikki Stanzione. How she was a heartbeat away from being the co-host of American Idol with. Ryan Seacrest. 

33:42 - Nikki Stanzione (Guest)
The agent I was working with. He calls me and he says there's a show in the UK it's called Pop Idol and it's huge and they're bringing it to America and I believe it was Simon Fuller was bringing it to America and it's going to be a big show on Fox. They're doing it kind of like a trial this summer and they're looking for two hosts, because on Pop Idol they have two hosts. 

34:06 - Stacey (Host)
Oh, my God. 

34:06 - Nikki Stanzione (Guest)
So they said we already secured Ryan Seacrest as one, but we're looking for the second host. So I had the copy that said this is American Idol. Oh man, I had that script and I had to copy that said this is American. Idol oh man I had that script and I had to go in and say do the whole thing. And it went really well and I got a call back. 

34:27 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Okay, okay, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. 

34:29 - Nikki Stanzione (Guest)
I'm going to host the show with that guy who I went to interview with to be his assistant. How fun. And I listened to him on the radio every day. This is so crazy. So I go to the callback. Everything goes really well and then we find out, because Pop Idol were two male hosts, they changed their mind and they're basically dumping the final girls that they had at the callback. All girls are out. They're going to go for Brian Dunkelman, who ended up being the co-host and got fired after the first year. 

34:55 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
She would have been so good, imagine the trajectory of your life. Do you remember his name? Dunkelman? I don't remember what. 

35:01 - Stacey (Host)
Is it Andrew Dunkelman? Something Dunkelman Dunkelman. He lasted one season. 

35:05 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Yeah Right, you never heard from him again. We don't remember his name. So what would have happened if they just tried to try? Agreed, we wouldn't know her. She would never fit on koozie game changers. Anyway, that's it. Is that it? That's it that's it. 

35:26 - Stacey (Host)
That's our top 10 from the first 10 listen, you guys listen. 

35:30 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Watch the episodes like subscribe. 

35:32 - Stacey (Host)
Help us out yeah, I just want you to enjoy it. Enjoy these top 10 and we're gonna do this again. I like this. This is, yeah, this is really fun. 

35:40 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Let's do top 10 for the next 10 yeah awesome and thank you to you always thank you, it's been a pleasure, and thank you, eric oh, and thank you you're still here. You're still listening. Thanks for listening to the gurus and game changers podcast while you're here. If you enjoyed, please take a minute to rate this episode and leave us a quick review. We want to know what you thought of the show and what you took from it and how it might have helped you. We read and appreciate every comment. Thanks, see you next week you All right. 

36:53 - Stacey (Host)
See you guys. We'll talk to you soon. I was caught that red light's on. 

36:57 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
I guess we're going to talk to the audience. You know what I mean, so we'll talk to each other. 

37:00 - Stacey (Host)
Can you see my tea over here? I was caught that red light's on. 

37:01 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
I guess we're going to talk to the audience. You know what I mean, so we'll talk to each other, but we can. I'm sorry. Can you see my tea over here? Three, this is going to be such a fun one for Eric to edit. Why do you always yell three? What does that mean? 

37:11 - Stacey (Host)
Three, two, one. 

37:12 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
You should tell the audience. Why do you yell three? 

37:14 - Stacey (Host)
Three. I'm counting myself in. 

37:16 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
That's what I'm doing, coming from live TV, but you never hear one you never hear. 

37:20 - Stacey (Host)
often you don't hear two. 

37:22 - Emme (Guest)
F-bomb Two one. 

37:26 - Nancy Hicks (Guest)
Go.