Ham Ice Cream & Alison Sweeney

You may think you know Ben Higgins from The Bachelor, but he’s here to explore a different side of him that you didn’t see on TV. His co-host, Jesse Draper, kicks off this episode with some background into her personal and professional life, and she reveals how she picks a company to invest in.   Then, Alison Sweeney from The Biggest Loser stops by, and talks about her new project with The Hallmark Channel, and the experience of pursuing career goals and parenting at the same time.   And in a segment called “Stuff We Didn’t Know We Needed”, we talk to the creator of Windy Farms Ice Cream, which combines ice cream… with ham. 

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
And podcast. Everybody out there listening, this is a big
moment and I don't want to understate it. My name
is Ben Higgins. I am the co founder and president
of Generous International, a company that exists to literally only
do good in the world. We're best known as Generous

(00:24):
Coffee Company. We sell products with stories behind them, mostly coffee,
and we donate a percentage of our revenue. It's a
large percentage back to nonprofits and social causes that believe
in humans and believe in fighting human injustice. UM. That
is my mission, that is my calling, that is my
daily job. And I now sit um as the co

(00:45):
host on this podcast Lady Bosses and Ben. And before
we get to my my wonderful co host who is
a lot more talented and has a pedigree a lot
better than mine, I want to take a second and
speak to why I sit here in the seat as
a man? Why do I want to sit on a
podcast that supports women? And I guess my first answer
would be why not? UM, And I think that's a

(01:08):
fair answer. I I as somebody that has now ran
and operated a company for eight months. I've seen the
struggles and running a business. I've seen the pains. I've
also felt the successes and the joys of it, and
I've seen how hard it is, and I've felt alone
at times, and I've needed a platform UM to share
with somebody with with somebody else to say to make
me feel not alone. UM. And And as we've dug

(01:30):
into that a little deeper, I've realized that there's a
lot of women out there in leadership and Jesse will
speak to this in a second that have probably felt
alone because they fought battles that I will never understand
and never know, but I want to understand and I
want to come alongside and I and I want to
support UM because Generous just fired our first couple employees
and and they just happened to be all women because

(01:52):
they were the most talented and they fit our company
best UM And and I've as i've i've worked alongside them,
I've just realized, UH, that there's nothing, UM that I
want more than to see people feel known, be known,
and to feel uplifted. And I think that's exactly what
this podcast will be. So Lady Bosses and Been UH
is a podcast focused on empowering and supporting women and

(02:15):
leadership and whatever arena they're operating in and for that
we brought on um Jesse Draper Jesse. Thanks for joining
me on this journey. Oh thanks Ben. I'm a fourth
generation investor, an entrepreneur, and I'm the first female, so
this is really important and to me, I'm very passionate
about what we're doing. I run a company called Halligen Adventures,

(02:38):
and we invest in female founded consumer technology companies, some
of which are sugar fena ones, called flex ones, called
the Skim and basically we help support products for women
that are run by women. Um and uh, you know,
this is just everything that I'm about. You know, I
want to give women more media exposure, women business leaders

(03:02):
because as a young girl, I grew up in this
community of uh, men in suits, which you know, I
love men, and I love men in suits, but I
was the only girl in a lot of these rooms.
So I really have dedicated my life to trying to
support women in business, whether that be through media exposure
or through funding. And so that's why we invest in

(03:25):
early stage companies with female business leaders. So for anybody
out there listening and wondering what you'll get out of
this podcast, you're gonna get some business insights. From Jesse,
from myself, and from our guests. You're gonna get some encouragement.
And it's about uplifting people to make them feel like
they've been created on purpose and for a purpose. And
that's what this podcast will do. Who knows where this

(03:47):
journey will take us, but today it's taking us to
our very first guest on this episode. Who is it? Ben?
It's the beloved, the talented, the super busy Allison Sweeney.
Thank you, loved, beloved you like that. So you have

(04:08):
a lot going on, Yes, but I'm a mom, so
that's just built in. So you've had like an entire
day before eight am? Yeah for sure. Yeah. So what's uh, actually,
how do you juggle it all? Um? Gosh, it's you know,
I get that question a lot. I think that it
comes down to time management, right. It's like I have

(04:29):
a you know, calendar on my phone and I just
try to keep track of all the lists of things
that you have to do. And um, I'm a multitasker, right,
Like it's okay, on the way to drop off Ben
at this I'm going to pick up that at the
thing and I had to come back and you know,
bring three thrings from the die cleaner and do the
conference calls on the phone when you're there. Yeah, it's

(04:50):
just about getting it all done and just making it work,
just making it work out. And so sometimes my mom,
you know, conference calls with like legitimately, you know, four
or five people trying to be busy, and I say
to my kids like, okay, you know, because you have
the bluetooth, and so my kids are in the car,
I'm like, don't let them know. You're It's harder when
your kids too, because like he's just singing and being crazy,

(05:12):
you know, I can never get him to do I'm sorry,
that's my kid. He's shouting right. The thing I'm interests
you as you guys talk here, you're super busy, that's obvious.
And you have to plan your days out hours in advance. Yeah,
usually the day before at least, and and I'm imagining
it gets tiring at the end of the night. So
this this is kind of the world I went operating

(05:33):
because Jesse and I've talked and we've talked to a
few mothers in the past who obviously have a thousand
things in their plate. Why do you do all this?
That is a good question, I guess well, I love it.
I love everything that I do. I love being a mom.
It's amazing. And the all the little stuff my daughter,

(05:55):
um just said something really funny and the other day
and it just those little moments means so much to you, right,
And I was just about to like a censor of
the story because I realized there's not gonna be kids
listening to this, right, we accept all we Yeah, not
to judge. I mean, I'm not against kids listening, but
if your kid is listening and they're of a certain

(06:17):
childhood age, um, maybe you want to like fast forward
the next time seconds. But the word the story is
that my Megan came to me and said, um, uh,
talk to me about Santa Claus. And I was like,
what do you want to talk about? And she was like, mom,
come on, like is that is he real? For real?
And I was like, oh my god, okay no, And

(06:38):
she had this big smile on her face and she said,
I grew up. I got it at I'm grown up
now and I was a girl. They totally did. It
was the cutest thing. And so she took this moment
of like she was so proud of herself for figuring
it out and then hilariously, I was like, so about
those elves and she she was like, wait what I'm think,

(07:01):
I'm not doing that anymore. And so those are torture
like I love them dearly. The help on the shelf
is amazing that that's one of the moments I could
live without it, um, but just in general, so those
things like are just the highlight of my day, in
my week, in my life, and I treasure them. And
then I love my career and it matters to me.
It matters to me for who I am, and feeling

(07:22):
fulfilled and having ideas that that I read a book.
And then I'm standing there on the set and we're
making the movie and I'm looking around at this crew
and this cast. I'm thinking, oh my god, this is Saul.
Came from me sitting some day and at a beach
and reading and thinking like, wow, that'd be a good movie.
And now here we are doing it. And then the
fans who tweet at me or follow me on Instagram

(07:44):
and comment on it and how much they loved it.
It all just it all comes together and it feels
so fulfilling and fun and interesting and hard. And I
am someone who has never shied away from a challenge
or hard work. You know, Jesse and I kind of
come from similar upbringing. My dad is a hard worker
and he would always just take that really seriously. If

(08:05):
I wanted to know how to spell a word, he
was like, well, here's the dictionary, you could go figure
it out. And and that just has been a big
part of my life. And so I like, I like
when something is hard and I'm going to work hard
to get it, and then when I do, I'm so
proud of myself. And you've been working your whole life, Yes,
when did you start days of your Well, I started
working at Days Real Lives when I was a teenager

(08:26):
and I was sixteen, um, but I started doing commercials
when I was four, So I had sort of been
in the industry a lot as a kid. And it's
a really weird, um, sort of tough dynamic. But there's
a lot of expectation on kids in TV or in
the entertainment industry that in the end, you have to
be a professional, right, Like you have to know the
lines and you have to hit the mark and say
the line and do what the director told you to do.

(08:48):
And if you don't, all the adults are groaning at
you a little kid. And so again that's an example
of just you know, I've worked with a lot of
kid actors in my career that didn't really want to
be there, and you know, the parents are unfortunately now
in a power dynamic where it's like, if you do
the scene, I'll get you a lollipop. And uh, my

(09:10):
mom was never like that. My mom said, I'll take
your home right now. If you you don't want to
try hard, if you're not going to learn your lines,
then we're out of your kid. And I just I
just wanted it. I loved it. I loved every minute it.
So I loved what you said before where you said,
you know, all of this matters to you because you
you know, obviously your kids, but then also for you
and who you are. And I do find, especially when

(09:33):
I meet other working moms that you have a kid
and you go through a little bit of an identity
crisis because you're like, wait now I'm a mom, also
like what does that mean? And um, what motivated you
to continue, uh working? Was it this sense of identity
or you know you probably could have sat back and stopped. Yeah,
I mean I think you know, and lots of people do,

(09:54):
and I totally totally respect that because I think it
is each person has their own journey. I happen to
have a career path that allows me to have more
freedom than a full time job, you know, where you're
you have these set routines. So I'm I'm a little
more flexible than that. So I was able to really
kind of come back to that sooner after I was

(10:15):
a new mom. But I remember the decision makings being
so different, Like decision making Did I say that right? Yeah? Yeah,
so all of a sudden today, So okay, good. So
when um, I fit right in, uh, you know, like
when you're not a parent, you can say like let's
go sky diving for my thirtieth birthday. When you're a parent,

(10:36):
all of a sudden, you think to yourself, like, what
if I leave my child, you know, motherless because I
wanted to do something crazy like go skydiving. And all
these responsibilities weigh on you on such a deeper level,
and and there is this accompanying guilt that I I
for one, have never managed to avoid. Um but I
love my job and I it is for me and

(10:59):
I not shamed to say that. And I talked to
my kids about you know, that they need to find
things for them that they love. And I think you know,
the relationship my husband and I have said's a really good.
I mean, obviously you couldn't do any of it without,
you know, a partner, someone who, at least for me,
I Dave, that I work really well together, and it's
we're so lucky, um to have each other. But but

(11:21):
that we model a good dynamic so our kids see
that it is a team sport, you know, parenting, Like
we work together and we help each other out and
we have each other's backs. How did you meet him? Um?
So uh, our parents we have a small town story.
Dave's dad is a violinist and my mom is a violinist,
and they worked together, uh doing recording for feature film

(11:46):
soundtracks since before we were born, so they knew each other,
you know, are essentially our whole lives. And my parents
tell embarrassing stories about how I chase Dave around the
swim when I was each other for ye and um,
he four years older than I am, so we were
just friends and he had to babysit me and horrible
things like that when we're kids, and then um, and

(12:08):
then he went and he's a California Higher patrolman. And
he went off to the college and then the academy
and I started working at days of our lives and
we didn't really see each other for several years, and
then his parents. I love a podcast because I can
tell this whole story. I feel like this is I've
never really had the time to just sit here and
like I love for all of you so light of

(12:31):
the day. How does that feel? Literally, I came. I
flew from Denver to l A for this, for this,
for this, I just got here make better story. Okay,
well I'm gonna do my very best to impress your anyways.
Great and he's he's a police so he's a California
Highway patrolman. So how many tickets have you gotten? Um?

(12:51):
I have gotten more than I should have. I should
I should say for for the good driving I should
be doing. Um No, I don't over many, but you
probably know all the guys pulling you over. Now. Yeah,
I had a funny experience the other day where in fact,
I was like, you know, I tried really carefully, and
you know, I have my phone like on the thing,

(13:12):
so I'm not touching it. And all that, and I
have my hands on those staring wheels so no one
would get confused, uh, and that I'm texting while I'm
driving or anything. And and I saw a patrol car
on the freeway and it pulls up next to me,
and I'm like, don't look at the cop because I
don't know. I was just trying to act natural. And
he's like pacing me right next to me. And there's

(13:33):
traffic moving forward, so I know there's plenty of room
in his lane he could go forward. And so finally
I look over and he gives me like a wave,
and I dave afterwards. I was like, what are your
friends like rightening? I think it's a very stressful thing.
But he just gave me a little like Hey, what's up?
And I was like, funny, Ali, what are you? Um?

(13:57):
Do we get to hear the whole meet up story? Oh? Yeah,
INTERRUPTED know, you're right. So the end of the story
is just that we hadn't seen each other many years.
His parents were hosting a party and my um friend
and I this really good girlfriend of mine, went with
my parents to their party and he was there, and
you could tell because there was like the patrol cars
out front and whatnot, and I, um, I literally took

(14:18):
my friend. I was like, get away from me right
now because she was too pretty. And I was like,
I saw I may reintroduced myself. Did you put her
in a closet? Well, essentially, I was like, don't come
talk to me for twenty minutes, hide in the bathroom.
So that's stuff I didn't have happened. Is I'm already.
We started the podcast by saying, I'm gonna learn a
lot from all the women that were bringing on this pocket.
That's one of those things that happens. Huh, get away

(14:40):
from me. You're too pretty great, be careful, safe, just
you have to just move away the pretty friend like
normal thing. I don't feel that that's the reasonable. She
was totally cool ABO. She was like, you're right, Ali,
you were working on a really cool project right now

(15:02):
for Hallmark. Will you tell us about that? So the
Chronicle Mysteries. The Chronicle Mysteries are a new mystery series
of movies on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel. And the
first thing you have fully owned. Yes. So I have
executive produced a couple of projects for Hallmark, and now
I am branching out you know, I have my own
umbrella out and I'm doing my own projects. So I

(15:24):
own them and I am producing them and I started them.
That's amazing. And so where are what's the first one
coming out? What? What can we watch? So the first
one will be released in January. We don't have a
air date yet, but it'll We're actually gonna do a
series of them, um all every week for three weeks
in January and February, and in homework, so on homework,

(15:47):
movies and mysteries. So we just finished shooting the first
one and we are shooting two more of this fall.
That's awesome. And how are you so you run the
whole show? You are you? Um? You're producing? Like how
many people are you kind of looking after? And are
you just making? How does that work? Good question? There's
a lot to it, by the way, it is a complicated,

(16:09):
and it's funny because when you're an actor, um, it
all means sort of. My interest in getting behind the
scenes all started from my many years on television where
you would sit on a set with the script in
your hand, thinking like did anyone think through you know
this moment that really like here we are and that
sets there and did no one consider the options of
how to make that better? And um, I just often

(16:32):
wanted to be in those meetings and in those conversations
like what what really could have what could we have
done here to make this better? And so I ended
up finding an opportunity for myself with that in producing
and um and so you find your stuff with all
the different departments, right you oversee there's the prop department,
in wardrobe and makeup and hair and set design. I

(16:54):
mean there's hundred people, a hundred fifty people who work
you know, all together post production, and um, I love it.
I love the minutia. I sweat small stuff like I'm
totally into all of it. There's no decision too small
that I would want someone else to make without me
being a part of it. I mean, I grew up
my whole life. Well, I guess my child is watching you,

(17:17):
so you know big, you know, but you jump from
from days of our lives to hosting and now you're
operating this. I mean, let's what would you call, um
this new Hallmark endeavor? You're operating a small business or
a pretty big business? Production company? Yeah, production company? I mean,
were you nervous for these steps. These are some drastic changes,

(17:38):
right from from the viewer standpoint. Jumping from Days of
our Lives to hosting is like, oh, yeah, it's TV,
but when you're in it, it's a thousand times different.
And then you go to behind the scenes to managing everybody. Yeah,
I mean it's these are huge changes. Were you nervous, Yes, definitely.
I mean it's hard when and for me, the hardest

(18:00):
was when you're the person employed by someone else. You
can be the squeaky wheel, you can go for it,
and I have this great idea. I want you to
have you considered this. I know it's a little bit
of money, but I really think you could, you know,
at least try it or have you thought about it.
But when it's you and you're you know, the buck
stops here. Um, It's it's hard because people are going
to come to you with opinions, but you don't. You're

(18:21):
the one who has to ultimately pull the trigger and
decide how how that unfolds. And and it's there's this
gut feeling. I mean, ultimately, what I've learned in my
careers that I do find that I go with my gut.
It's really important to have good people with good opinions
around you that you trust and and value. But in
the end, you have to commit to something based on
some feeling inside of you. And I really believe in

(18:44):
that and it's served me well. Um, but yes, it's
definitely comes with nerves and you know, you sweat at night.
I'm writing emails in my head and thinking about got
all the list of things to do and did I
make the right call there? And it's a lot It
keeps you up at night because everybody out Jesse and I,
you know, our our audience out there listening, people from

(19:05):
all age groups, people who want to be you know,
leaders in business or in acting, entertainment and sports. These
are these are women and men out there listening who
are saying, I just want a little nugget of truth,
authenticity and insight into how I can help take these steps.
And you're saying a lot of it is intuition and
I and here's the difference, And I want all of

(19:26):
us for intuition, and yeah, good knowledgeable intuition, things that
were educated on I think is an important thing. We
don't just want to jump at things we have no
clue at um here And I want us all to
talk about this for a second, because I think growing up,
I was always told, you know, follow your heart, but
it never really made sense to me because you know,
as a teenager, your heart is telling you to go

(19:47):
a thousand different ways that a thousand different times, and
I know my heart was not always telling me the
right thing. Now, as I you know, enter into my
thirties and I'm leading a business and doing these podcasts
into following your heart, I'm saying, intuitions, heart here, my
heart is here. Yeah, my heart is here. I feel good.

(20:08):
But it's an interesting transition where sometimes it's not the
schooling or the education I have that guides me, as
you're saying, it's just our intuition, our knowledgeable intuition. So
how much of an impact is that actually play in
your day, in all of our daily lives. That's a
great thing to talk about, because I think you're right,
especially when you're young. You know, I wouldn't tell my

(20:30):
twelve year old to follow his hard. I think he
has to learn um to try hard and make tough
decisions and what is the right path, right. I think
some people's heart to might just be like on the
sofa watching Netflix and and so stop there. Let's stop
there for a second because I want to continue this
this thought. What would your ends because this is where

(20:50):
this is the nugget that we need. And I don't
know what I'm asking. What if your heart is telling
you that? Because we can all joke and say that's
not wrong, but it is. We don't we know nobody
wants to live their life from the moment they were
born to the time they passed saying you know what
I got to do. I got to watch a lot
of great Netflix and that was That's my legacy. That's
that is what I'm known for. So what if your

(21:12):
heart is telling you that? Yeah, I think that there's
a difference between following your heart, um and trying to
make a difference like or like it depends. I don't
think following your heart is the right thing for like
your career path. I think once you've chosen a career

(21:34):
path for all sorts of different reasons, once you're in
it and you're stuck in a tough situation and you're thinking,
like what should I do this zig or zag? You know,
that's where your intuition comes in and your heart might
be telling you this or when you're choosing to get married,
you know. I mean, that's a good moment to follow
your heart, right, But I think, um, I think with

(21:55):
your goal for life, You're right, it needs it shouldn't
just be about like what was comfortable check? It's like
a gut chat to be about like what difference can
I make? What can I do to leave an impression
with other people? Yeah, it's the gut check. It's so interesting.
There's so many things there that this I think what
makes this conversation so unique and talking to you because

(22:17):
I have studied you, that's weird preparing for this. We
do our homework. Um, you've jumped around, You've done a lot.
You're doing a lot now, Jesse, you do a lot.
You're you're a mom, you're a wife, you're a leader,
you're entrepreneur. I'm working really hard for Ali right now.
You're working and we were starting this podcast, and I

(22:39):
think so many people out there, including myself, as I
started this business. I you know, Alie, just let you know.
I just started company in January called Generous and I'm
I'm operating and running at full time now. And for me,
my biggest concern, if I'm honest, was I'm not smart
enough to do this, or I don't have the ability
the time to do this. But what I would say
to that is the fact that you even are willing

(23:00):
to have that thought run through your mind puts you
leaps and bounds ahead of anyone who was like, I
got this, I know what I'm doing. The fact that
you're willing to ask those questions and challenge yourself and
do I really know? Am I really sure? Is already
going to pave the way for you to have tremendous
more opportunity and success and um knowledge come your way

(23:22):
because you're willing to learn. It's people who learn. It's
it's what you learn after you think you know it
all that counts, right, So you gotta you gotta keep
your mind open and be aware that you don't know everything.
I think. Yeah, I think it's never safe to be
the person in the room who thinks they know everything.
Like I think that's that always concerns me, especially with
founders I meet or what have you, Like, you should

(23:43):
never think you're the smartest person in the room or yeah,
I mean that's incredible though, because we sit here right Alison,
You've you're known for a thousand things. Just you know,
for a thousand things you've been on TV. People can
sit here listen to this and going, oh, that's their different, right.
I'm a fan of Alison Sweeney. I've watched her on TV.
She's a celebrity. She everything's gold plated to her right,

(24:04):
And you're saying, what, not at all? Not at all?
You got to work freaking hard. Yeah. I just didn't
know if we could swear on this podcast, so I've
changed it, like, yeah, freaking is a weird word. It
happened really quickly. We don't need to overthink that one. Okay, great, so,
but the answer is no. I to me, it didn't

(24:25):
come easily. I mean I could see where how that's
I'm sure people are sitting there rolling their eyes like, oh,
you're on TV. I mean, first of all, I would
say that soap operas um in particular are like the
real manual labor, a heavy lifting of entertainment industry. I mean,
you are busting your butt memorizing fifty six seventy pages
a day of dialogue. I mean that crew works harder

(24:46):
than you can imagine, standing there whole with cameras all day,
and and you have to work fast and you start early,
and it's a lot, right, it's labor intensive that job
for entertainment. UM. But also just knowing that for me,
it was always well, maybe as an entrepreneur you'll appreciate that,
like as an actor, you're always sort of waiting for

(25:06):
the phone to ring and hoping that someone will like
you enough to hire you. That's a really uncomfortable, sort
of horrible position to be in. UM. And it's just
how it makes you feel about yourself. And UM, it
just never felt I'm always a little bit more of
a doer than that. And so you made it happen.
So I was, yeah, you have to go out there

(25:28):
and make things happen. And however that unfolds for me. UM.
A lot of that came from saying yes to opportunities,
so hosting the show, the reality show, and and she
was really and and it was just it wasn't like
one thing where it was just so magically there was
this phone call and I was offered this opportunity. It

(25:48):
was it was a several steps of meeting right people
and taking opportunities as they came my way. In fact,
the producers who did that show had done this really
cool um celebrity cooking show earlier, and they invited me
to be a guest celebrity like chef, and I busted
my butt to like learn how to do the cooking

(26:08):
and a competitive anyway. I mean, let's not kid ourselves.
I wanted to win, like just for me, but you
know that ends up sort of being interesting and making
good TV and you you're willing to do all those
opportunities and say yes when things come your way and
and um sort of. I think for me, one of
the defining moments in my career at NBC was when
I was on Fear Factor and I was terrifying, like

(26:30):
literally physically terrifying. And yet I still feel like that
was it turned out to be this incredible opportunity for
me moving forward in terms of how the executive saw me,
and that I was willing to like that I'm a
gamer and cool and willing to take a chance. And
I just think in general, my career is really marked
by these opportunities that a lot of people might have

(26:52):
not even seen as an opportunity or not have known
to say yes to. And yet I was like, yeah,
let's do it. I'll go there allfull They're a'll wear that,
I'll do I'll try it. You know why not? I
love that she you say yes, you say yes, and
you make it happen. And I think you obviously work
incredibly incredibly hard. Um. You know, I've heard a lot
about working with Hallmark and they seem to be really

(27:15):
empowering a lot of women actually right now, which I love,
like did you have you? Has that been a good
experience and do you really feel like you own it?
And you have so much control there? It seems like
they really um I know, my friend autom Resource doing
a bunch of movies with them, and they're just really
letting people produce and create their own UM content. Yeah,

(27:35):
Hallmark has been a great family to work with. Um.
The people that work there are hard working and sincere,
and they have found this market of audience that is
so hungry for this kind of entertainment and and a
lot of it is very female driven. So there's female
leading characters and an audience you know by in large

(28:00):
email audience. Though I think you know their husbands. We
try to get the husbands to watch two or you
know whatever, UM watch Definitely. My dad's a huge fan
of Hallmark. Yeah, there you go. Um. But so as
a result, I think they really find themselves just naturally
inclined to hiring female writers and directors and starring, you know,

(28:21):
stories that empower women in in the narrative. And and
for me that's just been awesome. I mean, I think
that I try to, I do believe in empowering women,
but I think it is also just the function of
trying to find the best person for the job. Um,
different from just giving someone a job because she's a woman.
And so for me, finding awesome men and women who

(28:44):
want to tell this story, it has an equal opportunity
to employer like you just want to make sure that
everyone has a chance to be a part of that.
And the women that I have had the blessing to
work with are incredible. Yeah, we were talking about that earlier.
It's not just about women and empower women, it's you know,
it's a partnership. Um. I think that's really really important.

(29:05):
And UM, you know, you you do so many things,
as we keep reiterating, and it's really just inspiring to see. Um.
But a lot of people, I mean, I follow you
on Instagram, and it is it's inspiring for my fitness,
it's inspiring for my cooking, Like you cooked some recipe
and you took a picture of like just sort of

(29:25):
from the sky of Megan. Megan was my cooking daughter. Yeah,
I was wondering how you got that brilliant put your
put your child to work. Okay, Alison? What's your for
anybody out there listening? It's just for the people out
there listening. Um, right, no one else gets to know.
What is your Instagram handle? It's at Ali Sweeney a
l I Sweeney, Ali Sweeney? Can I call you Alie?

(29:50):
Is that weird? Um? Alison Sweeney? Everybody is set to
top line in the new Hallmark movie franchise The Chronicle Mysteries,
which is bad by popular demand from Hallmarks Movie and
Mysteries franchise. Alison. Before we say goodbye to you, I
have one last question. I have to go unfortunately forever.

(30:11):
I would like you to stay. Um, there's a lot
here to unpack, and I feel like if we would
have just sat down, we could we this could be
a four hour podcast with you. You do you have
um knowledge and things to share and I know you're
sharing them. And the last piece of knowledge that I
want from you that I would ask from you that
I want from you. That sounded so aggressive. Um, We're

(30:36):
just like all overthinking. I'm just I'm just sensitive. Um,
all this is happening, all of this is going on,
all of the success, and it has been success. Is
there a light at the end of the tunnel? What
are you reaching for? What do you dream? What are
you dreaming? This all turns into and so, and remember,
for anybody out there listening to this, this is this

(30:57):
is a nugget of knowledge for all the listeners. I
feel like there was a lot of pres Is there
a light at the end of the time. I mean,
I don't know, I meant one. And in some ways
I feel like I'm just getting started. I mean, honestly,
this career I have now with Hallmark and hopefully you know,

(31:17):
other buyers to down the line. Um, is honestly what
I dreamed of when us four years old. This is
I told my dad when I was four years old
that I was going to do this for a living,
and now here I am doing it. And and so
in some ways I feel like I'm just getting started. Um.
And then everything I've done up until this point, all
the incredible opportunities I've had and and not the least,

(31:40):
which is days of our lives and the friends I've
made and the experiences that I've had and getting to
go back and be on days again. This fall has
been so fun and interacting with the fans about it.
But all of that feels like just something I've learned
or or or just this like whole big a picture

(32:00):
that scene in um, that Ben Stiller movie where what
does he call it? Like his No, it's where he's
an actor and he's talking about his like, um, what
does these call it? Like a buffet of tricks of
his skills? Right? Like all these things that you learn
and pick up along the way that that you can
use moving forward. Right And Um, I just totally butchered

(32:21):
that expression. So I'm sure I'll hear about it later
on social media. Feel free to feel free to correct me.
I appreciate it, um. And But but what I'm trying
to say is, like you just, I think, no matter
what you do in life, you pick up stuff along
the way and learn from it and take it with
you as you go, right, like whether it was good
or bad, a good news or bad news story, or
a great outcome or terrible income. I mean in fact. Um,

(32:42):
you know, one of the best things I've learned about
in sports is that you don't get better until you fail.
Like you have. You have to fall down, you have
to struggle to improve. And um so now for me
the light, I guess ultimately the answer to your question,
the simple answer, and maybe like the cop out would
be to say, like to help kids sixteen I mean
to me. Um. And in fact, Ken Corday, who's the

(33:04):
owner of Days of Our Lives, said to me when
he when I came and told him I was pregnant
for the first time, because of course, you know, you
have to tell your boss and it's going to be
a big nine months of hiding behind um uh, potted
form car groceries on set just you know, and carrying
big coats and stuff, which is just so complicated. Um.
But he said to me, you're you're now to point

(33:26):
in your life where instead of reaching, you're gonna be
turning around and and pulling someone else up with you.
And uh, there is some truth to that. So in
the end, the the easy answer and the truth and
it is also true, is that all I want for
the rest of my life is to create a situation
for my kids to be healthy and happy and um productive,
and to leave their mark, help them learn to leave

(33:49):
their mark on the world. Right. So, um, that's really
what I want. And my husband and I talked about
all the time our parenting. Are we doing it right?
What do we what? What a disaster that was is?
Or we did really great? I mean, let's be honest
as and argett like patting ourselves on the back. We're
very gonna like you need that though. I think you
need that in a relationship totally to pat each other
on the back. Um, but yourselves if you if your

(34:12):
significant other isn't patting you, you can Yeah, you can
put yourself I believe me. I am definitely like I
handled that really well. Um but you know, um so
so so. But for me, there there is no end
to that tunnel. I I am going to keep I
hope mother, for the rest of my life. I am
always open to new experiences and new opportunities. And whether

(34:33):
that's in work or travel or finding a combination of both,
or getting my kid into college or whatever it is.
I'll be calling you for that perfect um. But you
know you just you just I I hope I continue
to learn. I hope I continue to struggle. I hope
I continue to have fun with my friends, and I
hope that that I just keep going. Alison Sweeney, everybody,

(34:55):
she's just getting started. She's just getting started. Thank you
so much, Thank you. Austin Tuna is really great. If
this podcast just has guests like that forever, I'm I'm
pretty excited about it. I mean really excited about it.
And I think this next guest, we're gonna this is
some crazy stuff. I know you're excited about this next

(35:17):
that's wild. It's just I'm really intrigued. Let's say intrigued. Yeah. Um.
Jake Hunt is our next guest. Jake Hunt has created
the ultimate dessert pairing by combining ice cream and Taylor
ham Ak pork roll. I'm from the Indian I know
about a pork roller too, which is processed sandwich me

(35:38):
has become the newest sensation. Jake believes Taylor ham ice
cream alone would be gross, but when he adds some
fresh toast maple syrup to it, it creates the perfect
sweet and salty balance. Jesse, real quick, why do we
bring Jake Hunt on this podcast? Because this is for
our segment Things you didn't know you needed Ben, and

(36:01):
I do need this. You know, I'm a breakfast person.
So you eat yeah, like this could be breakfast French
and that's a that's a stretch. Well let's ask Jake,
Jake kunt welcome to Lady Bosses and Ben I got

(36:23):
a Jake. Hey um, Jake, we're talking about your ice cream.
It's it's world famous. We hear um incredibly tasty. Jesse
thinks it could be breakfast. So start this thing out.
Can you eat this for breakfast? You can eat fist
for breakfast? Do you eat it for breakfast? Do I

(36:44):
didn't eat it for breakfast? Now you can eat it
for breakfast if it's if you're going to eat it
again for lunch and for dinner. I guess when do
you eat it? Uh? Every single day? It's insane, okay, Jesse,
real quick? Here has two pounds of Taylor ham. Okay,
so two pounds of Taylor Ham can be found in

(37:05):
two and a half gallon container of ice cream. That's
a lot of ham. That's a lot of ice cream,
to be honest, because that's like, do you buy a
two and a half of ice cream? I never have,
we neither. I don't think my freezer would fit it.
But that's a lot of ham definitely. So Jake, where
does this idea come from? Uh So, we're here in Jersey.

(37:27):
Uh So we wanted to come up with things that
were very distinctively New Jersey in terms of ice cream,
to to celebrate our fifth year in business. Uh So,
when you think of Jersey, you kind of think of
Taylor Ham or hopefully you think of Taylor Hammer pork
role first. So we thought, why not, why not putting
into ice cream? Or we're all about putting crazy things
in ice cream? So that seems like the theological first

(37:49):
step to creating this selection. It's it's interesting me because
Jesse and I were just talking. Jesse is an investor
into a lot of different companies. Um and I know
for you, starting this product line probably was a huge risk.
I mean, hand alone's not inexpensive. You're churning up your
ice cream. You're throwing a bunch of maple syrup, only

(38:10):
the highest quality maple syrup, may I say, and toast
into this ice cream. It's a huge risk. Why is
this the product that you choose to tackle? Why not?
Uh hey, that's what just let's pause there. Why not?
Why not. Why not is this the product that drives you? No,

(38:33):
not at all. You know, being able to be creative
pretty much every day is what drives me. Uh So
tailor Him is just kind of just was just kind
of the beginning for us for this collection. We've we've
released a tomato pie ice cream sunce then. So you know,
being able to to be creative and do something that
people love is kind of what what drives us every day.

(38:55):
And you started a creamery in college. Yeah, I'm People
were like, I mean, how do you do even do that?
Is in your dorm? No? No, No, I was on
a team that started a creamery on campus in college.
Um team backing in the in the financial uh balloon
of a college campus. Uh so, Um, so I I

(39:17):
didn't do that. I didn't go at that alone. Um.
But I went on to work for a huge dairy
and del and then I decided to come home and
do it on my own year out of college. So
our college did not have creaming teams, Yeah, clearly, But
I grew up in Indiana, so we had a surplus
of pork and ham. Um, so you combine it together,

(39:39):
we could have made it. Um, Jake, how do you
plan on scaling Windy Farms ice Cream, which is which
is the parent company to this beautiful creation and other creations.
As you mentioned, what is a tomato pie ice cream? Yeah,
tomato pie. We've got a sweet corn ice cream that.
We've got a couple of other fruit based normal things

(40:00):
people don't completely hate. Um. I don't really know if
we necessarily plan on scaling per se In in a
grand scheme. Um. You know, it's it's done wonders for
our business thus far, but we're not just an ice
cream company. Uh So our goal is to be able
to get as many people out to the farm to
try it as possible, and if we feel that the

(40:23):
demand still exists, then we're gonna try to shoot for
some logistics loop to try to market it more widely.
But we haven't really gotten to that point yet. I'm
a single man operation, so I haven't really mentally gotten
to that point yet. So we're just kind of seeing
where it takes us for now, and in the next
month or so we're going to decide whether we want

(40:44):
to try to take it naturally. We've had we've had
probably a thousand inquiries about shipping so far. So so
you churn, chop, add market package, and sell all by
yourself pretty much. No wonder your forms like the picture
a lot of work find this like where where can
people get it? Also, shipping ice cream has like a

(41:06):
whole thing we should talk about after that. I mean brutal, man,
it is brutal. Right now you can drive to New
Jersey and get it from getting from us in northwestern
New Jersey. Um, but potentially in the future we might
might look into shipping. So but it's a it's a
headachey New Jersey. We should all go. I'm in you

(41:27):
should all go. Every one of you should come to
New Jersey just for ice cream because there's not much
else going on. Um, so yeah, come come out and
see us. Hey, if you're in New Jersey, anybody out
there listening, which we have a huge demographic New Jersey.
We're really popular in New Jersey. Um, make sure you
go check out Windy Farms ice Cream. Meet the man himself,

(41:47):
Jake Hunt. He's standing here in a picture that I'm
looking at overlooking a beautiful field with a couple of
scoops of ice cream in his hand. Right now, it
looks like some real fresh pork. Uh, sitting in there.
He'll show you around, he'll let you taste it. Jake,
this is some cool stuff that I didn't know I needed.
I know I definitely needed it. And I also challenge
everyone listening to eat two and a half gallons of it. Yeah,

(42:12):
and consumed two full pounds of tailor hamp because I'm
going to do that when I get to Jersey. Hey,
thanks Jake, thank you. Everybody has a crazy idea and
I want. I want to live in a world where
those crazy ideas can be something. I really do. I

(42:32):
want to live in a world where tomato ice cream
and pork mixed with dairy and toast and maple syrup
can make that dude millions. I want to be led
by Jake. Me too, And I'm one serious. This is
my new breakfast Jesse. I don't know if that's a
good idea, but but I'm really excited. But I support

(42:55):
you no matter what, because that's what this podcast is about.
Up next. Not as crazy, I mean, obviously, this is
my opinion. This doesn't seem as crazy as an idea.
We're looking at the Truffle products today. Sarah, the creator
of Truffle Handbags. Are you listening. Are you out there?

(43:17):
Can we speak an here? Yes? Hi? Hey Sarah, I'm
so excited about this. I know, it's so nice to
meet you guys. This is really fun for me, Sarah.
We're looking at your Truffle products right now, so we're familiar,
but the listeners are not. UM. This is not a touch,
smell and scratch show. That's the future. UM. Explain to

(43:44):
our listeners what Truffle handbags are and why you chose
to invest into this so well as you can imagine,
UM or or maybe maybe not, but maybe I should
filly you in There's been a shift in thinking about
clear UM. When we launched the company in UM, no

(44:08):
one was doing clear products, at least no one was
doing pretty clear products. And today clear is very much
part of our lifestyle and efense UM. You know, if
you get on an airplane and you have a carry on,
most likely you might have a clear bag in your
in your suitcase. UM. If you are going to an event,

(44:28):
whether it be a concert or you know, football game,
there are now stadium requirements in a lot of stadiums
across the country on what you can bring in, how
big the bag is that you can carry, and so
um our answer to this has been to create a
line of beautiful, functional, but really focus on sleek and chic,

(44:52):
bringing an element of style to the clear hand bag
market and Clear accessory bags um as well. Do you
feel nate it when you wear that? That's a good question. Um.
You know again, I think maybe a few years ago
you wouldn't want to carry a Clear bag because you
didn't want to show off your stuff, right, stuff that
you kept inside your bag. And today I think women

(45:15):
are more interested in flaunting what they have. You know,
I've got a great pair of sunglasses tossed in there
are a pretty lipstick, or a carcase, or you know,
a phone case. Everyone loves showing off their phone cases.
So I think it's a shift again and thinking about
how you use and wear Clear products. This is something
that Jesse asked, the question that I've wondered about nudity. Well,

(45:40):
I question a lot about that. But what for women?
You know, what is it in your bags typically that
you wouldn't want to show off? Or is everything today
kind of just able to be out in the open.
I mean, I remember back in the day it seemed
taboo to have any of your feminine products shown publicly?
Is that still tab do? Is that weird? I mean,

(46:01):
I can think of at so many products that as
a man, I'm like, is that okay to show off?
Or not? So I need so I need some clarity.
I feel like my sixth grade self like still flips
out if like a tampon falls out of my purse? Well,
for sure, does that? Is that that's still a thing?

(46:23):
I would say, yeah, okay, Well you're the experts. Well
I don't know about experts. However, we do recognize that
there are things that you might not want out in public. Um,
a tampon being one of them. You might not also
want to be showing off your credit cards and you're
you know, you're fifty dollar bill so um. We also

(46:47):
have a complimentary line of products that we call Privacy
products that complement our Clarity line of products so that
you can tuck away those things that you don't want
to in the open and use them together. You know,
they're they're complementary. So even if you're going, so you
solve all of our problems, and we well we tried
most of them, but bess we can yeah, but but

(47:08):
really we truly do want we we try and address
women's daily needs. But her daily needs now, I mean,
she's a woman on the go. So she's dropping off
her kids at carpool, she's going off to work or
a meeting. She's she's using her Clear bags in many
different formats, and she goes from you know, from work

(47:29):
out for a night out, and then she's on a
plane for the weekend she gets to go to a concert.
So we understand that there are so many different directions
that a woman is going to say. She's such a
multitasker that we try and have options for, you know,
wherever she is in her in her day. And just
to describe these to the listener, they're beautiful. They're really

(47:49):
beautiful Clear bags. They have really nice leather. And then
how do you source quality plastic like this, because I
feel like this is really nice plastic. It's not like,
I don't know, it's like fancy plastic. Fancy plastic. Okay,
I'll go with that for sure. So we um, we've
come a long way. Um, most plastic is what you

(48:11):
see on the market. Clear plastic is TBC hours is
actually we made you know, a direct really felt strongly
about this as a company that we wanted to find
a biodegradable UM plastic. So it exists. This is a
biodegradable we're all plotting yet, Yeah, I know I was
going to grill you about that in a second, and

(48:32):
you answered my question yourself A nice job. Oh no,
I mean, it's it's but we all know that the
world is practiced, the planet is precious, and if we're
putting a plastic bag out there in the market, UM,
it was important to us as a company that we
um really look into that hard. So the plastic that
you're holding is it's called TPU. It's thermoplastic polyurething. It's

(48:55):
a solvent free, biodegradable UM so biodegrades in this little
four years it. Women are using these a lot longer
than four years UM, of course. So it's a very
high quality. UM. You know, she's a handicraft. I mean,
we sourced all the hardware and the leather of you know,
it was a meticulous process. So we feel like we
had the great a great production team to help us

(49:17):
pull together. And we're really proud of you know, what
we have on the market. As Jesse said, they are
really nice. I mean, I don't know a lot about handbags.
But I really like what I'm holding and looking at,
and I do love that it's biodegradable. I think that
was my next question to use. How how would you
confront the criticisms when it comes to offering a world
of great products that people are going to purchase, but

(49:39):
unhealthy materials that are making it. And so I'm kind
of just a huge fan of you. Now I don't
have a lot of criticism anymore, which is fine because
I like the handbags. I mean, they look great. But
this is this is not an infomercial for Truffle. I
want people to buy them um, but this is a

(50:01):
podcast about empowering women and men um but highlighting women
in leadership and the arenas that they're operating in. One
of those things for you is starting this business. How
did you find the capital the motivation to start Truffle.

(50:21):
That's a great question. So my co founder, Maria and
I we met in business school and we um at
u c l A which or l A at Heart
of us, Yeah, go bruin um. And we She had
a finance background, I had a marketing kind of branding background.

(50:42):
We took a little bit of time off after business
school to have babies, and then we we really had
always had some ideas and this is one of them
that was sort of floating around. And quite honestly, we
boostrop this thing UM from the very beginning of our
own investments and run a very lean operation UM. But

(51:03):
at the same time it allows us to be really
nimble UM. I would say, we've probably had to make
some difficult decisions based on resources or lack thereof, but
we've grown it very slowly and methodically, and we're really
proud of where we've come. We started with one skew
in four colors, and then we're over fifty skews today

(51:26):
and we just launched in Nordstrom earlier this summer, which
was it's super emotional for us. I mean that was
like kind of our end all be all we ever
could see ourselves, you know, in a beautiful retailer like that,
we we could know that we really were. We had
made something beautiful that that's the world liked. So we're

(51:47):
super proud of where we come and how we've managed
to do it there. Yeah, that's great. Were there were
there any risks that you took that paid off? For sure?
I think the biggest one was as UM. So early on,
our first product was a very casual sort of forty

(52:08):
UM canvas trim product. And as we grew and as
the world progressed, and as the usage of our products
started to change a little bit, women wanted to pull
their pretty clear clutch out of their designer handbag, and
so we knew we had to elevate the look and
feel of it. So we made a big investment in

(52:29):
u a Saffiano leather which you guys are holding in
your hands, UM and decided that leather was you know,
a direction that we needed to go. And you know,
six years ago we never would appeared leather with plastic
and yet here it is today a very natural, beautiful
combination that makes a lot of sense that women want.

(52:50):
So that was that was like we kind of rolled
the dice. It was a big financial investment. It was
a big just like a design decision that we made
and it's been, you know, the best thing we ever
did off for what where do you see this? Because
you guys are still pretty early, right, you're pretty early company.
We we would they were early, yes, So where do

(53:11):
you see this going? Like, what's the what's the plan here?
So UM I would say, we're going to keep growing
and thriving. We have new product development in the pipeline,
so you have the cross body in your hands, which
women are taking the concerts and events. We are launching
this month a tote, a clear tote that will also

(53:33):
be stadium compliant, so um, you can take it to
the football game. But as we are seeing and as
I mentioned, you know, Clear as having this fashion moment,
I mean it was on the runways in Paris in
the spring. We be taunch and now these luxury design
houses that are putting out clear handbags, so this will
also be an answer, UM, she can sleek beautiful, functional

(53:56):
UM handbag that will be launching the next few weeks.
And we can just want to continue to grow and
and since we are leaning so nimble, we feel like
we can be proactive and reactive depending on where we
see the market going. Travel is obviously a huge channel
for us and UM it's booming. People are sending a
lot of money on travel, and we feel like our products,

(54:18):
you know, we've got kind of endless ideas on other
products that we can come out with over the next
few years. Anybody listening. UM Nordstrom is now carrying the
Truffle bag. And then also if you love our buying
team at north Strom, they're fantastic Nordstrom um And if
somebody doesn't have a Nords from near them, where else

(54:40):
can they find a truffle bag. Go on our website.
We have a store locator. We have businesses popping up
all the time who want to work with us um
and we certainly would love to sell you direct at
truffle code dot com. We Sarah, thank you, Thank you guys.
It was really nice meeting both of you, Ben and Jessie,

(55:01):
so nice to so much. Good luck with the business.
Thank you very much. Take care today. We've had a
couple products on the podcast that well, actually we've had
one product, the ice cream. I was gonna say we've
had a couple of products is like, oh, why didn't
I think of that kind of thing? This is the
truffle bag is one of those. This is obviously extremely

(55:23):
high quality, but it's like a clear bag. Of course,
the ice cream cool stuff. We didn't know we needed.
Who comes up with ham ice cream? What kind of
freak comes home? I mean absolutely crazy. He's gonna kill it.
He's gonna make a million dollars. I don't think he's

(55:43):
a freak. I think he's a brilliant that's it. Yeah,
I mean we're taught. We're still talking about it. Yeah,
and we are really just saw a different company. Yeah. Yeah,
I don't mean freak that way. I'm saying freaks and
I don't get him because he's a lot smarter than
I am. He gets it. I do want to say
out the Truffle bags. I was wondering, you know, just

(56:04):
as someone who looks at like fashion companies all the time,
I felt like it was it's hard to I call
this like defense ability. She brought up, you know, Louis
Vuitton and all these other companies and how they're doing it.
And then I'm like, well, how do you protect your product?
You know, I don't know. Like so now they could
just kind of take her business. Yeah, but Truffle is

(56:24):
going to do it better. You know why because they
got biodegradable plastics. Um. This podcast with Alison Sweeney Sharon
Nuggets of Truth. She's not finished yet, we know it. Um.
Jesse Ben, thanks for guiding me through this, Thanks for leading.
Thank you for being a human in leadership, A human,

(56:47):
a human and leadership. Just thanks for just being a human. Ben.
Thank you. That's that's the best compan I've gotten all day. Everybody,
thanks for listening. We'll talk to you soon. Follow Lady
Bosses and Ben on I Heart Radio or wherever you
listen to podcast. Hi Hi Radio. H